the gay buntings – several thousand yards of very expensive silk – were
festive, and the orchestra on the battlements, playing traditional Elene
airs rather than the discordant cacophony that passed for music in
Sarabian’s court, lent a pleasantly archaic quality to the entire occasion.
It was the barges moored in the moat, however, that drew the most
astonished comment. The idea of dining out of doors had never occurred to
the Tamuls, and the notion of floating dining-rooms ablaze with
candle-light and draped with brightly-coloured silk bunting was quite
beyond the imagination of the average member of the emperor’s court. The
candles caused the knights no end of concern. The thought of open flame so
close to the hidden cargo of the barges was sufficient to make strong men
turn pale. Since the party was taking place around the Elene castle, and
the hostess was herself an Elene, the ladies of the Emperor’s court had
quite nearly exhausted the creative talents of every dressmaker in
Matherion in their efforts to ‘dress Elene.’ The results were not uniformly
felicitous, however, since the dressmakers of Matherion were obliged to
rely on books for inspiration, and many of the books in the library of the
university were several hundred years old and the gowns depicted on their
pages were terribly out of fashion. Ehlana and Melidere were in fashion,
however, and they were the absolute centre of attention. Ehlana’s gown was
of regal blue, and she wore a diamond and ruby-studded tiara nestled in her
pale’ -blonde hair. Mellidere was gowned in lavender. It seemed to be her
favourite colour. Mirtai was defiantly not in fashion. She wore the blue
sleeveless gown she had worn at her owner’s wedding, and this time, she was
visibly armed. Rather surpri’singly, Sephrenia also wore an Elene gown – of
snowy white, naturally – and Vanion was obviously smitten by her all over
again. The knights of the queen’s escort wore doublets and hose, much
against Sparhawk’s better judgement. Their armour, however, was close at
hand. After the members of the imperial court had made their appearance and
had begun to circulate on the barges, there was a pause, and then a brazen
Elene fanfare. ‘I had to offer violence to the musicians to get them to
greet the emperor properly,’ the elegantly garbed Stragen muttered to
Sparhawk. ‘Oh?’ They were very insistent that the emperor should be greted
by that dreadful noise they call music around here. They became much more
co-operative after I sliced the smock off one ‘of the trumpeters with my
rapier.’ Stragen’s eyes suddenly ‘ widened. ‘For God’s sake, man!’ he
hissed at a servant placing a large platter of steamming beef on one of the
tables, ‘be careful of those candles!’
‘He’s a Tamul, Stragen,’ Sparhawk pointed out when the servant gave the
Thalesian a blank stare. ‘You’re trying to talk to him in Elenic.’
‘Make him be careful, Sparhawk! A single tongue of fire in the wrong place
on any of these barges could broil us all alive!’ Then the emperor and his
nine wives appeared on the drawbridge and came down the carpeted steps to
the first barge. Everyone bowed to the emperor, but no one looked at him.
All eyes were locked on the radiantly smiling Empress Elysoun of Valesia.
She had modified the customary Elene costume to accommodate her cultural
tastes. Her scarlet gown was really quite lovely, but it had been altered
so that those attributes Elene ladies customarily concealed and Valesian
ladies flaunted were nestled on two hUly cushions of snowy lace and were
thus entirely, even aggressively, in full view. ‘Now that is what you might
call a fashion statement,’ Stragen murmured. ‘That it is, my friend,’
Sparhawk chuckled, adjusting the collar of his black velvet doublet, ‘and
everybody’s listening to her. Poor Emban appears to be quite nearly on the
verge of apoplexy.’ In a kind of formal little ceremony, Queen Ehlana
escorted Sarabian and his empresses across the bridges that stepped from
barge to barge. The Empress Elysoun was obviously looking for someone, and
when she saw Berit standing off to one side on the second barge, she
altered course and bore down upon him with all sails set – figuratively
speaking, of course. Sir Berit looked at first apprehensive, then
desperate, as Elysoun more or less pinned him to the tail of the barge
without so much as laying a hand on him. ‘Poor Berit,’ Sparhawk said
sympathetically. ‘Stay close to him, Stragen. I don’t know for sure if he
can swim. Be ready to rescue him if he jumps into the moat.’ After the
emperor had been given the grand tour, the banquet began. Sparhawk had
judiciously spaced out the knights among the diners. The knights were not
really very interesting dinner companions, since they all concentrated
almost exclusively on the candles and the lanterns. ‘God help us if a wind
comes up,’ Kalten muttered to Sparhawk. ‘Truly,’ Sparhawk agreed fervently.
‘Ah – Kalten, old friend.’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on the candles, not the front of the
Empress Elysoun’s gown.’
‘What front?’
‘Don’t be vulgar, and remember what you’re supposed to be doing here.’
‘How are we going to herd this flock of over-dressed sheep inside when that
bell rings?’ Kalten shifted uncomfortably. His green satin doublet was
buttoned very tightly across his stomach. ‘if we’ve timed it right, the
feasters will be finishing uP the main course at just about the same time
as our friends out in the city start distributing the weapons. When that
bell rings, Ehlana’s going to inv’ ite all the revellers into the castle
dining-room where the dessert course is set upon more tables.’ very clever,
Sparhawk,’ Kalten said admiringly. ‘Go congratulate my wife, Kalten. It was
her idea.’
‘She’s really awfully good at this sort of thing, you know that? I’m glad
she decided to come along.’
‘I’m still of two minds about that,’ Sparhawk grunted. The feast went on,
and there were toasts by the dozen. The feasters heaped praise upon the
Queen of Elenia. Since the revellers were totally unaware of the impending
climax of the evening, there were many inadvertent ironies in the
compliments. Sparhawk scarcely tasted his dinner, and he picked at his
food, his eyes constantly on the candles and his ears alert for the first
sound of the bell which would announce that his enemies were on the move.
Kalten’s appetite, however, seemed unaffected by the impending crisis. ‘How
can you stuff yourself that way?’ Sparhawk asked his friend irritably.
‘Just keeping up my strength, Sparhawk. I’m likely to
burn up a lot of energy before the night’s out. If you’re not busy, old
boy, would you mind passing that gravy down this way?’
Then from somewhere near the centre of the gleaming moon-drenched city of
Matherion, a deep-toned bell began to boom, announcing that the second half
of the evening’s entertainment had begun.
CHAPTER 29
why didn’t you tell me, Ehlana?’ Sarabian demanded. The emperor’s face was
livid with suppressed fury, and his heavy gold crown was slightly askew.
‘Please calm yourself, Sarabian,’ the blonde queen suggested. ‘We didn’t
find out until mid-morning today, , and there was no possible way to get
the information to you without taking the chance of compromising it.’
‘Your snake-hipped Baroness could have carried a message to me,’ he
accused, smacking his palm down on the battlement. They were on the
parapet, ostensibly admiring the view. ‘My fault there, your Majesty,’
Sparhawk apologised. ‘i’m more or less in charge of security, and Minister
Kolata’s the man who controls the police in Tamuli – both the overt police
and the ones who hide in the bushes. There was no way we could be
absolutely sure that our subterfuge involving the baroness had been
successful. The information that we had discovered the minister’s
involvement was just too sensitive to risk. This attempt on your government
tonight has to go off as planned. If our enemy gets the slightest hint that
we know what he’s up to, he’ll postpone things until another day, and we
won’t have any idea of which day it’s Going to be.’ , ‘i’m still very put
out with you, Sparhawk,’ Sarabian complained. ‘I can’t fault your
reasoning, but you’ve definitely bruised my feelings here.’ we’re supposed
to be watching the play of lights on the waters of the moat, Sarabian,’
Ehlana reminded the ’emperor. ‘Please at least glance over the battlements
once in a while.’ Their position on the parapet gave them privacy, and a
good vantage-point from which to watch for the approach of the mob. ‘The
news about Kolata’s involvement in this business is really distressing,’
Sarabian fretted. ‘He controls the police, palace security and all the
spies inside the empire. Worse than that, he has a certain amount of
authority over the Atans. If we lose them, we’re in very serious trouble. ‘
‘Engessa’s trying to sever that connection, your Majesty,’ Sparhawk told