Ehlana let that pass. After another effusive exchange between their
Majesties, the prime minister escorted the visitors from the hall. just
outside the door to the throne-room they mounted a flight of stairs and
proceeded along a corridor directly to the far side of the palace,
foregoing the
pleasure of retracing their steps around and around the interminable
spiral. Pondia Subat, speaking through an interpreter, pointed out features
of interest as they progressed. His tone was deliberately off-hand,
treating wonders as commonplace. He was not even particularly subtle about
his efforts to put these Elene barbarians in their place. He did not quite
sneer at them, but he came very close. He led them along a covered walk-way
to the gleaming Elene castle, where he left them in the care of Ambassador
Oscagne. ‘is his attitude fairly prevalent here in Matherion?’ Emban asked
the ambassador. ‘Hardly,’ Oscagne replied. ‘Subat’s the leader of ‘a vary
small faction here at court. They’re archconservatives who haven’t had a
new idea in five hundred years.’
‘How did he become prime minister if his faction is so small?’ Tynian
asked. ‘Tamuli politics are very murky, Sir Tynian. We serve at the
emperor’s pleasure, and he’s in no way obliged to take our advice on any
matter. Subat’s father was a very close friend of Emperor Sarabian’s sire,
and the appointment of Subat as prime minister was more in the nature of a
gesture of filial respect than a recognition of outstanding merit, although
Subat’s an adequate prime minister – unless something unusual comes up.
Then he tends to go all to pieces. Cronyism’s one of the major drawbacks of
our form of government. The head of our church has never had a pious
thought in his life. He doesn’t even know the names of our Gods.’
‘)’Wait a minute,’ Emban said, his eyes stunned. ‘Are you trying to say
that ecclesiastical positions are bestowed by the emperor?’
‘Of course. They are positions of authority, after all, and Tamul emperors
don’t like to let authority of any kind out of their hands.’ They had
entered the main hall of the castle, which, with the exception of the
gleaming nacre that covered every exposed surface, was very much like the
main hall of every Elene castle in the world. ‘The servants here are
Elenes,’ Oscagne told them, ‘so
you should have no difficulty explaining your needs to them. I trust you’ll
excuse me now. I must go make my report to his Imperial Majesty.’ He made a
face. ‘i’m not really looking forward to it, to be honest with you. Subat’s
going to be standing at his Majesty’s elbow making light of everything I
say.’ He bowed to Ehlana, then turned and left. ‘We’ve got problems here, I
think,’ Tynian observed. ‘All this formality’s going to keep us away from
the emperor, and if we can’t tell him what we’ve discovered, he’s not
likely to give us the freedom of movement we’re going to need.’
‘And the antagonism of the prime minister’s going to make things that much
worse,’ Bevier added. ‘It rather looks as if we’ve come half-way round the
world to offer our help only to be confined in this very elaborate prison.’
‘Let’s feel things out a bit before we start getting obstreperous,’ Emban
counseled. ‘Oscagne knows what he’s doing, and he’s seen almost everything
we’ve seen. I think we can count on him to convey the urgency of the
situation to Sarabian.’
‘if you have no need of us, your Majesty,’ Stragen said to Ehlana, ‘Talen
and I should go make contact with the local thieves. If we’re Going to be
tied up in meaningless formalities here, we’ll need some help in gathering
information.’
‘How do you plan to communicate with them?’ Khalad asked him. ‘Matherion’s
a very cosmopolitan place, Khalad. Caalador directed me to several Elenes
who carry quite a bit of weight with the local thieves.’
‘Do what you must, Stragen,’ Ehlana told him, ‘but don’t cause any
international incidents.’
‘Trust me, your Majesty,’ he grinned.
The royal apartments in the castle were high up in a central tower. The
castle was purely ornamental, of course, but since it was a faithful
reproduction of an Elene fort, the builders had unwittingly included
defensive features they probably hadn’t even recognised. Bevier was quite
pleased with it. ‘I could defend the place,’ he judged. ‘About all I’d need
would be a few vats of pitch and some engines and I could hold this castle
for several years.’
‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Bevier,’ Ehlana replied. Later that
evening, when Sparhawk and his extended family had said good night to the
others and retired to the royal apartment, the Prince consort lounged in a
chair by the window while the ladies did all those little things ladies do
before going to bed. Many of those little ~ceremonies had clearly practical
reasons behind them, others ~were totally incomprehensible. ‘i’m sorry,
Sparhawk,’ Ehlana was saying, ‘but it concerns me. If the Empress Elysoun’s
as indiscriminately predatory as Oscagne suggests, she could cause us a
‘-.:.great deal of embarrassment. Take Kalten, for example. Do you believe
that he’d decline the kind of offers she’s
likely to make particularly
in view of her costume?’
‘I’ll have a talk with him,’ Sparhawk promised. ly hand,’ Mirtai
suggested. ‘Sometimes it’s a little ‘)’.hard to get Kalten’s attention when
he’s distracted.’ SHe’s vulgar,’ Baroness Melidere sniffed.’she’s very
Pretty though, Baroness,’ Alcan added, ‘And she’s not really flaunting her
body. She knows it’s there, of course, but I think she just likes to share
it with people. She’s generous more than vulgar.’
‘Do you suppose we could talk about something else?’ Sparhawk asked them
in a pained tone. There was a light knock on the door, and Mirtai went to
see who was asking admittance. As always, the Atana had one hand on a
dagger-hilt when she opened the door. It was Oscagne. He was wearing a
hooded cloak, and
he was accompanied by another man similarly garbed. The two stepped inside
quickly. ‘Close the door, Atana,’ the Ambassador hissed urgently, his
usually imperturbable face stunned and his eyes wild. ‘What’s your problem,
Oscagne?’ she asked bluntly. ‘Please, Atana Mirtai, close the door. If
anybody finds out that my friend and I are here, the palace will fall down
around our ears.’ She closed the door and bolted it. A sudden absolute
certainty came over Sparhawk, and he rose to his feet. ‘Welcome, your
Imperial Majesty,’ he greeted Oscagne’s hooded companion. Emperor Sarabian
pushed back his hood. ‘How the deuce did you know it was me, Prince
Sparhawk?’ he asked. His Elenic was only slightly accented. ‘I know you
couldn’t see my face.’
‘No, your Majesty,’ Sparhawk replied, ‘but I could see Ambassador
Oscagne’s. He looked very much like a man holding a live snake.’
‘I’ve been called a lot of things in my time,’ Sarabian laughed, ‘But
never that.’
‘Your Majesty is most skilled,’ Ehlana told him with a little curtsy. ‘I
didn’t see a single hint on your face that you understood Elenic. I could
read it in Queen Betuana’s face, but you didn’t give me a single clue.’
‘Betuana speaks Elenic?’ He seemed startled. ‘What
an astounding thing.’ He removed his cloak. ‘Actually, your Majesty,’ he
told Ehlana, ‘I speak all the languages of the Empire – Tamul, Elenic,
Styric, Tegan, Arjuni, Valesian and even the awful language they speak in
Cynesga. It’s one of our most closely Guarded state secrets. I even keep it
a secret from my government, just to be on the safe side.’ He looked a bit
amused. ‘I gather that you’d all concluded that I’m not quite bright,’ he
suggested. ‘You fooled us completely, your Majesty,’ Melidere assured him.
He beamed at her. ‘Delightful girl,’ he said. ‘I adore fooling people.
There are many reasons for this subterfuge, )my friends, but they’re mostly
political and not really very nice. Shall we get to the point here? I can
only be absent for a short period of time without being missed.’
‘We are, as they say, at your immediate disposal, your Majesty,’ Ehlana
told him. ‘I’ve never understood that phrase, Ehlana,’ he confessed. ‘You
don’t mind if we call each other by name, do you? All those ‘your
Majesties’ are just too cumbersome. Where was I? Oh, yes – ‘immediate
disposal’. It sounds like someone running to carry out the trash.’ his
words seemed to tumble from his lips as if his tongue were having
difficulty keeping up with his thoughts. ‘The point of this visit, my dear
friends, is that I’m more or less the prisoner of custom and tradittion
here in Matherion. My role is strictly defined, and for me to overstep
certain bounds causes earthquakes that can be felt from here to the Gulf of
Daconia. I could ignore those earthquakes, but our common enemy could
probably feel them too, and we don’t want to alert him.’ Truly,’ Sparhawk
agreed. please don’t keep gaping at me like that, Oscagne,’ Sarabian told