“FitzChivalry,” I said boldly. “I demand to see the King.
A silence. Then: “No one is to be admitted.”
“By whose order?”
“Prince Regal.”
“I bear a token from the King, one on which he gave me his word that I would always be admitted to see him whenever I so wished.”
“Prince Regal said specifically that you were not to be admitted.”
“But that was before …” And I let my voice drop lower as I muttered a few meaningless syllables.
“What did you say?”
I muttered again.
“Speak up.”
“This is not for all the Keep to hear!” I retorted indignantly. “This is no time to spread a panic.”
That did it. The door opened a tiny crack. “What is it?” the man hissed.
I leaned in close to the door, looked up and down the corridor. I peered past him through the crack. “Are you alone?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yes!” Impatiently. “Now what is it? It had better be good!”
I lifted my hands to my mouth as I leaned toward the door, unwilling to let the slightest breath of my secret escape. The guard leaned closer to the crack. I gave a quick puff of my lips and a white powder misted his face. He staggered back, clawing at his eyes and strangling. In an instant he was down. Nightmist: it was quick, it was effective. It was also often deadly. I could not find it in myself to care. It was not so much that this was my shoulder-wrenching friend. This guard could not have stood in the antechamber of Shrewd’s room and been totally unaware of what went on within.
I had reached in through the crack and was struggling to undo the chains that secured the door when I heard a familiar hiss. “Get out of here. Leave the door alone, just go away. Don’t unlatch it, you fool!” I had a brief glimpse of a pocked visage and then the door was shut firmly in my face. Chade was right. It would be best for Regal to encounter a fully latched door, and to spend his time having his men chop through it. Every moment Regal was shut out was another moment that Chade had with the King.