Alanna smiled. “All right. Tell me how you like commanding the King’s Own.”
“It’s all right,” admitted Raoul. They walked through a passage to emerge in the training area for knights, squires, and pages. “It’s not like the border patrols. Commanding the Own means you have to sneak and spy, what with people conspiring to kill Jonathan—”
“What?” she whispered.
Raoul turned red. “Forget I said that. It’s taken care of—ask Jon. Listen, I don’t want to talk about me. What’ve you been doing? What’s the Dragon like? And why in the name of Mithros did you go to the Roof of the World?”
“It’s a long story.” Alanna looked around at the open-air courts, the racks of wooden swords and staffs, the practice dummies, the targets. At this early hour only a few knights were out—Gary, Alex, Geoffrey of Meron. They gathered around, clapping her on the back and demanding to hear all of her adventures. Laughing, she refused, telling them she’d have plenty of time to spin tales.
As they talked, she examined each face. Alex’s was as closed as ever, although he seemed pleased about something. Gary stopped to think before he spoke, so he wasn’t as sarcastic as he used to be. Myles had said Gary had taken up Duke Gareth’s duties; Alanna thought the responsibility was good for her friend. Even Geoffrey seemed sharper, more honed. He told Alanna Scanran raiders kept him hopping all winter on the northern borders.
“Come on, Alan—Alanna,” he corrected himself as the others laughed. “Let’s see if you’re still in shape.” He tossed her a wooden practice sword.
“Of course she’s in shape,” Gary said tartly.
“I doubt she did much fencing with the Shang Dragon,” Alex commented. When Alanna looked at him to see if he meant something nasty, he explained, “I know Ironarm prefers hand-to-hand techniques over weapons.”
Alanna hefted the practice sword, testing its weight. “That doesn’t mean he avoids weapons.”
Gary, Raoul, and Alex sat on the railings to watch. “Is it true Sarain’s a shambles?” Gary called as Alanna and Geoffrey squared off.
“Yes.” Alanna sidestepped Geoffrey’s lunge and engaged his blade, twisting down and up. He freed his sword and darted back, looking at her with respect. Alanna concentrated, knowing she was being tested to see if she’d changed. From what people had said the night before, she knew Jonathan needed her as a knight, to point out to skeptics that his vassals were loyal and strong. That she was female was a source of trouble, but she could balance that by proving—here and now—her abilities were the same.
Geoffrey came in with a series of chopping blows, trying to limit her to defense. She slid away and kept him turning. He faltered and she darted in, her sword coming to rest at the base of his throat. Geoff lowered his blade.
“I’d forgotten how gods-cursed fast you are.” He grinned.
Gary climbed down. “My turn.”
Alanna got into position. Part of her was aware that servants and nobles were coming into the yard to watch. With a grim smile she went to work, forcing Gary to attack. She beat him with a disarm like the one she’d tried on Geoff, hooking his sword out of his hands. Raoul didn’t last as long as Gary; he wasn’t really trying, and she told him so.
“I’m used to you beating me,” he told her with a grin. “It’s hard to change an old habit. From the evidence, I needn’t bother. You’re still best, except maybe for Alex.” He nodded at the dark young man, who was seated on the railing. “Come on, Alex. Give the Lioness a try.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. It was weird to hear her warname on an old friend’s lips. It told her—more than anything else she’d seen or heard—how much she’d grown away from her fellow knights.
Alex shook his head. “I want to catch the lady knight when she’s fresh.” His eyes met Alanna’s with an expression she couldn’t read. “Some other time, I promise.”
Others volunteered, eager to try a pass or two. Alanna had another five practice bouts before she bowed out—she was getting hot. The men and boys protested her departure, but she noticed they began to fill the courts as soon as she stepped out of hers. I should be flattered they held off practicing to watch me she thought, accepting a towel.
Gary walked her to the stables, an arm around her shoulders. “Were the last two even Tortallan?” Alanna panted, wiping her face.
“No.” The big man was pleased. “One was Gallan, and the black was Carthaki. They’re here for the coronation.”
“A little early, aren’t they?”
“Everyone wants to know what Jonathan’s like. They particularly want to know if he’ll be King for long. That’s why it’s good to have you at home. Most of us younger knights aren’t known outside Tortall. The Lioness is known and respected. A king who commands your loyalty is worth paying attention to.” They’d reached the stable doors.
Beet red, Alanna muttered, “Hogwash.”
“To you it’s hogwash,” Gary agreed. “To foreigners it’s important. They’ll keep their fingers out of our business until they know more about Jon.” With a cheerful salute he left her to return to the palace and his new duties.
Entering the stables, Alanna found them deserted. Most of the hostlers were in the courtyards or the paddocks, which suited her. Putting fingers to her lips, she gave an ear-splitting whistle. A stock man slipped down from the haymow above, not bothering to pick dried grass from his strawlike hair.
“So there you are,” Stefan commented, bowing and tugging a forelock. “It’s that good t’see you. Mayhap now his Majesty’U perk up. It’s been that gloomsome, Mistress Alanna.”
The knight leaned against a post. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on to make things so ‘gloomsome.’”
Stefan looked around, wary. “Come up,” he invited, climbing a ladder to the mow. “And keep your voice low.”
On her return to House Olau, Alanna found the premises occupied by seamstresses. “It was Eleni’s idea,” Buri explained. “She says you and Thayet need clothes. Good luck!” Faithful saw the welter of fabrics and earnest-looking women and fled with Buri; the men had already vanished.
“I know you’d rather do other things today,” Eleni explained as she hauled Alanna into the fitting room. “But his Majesty wants you to bring Thayet to court tonight. He left you this.” She handed over a sealed parchment.
Breaking the seal, Alanna read Jon’s note while George’s mother divested her of sword belt, tunic, and boots.
Lady Knight, Tonight would be a good time to present you officially at court, and to formally introduce Princess Thayet. The longer more conservative souls have to get used to you, the more productive your presence will be. This will also be an excellent opportunity—with so many there to witness—for you to present me with the object we spoke of.
She nodded in approval of Jonathan’s strategy as she threw the note onto the fire. A formal introduction was a grand occasion; foreign diplomats and Tortallan nobles alike would be present. By virtue of her rank, Thayet was due such a reception, even though the court was in mourning. While Alanna preferred an informal welcome, she knew her life would be easier if Jonathan gave her public approval. Also, giving him the Jewel would help—both her and him. No one would wish to unthrone a king who held the Jewel. And once presented, word would get around. The sooner the better, after all the news she’d heard that day!
With a sigh, she removed her shirt and breeches as an assistant came to take her measurements with a knotted cord. Grimly, she looked at the ceiling while the cord snaked around her body.
The fitting, however, was almost over before it began, when the chief seamstress showed Alanna dress designs. “I won’t wear a gown, not tonight,” the knight said firmly. “They’ll think I’m crawling back with my tail between my legs.”
“Ye can’t show your legs to the whole court and his Majesty that’s to be,” the seamstress replied. “It’s indecent and disrespectful, and all the nobles will talk about ye.”
“They do th
at already,” Alanna retorted.
The woman shook her head stubbornly. “The only ladies as wears hose are them that’s no better than they ought to be.” Rispah turned a laugh into a cough when the seamstress glared at her.
“I’m not a lady—I’m a knight,” Alanna growled. “And I’m making my bow to the court as one. Dresses are fine sometimes, but not tonight.”
“Sir Alanna is right, and you’re right,” Thayet put in diplomatically. She held up a sketch she’d been working on. “Is this a suitable compromise?”
“With a bit of gold or silver stripe along the seam?” Eleni suggested gently as the seamstress frowned.
Alanna peered at it. It was a shirt and tunic, with soft, full breeches instead of hose. The tunic was longer than usual, coming to the knee, yet splits in the sides to the waist ensured the wearer’s freedom of movement.
“All right?” Thayet asked.
“I like it,” replied Alanna.
“Hmm,” the seamstress commented, still skeptical.
Rispah put a friendly arm around the woman’s shoulders. “The dark grey silk, with—oh, of course, I can see where it might be too much trouble, with Princess Thayet’s and Mistress Cooper’s ballgowns besides. Perhaps Mistress Weaver, as has a shop over in—”
“It’s no trouble,” snapped the seamstress, pulling out of Rispah’s hold. “No trouble at all, for a shop of the first cut, like mine. Weaver! She sells inferior cloth and stitchin’ that comes undone in the first bow—” Rispah winked at Alanna; the skirmish was settled with honor to both sides.
The gleam in Eleni’s eye made Alanna uncomfortable. George’s mother was looking her over, inch by inch, leaving no part of Alanna unscrutinized. The knight hurriedly began to dress.
“Earrings!” the older woman exclaimed.
Alanna forgot her trepidation and looked at Eleni, hardly believing her ears. “Could I?” she whispered. All her life she’d envied the court beauties their eardrops, to the point that she’d refused to get the single earring a man could wear—it just wasn’t the same.
In a twinkling Eleni and Thayet had her in a chair while Rispah heated a needle. “This shouldn’t be any trouble at all,” the redhead grinned, “bein’s how you’re a blooded knight. Hold still!”
Alanna gritted her teeth as the needle punched into a lobe; the bottom dropped out of her stomach, and her ears roared. “I’ll tell you what the Daughters told me when I had mine done,” Thayet said as Rispah replaced the needle with a bit of silk. “’Beauty is pain.’”
“Is that supposed to be a consolation?” Alanna gasped. She closed her eyes against the next punch of the needle. This time the bottom of her stomach continued to drop, and the roar was deafening. She opened her eyes onto more blackness.
Someone was waving aromatic salts under her nose. Alanna sneezed and sneezed again. “What happened?” she asked, struggling to keep her stomach in place. Rispah stopped trying to fight laughter; Eleni wiped teary eyes with a handkerchief. Even the seamstress showed signs of amusement. Alanna fixed Thayet with a darkling look. “Thayet?”
“You fainted,” the Princess gasped, and surrendered to whoops of mirth.
Rispah and Eleni told the travelers what had been going on in the palace and city, while the seamstresses worked nearby. The picture drawn for Alanna was grim, grimmer than she had thought from the recital in the stable. Jonathan’s future subjects wondered if he was cursed. Duke Gareth had taken the deaths of his sister and brother-in-law hard; he was in retirement, and Gary was virtually Prime Minister. No one questioned Gary’s ability, but everyone had known and respected his father, and few people outside the palace had ever met the younger Naxen. Many of the older nobles, who normally could be relied upon to support the King, had withheld support from Jon without giving reasons. Their excuse was that they waited for the coronation, which was the proper time and place; but Myles and Duke Gareth told Jonathan that the same lords had pledged to support Roald before his coronation. Claw appeared to have vanished, but Alanna knew from Stefan that his followers still made trouble for George. A wet spring and cool summer this far meant sickly crops, a bad omen in a king’s first year on the throne.
“Everyone’s waitin’ to see which way the cat will jump,” Rispah said as Alanna submitted to fittings. “With no reason at all. They’re hopin’ for another claimant to the throne, but who’s it to be? The Conté Duke’s givin’ them no encouragement, for certain.”
“With some, all it took was the Bazhir coming here in great numbers,” Eleni explained. “Plenty of northerners hate them, and any King liked by the desert men will find he has trouble.”
“Some folks say Duke Roger’s older and more experienced than Jonathan,” Rispah added. “They say what happened two Midwinters ago—” she nodded to Alanna, “was Jon’s plot to get Roger out of the way.”
“Easy, child,” Eleni cautioned, putting a hand on Alanna’s arm. “It’s just talk. No one’s doing anything, not even speaking out publicly. But Jonathan could do with a miracle.”
To her surprise, Alanna smiled. “Then we’ll give him one.”
She found Myles in his study late that afternoon, napping. Once he was awake, Alanna sat down to discuss the events of the past year with him. He could fill in the blank spots because he knew better than anyone else why nobles behaved as they did, and his merchant friends were always honest with him. “They don’t think Jonathan can hold the throne,” he told Alanna bluntly. “Until they see proof that he can, they’re going to hold back. It isn’t that many of them expect Roger to try for the throne. Well, those who live at court don’t expect it. But Tortall’s a big kingdom, and it’s hard to keep it knit together in the best of times. If Jonathan can’t rule, the fiefs on the borders will start to break away and form their own kingdoms. Tusaine, Galla, and Scanra will nibble at the edges. That’s what people fear. Roald let them be, and twenty-odd years of that kind of beneficent neglect is bearing fruit now. Does that answer your question?” Alanna nodded. “The Jewel will help. After that, it’s up to Jonathan and the use he makes of you bright young people.”
Alanna laughed. “Don’t forget, he’s got you on his side, too.”
Myles chuckled. “By the way, I have something for you. Eleni told me you’d had an ordeal this afternoon. I bought these to make you feel better.” He dug in a pocket and handed Alanna a small box. “Don’t open it in here. Expressions of gratitude embarrass me.” He leaned back in his chair, putting up his feet. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish my nap.”
Outside his study, Alanna opened the box. Inside was a pair of black pearl earbobs.
Every Tortallan girl dreamed of descending the Great Stair in the Queen’s ballroom with all eyes fixed on her, the knight of her dreams singling her out and bearing her away to a life of bliss. Minstrels made their living off tales of common-born girls presented at court by mysterious—wealthy—guardians for just that fate. Now it was Alanna’s turn to descend; she felt a degree of panic she was unaccustomed to as an old palace hand. She had seen hundreds descend the Great Stair to cross the long room and kneel before sovereigns. In the ballroom she’d met girls who came to court to make good marriages, foreign diplomats and their ladies, merchants, visiting warriors—the list was endless. If they had been as terrified as she was that night, they didn’t show it.
They stood in the chambers outside the ballroom’s great doors: Thayet, Buri, Eleni, and Liam for official presentation; Myles to bolster their confidence; and Alanna to be—Reintroduced? That can’t be right, she told herself. The Jewel, snug in its box, seemed to have caught her case of nerves; she could feel it humming through her black kid gloves. “Jump up,” she told Faithful, wriggling her shoulder. “I need the reassurance.”
No, the cat replied, shaking his head. I’ll muss your pretty clothes. Startled, she pulled away. He’d actually sounded serious!
Eleni Cooper fussed with the gold lace at her throat. “I wish I hadn’t agreed to do this, Myles.” She wa
s elegant in mahogany-colored silk, her grey-streaked hair in a heavy knot at the back of her head. “I am suitably entertained in the Lower City.”
Hazel eyes met hazel eyes, with a depth of love that made Alanna wistful as Myles raised Eleni’s hand to his lips. “This will be just as entertaining, my dear. Perhaps more so.”
Strong fingers brushed Alanna’s new earbobs. “Pretty,” Liam approved. “A nice touch.”
Alanna’s heart skipped a beat. The Dragon did not have to wear dark colors or pale greys or lavenders of mourning for Lianne and Roald. He was magnificent in blue-violet satin over silvery shirt and hose. His hair flamed in contrast.
“It isn’t fair of you to look so good!” she hissed.
“I could say the same about you. You think I don’t have regrets about us breaking it off?” His eyes were the bright aqua he seemed to reserve just for her. “When you’re Queen of Tortall, you’ll thank me.”
She was opening her mouth to say, “I’m not going to be Queen,” when Gary joined them. “Liam Ironarm? I’m Gareth—Gary—the Younger of Naxen. My father’s Prime Minister. Can you tell me about Shang?” He put his arm through Liam’s and walked him away, calling, “I’ll talk to you later, Alanna.”
Timon, once Duke Gareth’s personal manservant, now chief of the palace footmen, arrived looking harassed. Gary bade a swift farewell and went to stand by the throne. Timon nodded to Myles, who took Eleni’s arm. “You’re worth any of them, Mistress Cooper,” Alanna heard him whisper. The chief herald bowed and opened half of the great door, admitting the couple.
“Am I all in one piece?” Buri wanted to know. She wore a deerskin jacket richly beaded in red and silver, tight deerskin breeches, and soft boots. She bristled with silver and black daggers; both the short and long sword were thrust in her sash. Her thick hair was tightly braided and coiled; the pins securing it were silver. She slapped black gauntlets nervously against her arm as Alanna looked her over.