Law of the Broken Earth(92)

He meant the white wand Feierabianden couriers carried. Mienthe shook her head mutely, mindful of what Tan had said about complicated lies. She said, trying to sound confident but finding her voice coming out small and nervous, “But I do carry an urgent message, esteemed sir.”

The guardsman gave a little nod. “I will escort you to the king myself, honored courier, and bring him word you have come. From the Delta, as you say you are sent by the honored Lord of the Delta.” He was watching them closely, Mienthe realized, in case they had lied and the news he gave them was actually very bad news indeed.

But when she met the man’s eyes, he smiled deferentially and ducked his head, and she saw he did not think they had lied at all. He thought she was probably a true courier, that she did bring word of some kind to his king, and that Tan was her proper escort. Though Mienthe did carry an important warning and did urgently want an audience with the King of Casmantium, she felt oddly like an impostor under the regard of the guardsman. She tried not to let this show.

“It’s good news indeed, esteemed sir,” Tan said with smooth sincerity. He drew his horse aside with hardly a hesitation, nodding to Mienthe to precede him. He, too, had understood the conclusion the guardsman had drawn and now played precisely to that conclusion. Mienthe thought probably Tan would be best pleased to step out of view, play the role of servant and protector. He would tuck himself in her shadow so that everyone would see and remember only her. She understood why he wanted to do that, so even though she found the attention of the guardsmen uncomfortable, she nodded and rode ahead of both men into the town.

It occurred to her before they had gone very far that they were going to see the King of Casmantium and that, much worse, he was actually going to see them. She wondered what her hair looked like—she had not managed to wash it since Kames—and might there be visible dirt on her face? Though the mountains had been clean stone and ice, mostly. But her traveling skirt was terribly crumpled, and once she discarded her coat, she was almost certain she would find a grease mark on her blouse from the previous night’s dinner. She wondered whether they might really need to go straight to the Arobern. Might the guardsmen let them stop at some inn or public house, first? One with decent bathing facilities and a laundry?

But a sidelong glance at their escort told her how little hope there was of such a stop. They were accompanied by several guardsmen, not merely the one who had said he would escort them, though that one was clearly in charge. He looked very serious and determined. If Mienthe and Tan had wanted to break away and lose themselves in Ehre, this would have been inconvenient. As it was, except that her sudden burst of self-consciousness made her wish for a little less efficiency, the presence of the guardsmen was very convenient indeed. The streets were terribly crowded and Mienthe had no idea in the world where she was going. But the guardsmen cleared a way for them, guiding them around in a confusingly circular path that seemed to lead them strangely out of the way if they meant to go, as Mienthe had assumed, toward the center of the town.

Just as she started to wonder very seriously where exactly the guardsmen were taking them, the streets suddenly opened up and there before them was a very large stone fortress, a building not without a certain grace, but obviously intended far more for defense than for beauty. There was no evident garden, only a small courtyard of raked granite grit, with stables to one side and one massive tree on the other.

“The governor’s palace,” said their guide. “The Arobern is there now. I will show you where to wait and then I will take word to the king’s… ah, the word is… the king’s chamberlain, yes? Forgive me; I am clumsy with your language.”

“But you speak Terheien very well,” Mienthe said.

The man ducked his head again. “The honored courier flatters my poor skill,” he said politely, and swung down from his own horse to hold hers.

Mienthe dismounted. So did Tan, though no one held his horse for him. He kept a grip on his horse’s saddle, Mienthe saw, and his mouth tightened with pain as his weight came down on his bad leg. She gave him a worried glance, to which he returned only a short nod. He let go of the saddle and took two deliberate steps away from his horse, hardly limping at all, though Mienthe did not like to guess what that effort cost him.

The door to which the guardsman brought them was a plain one, set out of the way, well around the palace from the main doors. It opened onto a narrow hall, but the rugs on the stone floor were good ones, and the walls paneled in carved wood. At the end of the hall was a surprisingly pretty receiving chamber, furnished with clear attention to elegance and style. The floor was stone, with rugs of violet and blue to muffle the cold and noise. The furnishings were all wood save for the small tables, which were each topped with a sheet of polished granite. A bronze statue of a leaping stag stood in one corner, and a pewter tree with silver leaves and little birds of copper and black iron in another. There were no windows, but lamps of copper and glass hung from the paneled ceiling, and porcelain lamps stood on the tables.