Amaskan's Blood, Raven Oak [read me a book .TXT] 📗

too close to Midnight in his rush, and the battle steed aimed a kick backward. It missed the boy’s head by inches. Warning delivered, the boy stumbled and fell to his rump in the hay.

“Let her be, lad. It’s obvious her mount needs the bigger box.” The voice came from her rear-left, and Adelei listened for the man’s movements as she patted Midnight’s neck. Hero seemed just as happy to be in a new place, and immediately noticed the replacement of his feed. With a harrough, he dug into the food and ignored the stable boy’s commotion.

When Adelei turned to take Midnight’s reins, she found a grown man holding them, and Midnight nibbled at the collar of his brown tunic. The fact that Midnight was friendly with the man was amazing; that the horse wasn’t trying to kill him was nothing short of a miracle. A roughened hand was thrust in her direction as the voice from earlier continued. “Horse Master Will.”

She held out her own hand to the man and found his grip spoke of hard work and strength. “Master Adelei of Sadai.”

“A master of horses?”

“No, weapons work.”

“I wondered what with a horse like that. You must be like Captain Warhammer then.” At first she thought he meant Amaskan, and her body tensed. But he turned his back to her as he led Midnight to his new stall. “Sepier to the King of Sadai or some such?” he asked.

Adelei didn’t answer as he stripped her horse of tack and saddlebags. “Adelei, we’re needed elsewhere,” Ida said from behind her, and with one last glance at Midnight, she followed the warrior out of the stables.

“Why didn’t Midnight take his hand off?” she asked Ida.

“I taught Master Will how to deal with battle steeds out of Sadai.”

“Ah, that explains it.” As they stepped around the corner, they were met by a page garbed in blue and silver from head to toe.

“Captain, Master, if you’ll come with me, please,” he stuttered with a quick bow. The page led them to the castle entrance where a welcoming party of one waited, the older man dressed in a similar blue. No crown or marks of royal blood, though his finery probably meant he was ennobled in some fashion or another.

I guess I don’t rank a formal welcome. But then, no Amaskan would.

The man stepped forward and inclined his head to them both. “I am to welcome you, Master Adelei, to Alexander. Our King welcomes you as well and regrets that he could not be here himself to greet you as his daughter’s wedding soon approaches. I am Lord Dumont Darras, Grand Advisor to the King.”

Adelei stepped forward and bent at the waist. “I am Master Adelei of Sadai. I thank you for your welcome, as I thank your King as well.”

He nodded before leading them through the gate and into the castle’s interior. Adelei couldn’t help herself. Her mouth gaped at the splendor of Alexander’s wealth, clearly visible from its smooth stone walls to its decor. Hints of silver and sapphire gleamed back at her as the sun bounced off the hallway’s corners. “Magnificent, isn’t it? Though I would think it nothing compared to the capital city of Sadai.”

“No, this far surpasses it,” she replied, honest in her evaluation.

Rich tapestries hung across the walls, sewn with thread that could be made of silver and gold itself, and rugs of a similarly fine weave lay across the ground. The pale, grey stone floor gleamed like polished glass. She was tempted to drop to her hands and knees to see how the effect was done. Instead she vowed to discover the secret as soon as time allowed. Assuming she lived long enough.

As they followed several long hallways toward the castle’s center, the imagined chaos of Adelei’s mind became reality with people of all stations everywhere at once. Maids, servants, pages, and squires all dashed about in a not-quite-so-orderly fashion, every last one of them carrying something taller, wider, or heavier than themselves. Ladies and lords gathered in grand rooms and hallways to gossip, each one trying to outguess the other on whether or not the wedding would even occur.

Would the princess marry a Shadian? Would she order him killed first? Would the bride wear a royal crown from Shad or from Alexander?

The gossip alone could drive Adelei into hiding until the wedding was over. It was stressful enough returning here after fifteen years without finding it full of a bunch of biddies all aflutter over some overly expensive excuse to drink themselves into oblivion. It wasn’t even their wedding, yet it was all about them. As it always was with high court.

As much as it bothered her, she took note of each person the best she could in such a massive group of people, searching for weapons or motives and listening for sounds of discontent or anger. It was challenging to do as they moved at Dumont’s brisk pace, but she filed away what little she could. I’ll think on it later when I’ve had the chance to walk the castle, alone and better disguised.

Up four flights of stairs and down another hall before they reached the royal family’s suite. The number of guards and servants in the halls doubled. As they passed one room, a flush-faced handmaiden stumbled through the door, her hands full of lace as someone on the other side shouted. The maid scuttled away, and Adelei silently counted to ten.

The shout was no doubt her royal spoiledness, throwing a royal tantrum over Gods knew what. Only a princess could screech like a banshee. Dumont waited for Adelei at the second door and ushered her inside.

The sitting room was more luxurious than any room she’d ever seen, and she whistled. Blue decorated every item in the room, right down to the rugs and paintings, and yet some blues were so light they neared white and others so dark that they more closely resembled the blacks of the Amaskan silks. The variance in color