“King,” Rezkin said.
Serunius sighed loudly. “Yes, I am sorry for your people. Our people, however, do not recognize your claim to that title. You are lucky that I call you Lord.”
Rezkin sniffed and said, “Well, there is no need to get testy. It is only a matter of semantics, after all.”
“No, it is not,” Serunius said. “We are talking about kingdoms and people. Real people.”
With a growl, Serunius turned and began stalking down the corridor at twice his previous speed. The shorter members of their party were forced to jog, and Rezkin laughed and made jests about the artwork along the way. By the time they reached the throne room, Serunius was fuming, and the shorter ladies … and Wesson … were out of breath.
Wesson scurried beside Rezkin as he strode into the throne room dressed for his part. He was no longer Dark Tidings. He was King Rezkin. He wore a dark blue military style coat with silver buttons and two silver and blue embroidered baldrics crossing his chest to support his Sheyalins at either hip. His smooth, raven black hair was plaited and tied with a silver ribbon. The only indication of his station, though, was a silver brooch bearing his sigil pinned to his baldric over his left breast. The fact that he had dressed for the occasion only reaffirmed Wesson’s belief that Rezkin had known it was coming.
They stopped in front of the throne. Queen Erisial was not seated. The dark wood, stained red and carved to appear like enticing tongues of flame, sat empty as she stood before it. The queen now wore a red silk robe that might have been a night-rail in any other kingdom but was apparently appropriate for court in Lon Lerésh. Her feet were bare, but she still wore the crown in addition to a necklace bearing more rubies than Wesson had ever seen in one place—with matching earrings.
The woman’s brow was furrowed. She looked to Serunius and said, “Did you force them to run the entire way? That is not considerate of our guests.”
“The man was being disruptive. I wanted to get him here as quickly as possible so that he would not upset the peace more than he already had.”
Erisial looked around the room. It appeared that nearly everyone of any importance in the palace had shown up for the proceedings. She said, “Did he resist our summons?”
Serunius growled. “No. He was more than willing to come.”
Rezkin smiled and said, “I was merely commenting on the splendid opulence of your palace. Your consort did not care for my observations.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly as her attention shifted between the men. Finally, she said, “Well, you are here now, and it is late, so we should get on with this. A member of Council House Leyet, a palace guard named Morlin, has been killed. A member of my house”—she nodded toward Celise who stood to one side pensively chewing at her lip—“has accused you of killing him.”
Rezkin continued to stare at the queen without comment while people in the crowd whispered.
“Well?” Erisial said. “How do you plead?”
“Plead?” said Rezkin. “Are you charging me with a crime?”
Erisial calmly explained, “There are no charges as of yet. I just want to know if you killed him.”
Rezkin did not look at Celise, but Wesson could see in her gaze the fear that he might deny the claim. Wesson had no idea what had happened, but he was fairly certain that Rezkin had, in fact, killed the man.
Without the tiniest hint of remorse, Rezkin said, “Yes, I killed him.”
A woman stepped forward from the excited crowd. She was the red-headed woman who had been one of the four to escort them from the docks. “He is lying. She killed Morlin, and she has convinced him to take the credit since he is a visiting diplomat.”
Erisial looked to the woman. “Depheli, you forget that I can hear that he speaks the truth.”
Depheli turned to Rezkin and said, “What gives you the right to come to our home and kill our people?”
Rezkin met her accusation with an icy stare. “I need not explain myself to you, Advisor.”
Erisial cut the woman off before she could retort. “I would appreciate it if you would explain yourself to me.”
Rezkin tilted his head and said, “He was attacking your servant girl over there. According to Leréshi law, it is legal to kill a man caught in the act of assaulting a woman.”
Depheli gawped, her face turning red with indignation. “Morlin would never attack a woman! She instigated this!” Depheli shook a finger angrily at Celise. “She did something to make it appear that he was attacking her!”
Celise shook her head. “No, I did nothing! I was only performing my duties when he grabbed me.”
Depheli said, “You are a liar and a tease. I challenge you for the honor of my fallen house member.”
Erisial glanced between the older woman and Celise and then casually took a seat in her throne. Her robe fell open to expose nearly the entire length of her thighs, but she did not appear to notice, much less attempt an adjustment.
Erisial asked him, “What were you doing in that corridor without your escort?”
Rezkin raised his hands innocently and said, “I got lost?” She smirked but did not challenge him. He said, “Can you not hear that she is telling the truth?”
Erisial smiled indulgently and said, “Of course I can, but you seem to understand Leréshi law quiet well. You already know that the word of a truthseeker cannot be used in court, and that includes my own. The challenge must stand. Celise, call your champion.”
“You do not intend to provide her with a champion, knowing she is innocent?” Rezkin said.
“Another question to which you already know the answer. No, she is only a servant, and it is past time for her to choose a consort. She must provide her own champion.”
He smirked as he said, “And you know already that I intend to serve as her champion.”
“Of course,” Erisial replied. “You and I know how this scene will play out. Depheli, however, had not considered that you, the self-proclaimed True King of Ashai, so-called King of Cael, might fight on behalf of a servant. If you had not, I am sure Knight Yserria would have.” At Yserria’s nod, Erisial said, “Either way, Depheli’s champion, who is also her consort, will die. He is good, but I am confident that you are better, and I doubt you would allow Yserria to fight a battle you did not think she would win.”
Depheli’s worried gaze danced between them as she took a withering step backward.
Erisial did not give the woman a second look as she said, “Her inability to consider the possible outcomes of this challenge has proven her to be a weak head of house. In the past few minutes, she will have lost a significant following, and by the time we are done with this discussion, she will have lost her place among my advisors. It is just as well since I suddenly find myself with one more than I prefer. The only way for Depheli to retain her place would be to win the challenge. Now she must decide. Does she go through with the challenge in a desperate bid to save face and lose her consort in a pointless fight, or does she back out and accept her fate as the matrianera of a middling house?”
Depheli’s consort stepped forward and took her hand. Quietly, he said, “I will fight for your honor if you wish it.”
She shook as she replied, “No, I withdraw the challenge.”
With tears in her eyes, she dragged her consort through the crowd and left the hall.
Erisial did not watch her go. She stared absently across the hall, as though unconcerned by the upset to her council. Once the commotion died, she said, “You see, battles need not be fought when both sides are intelligent enough to perceive the outcomes before they begin. It is a pity. The battle would have been more exciting.” She paused to make sure he was paying attention, then said, “You, Lord Rezkin, are playing a game with my Serunius. I do not know what it is or why, but I assure you it is unnecessary.”