Abtalion led the way to a broad set of double doors polished to a shine and engraved with beautiful fluted woodwork. Two Wolfsmen stood watch at the door. The other two would be inside the room. The Wolfsmen opened the doors to allow them in.
Laisha’s personal chambers were not as large and ostentatious as Thealos had imagined they would be. Tall curtains hung from black iron poles capped with filigrees and sashes. The rugs were thick and soft and muffled their steps as they entered the Keeping Chamber. Couches and divans nested along the walls, leaving the center open. The walls on each opposite side of the room opened into her sleeping area and closets. Thealos saw that the window across from him had a doorframe opening out to a balcony. Looking back, he saw the other two Wolfsmen in the shadows by the main door.
As the door fastened shut behind them, Laisha Silverborne walked briskly from one of the side rooms on the right. Thealos had been expecting a sweeping entrance, trumpets to announce her arrival, and a host of sharply snapping Wolfsmen at her heels. He nearly dropped to one knee himself, yet he noticed that no one else did. All the previous times he had met her were state functions surrounded by dignitaries and sparkling with glitter and elegance.
Laisha wore a thick white shawl over an elegant gown of green and turquoise, stitched with pearls. It was a different dress than he had seen her in that morning, so he surmised that she had been at a state dinner that evening and had just returned. He had expected a dozen handmaids but found only one, a smallish Shae girl who was probably much younger, watching from the other room and then disappearing after a curt nod from Abtalion. Laisha’s long honey-colored hair was loosely braided back without any pins or combs. No crown or diadem or bracelets either—only a necklace with a pendant shaped like a crooked leaf. She had hazel eyes that were more green than any other color and complemented the gown quite well. He found her scrutinizing him as closely as he studied her.
“Well,” she said.
“Hello, Liasha.” He was grateful he had been able to swallow first and get the words out.
“Put the hood down. I want a good look at you.”
Thealos obeyed. He noticed Abtalion find a stuffed chair and ease himself into it, rubbing his forehead with tiredness. The other Warder Shae moved aside to a corner and said nothing.
“You look…older than I remember,” Laisha said. “Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
Thealos shook his head. “Your chancellor has already fed me. Thank you.”
Laisha sighed and her eyes crinkled. “It has been a long day for me. Tomorrow promises to be even worse. You were insistent that you had something to tell me. Something so important that you risked your life crossing the palace grounds. Out with it, then.” She folded her arms. “I rarely grant an audience under such circumstances.”
Thealos licked his lips and took a step towards her. He had thought all day about what he would say to her if given the chance to speak. The conversation had been played a thousand times in his mind, but each time he had been unsure of what she would say or how she would respond. But he had learned his lesson with Stasy. Laisha deserved the truth—all of it.
“Let me explain how I got here. I was escorted to your gardens by a Sleepwalker last night. I slept there but he was gone when I awoke this morning. I am not a Sleepwalker, nor do I have any of their powers. Many Crimson Wolfsmen were injured when they tried to stop him from taking me to see you. Let that be a witness of the importance of my message.”
Laisha held up her hand. “I don’t doubt you’ve prepared a speech.” She stepped forward, her eyes fastening onto his. “Forget it. I don’t want eloquence nor am I expecting it. I know these things already. I know that you were tracked down to the Shadows Wood where a Bandit army is gathering. I know that they are preparing for another war against Dos-Aralon even now. There is Forbidden magic being used in the Shoreland as well—we know all this. But tell me why it concerns the Shae? Why are you trying to get us involved in a war down there?”
“You know of the Forbidden magic?”
“The entire forest reeks of it, from what we’ve heard.”
“You are doing nothing about it?” Thealos asked, his anger rising.
“The humans have always used Earth magic in ways that are Forbidden us. They will destroy themselves as they always have. The head of the Bandit Rebellion wants don Rion’s throne, not mine. The humans will fight each other.”
Thealos stared at her in disbelief. “That is incredibly na?ve.”
Her eyebrows arched. “Na?ve? Well, you are only the hundredth person who’s accused me of that shortcoming. Because I’m not a barter’s daughter? Because I never leave Avisahn? Na?ve? How quaint.” She turned around. “I trust the counsel of Chancellor Abtalion. Tell him your story. I have enough problems to deal with right now. Soon enough, so will you.”