The boy said, “I’ll show you,” and they were off.
For almost two hours they had been exploring the vast edifice that was Opardum’s citadel. Tal believed the boy when he said that between the extra rooms, outer buildings inside the wall and some of the older tunnels into the rock, the entire population of the city might take shelter there if the need arose. The place was massive. For some reason the Dukes of Opardum had over the years felt the need to keep adding to the citadel.
Half an hour later, they reached a hallway and Rudolph stopped. They had just passed the large hall that led to the Duke’s great hall and his private quarters, a vast apartment comprised of more than a dozen rooms. Rudolph said, “Down this hall is a stairway, Squire. No one is allowed to go there.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The Duke is most emphatic on that subject.”
“What’s up there?”
“Leso Varen,” whispered the boy, looking as if even speaking the name frightened him.
Tal pretended ignorance. “Who or what is a Leso Varen?”
The boy took Tal’s hand as if to pull him along. “We need to keep moving. He’s an advisor to the Duke. He’s supposed to be a wizard, everyone says. He looks like everyone else, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t like him,” said the boy again in a whisper. “He scares me.”
“Why?” said Tal with a laugh, as if trying to make light of it.
“I don’t know, Squire. He just does.”
Tal feigned indifference, but he marked the entrance to Varen’s quarters clearly in his mind. Then a faint aroma came to him, and his eyes widened. He recognized the scent, the particular perfume and the hint of the skin that it had touched. Alysandra! Or Lady Rowena, as she was known here. The other agent of the Conclave of Shadows, a woman of cold calculation and remarkable beauty. What had she been doing near the magician’s lair?
“We should start back now, Squire,” said Rudolph, bringing Tal out of his reverie with a solid yank on his hand. “We need to make sure you’re ready for the Duke’s gala.”
Tal nodded as Rudolph released his grip on Tal’s hand and Tal fell in behind the boy. From what he’d learned of the citadel thus far, Tal knew the lad was taking a circuitous route back to his quarters to avoid passing by the hall leading to the wizard’s quarters. As he followed, his mind returned to the question of what Rowena had been doing in the company of Leso Varen?
Tal had been astonished to discover new clothing waiting for him. Amafi had laid everything out. The jacket was sewn with seed pearls and what appeared to be garnets, on a fabric of lavender hue. The leggings were white, and a pair of ankle boots with silver buckles stood by the bed. A new belt for his sword from the King of the Isles completed the ensemble. There was no hat, so Tal went bare-headed.
The Duke’s hall was huge, almost as large as the King of Roldem’s. Tal recognized that once this had been the central keep of the citadel, a huge single room in which an ancient noble and all his retinue once lived. A massive fireplace housed a huge fire behind the Duke’s chair, far enough away that Kaspar and those at his table were comfortable. The Duke’s table sat on a raised platform; two lower tables running perpendicular to the head table, forming a U. From his elevated vantage point, Kaspar could see every guest at his table. Sitting at Kaspar’s right hand was Natalia, and at his left was the Lady Rowena. Tal caught Natalia’s eye and smiled slightly, but purposely ignored Rowena, though he marked her. Once again he found himself amazed at her ability to be whoever she wished to be, and yet at the same time the beautiful girl who had beguiled him on Sorcerer’s Isle, overwhelming him to the point of his thinking he was in love with her, only to discover she was completely without compassion or affection. Now, effortlessly, she was a lady of Kaspar’s court, a lovely trophy for the lord’s arm, and one who enthusiastically shared his bed. Tal wondered if it was possible that Kaspar suspected the woman he bedded was one capable of plunging a dagger into his throat without feeling an echo of remorse. Probably not, Tal concluded. For if he had, Rowena would be dead already.
Tal was escorted to the left flanking table near the Duke. He sat next to a man of middle years who introduced himself as Sergey Latimov, the Duke’s Assessor, or collector of taxes.
The dinner went on quietly, without the entertainers in other courts. As the last dishes were being removed, Duke Kaspar stood up. “My friends,” he said, loudly. “There is an addition to our company I would now like to introduce. He is a clever young man of many talents who will be an asset to Olasko. Squire Hawkins, please stand.”