Pug looked out the window, reminiscing. Katala came to his side, and he came out of his reverie. “You look lovely,” he said. She was dressed in a brilliant gown of deep red, with golden trim at the bodice and sleeves. “The finest Duchess of the court could not match your beauty.”
She smiled at his flattery. “I thank you, husband.” She spun, showing off the gown. “Your Duke Caldric is the true magician, I am thinking. How his staff could manage to find all these things and have them ready in two short hours is true magic.” She patted at the full skirt. “These heavy gowns will take some practice getting around in. I think I prefer the short robes of home.” She stroked the material. “Still, this is a lovely cloth. And in this cold world of yours, I can see the need.” The weather had turned cooler, now that summer was waning. In less than two months snow would begin falling.
“Wait until winter, Katala, if you think it’s cold now.”
William came running into the room, from the bedroom that adjoined their own. “Mama, Papa,” he yelled in boyish exuberance. He was dressed in a tunic and trousers befitting a little noble, of fine material and workmanship. He leaped into his father’s outstretched arms. “Where are you going?” he asked with a wide-eyed look.
Pug said, “We go to see Lyam made King, William. While we are gone, you mind the nurse and don’t tease Fantus.”
He said he would and wouldn’t, respectively, but his impish grin put his credibility in doubt. The maid who was to act as William’s nurse entered and took the boy in tow, leading him back into his own room.
Pug and Katala left the suite Caldric had given them and walked toward the throne room. As they turned a corner, they saw Laurie leaving his room, with Kasumi standing nervously to one side.
Laurie brightened upon seeing them and said, “Ah! There you are. I was hoping we’d see you two before all the ceremonies had begun.”
Kasumi bowed to Pug, though the magician now wore a fashionable russet-colored tunic and trousers in place of his black robe. “Great One,” he said.
“That is a thing of the past here, Kasumi. Please call me Pug.”
“You two look so handsome in your new clothes and uniform,” said Katala. Laurie wore bright clothing in the latest fashion, a yellow tunic with a sleeveless overjacket of green, and tight-fitting black trousers tucked into high boots. Kasumi wore the uniform of a Knight-Captain of the LaMutian garrison, deep green tunic and trousers, and the grey wolf’s-head tabard of LaMut.
The minstrel smiled at her. “In all the excitement of the last few months, I had forgotten I had a small fortune in gems with me. Since I cannot conspire to return them to the Lord of the Shinzawai, and his son refuses to take them, I suppose they are mine by rights. I will no longer have to worry about finding a widow with an inn.”
Pug said, “Kasumi, how goes it with your men?”
“Well enough, though there is still some discomfort between them and the LaMutian soldiers. It should pass in time. We had an encounter with the Brotherhood the week after we left. They can fight, but we routed them. There was much celebrating among all the men in the garrisons, both Tsurani and LaMutian. It was a good beginning.”
It had been more than an encounter. Word had reached Rillanon of the battle. The Dark Brothers and their goblin allies had raided into Yabon, overrunning one of the border garrisons, weakened during the war. The Tsurani had turned from their march to Zun, dashed northward, and relieved the garrison. The Tsurani had fought like madmen to save their former enemies from the larger goblin host, which they had driven back into the mountains north of Yabon.
Laurie winked at Pug. “Having made something of heroes of themselves, our Tsurani friends were given quite a welcome when they arrived here in Rillanon.” Being distant from the center of the war, the city’s citizens felt little fear or hatred toward their former enemies, giving them a welcome that would have been unimaginable in the Free Cities, in Yabon, or along the Far Coast. “I think Kasumi’s men were a little overcome by it all.”
“In truth they were,” agreed Kasumi. “Such a reception on our homeworld would have been impossible, but here . . .”
“Still,” continued Laurie, “they seemed to take it in stride. The men have developed a rapid appreciation for Kingdom wines and ale, and they’ve even managed to overcome their distaste for tall women.”
Kasumi looked away with an embarrassed smile on his face. Laurie said, “Our dashing Knight-Captain was guested a week ago by one of the richer merchant families—one seeking to develop broader trade with the West. He has since been seen often in the company of a certain merchant’s daughter.”