“Who?” Dodd asked. Maia shook with fear and dread as she watched the kishion slip away.
“Nothing,” she whispered. She knew he would be gone without a trace before she could even summon her guards. And most of her guards, she realized angrily, were probably drunk.
“Take him to Pent Tower,” she said, wiping some of the blood from the young knight’s temple. “I will send Richard Syon to speak to him. I think he can help the young man understand his misconceptions about the Medium. Thank you, Dodd.” She rose and took his hand. “You are my new champion.”
She raised his hand in the air, and the hall thundered once more with cheers and applause.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rebellion
As soon as she crossed the Apse Veil the next morning after spending the coronation night in Muirwood, Maia was greeted by the Aldermaston of Claredon, who awaited her on the other side with Richard Syon. Claredon’s Aldermaston was a portly man named Dower whose crest of snowy hair ringed a gleaming bald head. A warmhearted man, he always had a smile and a kind word for her. Richard looked as if he had not slept at all the night of her coronation. The undersides of his eyes were puffy and shadowed, but he stood at attention, waiting for her to finish greeting Aldermaston Dower.
“Good morning, my dear friend,” Maia said to Richard, taking his arm and leading him briskly away. When they emerged from the abbey, she realized what a beautiful day it was in Comoros, with a sunlit sky as bright and clear as any she had seen. A few birds bickered and chased each other from the steeple. He guided her toward the outer walls of the abbey, the one that connected with the street rather than the gate that separated the abbey from the palace grounds. She looked at him curiously, wondering at his choice.
He said nothing, only gestured as the porter wrenched on the bars of the gate and pulled it open. The street was crowded, as ever it was, but when they entered the flow of traffic she immediately noticed that the streets had been meticulously swept during the night. There were no broken flasks of wine, no debris to clog the gutters.
Maia stopped in place and stared down at the clean streets. The people in the street were noticing too, she realized. Some stopped to stare at a clean window, looks of mild surprise on their faces. She also saw a good many smiles on passersby. Maia was not dressed as a queen and earned only a few pointed stares, mostly from men who were blatantly admiring her. Without a crown or a scepter, she was unlikely to be recognized and could maintain a disguise not unlike Collier’s.
“Thank you, Richard,” she said. “This is exactly what I had hoped to achieve. Every day, we must start again with clean streets.”
He patted her arm. “There is no shortage of men looking for work. They are joined by the masses from Assinica who insist on working for nothing. They want to help wherever and however they can. It is not just the part of the city near the palace that looks like this, either. All the streets do.”
Maia beamed at him and then followed him to the palace wall. They headed to the secret corridor Maia had used to escape the castle not so very long ago, and were able to silence its power, to create fear, and pass. Due to its special ability to repel trespassers, the alley was as empty as ever it was. When they reached the end of the wall, Richard knocked on the door, which was opened by a member of her guard.
“Your Majesty.” The young soldier greeted her with a salute.
Maia asked him for his name and tried to memorize it as they continued across the greenyard toward the palace, walking quickly.
“What did you learn from the young knight in Pent Tower?” Maia asked. “I believe Hove was his name.”
“Yes. He hails from Augustin Hundred originally, but he was recently knighted by Forshee for his willingness to challenge your champion. He believed he risked his life and was surprised that we did not lock him in irons and throw him into the dungeons.”
“Thank you for not doing that,” Maia said. “What did he reveal to you?”
“I tested him on his maston training,” Richard replied. “He is one, truly. We had an excellent conversation. He was so fearful that I wondered if he would even be able to feel the Medium at all. But after some assurances and gestures to lower his defenses, I learned that he is well intentioned. He is ambitious, to be sure, but that is normal for young men his age. After the intensity of the moment ebbed, he looked younger and younger and began to worry more about his parents and what they would think of him.”
Maia nodded to the pikemen guarding the palace doors, winning surprised looks of gratitude from both of them, before she and Richard entered.