Duty-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book II ]

25

Uachi had taken quarters in a far wing of the palace, in a small suite of little-used servants' rooms. He liked the privacy it afforded him, and he liked the freedom to come and go as he pleased.

He took Ealin to the servants' wing, since he had been tasked with treating her more like a guest than a prisoner. "This is where you'll stay," he said, wondering if she could tell that he was making everything up as he went along.

Pushing open the door to one of the rooms, he stepped inside and, with a frown of disgust, touched the small spirit globe that rested on a sconce near the door. A pink-orange glow illuminated the small, windowless chamber. There was a cot in one corner with a chest set against its foot and a set of shelves with a few forgotten books. A chamber pot, just visible underneath the bed, was the only other furnishing.

Ealin crept past him into the room, looking around with her wide, fearful eyes. "I don't want to stay here," she said.

"Well, I'm afraid you haven't much choice. The emperor gets what he wants, as a rule, and we don't," Uachi said. He was reminded of Matei's refusal to grant him leave to return to Hanpe and scowled at the memory. "There will be guards outside your door and all that, too, so don't get any ideas."

She wrapped her arms around herself with a shiver.

"It's not so bad," Uachi said, perceiving her discomfort. "They'll treat you kindly, or they'll answer to me."

"Why can't I stay with you?" 

Taken aback by her question, Uachi fixed her with a curious look. "I'm busy," he said, which was the first thing that came to mind as an answer. "And I can't have you trailing at my heel all day long. It's not my intent to be hard about it, girl, but there you have it."

Ealin shrank back from him, throwing another nervous glance around the small cell—that was, the small room he had selected for her. Her gaze settled on the spirit globe and there rested, and she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"I'm sorry," said Uachi. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to reassure her; she seemed so frightened of everything in the world. "But you'll be safe here. I'll leave you now; I've matters to attend to elsewhere."

He backed out of the room. The last thing he saw before he swung the door closed was Ealin's pale face, her wide eyes, and one small hand, reaching out for him. He turned his attention to the two Hanpean soldiers, a man and a woman, who had accompanied him to this wing of the palace. "See that she doesn't run off."

***

It had been an exhausting day already, and it was bound to only get worse. Matei and Mhera had not been content with quarreling about sellswords with the supercilious weasel of a man who'd once had the Corpsemaker's ear; nor had they had their fill of excitement with rattling through the empty rooms of the Mage's Keep. They had settled on this day, quick on the heels of their contested coronation, to set into motion the cogs of their grand design for the government of the city.

"Are you certain you want to do this today?" Uachi asked as he swung back up into the saddle of his horse. Behind him was a group of mounted, armed Arcborn men and women, each of them with a scroll tucked close into a vest or a belt.

Matei and Mhera were standing side-by-side, watching the soldiers mount up in the stable courtyard. Matei frowned at Uachi, giving him a curious look. "I would have thought you'd be eager to put this all underway."

"I am, of that you can be certain, but you might have waited for the city to stop smoldering."

"It is rather hasty," Mhera said. "With that, I will agree. But I think this plan will give the people hope that their suffering and their pain will not go ignored by the palace, Uachi, and perhaps it will instill in them a fragment of trust in us. They must have representation in the decisions that impact the future of our city and the realm. We must start rebuilding, and soon, and neither I nor Matei is arrogant enough to believe that we will know the best way to approach the immense task before us."