Cormyr_ a novel - Ed Greenwood [170]
"Strip," she told Rhodes calmly, "and put on all the things he tossed around the room. You're the king now, and none of what you're wearing fits."
Looking down, the young noble saw that she was right. His clothes and dagger went onto a sheet, and the body of Dhalmass was rolled onto it and then wrapped up in a tight bundle. The wizard glanced around the room, nodded, and made a quick, intricate gesture.
He, the shrouded corpse, and the girl began to glow with a soft radiance.
"One last thing," he said as the glow spread and gained strength. "Dhalmass was well loved in Arabel. You might consider putting up a statue for him."
"When I hear of improvements in Marsember, I shall," the young noble replied tartly, then grinned in real pleasure for the first time he could remember.
The radiance rose to blinding intensity, and then abruptly faded, leaving him alone in the upstairs apartment.
Marliir checked the room over for any fallen royal jewelry or other evidence they might have overlooked that would tell a nosy Cormyrean that his king had been here-and died here. He found nothing.
The temporary king closed the door on the squalor of the room where Dhalmass had died and headed down the stairs. The king had been-well, was-a taller man than he, and it was more difficult than he'd thought it would be to maneuver his new body down to street level. Fortunately, Rhodes thought, the original King had been drunk, a few staggers would be forgiven.
He met the other girl, the blonde, at the doorway. She was creeping timidly back in to see if the drunken monarch had truly died in her arms, and she nearly leapt out of her skin when confronted with His Majesty, hale and hearty, seeming none the worse for wear.
Marliir kissed her gently on the forehead, then winked and weaved off into the city, on his way back to the official royal residence at Marliir House. There'd be other lasses to kiss on his journey. If he did this properly, many eyes would see and remember King Dhalmass this evening, and in the morning he and his queen would board the coach to take them back to Suzail. And in a week's time, there would be mourning across an entire realm for the fallen crowned heads of Cormyr-and a new noble lord and lady sitting at ease by a swan pond in Arabel.
Chapter 27: Deals
Year of the Gauntlet
(1369 DR)
The old nobleman finished speaking and fixed the wizard with a level eye, trying to determine if the wizard had truly been listening.
"Legitimate concerns," Vangerdahast repeated the old noble's words gravely, nodding-and meant it.
Albaerin Dauntinghorn had a remarkable skill for seeing clearly through dishonesty, deliberately obtuse courtly phrases, and misleading impressions.
Unfortunately, that's precisely what the Royal Magician of Cormyr did not need right now. He was going to have a lot of hasty and hardy work ahead of him as it was to keep the court from becoming a graveyard of nobles wearing daggers in their ribs over the next tenday or so. The nascent factions seeking to remake Cormyr had their respective bits between their teeth and were starting to pull on the realm trapped between them. The image of Cormyr as the helpless victim being torn apart between four horses was all too painfully accurate just now.
Vangerdahast gave old Albaerin his best confident smile and told him, "You have my word that, if I am named regent, I will bring the matters you raise before the open court and see that they're dealt with directly, rather than festering unattended through the months ahead."
They exchanged the curt nods of old, wise equals who dealt with each other in mutual