Kushiel's Avatar - Jacqueline Carey [318]
"Peace," Guillen said breathlessly, putting up his hands. "Peace, Messire Verreuil. I've news! The Cruarch's flagship has been sighted!"
Joscelin stared at him, then let out a whoop of joy and embraced the Eisandine lordling.
Guillen Baphinol grinned, thumping his back. "I thought you'd be pleased, my lord!"
We threw a fête that evening, and the entire household celebrated. Once the preparations were done, I gave everyone, from Eugenie to the stable-keeper Benoit, the night off. The waiting had weighed hard on all of us, and cast a three-month pall over what should have been a
joyous homecoming. We celebrated it that night. I do not doubt that among the Great Houses of Terre d'Ange, they would be appalled to know that at House Montrève, the serving-maid was seated with the chevalier, and the stable-keeper dined at the table with straw still in his hair, but it was my household, and these were the people who had kept it together in duress. I have been a peer of the realm and a barbarian's slave alike, and I am not too proud to dine with someone with the muck fresh-cleaned from beneath his nails.
Elua grant I never will be.
Although he did smell faintly of the stables.
In the morning, I daresay all of us were a trifle thick-headed. The revelry had gone late into the night and the wine-keg we had tapped was dry. I'd allowed Imriel two glasses, and his eyes had shone with it, color rising beneath his fair skin. He sang a shepherd's love song in his clear, true voice, while Hugues played his flute. How long, I wondered, until his boy's voice broke? It would be soon. His growth had slowed in Daršanga, but he was making up for lost time. "He'll break hearts, that one," Eugenie predicted.
I sent a bleary-eyed Hugues on errands that day, bearing word of the Cruarch's impending return to Emile in Night's Doorstep and to Eleazar in the Yeshuite quarter. It was a courtesy, since both would doubtless have heard the news already, but I had promised to notify both parties when we made ready to journey. When a knock came at the door, I thought it must be Hugues returning.
Instead it was a royal courier, with a summons from the Queen.
"What does she want now?" Joscelin asked, frowning at the missive. "Surely she hasn't changed her mind."
"Did her majesty give any indication?" I asked the courier.
He shook his head. "Only that your presence is requested, my lady. Yours, your consort's and the boy."
Once again, we travelled to the Palace, this time in our own carriage. All throughout the City, people were celebrating the news. The wineshops and taverns were open, markets were doing a brisk business. Wagers were settled, new wagers laid. Students given a day's leave from the Academy thronged the streets, toasting the Cruarch's health, looking forward to three days and nights of revelry when he reached the City. Drustan's return had become a veritable rite of spring. I wished I shared their high spirits, but Ysandre's summons had struck fear into my heart and my joyous mood had faded.
I kept a good face on it as a majordomo escorted us into the Palace,along with a pair of guards. I wondered if we were bound for the throne-room or a private audience. If it was state business, I thought, it will be the throne-room or the Hall of Audience. I feared what Ysandre might declare before an audience of state. What she might say in private, I could not guess, and feared even more.
As it happens, it was neither.
The majordomo brought us to the Salon of Eisheth's Harp, a spacious chamber with elegant frescoes depicting the ill-fated romance of Eisheth and an Eisandine tauriere. It is a place where D'Angeline nobles gather to enjoy pleasant conversation and musical concerts. There was a small crowd assembled, and it seemed a flautist and a lute-player had recently concluded. Ysandre was seated on a couch in the central