Storm Warning - Mercedes Lackey [8]
Charliss said nothing; only nodded in acknowledgment.
“And I am answerable only to you, my Emperor? Not to any other, military or civilian?” Tremane continued quickly.
“Have I not said as much?” Charliss waved a hand. “I am certain you will need all the time you have between now and tomorrow morning, Grand Duke. Packing and preparations will probably occupy you for the rest of the day. I will have one of the Court Mages open the Portal for you to the Hardornen front just after you break your fast tomorrow morning.”
“Sir.” Tremane made the full formal bow this time; he knew a dismissal even when it was not phrased as one. Charliss was very pleased with his demeanor, especially given the short notice and the shorter time in which to make ready for his departure. There were no attempts to argue, no excuses, no plaints that there was not enough time.
Tremane rose from the bow, backing out of the room with his eyes lowered properly. Charliss could not find fault with his posture or the signals his body gave; his demeanor was perfect.
The great doors opened and closed behind him. Alone once again in the Throne Room, Emperor Charliss, ruler of the largest single domain in the world, leaned to one side and chuckled into the cavernous chamber.
This would be the most enjoyable little playlet of his entire reign, and it came at the very end, when he had thought he had long since exploited the entertainment value of watching his courtiers scramble about for the tidbits he tossed them. But here was a juicy treat indeed, and the scramble would be vastly amusing.
Charliss was pleased. Entertainment on this scale was hard to come by!
Firesong’s Vale
Two
Steam curled up from the water as An’desha gingerly lowered himself into the soaking-pool of Firesong’s miniature Vale. A Vale in the heart of Valdemar—no larger than a single Gathering-tent. I would not have believed that such a thing was possible, much less that it could be done with so little magic—yet here it is.
It was amazing how much could be created without the use of any magic at all. Most of this enchanted little garden had been put together by ordinary folk, using nonmagical materials. There were only two exceptions; the huge windows, and the hot pools. The windows were not the tiny, many-paned things with their thick, bubbly glass, that An’desha had seen in all of the Palace buildings, which would not have done at all for the purpose. These eight windows, two to each side of the room, went from floor to ceiling in a single flawless triangular piece. Each had been made magically by Firesong, of the same substance used by the Hawkbrothers for the windows in their tree-perching ekeles. He had also created a magical source for the hot water for the pools. The rest, this garden that bloomed in the dead of winter, and the pseudo-ekele above it, was all built by ordinary folk, mainly due to Firesong taking shameless advantage of the Queen of Valdemar’s gratitude and generosity.
Firesong felt that if he must remain here as the Tayledras envoy to primitive Valdemar, then by the Goddess, he would have the civilized amenities of a Vale!
Valdemar. An‘desha had never heard of this land until a year ago. As a child and even a young man among the Clans, he had not heard of much beyond the Walls; indeed, the only places beyond the Walls he had learned of as a youngster were the Pelagiris Forest and the trade-city of Kata’shin’a’in. The Shin’a’in as a general rule cared very little for the world beyond the Plains; only Tale’sedrin of all the Clans had any measure of Outland and outClan blood.
In some Clans—such as An‘desha’s—such foreign breeding was occasionally considered a minor disgrace—not a disgrace for the child, but for the Shin’a’in parent. “Could he not draw to him a single woman of the Plains?” would come the whispers, or “Was she so unpleasant that no Shin’a’in man cared to partner her?” So it had been for An‘desha, child of such an alliance—and perhaps