"My father would wet himself at the sight."
Morgan looked over her shoulder at him, then laughed in spite of herself. "Ah, but you have that aright, lad. This is a far cry from anything on Melksham. And to think the Lord Nicholas thinks he has a luxurious life." She shook her head. "Astonishing."
Glines came back to stand by her. "The servant is expecting us. Apparently Adhémar talked them into giving us a chamber for our use." He paused. "You are going to have to state your business at some point, Morgan. To someone. "
"I know her business," Miach said. He reached out and took Morgan by the hand. "Come, shieldmaiden. We'll find our chamber and the perhaps go for a little explore."
"Food," Paien suggested.
"Sleep," Glines sighed.
"Silence," Morgan whispered. She looked up at Miach. "The singing is starting to deafen me."
"The knife?" he asked in a low voice.
"And the ring as well, I think." She paused. "Am I going mad?"
He squeezed her hand. "I daresay not. Let's find this luxurious chamber we've been promised, then eat. I'm sure things will look a bit better after supper and a good rest."
Morgan looked at their horses. "And these? "
"They will be cared for in a manner befitting their breeding," Miach said.
"How do you know?"
"I watched Glines pay the head stable lad to see to it," he said.
"That would do it," Morgan murmured as she followed him in through the front doors. No one seemed to mark them as they passed. She walked with Miach, stunned and overwhelmed, for quite some time before something occurred to her. "Miach. "
"Aye?"
"Why didn't you go home?" she asked.
He pushed his hood back off his face and looked at her solemnly. His eyes were very pale in the torchlight that seemed to be everywhere in the passageway, driving back the shadows.
"I thought you might need me," he said quietly.
"Oh," she said. She took a deep breath. "Thank you."
"It was nothing."
"It is something to me."
He pulled his hood up again, squeezed her hand, and walked with her down the passageway. Morgan was grateful for that, somehow, and that her companions had encircled her, Paien and Camid leading, Miach and Glines on either side, and Fletcher walking behind. She looked over her shoulder at him.
"Don't lose yourself."
He shook his head vigorously. "Won't."
Morgan nodded and took comfort in their companionship. She would have to thank Nicholas for it at some point. She wondered if she would have managed to even walk upright instead of: crawling along the floor it she'd been by herself.
It was, she conceded, difficult to remember you were an important person when your surroundings made you feel the size of a child. She wondered how Weger might fare.
Better than she was, no doubt.
The servant stopped before a door, opened it, then stood back for them to enter.
Morgan walked inside and gaped. She wondered if that might possibly be her continual reaction to Tor Neroche. The chamber was nothing short of: sumptuous.
