Unlike the Justice Hall, with its clean lines and hard stone, the palace felt warmer. Birds, fish, and plants were carved into the exposed brickwork, decorating the entrance pillars from top to bottom. The main double doors were bronze and similarly alive with dancing motifs. Inside, paintings and tapestries lined the walls.
Tristan led him past the guards without pausing. Tall vases stood around the edges of the room, bursting with an array of jewel-coloured dewdrop flowers. A raised stage in the corner held a dozen musicians—Austin spotted Kada and Jaris among them, both smiled in his direction—and large tables ringed a broad expanse of empty floor.
Tristan’s hand drifted to Austin’s lower back as Austin studied their surroundings. There were square pools of water set along the side wall, and it was too dark to see the bottom.
An almost envious look crossed Tristan’s face. “They lead into the bay. Hal can navigate the tunnels with ease but, unfortunately, I no longer fit. I only got two years’ use out of them before I risked getting stuck.”
“The last monarch wouldn’t have fit in those either.”
“No, she outgrew them. But from what I’ve heard, she spent little time here later in her reign anyway. She ventured out, searching the far seas for whatever this place no longer gave her. She simply never came back from one of those ventures, and her court kept watch, waiting for her return.” Tristan directed Austin towards the back wall. “Our seats are at the high table next to Hal. The Zatic and Asar delegates will both be attending. They’ll be sitting with us too.”
The table Tristan pointed to held Hal, dark-haired and so like Tristan, seated in the middle. At his right side was theterrible beauty Kas, the man Hal had stripped of half his fortune the last time Austin had been in the city.
“Is it smart to have them all here together?” Austin asked as they crossed the room. “Aren’t they enemies?”
“Not our enemies,” Tristan replied. “Hal doesn’t engage in foreign affairs. Unless he can commit the resources and men to maintain the changes afterwards, he thinks it better to let people find their own solutions. Those are the kind that last.”
“Which is why people come to you to ask for aid? Because youwillhelp?”
Tristan’s expression turned measured. “I do not wish you to think me more altruistic than I am. I hear out requests and send men who I think are appropriate to deal with them. Practical experience is essential for training, and Justerra is now too peaceful to offer such a thing.”
Austin let the conversation drop as they stepped onto the raised platform where Hal’s dinner table stood. Hal’s blue eyes were upon him, and the chair at his side was already pushed back and waiting. Austin slid into it without complaint. Tristan sat on his immediate left.
Hal brightened the moment Austin sat. “Austin. I’m delighted you could join me. Tristan has been ridiculous about letting us meet… He refused to grant me entry to the estate yesterday! I only wanted to apologise for getting on your nerves when we met. I’m sorry for that. I’ll not annoy you tonight, I swear.”
Austin listened with a frown, caught off guard by the surge of words.
Tristan made an objecting noise. “You’re annoying him already.”
Hal’s blue eyes lifted over Austin’s head to Tristan. “I am not,” he replied, irritated. “How am I annoying him?”
Austin didn’t like that they were able to talk over his head so easily.
“Hal.”
Hal’s eyes flicked toward him.
Austin smiled. “Swap seats with Kas.”
Tristan choked.
Austin quickly looked at him. Tristan had a hand over his mouth, poorly attempting to hide his laugh.
Tristan’s eyes danced with merriment as they met Austin’s. He leaned in, quickly kissing Austin’s cheek, then looked to Hal. “I warned you beforehand.”
Hal turned to Kas. “Would you mind swapping with me?”
“That’s the prince’s seat,” Kas said.
Hal leaned in, speaking quietly into Kas’s ear. Whatever he said made Kas’s dark eyes brighten, and he rose with a hum. The two swapped seats, Kas casting Austin a curious look as he settled beside him. Tristan poured Austin and himself two glasses of wine—murmured into Austin’s ear that it was nonalcoholic—and before another word could be exchanged, two groups nothing like the locals entered the room. They appeared entirely human and ordinary, while the rest of Hal’s court was an amalgam of monster and other.
One group wore dark greys and browns, adorned with dark-coloured stitching that became visible only when it caught the light. Among this group was a middle-aged woman wearing a jet-black dress, a matching cape, and a crown of gold inlaid with a multitude of white jewels.
The group next to them wore metallic-toned clothes, the men in waistcoats of copper brocade, while the women wore dresses of the same fabric. A man stood out in golden brocade, a solid gold circlet resting atop his head.
Hostile looks passed between the two groups, the air thick with tension.
“Which is which?” Austin asked.
