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The walls had ears, but they were not the king’s, not anymore. At the enemy’s table, Chrysanthos had precisely three allies. Himself, his apprentice, and the silent Gift Collector who sat behind him drinking his wine.
His disdainful smile firmly in place, Chrysanthos answered Lord Gaius. “Perhaps you suffer from misconceptions after your unfortunate encounter with the late royal mage.”
Lord Gaius, like the rest of the embassy, visibly tensed. “While we are guests of the Hesperines, let us not discuss that man.”
But Chrysanthos forged ahead. “Yes, the man who tried—and failed—to assassinate the Hesperine embassy during the Equinox Summit at Solorum. The man who couldn’t even properly disguise himself as Honored Master Amachos, Tenebran warder, and was exposed as Dalos, a war mage from the Aithourian Circle in Cordium.”
Oh, Chrysanthos was bold to critique his dead rival’s ruse, when he was attempting the same misdirection under the Hesperines’ very noses.
The Dexion sniffed. “That fool brought great trouble upon Tenebra and caused a catastrophe for his order. No wonder you have doubts about any Anthrian mage’s ability to assist you in your dealings with Hesperines. But you will soon see the mutual benefit in working with an expert. I assure you the king has appointed the most capable of commanders, appropriate to this field.”
“But how shall the spoils be divided?” Lord Gaius asked.
Skleros drained his goblet. “There’s enough to go around, but only to the huntsmen who help bring down the prey.”
“We haven’t been invited to a hunt,” Lord Gaius pointed out, “rather, we have been offered the chance to keep the hunters away from our game.”
The necromancer pulled a tinderbox out of his robes. “You mistake wildcats for hunters. You can’t reason with animals. If you don’t kill the beast first, it will kill you.”
The gray-haired lord crossed his arms, and his sleeves slid back to reveal skin as scarred as Skleros’s. “I’m old enough to have fought beside my great-grandson. That’s as long and full a life as any man can ask the gods for. I’m ready to die in battle, but if it is to be among monsters, that will do. I didn’t come here to save my own hide. I came here to make sure my great-grandson need never go to war against those he cannot fight with the sword. Why did you come?”
“Blades work well enough on Hesperines, if you strike in the right place.” With flint and steel, Skleros lit his tinder, then held it to the end of his smoke. “But fire works faster.”
Lord Gaius eyed the necromancer. “It also burns everything in its path.”
At that moment, a hush fell over the room, starting nearest the courtyard and moving among them all, until it overtook even Skleros.
In the doorway stood the Queens, arm in arm. Their combined presence filled the room, more beautiful and powerful than any spell. Queen Soteira wore her hair as a royal headdress in a tower of intricate braids. The celestial bodies of the night sky swirled across her black silk robe, embroidered in gold and silver, and matching jewelry shone against her deep black complexion. Next to her, petite, round-faced Queen Alea, snowy pale from head to toe, stood barefoot in her simple temple vestments, her floor-length hair loose. They wore a braid of each other’s hair in a crown around their heads.
They bestowed their smiles upon the gathering. Was Cassia the only one who saw the laughter in their eyes?
“Well met, neighbors from Tenebra,” said Queen Soteira.
Queen Alea glanced over the mortal gathering with anticipation. “We hope you will spend the rest of this evening at our table.”
THE QUEENS’ BANQUET
From his position inthe royal retinue, Lio beheld an amazing sight. Whether due to politics, manners, or sheer awe, every man in the Tenebran embassy came to his feet before the Queens of Orthros.
Even the mages of Anthros and the Gift Collector rose from their seats. They stood like men ready for a threat. But they could not be ready for this moment.
Annassa Alea spared the confused Tenebrans the struggle of deciding whether they should bow because she was a queen or if that would cause Anthros to strike them down because she was a Hesperine. She invoked a great power that held sway over the Tenebrans. Tradition. She held out both her hands, palms up, in a Prisma’s gesture of blessing.
The mortals responded in the time-honored way, tracing a glyph to their respective patrons over their chests. At a Hesperine’s invitation, signs of Anthros, Kyria, Chera, Andragathos, and various other deities were offered up in Hespera’s house. Cassia joined the mages of Kyria in signing the harvest goddess’s glyph. Lio traced the cup and thorn of his Goddess upon his breast, thanking her for blessing his people with such brilliant Queens and for placing him here to witness this moment.
But there was no reverence in the Dexion’s aura as he signed his glyph of Anthros. Only defiance. Skleros slowly traced the glyph of Hypnos written in blood on his breastplate. Lio could smell that it was human blood.
He did not believe for a moment that intimidation had been the only intent behind Chrysanthos and Skleros’s drama over Cassia’s wine. But Annassa Alea’s voice called Lio’s own intentions back to diplomacy.
“It has been a long time,” she said. “Not since the first Equinox Summit nearly sixteen hundred years ago have I had occasion to speak with Tenebrans and temple mages, who were once my countrymen and colleagues in my mortal years as Prisma of Hagia Boreia, which was the Great Temple of Hespera in the north. I look forward to hearing of the land whence I came and how worship continues there. I am sure you can all tell me of many exciting changes, but also of beloved traditions that remain constant, no matter how much time has passed.”
She took Queen Soteira’s arm once again. “My Grace, Soteira, the greatest healer from the Empire across the sea, joins me in welcoming you.”
Queen Soteira rested her hand on Queen Alea’s arm. “We offer you the hospitality of our House tonight. We will show you our beloved city and guide you to our home.”
Cassia gave a curtsy. “We shall be deeply honored to have places at your table.”
The Annassa gave no one else an opportunity for formal statements. No man had a chance to take the lead before they proceeded inside. Annassa Soteira helped a wizened mage of Kyria to her feet and began to speak with her of healing magic.
