‘Hear ye, Hear ye! By the leave of his majesty Ryker. The Ambassador of the Areetan Empire is bidden here to answer for the actions of her aide.‘

‘Really, your majesty, is this necessary?’ The ambassador gestured to the ring of fourteen Dragon guards around her, all with lowered halberds. ‘I know this court has a reputation for being a little behind current thinking occasionally, but diplomatic immunity has been a concept for hundreds of years.’

‘You said it yourself “If a human is suspected of being a dragon and a criminal, they are typically questioned inside a dagger chamber.” We have spike chambers in the burrows, but a ring of the known dragon killers is a convenient alternative. We are a quiet backwater and, without reasonable precautions. if you were a dragon that decided to fight your way out, you would be able to destroy most of us walk out of the door and sail back to Areetan with no great risk. Again, you said it yourself, “if a dragon’s plans fall down around their ears, they will have no hesitation in turning back to their natural form, incinerating all those around them and then flying away to start afresh.” I am, of course, aware of diplomatic immunity, which you do have, but your aide did not. Attacking one of the Dragon Guard is treason, punishable by death. Essentially, we have three questions. Why did he do it? How did he do it? What are we to do with you?’

‘She should be packed back off to Areetan as soon as possible. She is responsible for her actions and for those of her staff. Who knows what lore she was searching for?’ interjected the Loremaster.

‘”She” has a name and a title. You may address me as Ambassador, or call me by name, Amanita. Either is acceptable, but you will treat me with the respect due. As I already told you. I have no interest in finding the gigantic sapphire that you call the Jewel of the Isles and if I were searching for ancient lore, it would be in the universities of Areetan or in the ruins dotted throughout the Dragon Spine mountains.’

The king held up his hand. ‘Loremaster, enough! I won’t have the kingdom’s reputation tarnished by disrespect. Be civil. Ambassador… Amanita! I’m sure you can understand that tempers are a little frayed. Please bear with us. Now, back to my questions.’

The Ambassador deflated. ‘This is my first assignment as a full ambassador. I have been placed with other embassies as an aide, but this embassy is often seen as a place to cut one’s teeth, if you will pardon the allusion. No-one expects major problems or shifts in policies here. Almost all the staff I have were either here already or assigned to me. My family is only moderately wealthy and not particularly influential so I got very little say in the matter. Kardiss was one of those assigned back in Arretan. The spy masters could easily have inserted him and I would have been none the wiser. He always so seemed harmless and, well, fussy. I can only assume that they were seeking information about the prophecies and I can only apologise for his actions and offer reparations for any damage he may have caused. As to how, I am completely at a loss.’

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‘Loremaster. Are you able to tell us the how of it?’

‘His corpse has been examined by our surgeons. I am of the opinion that only full males are actually blocked from touching the doors. Your aide had been gelded, probably within the last two years which may have allowed him to pass through the doors. Unfortunately, we are struggling to find candidates or volunteers to test the theory. There was some kind of fallback ward that alerted the trainees, who had the presence of mind to pick up weapons. If he hadn’t charged at them, he would still be alive and we would be having very different conversations.’

The Preceptor cleared his throat. ‘Your excellency, could you tell us about his behaviour over the last few days? Did anything change? Did he seem stressed? I would have expected anyone sent on a suicide mission to be at least a little on edge.’

The ambassador shrugged ‘He had been complaining of itchy eyes and headaches over the last week or two, but blamed it on the weather and the lack of the foul weed he smoked in his pipe.’

The Preceptor nodded. ‘So, we can’t rule out possession or mental coercion, so he may not even have been guilty of treason, although someone certainly is. Your majesty, as far as we can tell the ambassador has broken no laws, and there is a reasonable chance her aide hasn’t broken any laws either. We have suffered no loss, apart from a little sleep, and have learned much.’

‘Someone broke into the halls and attacked one of the Dragon Knights! Do you propose to let him off?’ The Loremaster sounded enraged.

The Preceptor didn’t even look at the Loremaster. ‘Letting him off is a moot point. He was killed, possibly murdered by someone coercing him. There has been no damage to the property, people or security of the kingdom. We may never get to the bottom of the matter, but I don’t see that we can lay blame without more evidence.’

‘But he invaded our halls!’ the Loremaster spluttered furiously.

‘Enough! Herald, your opinion?’ The king said wearily.

‘I believe the Preceptor is correct. Without proof, Kardiss could be as much a victim as a criminal. Bria’s actions in defending herself are completely justified but that is as far as we can go. Can I suggest we hand his body over to the ambassador for funeral rites in keeping with those of his people?’

The king stood up. ‘Very well. We will draw a veil over this whole sorry mess and pretend it never happened. Preceptor, have your guards stand down. Amanita, I suggest you return to your embassy and we will let everyone take a breath and calm down.’

The Loremaster turned towards the king and opened his mouth as if to speak but at that moment the horns sounded again. Not the horns from the Southern Hall, but the deep notes of the war horns on the walls of the castle.