“If you would follow me, the King will see you now,” the servant said. Despite his livery, he was dark-skinned enough to pass as a noble, and the arrogant sneer on his face made Suliel think that he just might be from a noble family. Royal servants were apparently a cut above the rest.
Suliel inclined her head. She wasn’t going to show too much deference to a servant, even if he did serve the King. She activated Nobility’s Privilege.
Selvin Marak, Level ??, ??, Loyal to: Ranon Kalond IV, Human, Loyal Servant
Suliel blinked at the blank family section, but she only read him to get the man’s name. Marak led her through a bewildering maze of ante-chambers before stopping at the door to another one.
“If you’d leave your… attendants in here, my Lady. They will not be permitted to attend a private audience.”
He raised a supercilious eyebrow. “I take it that they can be ordered to stay in place and not take action?”
“Of course,” Suliel said. She entered the room and looked around for the best place to leave the Lazybones. The room was furnished as richly as any of the other rooms she’d passed through. This one featured an embroidered divan, faced by two stuffed armchairs.
“I take it that they will remain undisturbed for the duration of our meeting?” she shot back. The room was currently empty, so it should be simply a matter of locking the door.
“Of course, my Lady,” Marak said.
Suliel gestured for the skeletons to stand at attention against the wall, next to an ornate side table. Then she turned to Marak. “If you would direct me.”
“Just one more thing,” Marak said. “Sleep.”
Suliel frowned. Was that a directive? She felt…
Everything went black.
Suliel sent frantically.
Embarrassed, Suliel took the suggestion. It took a moment to focus on the fabric surface an inch from her face, but she quickly realised that she was sprawled on the divan in the same room that she’d blacked out in.
Twisting around to survey the rest of the room, Suliel saw that she was indeed still in the same room. The only notable change was the dead stranger lying on the floor.
Suliel let out a strangled “Eeep!” and pulled her legs up on the couch.
Suliel looked back. It was difficult to tell, the stranger’s robes, made of fine linen, were a very dark blue. But there was a clear stain on the lower part.
Suliel put the gross, disgusting thought aside.
Suliel made a face. “Did you kill this man?” she asked aloud, pointing at the corpse. For complex commands or questions, it sometimes helped to say them out loud.
The impression she got back was non-verbal.
she sent back to Kelsey.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Suliel looked doubtfully at the corpse. There wasn’t much blood, but there was a stain on the man’s back and a small pool underneath him. Already thinking past the moment, Suliel knew that she couldn’t afford to get any of his blood on her.
She gestured the Lazybones forward.
“Make sure you don’t get any blood on you,” she said aloud.
The skeletons approached cautiously. One of them grabbed the man’s feet, the other his shoulders. Holding him by the blood-free ends, they rolled him over.
Suliel’s eyes focussed on the tell-tale bulge on the man’s upper body.
“Can you get the core without getting blood on yourselves?” Suliel asked.
The skeletons peered at the corpse from several angles. Then one of them reached out with both hands for the light chain that went around the man’s neck. A sharp tug broke the chain and the skeleton drew the mystic bauble out from under the corpse’s robes. Unfortunately, while the upper half of the chain was blood-free, the core was soaked in it.
Sensing Suliel’s disapproval, the first skeleton carefully lowered the core into a fold of cloth—the lower part of the corpse’s robe— held by the other Lazybone. They wiped it off as best they could. The chain, with too many nooks and crannies to be easily cleaned, was simply removed and dropped back on top of the corpse.
The bauble that was presented to her was mostly clean. Suliel took hold of it carefully.
Suliel stopped in the middle of her answer. She had been going to say that she didn’t want to be connected, but was that the best plan? Whatever was going on, casting spells on nobles was not something that a wizard could do legitimately. Assuming the King hadn’t secretly ordered it, Suliel had been well within her rights to kill the wizard.
Suliel nodded and carefully wrapped the core in her handkerchief. Slipping it into a side pocket, she carefully checked that she didn’t have any blood on her. Then she checked the skeletons. With everything clear, she had everyone carefully back away from the body, and then follow her out the door.
The first room she checked was empty, so Suliel entered it calmly. The next room… which room had she come through?
Kelsey replied, sending her amusement along with the words.
Suliel shrugged and accepted the guidance. Also at Kelsey’s direction, she squared her shoulders and strode forward as if she knew where she was going.
No one stopped her, but it was still a relief to make it back into the main audience chamber.
Suliel replied. She was intensely aware of the weight of the core in her pocket. Mages could sense magic, couldn’t they? Would they be able to tell she’d robbed one of their colleagues?
Suliel ignored her. She drew her Aura of Nobility around her at full pitch and attempted to wander in a purposeful manner as she looked for the Princess. Her heart was starting to hammer with nervousness by the time she finally found Elara.
She angled her approach so that the princess would see her as she drew near. It wouldn’t do to interrupt an important conversation. To Suliel’s relief, the Princess gestured for her to approach as soon as she came into view.
“Lady Suliel,” Elara said. “Has my father finished with you already?”
Suliel curtseyed. “It was a quick conversation, your Highness.”
The princess’s eyes glittered as she studied Suliel.
“If you’ll excuse me, Lord Angout,” she said to the older man. “I promised the Baroness a dinner date in the city and we will be late if I delay any further.”
Recognising the name, Suliel realised that she was interrupting the Lord Chancellor, and curtseyed again.
“Think nothing of it, your Highness,” the Lord Chancellor said, bowing. “I wouldn’t dream of interfering with a young lady's introduction to the delights of the capital.”
Suliel stared at him, wondering if he was insinuating something. But he simply bowed again and took his leave. Elara took Suliel by the arm and started leading her toward the exit.
“Was Father rough with you?” she asked. “You seem distraught.”
“I didn’t meet with your father,” Suliel said softly. As softly as she could while expecting the princess to hear her.
The princess frowned, but she didn’t say anything more until they left the palace.
They travelled together, in the princess’s carriage, while Suliel’s empty carriage followed. The Lazybones rode on top of their carriage, which amused the princess no end. Once they were underway, she let her jollity fade.
“This is as private as we can reasonably expect,” Elara said. “Why didn’t you see my father?”
“I don’t believe I was summoned by him,” Suliel answered. “The servant proved to be in disguise.”
“That’s not possible,” Elara dismissed. “I recognised him, he was one of Father’s messengers.”
“He looked like him,” Suliel told her. “But he was actually a mage.”
She pulled out the core. “And I killed him.”
Elara stared at the core. “How?” she asked. “And… why?”
“Luck,” Suliel admitted. “He thought that my guards would stay put if I didn’t direct them. He didn’t realise that they had standing orders to protect me when I’m sleeping. So when he spelled me to sleep…”
“They killed him,” Elara finished. “I had no idea they were so deadly. My advisors tell me that they are only level five.”
“They are more skilled than the average skeleton,” Suliel explained. “That doesn’t always make a difference, but it can.”
“So you’re telling me that there’s a dead wizard in a random waiting room in the palace,” Elara said. “That should cause no end of trouble once it’s discovered. Do you know who the mage is?”
“It wasn’t your Court Mage,” Suliel said. “He was wearing very dark blue robes, while I saw Master Voss was wearing crimson today.”
“Most days, he does like the colour,” Elara agreed. “Dark blue is what the Mages’ Guild tends to wear so I suppose we can assume it was they who wanted to capture you.”
“I don’t know why,” Suliel said, “Unless Master Tikin is influencing them.”
Elara frowned. “I would have thought that Tikin wants you dead, not captured,” she said. “Well, whatever their ploy, you seem to have foiled it. You can relax for the rest of the evening.”
“Yes, your Highness,” Suliel lied. She didn’t think she’d be able to relax ever again.