Nothing happened in the time it took for Suliel to return to the townhouse. No announcements were made, there was no sudden flood of troops sealing the city and no one searched her or the Princess out. The absence of any reaction hung over Suliel for the rest of her evening meal and followed her back to her temporary residence.
Suliel frowned at the image that came with the unfamiliar word.
Suliel thought about it.
Suliel rang for her butler.
“Yes, my lady?”
“Arelon…” Suliel said, pausing as she said it. She didn’t know the man that well, and it felt overly familiar to refer to the dignified man by his first name. “Did my father entrust you with the keys to the safe in his study?”
“He did, my lady. His custom was to empty it before leaving for home and leave me with the keys in case of need.”
It was cautious of him to not leave any documents behind, Suliel noted. Wise, for someone engaged in treason.
“Excellent,” she said aloud. “I’ll need the keys then, I have something that needs keeping.”
“As you wish, my lady,” Arelon said.
When he brought the keys to her in Father’s—her—study, Suliel looked at them suspiciously.
“Are these the only keys to the safe?” she asked.
“Your father had another copy that he kept with him,” Arelon said. “You would know its location better than I do.”
Suliel thought about it. There had been some keys in Father’s study back home. They had been labelled, though, and she didn’t remember seeing one marked “Townhouse safe”.
Perhaps mother…
“Arelon,” she said. “I have had something of a rapprochement with my mother. She may come to visit. If she does, she is not to have access to this room, understand?”
“I do, my lady. That is good news about Lady Anat. It is always troubling when families are split asunder.”
“I suppose so,” Suliel agreed. She sent him out of the room before she pulled out the core. She trusted her butler, but he didn’t need to know about this.
Suliel used the cloth she’d used for a wrapping to make a padded base for the core to rest on. She didn’t want the thing to get scratched by the metal.
She had barely closed the safe when there came a knock on the door to the study.
“My lady, a message has arrived.”
“So late in the evening?” Suliel wondered aloud. “Come in, then.”
Arelon entered, cradling the folded and sealed note carefully, with both hands. “My lady,” he said reverently.
Suliel’s lips quirked at her servant's sudden formality, but she understood when she saw the royal seal.
She reached out and relieved Arelon of his burden. Breaking the seal, she read what was inside.
“My lady? Are there any instructions?” Arelon asked.
Suliel sighed. “Make sure I’m ready to leave for court in the morning,” she said. “I’ve been summoned to speak with the king. Privately.”
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“I’m glad to see that you left your guard dogs behind, Lady Suliel.”
Suliel bowed her head in acknowledgement. “Bringing them yesterday made a point, my liege. Bringing them today might imply I felt unsafe in your company.”
As part of that, her dress today was much less severe, a closer match to the colours in fashion at the moment. It didn’t fit in completely, however. It was a little too plain to be considered in tune with the mood of the court ladies.
If the Princess had worn a dress like this, it might have started a new trend, but on Suliel it should simply mark her as someone who was trying, but not quite able to match up with the whims of the court. It was only to be expected of a mere country baroness, after all.
The King chuckled. “Do you feel safe, then?” he asked. “Here, at the palace?”
“Are we all not kept safe under your protection, your Majesty?” Suliel answered automatically. The King's question would have been odd, under normal circumstances. Coming after the discovery of a murder on the Palace grounds, it was… less odd.
It wasn’t quite the question that Suliel would expect to be levelled at the murderer, so she chose to relax. And, too, the murder had not been announced, so it would be best to proceed as if she had no idea what the King was talking about.
“Ah, but what will my protection be worth, once these guns of yours become commonplace?” the King said. “From the demonstration provided to Captain Oldaw, a fellow could pull one out during an audience and kill me from across the room.”
Suliel swallowed. Talking about killing the King was pretty much a death sentence, but she supposed it was all right if the King did it. She resolved to be very careful about what she said.
“With respect, your Majesty, while the rifles are certainly dangerous, I don’t believe the threat is that grave.”
“Even if guns should become commonplace, your Majesty should have no problems banning guns from your immediate presence, much as you already do for other arms.”
Suliel carefully kept her thoughts away from the small pistol strapped to her forearm. For the moment, they were only selling rifles. Pistols were next, but the clumsy, bulky examples that Kelsey had shown her were a far cry from the revolver that Aris carried or the two-shot that Kelsey had given Suliel.
“Furthermore, I believe that your Majesty would survive a shot from a rifle unless it were well-aimed or very lucky. You might be severely wounded, but Your Majesty does not stand alone. Even if an assassin got close enough to shoot you, you would have others to pull you back to safety, to go after the assassin, and to heal your wounds.”
“You think so? I suppose it will be a while before we find out,” the King conceded. “But it puts more power in the hands of the powerless, does it not?”
“It allows people to fight up a Tier,” Suliel agreed. “Maybe even two. Much as a magic weapon does.”
“These weapons will be much more common, though,” the King pointed out.
“My notions of how common magic weapons are may be a little skewed from growing up in a dungeon town,” Suliel admitted. “It seems that every adventurer carries at least a Tier Two sword.”
The King chuckled again. “I suppose so,” he said indulgently. “Now, let us determine just how common these weapons will be.”
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A lady did not stagger. A lady did not crawl. So despite how Suliel felt, she kept her back straight and her head up as she made her way back into the main court area. She could feel the eyes on her and she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her fall.
“My dear, how nice to see you back in court so soon!”
The voice was familiar. Suliel turned to see Lady Seraphina with a concerned look on her face.
“You look like you need to get off your feet,” the older lady said, moving closer to wrap her arm around Suliel’s. “Before you trip over them. What have you been up to, dear?”
“I’m fine,” Suliel said. It wasn’t a lie. Physically, she was fine. Mentally was another matter. “I’ve just come from a meeting with the King.”
Suliel could now confirm that, false King or true, King Kalond had Traits that were worthy of a King. He had at least one that let him command.
“Ah, he can be a trial, can he not?” Seraphina murmured. “This way.”
She led Suliel to an antechamber that held four comfortable divans with screens around them for more privacy. Suliel was guided to sit on one of them.
“Feel free to lie back if you need to,” Seraphina said.
“I really am fine,” Suliel assured the courtier. “The King was just very… forceful.”
She hadn’t planned on denying whatever demands the King had for the new weapons. She hadn’t realised that resistance wouldn’t be an option. All she could do—and even that was with Kelsey’s prompting—was point out when he was asking for the impossible. And ask that her barony get repaid for its contributions to the defence of the country.
It helped that Kelsey controlled the supply of the guns, not Suliel. If Kelsey insisted there was a limit on production, what was Suliel to do? If Kelsey demanded compensation, Suliel had no choice but to pass that along.
Even that had strained her mind to the breaking point. She’d felt an urge to confess everything to the King. Her father’s treachery, the overtures from the Rose Circle, everything. Only Kelsey’s reminder that confessing would get her—and Anton—killed kept her from blurting out the truth.
“The King chose to limit himself to one hundred units,” Suliel said softly.
Seraphina’s brow twitched in what was almost a frown. “More than we hoped,” she said. “You can provide us with more, though, can’t you.”
Suliel looked at the older, more experienced woman. The King’s Trait was still running through her, she realised. She wanted to say no, to denounce this traitor.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Seraphina said. “So hard, he doesn’t think anyone can stand against it. Let me distract you with a little story.”
The words were still stuck in Suliel’s throat as she fought with herself over what to say. Lady Seraphina gently stroked the hair on the side of Suliel’s head.
“The strangest rumour has been flying about since this morning,” Seraphina said. “A mage was found dead in one of the rooms of the Palace.”
The words Suliel were going to say were gone, washed away by a cool blue panic.
“Can you imagine?” Seraphina said. “A mage, stabbed in the back in a room that was not supposed to be open. A single strike to the heart, the clear work of a master swordsman.”
“Do they know who he was?” she tried.
“They do,” Seraphina said. “He was a member of the mages guild. Which member, I haven’t been able to find out. Yet. But the bigger question is what he was doing here.”
“Do the mages not visit the court?” Suliel asked.
“They do, but aside from our dear Court Wizard, they do so only by invitation. Our dead friend was not invited on this day. It is no surprise that he made it into the building—mages have their ways, of course. But what he was doing is still a mystery.”
Suliel swallowed again. “You’re right, my lady, that was a most interesting diversion. If you learn any more about the matter, I would be glad to hear it.”
“Would you? I worry that my little tales would only bore you.”
“You could not possibly bore me, my lady. To answer your earlier question, we can have two hundred ready, at the price discussed, before the King gets his shipment.”
“That’s excellent news, my dear. I’ll set the wheels in motion.”