Saryn gestured for Xanda to take the road that circled to the right around the patchy grass of the green. As she and the guards followed the standard-bearer, once again it struck Saryn that Lornth was still little more than a big town and a keep with a low wall, hardly that defensible. Was that because Lornth was far from the borders with other lands? Or because it was that poor? Were the regents powerless to exact enough in taxes for a more impressive capital? Tariffs was the local term, Saryn reminded herself.
A set of wooden but ironbound gates in the ten-cubit-high wall around the palace and its outbuildings stood open, if guarded by four armsmen, two on each side. As Saryn raised her arm to order the Westwind contingent to a halt before the open gates, a young armsman-an undercaptain from his uniform-burst out of the guard house just inside the gates and came to a halt in the space between the gates. His eyes took in Xanda and the parley flag. Then he looked to Saryn.
“I’m Saryn, the arms-commander of Westwind. I came to see the regents.”
“Ah…yes, Commander.” The undercaptain paused. “Were they expecting you?”
“No. I would doubt it. When we discovered what the regents should know, it wouldn’t have made much sense to have sent a messenger when we would be here almost as quickly.” And we’re not about to have sent a single messenger through Lornth, anyway.
“I don’t…”
“We’ll wait here,” said Saryn with a smile. “You can go request instructions.”
The young officer glanced at the thirty armed women, then back at Saryn. “It might be best if you entered the courtyard and waited inside while I check on where you’ll be billeted.”
Saryn could sense no scheming and no malice in the young officer, only apprehension and worry. In that, in a vague way, he reminded her of Dealdron, although she suspected that Dealdron might well be more perceptive than the Lornian, officer or not. “We can do that.” She turned to Hryessa. “Have them ride through and form up inside and to the right.”
“Yes, ser.”
The undercaptain watched as the guards rode through and reformed on the stone pavement that stretched across the front of the palace. Then he walked swiftly across the uneven paving stones toward a smaller side door, avoiding the main steps-only six, Saryn noted-that rose to a modest receiving archway. Beyond the archway was a set of brass-bound double doors. The undercaptain walked to the lower door to the right of the steps and disappeared within. With the main body of the palace rising some three stories, the building stretched perhaps two hundred cubits from end to end, with the redstone tower centered in the middle, but at the rear.
“You took him off guard, Commander,” observed Hryessa.
“He recovered. I don’t think he’s ever seen so many armed women before.” Light as Saryn’s voice was, she was concerned. They had arrived without being observed, or if they had been, word had not been passed to the regents or the palace staff.
“You’d think someone would have reported our nearing the city,” said Hryessa. “We’d have known if thirty armsmen approached Westwind.”
“You would think so,” replied Saryn. “If they did, no one told the guards.”
While they waited, Saryn studied the front courtyard of the palace, an expanse of unevenly laid cobblestones a good seven hundred cubits across the front and with perhaps a hundred cubits between the wall and the mounting blocks at the base of the wide stone steps leading to the main entry. The area behind the palace proper was also paved, with a series of two-story outbuildings set before the rear wall of the complex, presumably stables, barracks, and workshops of various sorts. Scraggly grass had sprung up between the cobblestones, imparting a ragged look to the courtyard, and the lowest line of stone on that part of the north side of the outer walls of the palace bore the greenish sheen of moss or lichens. Outside of the gate guards, Saryn saw only two other individuals-armed doormen standing at the top of the main steps, one on each side of the entry archway.
After a time, the small door beside the base of the main entry staircase opened, and the undercaptain hurried back toward Saryn and the guards. With him was another armsman.
The undercaptain halted well short of Saryn. “The Lady Regent bids you welcome to Lornth. There is ample room on the main floor of the second barracks for your…troopers. The adjoining stables offer enough vacant stalls for your mounts, and there are quarters on the second level for your officers, Commander. Lady Zeldyan would like to offer you quarters in the palace. Once you have refreshed yourself, she would like to greet you personally.”
“Thank you, Undercaptain.” Saryn inclined her head. “If you could direct us…”
“Squad leader Cardaryn and I would be most happy to do so.”
The undercaptain understood a commander’s concerns because he walked beside Saryn as the armsman led the way around the north side of the palace. The second barracks were those in the rear at the far west end, and while they appeared well tended from outside, it was clear that no one had used them recently. Once Hryessa was satisfied, and Saryn and the guards had stabled and groomed their mounts, the undercaptain and Saryn walked across the rear courtyard to the nearest door. She carried her own saddlebags.
“This is the south wing of the palace, where guests are housed,” offered the undercaptain, opening the brass-bound door. He led the way up a flight of steps and turned to the right. The wooden floors creaked under his boots. “Your chamber is at the end on the left.”
A young woman scurried out of the end door, then stepped to the side, almost against the ancient dark, wood-paneled wall, and bowed her head. “Your chamber is ready, Angel.” Her eyes lingered on the battle harness and the pair of blades it held.
“Thank you.” Saryn smiled.
The undercaptain stopped at the door and turned to Saryn. “One of Lady Zeldyan’s ladies-in-waiting will escort you to her quarters once you are ready, Commander. She should be here shortly, but Lady Zeldyan suggested that you not rush.”
“Thank you.” Saryn smiled politely.
He stepped back, then turned and walked swiftly back down the hallway, wide for a dwelling but narrow for a ruler’s palace, only a fraction over two yards in width.
Saryn stepped out of the dim corridor and into the corner chamber, large enough that it might well have been a third the size of the great hall of Tower Black-but the ceiling was far lower, barely above the fingertips of Saryn’s fully extended arm. Centered on the north wall was a large bed with a high headboard, carved with ornate images of armed men and cornered animals. Pale green hangings framed the headboard. Three long but narrow windows, recently opened, Saryn suspected, looked out on the front courtyard, while two on the south wall overlooked the side courtyard.
Between the two south windows was a narrow fireplace, and against the west wall was a large armoire, its carvings matching those of the headboard, with a dressing table to the left, and a washstand in the corner, with two large bowls of water, one warm, and towels on the side rungs. To the right of the armoire was an ancient weapons rack. A writing desk was set back slightly from the middle window of those opening to the front of the palace. The dark wooden floor was largely covered with a green carpet, bordered in purple.
After closing the door behind her and slipping the bolt into place, Saryn eased the weapons harness off and draped it over the arms rack beside the armoire that she scarcely needed. While she did not dawdle, it was close to half a glass later by the time she had washed up and changed to one of the cleaner uniforms she had remaining. While no one had knocked on the door, she had sensed someone outside and assumed that the woman waiting was her escort.