Fire spoke low. "I sense no danger."
"Nonetheless," Brigan said grimly, "if an archer leans out one of these windows, I want him to notice both of us. A man revenging himself on Cansrel isn't going to shoot you if he risks hitting me."
She thought of joking about it. If her enemies were Brigan's friends and her friends were Brigan's enemies, the two of them could walk through the world arm in arm and never be hit by arrows again.
But an eerie sound rose now from the silence. "Fire," a woman called from an upstairs window. A cluster of barefoot children in a doorway echoed the call. "Fire. Fire!" And other voices joined in, and the cry swelled, until suddenly the people were singing out the word, chanting it, some in veneration, some almost in accusation – some with no reason at all except that they were caught up in the captive and mindless fervour of a crowd. Fire rode toward the walls of Nash's palace, stunned, confounded, by the music of her own name.
The façade of the king's palace was black, this Fire had heard. But the knowledge didn't prepare her for the beauty or the luminosity of the stone. It was a black that shifted depending on the angle from which it was viewed, and that shimmered, and reflected the light of other things, so that Fire's first impression was of changing panels of black and grey and silver, and blue reflected from the eastern sky, and orange and red from the setting sun.
Fire's eyes had been starved for the colours of King's City, and she hadn't even known it. How her father must have shone in this place.
The five thousand soldiers veered off as Fire, her guard, and Brigan approached the ramp to the gates. Spears were raised and the doors swung in. The horses passed through a black stone gatehouse and emerged into a white courtyard dazzling with the reflection of the sunset on quartz walls, and the sky pink behind flashing glass roofs. Fire craned her neck and gaped at the walls and roofs. A steward approached them and gaped at Fire.
"Eyes on me, Welkley," Brigan said, swinging down from his horse.
Welkley, short, thin, impeccably dressed and groomed, cleared his throat and turned to Brigan. "Forgive me, Lord Prince. I've sent someone to the offices to alert Princess Clara of your arrival."
"And Hanna?"
"In the green house, Lord Prince."
Brigan nodded and held a hand up to Fire. "Lady Fire, this is the king's first steward, Welkley."
Fire knew this was her cue to dismount and give her hand to Welkley, but when she moved, a spasm of pain radiated outward from the small of her back. She caught her breath, gritted her teeth, pulled her leg over her saddle and tipped, leaving it to Brigan's instincts to keep her from landing on her backside before the king's first steward. He caught her coolly and propped her on her feet, his face impassive, as if it were routine for her to launch herself at him every time she dismounted; and scowled at the white marble floor while she presented her hand to Welkley.
A woman entered the courtyard then that Fire could not fail to sense, a force of nature. Fire turned to locate her and saw a head of bouncy brown hair, sparkling eyes, a sparkling smile, and a handsome and ample figure. She was tall, nearly as tall as Brigan. She threw her arms around him, laughing, and kissed his nose. "This is a treat," she said. And then, to Fire, "I'm Clara. And now I understand Nash; you're more stunning even than Cansrel."
Fire couldn't find words to respond to this, and Brigan's eyes, suddenly, were pained. But Clara simply laughed again and patted Brigan's face. "So serious," she said. "Go on, little brother. I'll take care of the lady."
Brigan nodded. "Lady Fire, I'll find you before I take my leave. Musa," he said, turning to Fire's guard, who stood quietly with the horses. "Go with the lady, all of you, wherever Princess Clara takes her. Clara, see that a healer visits her, today. A woman." He kissed Clara's cheek hurriedly. "In case I don't see you again." He spun away and practically ran through one of the arched doorways leading into the palace.
"He always has a fire under his tail, Brigan," Clara said. "Come, Lady, I'll show you your rooms. You'll like them, they overlook the green house. The fellow who tends the green house gardens? Trust me, Lady, you'd let him stake your tomatoes."
Fire was speechless with astonishment. The princess grabbed the lady's arm and pulled her toward the palace.
Fire's sitting room did indeed overlook a curious wooden house tucked into the back grounds of the palace. The house was small, painted a deep green, and surrounded by lush gardens and trees so that it seemed to blend in, as if it had sprouted from the ground like the growing things around it.
The famous gardener was nowhere in sight, but as Fire watched from her window, the door to the house opened. A young, chestnut-haired woman in a pale yellow dress stepped outside and passed through the orchard to the palace.
"It's Roen's house, technically," Clara said, standing at Fire's shoulder. "She had it built because she believed the king's queen should have a place to retreat to. She lived there fully after she broke with Nax. She's given it to Brigan's use, for the moment, until Nash chooses a queen."
And so that young woman must be associated with Brigan. Interesting, indeed, and a very pretty view, until Fire moved to her bedchamber windows and encountered a sight she appreciated even more: the stables. She stretched her mind and found Small, and was immensely comforted to know he would be near enough for her to feel.
Her rooms were too large, but comfortable, the windows open and fitted with wire screens; a consideration someone had taken for her specially, she suspected, so she could pass her window with her hair uncovered and not have to worry about raptor monsters or an invasion of monster bugs.
It occurred to her then that perhaps these had been Cansrel's rooms, or Cansrel's screens. Just as quickly she dismissed the possibility. Cansrel would have had more rooms, and larger, closer to the king, overlooking one of the white inner courtyards, with a balcony outside each tall window, as she'd seen when she first entered the courtyard.
And then her thoughts were interrupted by the consciousness of the king. She looked to the door of her bedchamber, puzzled, and then startled, as Nash burst in.
"Brother King," Clara said, much surprised. "Couldn't wait for her to wash the road dust from her hands?"
Fire's guard of twenty dropped to their knees. Nash didn't even see them, didn't hear Clara, strode across the room to the window where Fire stood. He clamped his hand around her neck and tried to kiss her.
She'd sensed it coming, but his mind was quick and slippery, and she hadn't moved fast enough to take hold. And during their previous encounter he'd been drunk. He was not drunk now, and the difference was marked. To avoid his kiss she dropped to her knee in an imitation of subservience. He held on to her, struggling to make her rise.
"You're choking her," Clara said. "Nash. Nash, stop!"
She grabbed wildly at Nash's mind, caught hold of it, lost it again; and decided in a fit of temper that she would fall unconscious before she kissed this man. Then, quite suddenly, Nash's hand was wrenched from her throat by a new person she recognised. She took a great, relieved breath and pulled herself up by the windowpane.
Brigan's voice was dangerously calm. "Musa, give us the room."
The guard vanished. Brigan took a handful of Nash's shirtfront and shoved him hard against the wall. "Look at what you're doing," Brigan spat. "Clear your mind!"
"Forgive me," Nash said, sounding genuinely aghast. "I lost my head. Forgive me, Lady."
Nash tried to turn his face to Fire, but Brigan's fist tightened around his collar and pressed against his throat to stop him. "If she's going to be unsafe here I'll take her away this instant. She'll come south with me, do you understand?"