But the woman was the most striking of the three. She was young, approximately the same age as Ryana, and very fair, with long, extremely fine blond hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were a startling indigo, and the beauty of her face was only matched by the perfection of her body. She was clothed in little save a halter of fine blue silk ornamented with gold links and a matching skirt that rode low on her full hips and was slashed deeply up each side, giving maximum freedom of movement and revealing her long, exquisite legs. Her bare feet were smooth and clean, showing no calluses, and her delicate ankles were circled by gold bracelets, as were her wrists and arms.
“We have guests for dinner tonight, my friends,” Lord Ankhor said. “Allow me to present Sorak the Nomad, of whom I spoke to you, and his companion, the Priestess ... forgive me, my lady, but I foolishly neglected to inquire your name.”
“Ryana.”
“The Priestess Ryana,” Ankhor said with a slight bow toward her. “My apologies. Permit me to introduce Lyanus, Minister of Accounts for the House of Ankhor—” the older man nodded toward them as Ankhor proceeded with the introductions “—the Viscount Torian, of the first noble family of Gulg—” the dark, bearded, young man acknowledged their bows with a barely perceptible motion of his head “—and last but by no means the least, Her Highness, the Princess Korahna, youngest daughter of the youngest Queen Consort of His Most Royal Majesty, the Shadow King of Nibenay.”
4
As impressive as the assembled company was, the latter introduction took Ryana’s breath away. A royal princess of Nibenay, and the daughter of a sorcerer-king, traveling with a merchant caravan! It was absolutely unheard of. The members of the Athasian royal houses rarely left their opulent and well-protected palace compounds, much less their cities, and for this delicate, pampered noble flower to be found on a long journey with a caravan across the entire width of the Athasian tablelands was totally unprecedented. Her presence here not only was shocking, but it also broke with all tradition, and Ryana could not imagine what possible reason the princess could have for being here, or why her family would have allowed it in the first place.
“Please, sit down and join us,” said Lord Ankhor.
In her complete surprise and amazement, Ryana was about to comply with the invitation, but Sorak spoke and broke the spell.
“My sincere apologies, Lord Ankhor. I mean no offense against your generous hospitality, but my vows prevent me from breaking bread with a defiler.” He avoided looking at the princess, though it was clear to all present that it was she to whom he was referring.
Ryana caught her breath. Her own vows, of course, also abjured her from accepting hospitality from a defiler, though she reminded herself that she had already compromised her vows as a villichi priestess by leaving the convent without permission from Mistress Varanna. Sorak had not taken the villichi vows, but they had both sworn to follow the Way of the Druid and the Path of the Preserver, and those were vows Ryana was determined not to break. Nevertheless, by speaking so, Sorak had pronounced an unutterable insult against the Royal House of Nibenay. It was an unforgivable offense.
Surprisingly, the Viscount Torian chuckled. “Well, the elfling certainly has nerve—I will grant him that.”
Of course, Ryana thought, it was not his house that had been insulted. The noble families of Gulg, like those of other cities, were merely aristocrats, not royalty, and if any of them were students or practitioners of the defiler arts, they knew well enough to keep it secret. She looked to the princess for her response, fully expecting outraged fury and a demand that Sorak’s offending tongue, if not his life, be forfeit. Instead, the princess stunned her even more by her reply.
“Lord Ankhor is too well versed in the intricacies of diplomacy and social intercourse to commit such a blunder as inviting followers of the Way to break bread with a defiler,” she said smoothly, her voice as silky as her fine, revealing garments. “Doubtless, you have been wondering what a Royal Princess of Nibenay is doing on a journey with a caravan. I have been exiled from my homeland for committing the unpardonable offense of taking an oath to follow the Druid Way. It would be no breach of your vows to break bread at this table. I, too, am a follower.”
“You?” said Ryana. “But you are the daughter of a sorcerer-king! How is that possible?”
“My mother gave birth to me when she was very young,” Princess Korahna replied, “and her disposition was such that she could not be bothered with the raising of a child. Indeed, such is often the way in royal families, I am told. I was given to a nurse to raise—one of the palace templars—and quite against tradition, she taught me how to read. Although the templars work for defilers, they keep within their libraries copies of the writings of preservers, the better to understand their opposition. At the age of thirteen, I found some of those writings in the library and began to study them in secret, out of curiosity at first. In the end, I was converted.”
“But the oath of the Path of the Preserver must be administered by a preserver,” said Ryana, fascinated.
“And so it was,” the princess replied. “I had taken to disguising myself and stealing out of the palace grounds late at night in hopes of finding a mentor for my studies. I managed to make contact with the Veiled Alliance. After their initial shock upon learning my identity, they were quick to realize the value in having the converted daughter of a sorcerer-king as a member. Still, they were suspicious, and it took a long time for me to gain their trust. In time, they came to realize I was sincere and administered the oath to me.
“But quite by accident, my mother discovered my secret life. For teaching me to read, my templar nurse was executed. When I learned of this, I made plans to publicly renounce my family and announce myself a preserver, but before I was able to do so, my mother had me placed under arrest and exiled from the city.”
“And your father?” Sorak asked. “What was his response?”
“I do not know,” Korahna said. “I am certain that my mother has not even told him, but once they have learned of my fate, the members of the Veiled Alliance are sure to make it public. Nibenay does not concern himself much with his family these days, but he is certain to hear of it. I do not envy my mother when he finds out.”
“Where will you go now?” Ryana asked.
“Wherever Lord Ankhor sees fit to conduct me,” she replied simply. “In a manner of speaking, he is my jailor for the duration of this journey.”
“Now, Your Highness, you do me a grave injustice. You know that is not so,” protested Ankhor. “You will give our guests the wrong impression.” Turning to Sorak and Ryana, he explained, “The House of Ankhor was employed, through intermediaries, by the queen consort herself to escort her daughter on this journey and give her safe conduct. I am by no means her jailor and, as you can see if you only look around you, this is hardly a jail cell.”
“Are you not afraid of what the Shadow King will do when he learns of your involvement?” Sorak asked.
Ankhor merely shrugged. “I have committed no crime,” he said. “In fact, I really had no choice in the matter. The House of Ankhor was hardly in a position to refuse a commission from one of the queen consorts That would have been a grievous insult to the Royal House of Nibenay. To the best of my knowledge, I was merely acting in accordance with the Shadow King’s desires, expressed through his youngest queen.”
“You know very well that is not so!” Korahna said.
“Ah, but do I really know that, Your Highness?” Ankhor replied. “My representatives in Nibenay accepted the commission in good faith on behalf of our house from your mother, the queen consort. They saw to it that you were safely conducted to Gulg and received a first-class berth with this caravan. Viscount Torian himself chose to escort you, in token of the long-standing relationship between his family and our merchant house. I, myself, have only just met you for the first time.”