The sound of heels clacking against polished stone floors echoed through the halls of Fruymun House as Freelady Sinalas, Ayalashi envoy, walked down the corridor with slow and deliberate steps. Ahead, her lady's maid was listening at the door of the reception chamber, one hand tilting a rapier hanging from her belt to keep it from hitting the floor.
'Heard anything?' Lady Sinalas signed ahead, making sure to keep her pace slow.
'The Cannechian capital has fallen, the royal family-' Chaithia began signing back before she stopped mid-sign and ran on silent slippers over to Lady Sinalas' side. She then turned and straightened from her run, matching her pace to Lady Sinalas' own. As far as anyone on the other side of the door would be able to tell, they had been walking alongside one another all along.
'The royal family is dead,' Chaithia finished signing.
The door opened, giving Lady Sinalas no time to reply. Instead, she spoke softly to Chaithia, careful to keep the volume just loud enough that the people within the meeting chamber could overhear.
"-will have to pack our effects in preparation for relocating. Oh, that reminds me," she said, pretending to have remembered something, "Have you heard from your family yet? Is your father feeling better?" The line was pre-prepared between Sinalas and Chaithia, who responded as rehearsed.
"No my Lady, there has been no word yet," she replied, as the Druimari representative, an odious little nobleman named Ankur. She had spoken to him briefly the day before, as he had arrived at the estate of her current host, the earl of Fruymun. He had put Sinalas in mind of a barracuda, not so much because of his looks, but because of the way he acted like a predator hiding in the reeds, waiting to strike. That was not to say his leering didn't fit the part.
"Well then, we will have to pay them a visit, won't we? They're not so far out of the way that we cannot afford so small a detour," Lady Sinalas said.
"My Lady," Chaithia began, pausing for effect. She had this down to an art. If it hadn't been such a low-status profession, she would have done well as an actress. Or a dramatic reader. Yes, much better. Higher status. It wasn't that Sinalas was a snob. Any outwards snobbishness was affected for playing her role. But she thought Chaithia deserved better than to be associated with something that lessened her in the eyes of others. Hadn't their roles been the way they were by physical necessity, she would have seen them trade places. "I cannot possibly impose like that upon-"
That was Sinalas cue. "Nonsense, Miss Chaithia," Lady Sinalas cut in, acting the part of a well-meaning but overbearing noblewoman, used to getting her way in all things, "So small a delay is nothing, no trouble at all. It will hardly be more than a day or two extra of time, I am sure," she continued, before finishing as she turned her head to look at Chaithia, making sure as she turned her head to see that the Druimari envoy was listening, "As a matter of fact, I insist. You have performed your duties impeccably, even in the face of your fathers illness," Chaithia feigned a flinch at the mention of 'illness', "And it would be unconscionable not to visit. The Druimari government surely would not object. The new lodgings would not have been ready anyway, by the time we got there."
If the envoy had any objections, his face revealed none of them. He stood impassive at first, seemingly waiting for them to come closer.
Like a barracuda hiding in the reeds, Sinalas thought again.
"Freelady Sinalas," Lord Ankur finally said. He had waited until she was so close she almost could have reached out and flicked his crooked nose. Not that she would. Not while in character anyway, "Leaving so soon?"
"Lord Ankur," Lady Sinalas replied in turn, standing with her back straight and arms folded in a suitably dignified pose, hands clasped together, "Seeing as how the Druimari government is now in control of Cannech, I assumed they would be setting up near Leych, as that is closer to where the High Prince finished his campaign. Besides which," Lady Sinalas added, as if in afterthought, "I hear there is little left of the now-former capital to govern from. I thought it best to be proactive. In service of diplomacy between the kingdom of Ayalash and the empire of Druimar, now that we share a border."
The envoy's next response, if he gave one, would decide much, Sinalas and Chaithia had surmised. The capital was mostly burnt down. Sinalas knew this very well, as Chaithia, under guise of going looking for very specific herbs for Lady Sinalas' evening tea, had ridden there to survey the damage. Fruymun House was sufficiently out of the way and sufficiently unimportant in a military sense for it to be safely ignored by the Druimari army, even as it had swept through the area. To hear Chaithia tell it, they had left little behind except corpses. The status of the royal family however, had been unknown. Until just now. The only question remained, where would Druimar set up the regional government, and what that meant for their future intentions. They had conquered much in the past two years. Though their army should, by now, be running low on supplies and be ripe for settling for at least a few months, until at least next year, there were no guarantees. The Druimari had defied expectations several times already. Even though summer was coming to a close with the onset of the mid-season, there should be too little time left before winter came. Since this could not be trusted, that left the most important question, which likely followed from where the high prince would set up: Which country is next? Feannilon to the south, Hoymor to the west, or, and she really hoped this was not the case, Sinalas' home country of Ayalash to the north?
Lord Ankur smiled a sharp smile and gave a small bow. The gesture may well be meant as courtesy, but whether by design or lack of personal charm, it felt more threatening than courteous.
"A marvelous show of initiative my lady, but there is no need to leave for Leych. At least not yet," he added. Sinalas' heart skipped a beat, but she gave no outward reaction.
"No, my lord?" she asked instead, keeping her tone casually interested. Chaithia stood in the background, hands clasped in front of her in the same manner as Lady Sinalas. Though she was not currently within Sinalas' line of sight, she had no doubt her lady's maid had her eyes fixed on the floor, but her attention fixed on Lord Ankur and his valet, who was similarly stood behind his lord, hands clasped behind his back and eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"No indeed not my lady. After all, you would be seeking out the high prince in Leych to no avail, as he is coming here, to Fruymun House.
"Really? I would have thought his royal highness would have preferred the palaces of Leych to these premises. They are, to my recollection, much larger."
"Were, my lady," Lord Ankur corrected, "The city, unfortunately, caught fire during the fighting."
Right. Caught fire. Strange how that keeps happening. Sinalas suppressed a shudder. She would pray to
"You don't mean to tell me, surely, that this house is the only one between here and Leych that's fit for his royal highness?" Lady Sinalas asked, making sure to sound curious, rather than worried. She had been trained too well to give anything away like that.
"Oh no, my lady, nothing so dramatic. As for the reasonings of his royal highness, you will have the opportunity to ask him yourself. In fact, though the formal invitation will be coming to your chambers in a little while, you might as well be informed now. You are invited to dine with his royal highness this evening."
Despite herself, Sinalas could feel the color draining from her face. She did her best to keep up appearances, however, when she replied.
"My goodness, what an unexpected honor!" she gushed, "Truly, I am honored! I did not expect the high prince to deign to dine with a humble freelady like myself! Why, I do not even hold any land yet!" As she spoke, she could feel her stomach twist itself into knots in worry. Not for herself for the danger eating with the high prince represented, but for her people. Lord Ankur claimed it was temporary and due to poor lodging possibilities. But she had not known the high prince to let that stop him in the past conquests. Him relocating here was a good indicator that her home country would in fact be next.
"Small wonder my lady, you are the official envoy to Ayalash after all. It would be only natural for the high prince, the top representative for Druimar, to wish to converse with the representative for Ayalash, their new neighbor," Lord Ankur replied, finishing with a smile that did not reach his eyes, and only reinforced the image of a barracuda sensing prey.
"Well in that case, I shall have to prepare myself then. It would not do to be unpresentable before the high prince himself, after all. I am sorry Chaithia," Lady Sinalas said, turning to her lady's maid, "But it looks like we will have to postpone our visit to your father a day or two. He is ill you see, Lord Ankur," she continued, turning back, "And he has been too ill to contact his daughter for near to a month now. I do not know much about how it is in Druimar, but I may assume you too value the importance of family and loyalty, may I not?" She finished sweetly.
"Indeed," Lord Ankur replied with a dismissive tone, "Family is important. Loyalty even more so. Almost as important as purity." A strange light entered his eyes as he spoke the last sentence. Sinalas very nearly failed to control her reaction the reference to the Druimari religion caused in her. Though the fear of the Demontouched, and to a lesser extent the Demontainted was present in nearly every part of the continent, excepting the Havali to the north, who claimed to have found a way to purify some of them, nobody took it to the extremes of the Druimari Church of The Fire of Deliverance. Though Sinalas had never met any adherents until these past few days, the things she had heard and read were more than enough for her not to wish to inflict their presence upon anyone. All civilized countries, even the Havali, knew it was sufficient to exile the unfortunate souls that had been marked by the demons for possession. Better they live out their lives in isolation in the western isles. To burn them alive in the custom of the Druimari was simply barbaric. The practice had been abandoned everywhere else hundreds of years ago after the Great Catastrophe, but it seemed the Druimari were slow to adapt.
Gods preserve us all if they take over the continent, Sinalas thought to herself.
"In any case, you are invited for tonight's banquet. You will not be the only guest; we are expecting the high prince to bring some of his own," Lord Ankur added after a brief pause.
Speaking exactly none of her mind, she instead opted to make her way out of the conversation. She had much to think about.
"Glad to hear it, Lord Ankur. I shall of course be attending. If you will excuse me my lord, I shall have to retire, so that I may prepare for the occasion."
"Of course, my lady," Lord Ankur responded, before he and his valet walked past them and continued down the corridor Sinalas had come from. As Sinalas and Chaithia walked past the still open door to the meeting chamber, she glanced inside. Lord Fruymun, once a portly and jovial man, was hunched over the table. Worry and hardship had chipped at his appearance, leaving behind sunken cheeks and dark eyes. Sinalas silently sympathized with the man. The late king had only been his third cousin, but they had been close in childhood, she knew. In happier times, he had spoken of their childhood together many times, and the king had visited with his family. That would be no more. But Sinalas had her own country to worry about. She moved along and headed for her chambers, Chaithia hot on her heels.
'We will have to use this opportunity,' Sinalas signed to her partner, 'If the prince is coming here, he might have brought something to indicate his plans or intentions.'
'You're thinking of Dreamwalking, aren't you,' Chaithia signed back. Sinalas still didn't know how she managed to convey emotion through hand signals, but somehow, Chaithia managed.
'You disapprove?'
'The Druimari are renowned for their intolerance, even of the lesser taints. If caught, you will be killed. You know this,' Chaithia signed.
'I love it when you worry about me,' Sinalas deflected.
'I always worry about you.'
'I know,' Sinalas signed, and thought she managed to convey a teasing tone in her own hand signals. Still, she had to admit, her partner had a point. Dreamwalking was a risk. Even if the Druimari shouldn't be able to detect her except by Testing her, which would be diplomatically impossible. Except... What would the Druimari care for diplomacy, at the rate they were going?
'It can't be helped,' Sinalas added after a pause, 'Risk or no, their guards will be ready for the usual means of entry, and we should get out of here soon, rather than late.' Her hand worked in a flurry to communicate the message.
'The risk might be less if we could distract Lord Ankur and the prince,' Chaithia replied, 'Regarding the prince, he might be distracted enough by the banquet if you excuse yourself in the usual way. As for Lord Ankur, perhaps we could find him some reeds to occupy him.'
Taken aback, Sinalas laughed, all the while she was trying her best to keep it down. Chaithia smiled crookedly at her laughing Ladyship as they walked back to their chambers to prepare for the evening.
---
The dining hall was covered in paintings depicting generations of the Fruymun lords and ladies, or else their accumulated collections of artworks and artifacts. The grandeur did not succeed in hiding the sense of doom however. In addition to Lady Sinalas, Lord Ankur, Lord Fruymun, two lords she did not recognize, and High Prince Gudrol himself, the high prince had brought several of his retinue. Mostly, these were a collection of lords and one lady from territories that joined the Druimari empire. In addition, there were two priests from the Druimari church. These latter two were clad in red, orange and black robes that hid most of their features from the neck down. On the chest, over their heart, sat a polished rondel, fastened in place with black leather straps. The symbol of their church, the Church of the Fire of Deliverance, was emblazoned on the rondel. It was a circle with a short line running through the top, as well as a smaller circle which overlapped with the bottom of the bigger circle. Surrounding the circles was the outline of a flame. The two priests refused all food offered to them, preferring to sip at their drinks and watching the gathering.
The host, lord Eron Fruymun, looked to Sinalas like a shadow of his former self. The sunken qualities she had glimpsed earlier was even more pronounced in person. He sat, poking at his food, not making any real effort of eating.
To Sinalas' right sat a young lord. he was dressed in a Druimari military uniform. To her left was the younger of the two priests. Brown hair framed a youthful face, and his mannerisms seemed pleasant enough. While he did not initiate any conversations, he had nodded and smiled gently as she had sat down and offered a polite greeting. The lord on the other hand, had not even seemed to notice her, telling one of the unknown lords, if that was what they were, a story from one of the battles he had partaken in.
The banquet had begun with a short speech from the high prince, welcoming them, then speaking of taking up diplomatic relations with Druimar's newest neighbors. It was apparent to Sinalas that he had made speeches like that before. They sounded rote. To Sinalas' knowledge, only a handful such speeches had so far been met with actual peace between said neighbors, and one of those was the single largest kingdom this side of the Great Range, the sheer mountain range that separated the continent of Uýol from the Demons' Plains to the south, and the domains of the Hollow King to the east. That peace, Sinalas suspected, was kept by strength, not good will.
Never the less, the two other lords, whose garb hinted at them being neither Druimari nor Cannechi in origin, seemed mollified by the speech. One of them, an older lord who presented himself as Baron Fizen, bowed while still seated and replied that he would be delighted to take up relations on behalf of his prince. Before returning his attention to his glass, however, he glanced at Sinalas, or rather, Lady Sinalas. His facial expression was unreadable. A shiver ran down her spine. Nevertheless, she copied him in expressing her enthusiasm for relations and opportunities for trade. One of the higher ranking lords in the high prince's retinue shifted in his seat, adding confirmation to Sinalas' suspicions. Still, she would need more. The plan would have to move forward.
After the third course had been served, Sinalas' act began. Lady Sinalas mumbled, just loud enough for her tablemates to hear her, about feeling light-headed. The young priest turned his head slightly in her direction, but said nothing. She smiled in his direction and resumed eating. Just before finishing, she took the next step, sighing heavily and reaching for her glass, which was still half-full of wine. She added a deliberate tremble to her hand, spilling a few drops, and gulped entirely too much of it down. This time, the young lord noticed, as well as the two sat opposite her.
That should do it.
She signaled to Chaithia the lady's maid and whispered, just loud enough for her tablemates, "I'm not feeling too well. Would you be a dear and find a place I can lie down, nearby?"
Chaithia nodded and left the room. They already knew exactly which room to use, but the charade had to be played out. If they could make a clean job of it, that would, after all was said and done, be best. When Chaithia returned, she whispered that she had found a room to Lady Sinalas, who stood up.
"My lords, my lady, I beg your pardon, but I am not feeling at all well. If I may be excused, I should like to have a lie down," she said, adding a slight tremor to her voice. High prince Gudrol nodded to her.
"Of course, Lady Sinalas. To your health," he replied before he raised a glass and toasted her in Druimari fashion. Eerily, he did not break eye contact once, even as she made to exit the dining hall.
No sooner had she lain down in the sofa in a small room two doors down from the dining hall, than she began the craft for which she had first been ennobled. She immediately went to sleep.
