out to be an interesting day. The riders still sat on their horses, impassive, as if waiting to charge. There was a sort of menace in their stillness.
‘Perhaps your retainers would care to join us,’ his father added. ‘It seems like a very large party for a social visit.’
Tyrion did not miss the quick look of warning that flashed between Father and Korhien.
‘The roads grow dangerous again,’ Korhien said. Tyrion sensed that he would like to have said something else but was constrained by the presence of the others.
What was going on here?
chapter two
The sitting room was damp and fusty and cold, and Tyrion could tell that the Lady Malene was less than impressed. For the first time he felt ashamed of his father and his home.
Looking at her raiment woven from silks and magical cloths he could not even name, Tyrion saw for the first time how very shabbily he and his father were dressed. For so long he’d had nothing to compare his family to other than the local villagers who were, he now realised, simple mountain folk.
It was obvious that Korhien and Malene belonged to a very different order of people, and one to which he felt he and his father did not. Perhaps his father once had, but, if so, no longer.
Lady Malene sniffed the air and looked at the chipped wooden armchairs. They were not padded or cushioned and he guessed that was something else she was not used to. Korhien laughed. ‘I have been in army camps that were more prepossessing, Arathion. Not much chance of you going soft out here.’
‘Be seated, I will soon have the fire lit,’ said Father, and he was good as his word. He exited the chamber and returned with some of their precious supply of winter logs. He tossed them into the fireplace any old way and lit them with a word of power.
Each log erupted simultaneously into blue mystical flame when he spoke. Sparks flickered and faint popping sounds filled the air as the sap within ignited. Tyrion looked at his father in amazement. It was the most, and the most obvious, magic he had seen him use in years. He wanted to run and tell Teclis but was kept frozen to the spot by curiosity, a desire to see what extraordinary thing might happen next.
Thornberry brought in a clay bottle of wine and three goblets on an ancient-looking bronze tray. She seemed uncomfortable but tried not to show it, keeping her face stone-like in its lack of expression. She placed the wine on the low table and retreated from the room as quickly as she could.
His father gestured for the guests to be seated. ‘There will be food soon.’
Tyrion wondered at this as well. His father must have given instructions for the food to be prepared which was something of a wonder in and of itself. Often he forgot to eat for days at a time, and, when Thornberry was not there, Tyrion had to cook for himself and Teclis.
Korhien and Malene sat while his father poured the wine. Tyrion went over to the fire and stood with his back to it, luxuriating in the unaccustomed heat.
‘To what do we owe the honour of this visit?’ his father asked eventually.
‘It is time,’ said Korhien. ‘The twins are almost of the age to be presented at the court of the Phoenix King.’
‘It is their right,’ said Lady Malene. ‘And their duty. They are of the Blood of Aenarion.’
‘Yes, they are,’ said his father. He sounded oddly sharp and looked more combative than Tyrion had ever seen him. His father was never aggressive to anyone. ‘I am wondering why House Emeraldsea has chosen to send its fairest daughter and its greatest ally at court to collect them.’
Tyrion felt another shock. Collect them. What did his father mean? He could tell from Malene’s expression she had not expected this response either. She had the look of a woman who people did not talk to in that tone. Korhien too was looking at Tyrion’s father oddly but not without admiration.
‘What do you mean?’ Malene asked eventually.
‘I mean for the past fifteen years or so, House Emeraldsea has shown little enough interest in my sons. And yet today, here you are, reminding me of my paternal duty to have them presented before the Phoenix Throne in the company of a troop of armoured warriors. I am curious as to why.’
‘They must be presented,’ said Korhien. ‘You know the law as well