A Shore Too Far - By Kevin Manus-Pennings Page 0,17

unspoken neutral ground should we need it. Gonnaban and I waited there while our messenger requested a meeting with Eglanna.

In moments, riders carrying lanterns—by all appearances Eglanna, Eldrazz, Esmir, Kannafen, and a Kullobrini escort—exited the tent city through a narrow opening in the swath of red cloth that lay on the ground.

I rose to greet them as they swung off their horses. Esmir again carried wine.

“Welcome,” I said.

All five dark-skinned Kullobrini bowed and approached.

I gestured for Ujor to sit, and Gonnaban and I seated ourselves.

“With your permission, Princess, I have brought more wine,” Eglanna began.

Eldrazz seemed sullen and crossed his arms as soon as he sat.

I could feel Gonnaban’s eyes working at all of our guests, his body tense. I waved away the wine. “I’m sorry to bring you away from your supper table, Captain, but I wanted a word before the hour was too late.”

I locked eyes with Eglanna and waited for him to look away.

Moments passed silently by, with Gonnaban glancing from Ujor to me, the tension in my old war companion’s body rising with each second. When Gonnaban jumped to his feet, I suddenly understood his outrage.

“You see, Highness! No breeding! The brass of it!” Gonnaban yelled, pointing nearly in Eglanna’s face. “To sit unbowed, it’s—it’s—”

A flash of rage arose in Captain Eglanna’s eyes and was just as quickly suppressed.

What I had missed all along, and what Gonnaban had seen but misinterpreted, now dawned in me brighter and brighter. Gonnaban spends his life among royalty, as do the servants outside my chamber door at Eric’s palace, and so bowing before one’s betters comes instantly, without thought. Likewise, to see such traditions not observed by others, particularly when you serve that royalty faithfully, is a tremendous affront, one that seems as deep to you as it should to the royalty you serve.

But Gonnaban’s outrage was misplaced. While Esmir’s cavalier attitude could be explained as the familiar ways of a trusted and elderly servant, Eglanna’s was of a different and shocking source.

I stood slowly and placed a hand on Gonnaban’s outstretched arm, lowering it from Eglanna’s face.

Eglanna held my gaze icily and did not rise as protocol demanded. It was a gaze I had seen before, across both banquet tables and battlefields.

“Gonnaban,” I said softly, holding Ujor’s gaze, “Captain Ujor’s actions are not those of the ill bred. They are the actions of an equal.”

Gonnaban stiffened as though from pain. “What?”

I did not look at Gonnaban. “Am I right, Captain?”

Esmir glanced from me to Ujor, her sweet disposition unperturbed by the rumblings of royalty before her.

Kannafen straightened visibly in his chair.

Eldrazz’s eyes went wide and moved to Eglanna.

Captain Eglanna rose slowly.

“I am Prince Eglanna Ujor,” he said, now only matching my gaze with some difficulty, “of the Royal House of Ujor of Kullobrini. I come in peace, and I apologize for the deception.”

Chapter 4

My father often spoke about what he called the Mask Imperial, the visage a ruler must maintain so that all onlookers know that there is nothing he wouldn’t do to execute his will, nothing he wouldn’t do to preserve the kingdom. As I glared at Prince Eglanna, I saw him struggle to don that very composure. I saw him try and fail. He would hold my gaze only a moment before looking back down at the table.

“What right,” I began, “do you have to set foot on our soil with troops? What right do you have to lie to the sovereigns that rule here?”

The prince opened his mouth as though to speak and then closed it.

“What of you, Eldrazz?” I pressed. “I sense your bloodline as well, your unwillingness to bow. Do you share in this lie?”

Eldrazz leapt to his feet, his blood hot in his face. “I did not face hazard and hardship to be spoken to in this manner!”

“No,” I said coolly. “You came here to lie, though for what purpose I cannot say yet.”

“I am a prince with all rights,” he cried. “Is this how you treat noble blood?”

“Perhaps I should tell you how I treat noble blood that lands on my shore with troops?” I asked, seething.

Both princes stiffened. Kannafen stood quickly and reached to calm Eldrazz. Slowly, the younger brother began to regain his footing.

“Please,” the younger prince said, “you must consider the matter from our side, High General. We found ourselves forced to land—”

“I will not hear you out,” I interrupted. “The offense you have given is to Prince Eric Asgrand. He will hear your explanations, if there can be