Lorkan closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as the girl’s whisper grew fierce.
“My lord,” he said finally as Olna drew back, offering Vaelin only a fractional bow, “I duly accept your most kind offer.”
“Report to the barracks at first light tomorrow,” Vaelin told him. “Lord Orven will begin your training. Also, two-thirds of your pay will be allotted to Mistress Olna for the duration of your service, regardless of whether you marry or not. Mistress Ilneh,” he said, turning away before Lorkan could say anything else, “you will receive a discretionary payment of . . .” He paused for a moment’s consideration. “Three golds for the distress and embarrassment caused to your family.” He forestalled the woman’s objections by inclining his head at Orven. “Next case, my lord.”
Mistress Ilneh had to be bustled out by two North Guard, despite her voluble protestations, whilst Lorkan and Olna left quietly. The young Gifted’s shoulders possessed a slump of defeat, though the guarded look of pure enmity he shot at Vaelin before leaving the chamber made him wonder if it wasn’t another example of his capacity for deception.
“He’ll most likely run,” he told Orven. “Best put a triple guard on the docks tonight. Make sure at least one is Gifted.”
“I will, my lord.” The North Guard commander moved back, slamming his staff onto the flagstones once and raising his voice. “The embassy of the Merchant King Lian Sha will come forward!”
The embassy consisted of two principal ambassadors and a retinue of a dozen, all men. Vaelin felt the ambassadors to be a mismatched pair, one dressed in richly embroidered silks and somewhere close to his sixtieth year with an elegantly coiffured steel-grey moustache and a narrow beard. The man at his side was shorter but considerably broader, dressed in a much more simple quilted jerkin emblazoned on the breast with a circular wheel-like design. He was also younger by several years, but his blunt, weathered features told of a much harder life than his companion. Even if the man hadn’t worn a sword on his belt, Vaelin would still have known him instantly as a warrior.
“Great lord of wide renown,” the bearded man said in near-perfect Realm Tongue, he and the warrior both bowing. “On behalf of Lian Sha, Ruler by the Grace of Heaven of the many lands of the Venerable Kingdom, I, Kohn Shen, offer greetings and gifts.”
A member of the retinue, plainly attired in garb of black cotton, moved forward in a low crouch. He kept his eyes averted as he approached the dais to set a small chest down on the first step. “Please,” Kohn Shen went on, “accept this most unworthy offering as but the first of what we hope will be many tokens of esteem between our kingdoms.”
“This is not a kingdom,” Vaelin said, getting up from the Lord’s Chair to retrieve the box. “Merely a province, and all gifts presented here are the property of my queen.” He opened the box to find four jewels set into a velvet cushion, each one different in colour.
“Ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond,” Ellese said, coming to his side, her face suddenly alive with curiosity. “Each one at least twice the average weight, I’d say.” Vaelin had noted before how her interest became piqued by only three things: the prospect of combat, handsome young men and anything related to money. He supposed she had Reva to thank for the first, Lady Veliss to thank for the second and no one for the third.
Lyrna always likes jewels, he thought, returning his gaze to the chest as he thought of the various trinkets with which the queen adorned herself. Though she’d probably consider the size vulgar.
“A fine gift, Ambassador Kohn,” he told the bearded man, closing the chest and beckoning a guard forward to take it. “I’m sure she will be pleased.”
He saw a slight hesitation in the ambassador’s response. Vaelin knew the notion of a woman holding authority over men was largely alien in the Far West, even sacrilegious in some places. The ambassador, however, was willing to suffer the ignominy today. “As will our king, I’m sure,” he said bowing again before extending a long-nailed hand to the warrior at his side. “May I present General Gian Nuishin, commander of the Seventh Cohort of the Venerable Host.”
Vaelin gave the man a courteous nod. “General.”
“I regret the general has only a partial understanding of your language,” Kohn Shen said. “Therefore, I shall be our king’s voice at this meeting.”