The Priestess and the Thief Kindred Tales 30 - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,28

of them looked good enough to be presented at the Tenebrian Court.

The entrance to the palace was watched by two Tenebrian guards wearing elaborate uniforms with lots of gold braid, who were stationed on either side of the closed gate. Each one was standing at attention under a little roof of sorts, which stuck out from the side of the palace wall and sheltered them from the sun—or maybe the rain Elli thought, remembering what Tully had said about Tenebrians hating rainy weather.

“Halt foreigners—why are you here and what business do you have in the Tenebrian Court?” the first guard asked, frowning at them as they approached.

“Lady Ellilah and her Heart’s Companion, Roke, here at the bequest of the Duke of the Closewilde Lands,” Roke said sharply. “We are here to attend the Formal Introduction Ceremony. I suggest you let us in before His Grace becomes displeased.”

The first guard consulted a handwritten list on a scroll of parchment and nodded his head, his plumed helmet bobbing.

“Yes, your names are here. You may proceed.”

He made a motion to the other guard who pulled a lever set into the side of the high palace wall, which glittered in the light of the setting sun.

With a creaking groan, the metal portcullis which guarded the front archway began to rise, until at last the spikes were high enough that they wouldn’t even brush the top of Roke’s head as they passed beneath.

“Enter, at the bequest of the Duke of the Closewild Lands,” the first guard intoned, nodding at the raised portcullis. “But remember that you must obey all the rules and customs of the Tenebrian people whilst you visit with us. For here, within the palace walls, we are no longer on Pok, but on Mother Tenebria.”

“Yes, of course.” Roke nodded and extended an arm to Elli. “Shall we?”

“Oh…oh, yes, of course.” Feeling flustered, she took his arm and they walked under the archway and into the palace courtyard.

She had no idea of all the strange things that would happen to her before she left again.

Sixteen

The first thing Elli noticed was that there were covered walkways everywhere. Even the open courtyard had many little covered lanes winding through it, all branching off from the main path, which she and Roke were walking on.

“Why in the world do you think they need so many walkways?” she asked under her breath. “And why are they all covered?”

“The Tenebrians dislike rain,” he murmured back. “They don’t want to get wet, apparently.”

“Oh, yes.” Elli remembered again that Tully had told her something like that on their ride to Capital City. She’d seemed to think the Tenebrians were frightened of the rain—though why would any people be afraid of water?

Elli didn’t know, but she wondered if she would get a chance to find out.

They made their way through the open courtyard and down a short set of steps to a set of elaborately carved double doors which seemed to lead into the main part of the palace. There were two more guards here, but they didn’t ask Elli and Roke’s names. They simply opened the doors silently, allowing them to pass into the cool, dimly lighted hall within.

The hall was broad and long with a high, arched ceiling, hung with banners and garlands of alien flowers Elli had never seen before. The floor was a checkerboard pattern of creamy white and deep brown. Both kinds of stone were polished to a high gloss and had little golden flecks inlaid in them, which made the entire floor glimmer in the torchlight.

The torches themselves were placed at three-foot intervals along the walls, held in brackets that resembled pale blue Tenebrian hands. Their flames were golden-blue and entirely smokeless.

There was no one else in the long hallway and Elli couldn’t help thinking she was glad Roke was with her. If she had been all alone, the spooky blue hand torch holders and the perfectly empty hall would have been deeply unsettling.

“Looks like we’re the only ones here,” Roke murmured, his deep voice echoing in the empty hallway. “Guess we’d better go find out where the rest of the Tenebrian Court is.”

“I guess so,” Elli murmured, disliking the way the empty corridor echoed her words.

They proceeded down the long hallway, Roke’s boots tapping on the cream and brown stone floor and Elli’s slippers making a soft shush-shush sound while her skirts swished around her legs. The silence and solitude was just making Elli think of stories she’d read as a little girl about