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“You call this a proper escort?” Zedd roared. “Well, it will have to do.” He turned to Kahlan and bowed deeply. “My apologies, Mother Confessor, for this man’s insolence, and his feeble effort at an escort.”
Her eyes went to Zedd and she gave a slight bow of the head.
Though he knew he had no right, the shape of her in that dress was making Richard sweat.
As best they could, the men in the ranks kept a wary eye to Kahlan, waiting, and when she started forward they stepped in with her. Dust rose around the horses as they started through the gates.
Zedd fell in next to Richard as the procession started moving, leaning toward the captain as he passed. “Count your blessings the Mother Confessor doesn’t know your name, Captain!” he snapped.
Richard saw the captain sag with relief when they moved well past him. Richard smiled to himself. He had wanted to give them a worry, but he had no idea it would be so effective a worry.
There was as much order to the city inside the walls as there was disorder outside its gates. Shops with their wares displayed in windows lined the paved streets radiating out from the fortress castle. The streets lacked the dust and smells of those outside. There were i
Men in fine, richly colored coats, escorting ladies in elaborate dresses, went about their business with calm grace. One thing that wasn’t different about the people inside the walls was that they, too, bowed deeply when they saw the Mother Confessor approaching. As the sound of the horses’ hooves on the stone, and armor clanking, drew their attention, and they saw Kahlan, they backed away and bowed, although not as quickly. There was no snap in their deference, no sincerity in their submission. There was a wisp of contempt in their eyes. Kahlan ignored them. The people inside the walls also noticed the sword more than those outside had noticed it. Richard saw the men’s eyes glide over it as he passed, saw the women’s cheeks color with disdain.
Women’s hair was still short, but occasionally there was some that touched the shoulders. None longer. That, too, made Kahlan stand out all the more, the way her hair cascaded off her shoulders and partway down her back. There was no woman with hair that even approached it. Richard was glad he hadn’t cut it for her.
One of the horsemen was given orders, and he broke rank in a dead run toward the castle to a
Before they reached the castle gates, trumpets a
Some of the terraces held stone urns that marched off to either side, some of them still holding greenery, or flowers that must have been brought out daily from greenhouses. Broad flat areas displayed hedges trimmed in intricate patterns, even mazes. Closer to the castle walls, hedges were larger, cut to mimic objects, or animals. They extended off to the sides as far as the eye could see.
The walls of the castle soared into the air above them. The complicated stonework left Richard awestruck. He had never been this close to anything man-made that was this huge. Shota’s palace was big, but not this big, and he had never gotten close to it. Towers and turrets, walls and ramps, balconies and niches, all rose high into the air above them. He marveled at what Kahlan had told him, that this was an insignificant kingdom, and wondered at what the castles in the more important lands must be like.
The horsemen had left them at the rampart, and as they were swallowed into the castle the foot soldiers, six abreast with room for another six to each side, marched through the enormous pair of brass-clad doors and fa
The room was immense. A gleaming sea of black and white marble tiles swept away ahead of them. Polished stone columns, so large it would take ten people holding hands to reach around each, and fluted with spiraling, carved roping, rose in a line to both sides of the room, supporting row upon row of arches at the edge of the ribbed, vaulted center ceiling. Richard felt as little as a bug.
Huge tapestries depicting heroic scenes of vast battles hung on the side walls. He had seen tapestries before—his brother had two. Richard rather favored them, and had always thought they were a grand extravagance. But Michael’s tapestries were to these as a stick drawing in the dirt was to a fine oil painting. Richard hadn’t even known such majestic things as these existed.
Zedd leaned a little closer to him and whispered. “Put your eyes back in your head, and shut your mouth.”
Chagrined, Richard snapped his mouth closed and put his eyes to the front. He leaned close to Zedd, and asked in a low whisper, “Is this the kind of place she is used to?”
“No. The Mother Confessor is used to much better than this.”
Overwhelmed, Richard straightened himself.
Ahead lay a grand stairway. By Richard’s estimation, his entire house would fit, with room to spare, on its central landing. Carved marble railings swooped down each side. Between themselves and the stairs waited a knot of people.
At their front stood Queen Milena, an amply fed woman in layered silks of garish colors. She wore a cape trimmed in rare spotted fox. Her hair was as long as Kahlan’s. At first, Richard couldn’t figure out what she was holding, but when he heard the yapping, he realized it was a small dog.
As they approached, everyone but the Queen dropped to a knee in a deep bow. When they stopped, Richard stared openly—he had never seen a queen before. Zedd gave him a sideways kick. He dropped to one knee and, following Zedd’s example, bowed his head. The only two who did not kneel or bow were Kahlan and the Queen. No sooner was he down than everyone was back up, with him coming to his feet last. Richard guessed that the two women must not have to bow to each other.
The Queen stared at Kahlan, who, with her head held high, didn’t break her calm countenance and didn’t even look at the Queen. No one spoke a word.
Kahlan lifted her hand a little, only about a foot away from her body, with her arm held unbending, her hand held limply in place. The Queen’s expression turned darker. Kahlan’s didn’t change. Richard figured that if anyone had blinked, he would have heard it. The Queen turned slightly to the side and handed the little dog to a man in a bright green, sleeved doublet and black tights with red-and-yellow striped pantaloons. There was a whole gaggle of men behind the Queen dressed in similar fashion. The dog growled viciously and bit the man’s hand—he did his best not to notice.
The Queen lowered herself to both knees in front of Kahlan. A young man in plain black clothes immediately came to the Queen’s side, holding a tray out in front of himself. He bowed, head bent impossibly low, holding the tray out to the Queen. She took a small towel from the tray, dipped it in a silver bowl of water, and used it to wipe her lips. She returned the towel to the tray…
The Queen took the Mother Confessor’s hand lightly in her own, and kissed it with her freshly cleaned lips.