It was almost time to meet Merilla, he realized with a start as he nibbled on the food, and so he rushed to throw on clothes and ran through the streets to reach the millinery shop. “She’s been waiting; her mother thought you were a phony, but I had faith,” Daley said as soon as Kestrel entered the door. He went back to the stairs and called, and Kestrel heard Merilla’s footsteps on the stairs, then saw her standing at the doorway, shining and beautiful in her gown, looking at him with a dazzling smile that disappeared a moment later.
“What’s wrong?” Kestrel asked.
“Where’s your shirt?” Merilla asked.
“Oh, I left it at the palace. I have a room there now. I thought I could change when we got back,” he declared.
“Tsk,” Daley said from behind his counter. “Your mother is going to be furious when she finds out he rates his own room at the palace! She was so sure he was a homeless fortune hunter,” he laughed gently.
Merilla laughed. “He did hunt a fortune for me, in a fashion. That yeti he killed gave me enough to buy my own house!”
Kestrel was delighted to see the girl in such good spirits after the debacle of their encounter the previous night. “Let’s be on our way,” he suggested, and went out in the street to flag down a carriage to protect Merilla’s gown from the elements.
They rode in silence on the way to the palace, sitting across from one another, Kestrel discreetly examining Merilla’s beauty.
“Yes, I’m wearing make up!” she finally laughed. “A girl’s got to do something special when invited to the palace! I’ll never be going back like this again.”
They disembarked at the palace gate, and Merilla was impressed when Kestrel was immediately ushered inside, ahead of the line of invitees waiting to enter and attend the reception as guests. Holding hands, they walked to the correct wing of the palace and entered Kestrel’s suite.
“Oh Kestrel, all of this is for you?” Merilla asked in amazement as he changed shirts, buttoning up the flimsy material that exposed his skin for everyone to see.
“I feel like I’m on display,” he complained.
“And how do you think this feels?” Merilla asked, tugging at the low collar on her gown, one that showed her cleavage.
Before Kestrel could answer, there was a knock at the door, and Kestrel answered to find the steward there. “The Doge wanted assurance that you felt well enough to attend tonight,” the man politely let Kestrel know he was late.
“I’m ready,” Kestrel replied, strapping on his sword.
“Regrettably sir, no weapons are allowed in the reception while the Doge is present,” the steward informed him.
“Is a staff allowed?” Kestrel asked.
The steward opined that it was, then escorted the couple to the great hall. A crowd stood at the doorway, while the Doge stood waiting along one great wall, and Kestrel and Merilla joined him there. “You may not have done anything quite like this,” the Doge said pleasantly. “All you need to do is remain here with a smile frozen on your face and say hello to everyone who comes by. We haven’t have the pleasure, my dear,” he spoke to Merilla, who immediately dropped a curtsey.
“No, please rise,” the Doge extended his hand and helped her stand up. “Tonight others will curtsey to you as the companion of our honored guest. You do not need to bow to any man or woman tonight.”
He nodded to the steward, who asked Merilla’s name, then told his staff as he walked up to the doors and allowed the crowd to enter.
The next hour was an exhausting blur for both Kestrel and Merilla, who were not as practiced as the Doge in making idle small talk. Kestrel was most conscious of the eyes that focused on his chest as he tried to speak politely to each person, while Merilla was confused by the number of men who commented on her beauty and tried to discreetly ask if they could call upon her, even as she stood next to Kestrel.
The end of the line of visitors was occupied by the body of men who came with the ambassador from Uniontown. The men strode by insolently, barely noticing Kestrel, and leering at Merilla in an insulting manner, until the ambassador himself came, the very last person in the line.
“So we meet at last,” he spoke to Kestrel. “I was told to expect someone more imposing, and perhaps more exotic in appearance. I hope you can put up a suitable struggle.”
“What do you mean?” Kestrel asked, not able to comprehend what the man referred to, as he felt warmth and tightness begin to grow on the surface of his chest.
“Your goddess had few good choices apparently when she designated her champion for your side,” the ambassador pointed at Kestrel’s chest. “I am Amyrilon; I was chosen through a grueling process that left no doubt I deserved to be a champion of our side.”
“You’re a champion? Chosen by a deity?” Kestrel asked, comprehension beginning to dawn.
“One of the champions, and after I defeat you, probably the pre-eminent champion for our new gods from the south,” the ambassador affirmed. “There are new powers rising, and coming to consume all these lazy, soft lands in the north. The old gods are too weak to fight against it; they discovered it too late, and raised their champion too late, and chose an inferior one at that,” he sneered at Kestrel.
“The southern gods felt your elevation, and were surprised that it should happen so far north, in such an insignificant place, but they sent me up here to find you and deal with you anyway, just to be prudent. Why else would I be here? This insignificant village deserves no ambassador.”
He stood silently and looked at the stunned Kestrel with a triumphant gleam in his eye, then moved on, looking at Merilla. “Perhaps you’ll turn out to be a plaything worthy of a champion, at least for a little while,” he sneered at her, then left.
“Castona said he seemed evil, but I had no idea,” Kestrel muttered softly. “He’s either an embodiment of evil, or completely insane.”
“Estone does not feel safe with that one in the nation,” the Doge commented, having overheard the conversation. “What are these new southern gods he speaks of?” the Doge asked Kestrel.
“I have no idea,” Kestrel answered, watching the back of the ambassador as he disappeared into the crowd that was milling about in the great hall. “But he is frightening.”
Music started up, and a dance floor was cleared, as couples began to rhythmically step into the patterns of the formal dances that were performed at the palace. Kestrel and Merilla walked over to the food buffet, stopping every five feet to say hello again to someone they had just met, or to clarify their relationship, or to answer where they lived, and if they were or were not neighbors with the questioner.
As they reach the middle of the floor, the music stopped, and then after a moment of silence, a new tune began, a stately one that caused everyone else to leave the floor, isolating Kestrel and Merilla alone in the center, the focus of all eyes.
“Shall we dance?” Merilla asked him mischievously.
“I’ve never danced in my life,” Kestrel answered in a panic.
Just then a flower was thrown out onto the floor near them. Kestrel looked at the yellow flower, then looked as another yellow flower was thrown on the floor on the other side of them. Men in red, the Uniontown attendants, shouldered their way through and out to the front of the crowd that was watching Kestrel and Merilla, and the ambassador was with them. He felt another sudden surge of pain on his chest, as the crest of the goddess began to burn, serving as a call to action.
“What type if flower is that?” Kestrel asked Merilla, suddenly frightened by what he thought was developing on the palace dance floor.
“I think it’s a rose,” Merilla answered. “Kestrel, are we going to dance?” she asked, holding her arms wide and in position to begin.
The third and fourth roses came flying from the hands of the men in red, forming a perfect square, with Kestrel and Merilla in the center.
“I don’t think we’re going to dance,” Kestrel answered softly. He looked around, and realized that he had left his staff leaning against the wall where they had received guests. He had no other weapons, as per the steward’s rule.
A square of yellow roses meant that life-threatening conditions were imminent — he remembered that from
