them.
'It's bad enough being a traitor, but being a coward as well....'
'He must be some sort of mage, disguising himself. No one could be that vile and look that young.'
'I'm surprised his own god hasn't struck him down dead before this.'
Those were the personal comments; he was fairly certain he wasn't hearing the others—the speculations on how everything vile that was ever said about Karse must be true. How Solaris must have
Servants pointedly ignored him as he passed, and once he reached his suite, he found it precisely as he had left it. Which meant, of course, that no servant had set foot in here to clean it, and quite probably no servant would from this moment on. They would 'forget,' or leave the rooms until last, then 'fall ill' just as they reached his door. If he had thought things were uncomfortable when he and Ulrich had arrived, well... the hostility now was more than double. All the old prejudices were springing back to life, with redoubled vigor for having been suppressed for so long.
He stood in the doorway for a moment, trying to make up his mind about what he should do. Should he start packing and leave this very moment? He thought he had just about enough money to get to the border, if he stayed in very modest inns. He would have to be circumspect when he talked, but his Valdemaran was fairly good now; he might be able to pass for a foreign priest from anywhere but Karse.
Would Florian be willing to go along with the scheme?
He heard footsteps down the hall, and moved inside, quickly, closing the door behind him. Maybe he couldn't get Florian to help, but the idea of purloining a uniform gave him another notion.
He started to turn toward his bedroom, planning to start packing immediately, but a knock on his door startled him into immobility.
Who could it be? He could think of any number of possibilities, and few of them made him
The knock came again. 'Karal?' said a soft female voice. 'I know you're in there; I can sense you, and I know you aren't more than two steps from the door. It's Herald Talia, and you might as well open up.'
'I see the shunning has begun already,' she said dryly, and moved past him so he could close the door again. He nodded; both the Karsites and the Holderkin used the ritual of 'shunning,' where someone who had been cast out of the community was ignored and avoided from that moment on by all the faithful. It had driven sensitive people in Karse to suicide before this; presumably it had the same effect on Holderkin.
'I'm dealing with the Heralds on your behalf,' she told him, taking the candle from the holder beside the door and moving with it to the other side of the room to light the lamps for him. 'I am sorry that idiot Jarim started all this; it's going to take some time to untangle it and more time to undo all the damage from his foolish fanaticism.'
Karal sagged down into a chair, depression overcoming him. 'It's never going to be untangled,' he said bluntly. 'And I'm not sure it's worth the effort to try. Even if you manage to convince the Heralds, even if by some miracle you manage to convince everyone else, you'll never convince Jarim. It would be better for everyone if I just go home and let Solaris send another envoy in my place.'
'Jarim would win,' Talia replied. 'Why should you let him?'
'Why shouldn't I?' he countered. 'I wasn't particularly effective
She didn't immediately reply as she went about the room lighting lamps and candles, and he closed his eyes for a moment. 'Herald Talia—
She turned then, and looked at him with a solemn expression on her face, a single curl of reddish-brown hair falling over one eye. 'Have you been recalled?' she asked, the candle clasped in both hands.