The Eagle And The Nightingales

larger harp, and slung it across her back. It did not look as incongruous as he would have thought.

'Shall we?' she asked, gesturing to the door. He led the way; she locked the door after them both.

She disappeared into Tyladen's office for a moment, presumably to tell him where they were going and how long they expected to be gone. She is one of their chief attractions; she owes her putative employer that much, I suppose. After a hearty meal in the single eating nook open at this early hour, they went out into the street together. There was no sign of last night's altercation, but the moment they crossed the threshold of Freehold, his hackles went up, and he moved into the center of the street, away from dangerous overhangs.

It did not escape his notice that she made no objection to this, that, in fact, her eyes scanned the mostly- deserted street with as much wariness as his.

They stepped out together onto the cobblestones of the street, both of them dreadfully out of place in this part of the city. Between his appearance and her costume, anyone looking for them was likely to find them immediately.

Well, there was no help for it.

Nightingale walked beside him as serenely as if the previous night had never happened, as if she did not look like an invitation to theft. He tried to imitate her and actually succeeded to a certain extent.

But there was one thing, at least, that he was going to do. He had coins in his garment, plenty of them, and he was not going to appear at the gate to the Palace with her, walking afoot like a pair of vagabonds. As soon as they reached one of the more respectable sections of the city, he hailed a horse-drawn conveyance, an open carriage with two seats that faced each other, and gestured her up into it.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. He took his place beside her, although it was dreadfully uncomfortable and he had to hold his wings and tail at odd angles to get them to fit inside. Now, how am I going to get her inside the gate? The guards aren't going to want to let her pass, she hasn't a safe-conduct or an invitation.... He worried at the problem without coming to a satisfactory solution as the streets grew progressively busier, and stares more covert. This was not the only conveyance on the street, but many of the others were private vehicles, whose occupants gazed at them with surprise. He ignored them, trying to think what he could do with Nightingale. Perhaps he could leave her at the gate, go in, find the Seneschal and get a safe- conduct for her_

But that would leave her alone at the gate, and anyone who spotted her with me on the way here could_do whatever they wanted. She is with me, which makes her presumably valuable to me.

Would anyone dare to try anything under the noses of the guards?

Oh yes, they could and would. Especially if my unknown adversary is highly placed in the Court. A little thing like a kidnapping at the gate would hardly bother him. He could make it a private arrest, for instance.

There was reasonable foot traffic at this hour, and the conveyance made excellent time; not as good as he would have flying, of course, but still quite respectable. The two horses drawing it were able to trot most of the way.

They reached the gate long before he had come to any satisfactory solution to his problem. But, as it happened, the solution was waiting for him, standing beside the guards with a smaller and far more elaborate and elegant, gilded version of the conveyance waiting beside him. The Palace grounds were extensive enough that there was an entire fleet of conveyances and their drivers available for those who lived here, just to ferry them around within the walls.

Nob? What's he doing here?

'Is that someone you know?' Nightingale asked, as his eyes widened in surprise.

'Yes, it's my servant_but how did he know I was coming in this morning, and why did he order a conveyance?' T'fyrr asked, more as a rhetorical question than because he expected an answer.

But Nightingale shrugged. 'I told Tyladen where I was going. Tyladen probably foresaw the difficulty of getting me inside without waiting around at the gate and sent word to Harperus. Old Owl must have exercised some of his diplomatic persuasion and got me an invitation or a safe-conduct. I expect that's why your lad is here; to bring the pass and to get us to the Palace in the manner suitable to your rank.'

T'fyrr nodded; it made sense. But Nightingale added, 'The one thing I don't want is to run into Harperus. He knows me on sight, and I don't want any of the Deliambrens aware that I'm here.'

He grimaced; at this point, that was a very difficult request to satisfy. 'I don't know how_'

But she interrupted him. 'I can keep him from noticing me as long as I stay in the background. If Old Owl shows up at all, T'fyrr, you keep him busy, please? Don't let him think about talking to me. Tell him I'm shy, whatever it takes to get him to leave me alone. Make up something_or better yet, tell him