They went down the fog-shrouded stairs that led to the river and bathed in its chilly waters. After they spread blankets on the stone ledge above the high-water mark, he took her in his arms.
As he kissed her, he looked up at the castle walls, at Peto's chambers, where the lamps glowed dimly.
When he woke late the following morning, Shaul was waiting for him downstairs with a dozen matters that needed immediate attention. Jorani appreciated that. In the days that followed he tried not to think of Ilsabet at all. Life became easier yet when the seemingly well-matched couple left for Sundell.
EIGHTEEN
From the Diary of Baroness Ilsabet
My entire world has changed, I have never seen such splendor. I could fill half a book with a description of just my own rooms here in Sundell. But I shall describe the journey in order.
Dusk was falling when we reached the forest near the border. An hour later, we stopped at the guardhouse where Sundell and Kislova guards served together. While Peto met briefly with his troops, I got out of the coach, saying I needed to stretch my legs and get a drink of water.
After I'd lowered the dipper into their water barrel, I tossed in a few potent grains of my powder. As I started back to the coach, the captain of the Sundell guards joined me and asked if I wanted something to eat. 'Or, if you prefer, I have a bottle of red wine sent to me from my mother as a birthday gift.'
'You shouldn't share that,' I commented.
'I wouldn't with any of the men, but I'd be honored to pour a glass for you.'
I saw possibilities in this and followed him into the guardhouse.
The wine was exquisite, and in a beautiful decanter. As I admired the cutwork in the glass, I lifted the stopper and dropped in a few more grains of the sand. As we started back to the coach, I let the remains from my kerchief fall onto the ground just inside the guardhouse door.
I pictured them sleeping on the warm summer nights, the guardhouse door open, the breeze picking up the dust, swirling it through their room. I saw their captain, tired and homesick, drinking his wine. And, of course, everyone needed water.
Things would not be peaceful there for long.
As we went on, the land slowly leveled. In the moonlight, we passed cleared fields amid the thick forest, well-tended farms, and horses roaming their ranges. It must be a peaceful land, I thought, but then prosperous lands usually are.
We stopped for the night at an inn that was the centerpiece of a small town. The public room was packed with people who had come to see their ruler and his new bride. They watched while we ate, cheered Peto when he made a toast, then began beating their feet against the wooden floor until he kissed me. I took some comfort in the barbaric display. It's good to know that they aren't entirely civilized.
They are also a large people. Their faces are uniformly round, their hair in shades from flax to chestnut. The men are heavyset, the women buxom. Many are obese, but the food is excellent and plentiful, so I suppose that is to be expected.
We retired to a bedroom that was plush even by the standards of Nimbus Castle. Once we closed the door, the music below stopped. If they expected to hear the bedsprings squeaking, they were disappointed. It was Peto's turn to be exhausted, and we slept soundly.
Shadow Castle stood on a rise in the center of the largest city I'd ever seen. The city is called Sanguine because it was the site of a number of bloody battles as the early settlers defended their land from an invading force. The battles took place so long ago that none can recall what happened to the enemy, only that they were defeated and afterward the castle was begun.
Like Nimbus, it was built in sections and named later because of the shadow the structure threw over the buildings below it. Its towers are high, giving a view of the farms and forest that reached nearly to the Kislova border, making me understand all too well why father had intended to attack at night.
Peto had sent word ahead that we would prefer to ride in silently, so only a few of the citizens lined the road leading up to the castle. Once inside, servants grabbed my bags and carted them up the stairs. Peto and I followed.
The outer courtyard looked similar enough to my own, but the inside of the castle was radically different. I already mentioned its elegance. I'll try to describe it.
The entry hall, unlike that of Nimbus, which is huge but no more than twelve feet tall, soared up six levels. The floors were polished marble and a double marble stairway curved to the second floor. Smaller staircases climbed from either side of the main one, linking the second level with the upper floors. Open hallways decorated with carved wooden rails led to the living quarters. I followed Peto up to the third level. As I paused outside the door, I saw an old woman, richly dressed, glare at me from the floor below.
'My mother,' Peto whispered; he showed me inside.
Perhaps the greatest torment to Peto would be to send him home to her, but then what we are used to can hardly be called torture.
Our rooms were everything the hallway had led me to expect. Crystal lamps threw patterns through the rooms. In winter a marble fireplace would give warmth. Now the hearth was cold and the velvet drapes were pulled back, the windows tied open to let in the air. Peto led me outside to a balcony that overlooked the town, the river and the gently rolling lands beyond it.
As I stood admiring the view, someone knocked at the door. 'Come in,' Peto called. A thin older man with gray hair and bright blue eyes entered. From the way Peto ran to him, kissing his cheek and hugging him tightly, I was certain the man must be a relative. 'This is Gidden, my valet,' Peto said.
I had not kissed Greta since I was old enough to walk, nor had I wanted to! If this democratic affection marked the attitude of Sundell lords, I wondered how they'd managed to rule for so long. Nonetheless, Gidden was thoroughly polite as he took me through an adjoining door into my private dressing room.
Most of the gowns I had brought from Kislova were already arranged along one wall, and a pair of maids were unpacking the rest. Gidden introduced me to them. One of them, Sagra, would be my personal maid while I resided here. She looked quite a bit like the other, blond and well nourished, but was a full head taller than anyone I had met. Fates be thanked for that, otherwise I could never tell her apart from the rest.
As she bowed, I noted how she stared at me. When the men left us so that I could bathe and dress, the girl became nervous, so much so that her hands shook as she unfolded the rest of my gowns.
'Is something wrong?' I asked.
She seemed to be looking at my hands. I felt her quivers of uneasiness deep in my core and immediately became thankful she, and not her more sedate companion, had been chosen to attend me. The distress was paltry compared to others I had experienced, but intense enough to give some satisfaction.
'No,' she whispered. 'It's only that…'
'That
'That you're so tiny… and so very beautiful.'
I laughed. I'd never considered that I would seem exotic to them.
'Would you like to bathe first or rest?' Sagra asked.
'Bathe,' I said, thinking the longest ritual should be done first. In Nimbus, a half-dozen servants were required to fill my tub quickly enough that my water would not be tepid when I stepped into it. Sagra, however, opened the doors to the bathing closet and showed me the most marvelous feature of Shadow Castle. Mounted in the door above the tub were a pair of metal pipes. A metal rod hung between them. She used it to hit each of the pipes. Moments later, water began to flow from them-one pipe letting out hot, the other cold.
I hid my amazement lest she think me a barbarian. In truth I felt like one.
'Do you have a favorite scent for the water?'
I directed her to the bottle of perfume I had blended for the night I swore allegiance to Peto. A few drops were potent enough on the skin. As soon as I'd sat down in the delightfully warm water, I had her pour more than enough into the water to assure that I would be the brightest star in the night's gathering.
The scent had an effect on her as well. She stared at me, her agitation increasing.
