War wizards were busily vanishing through the row of tapestries at the back of the Griffonguard Room when the princess entered. They were hurrying under the lash of the Royal Magician's tongue, and he was spitting orders in a tone and at a rate that made it clear he was not in a good mood.
Alusair wondered briefly what had gone wrong in the realm now, and then decided she really didn't care one whit. She saw Vangerdahast start to turn in her direction, and she swiftly drove an imperious finger into the ribs of the Palace herald.
Who announced hastily yet grandly: 'The Princess Alusair Nacacia Obarskyr!'
No one reacted in the slightest, but Alusair had expected that. She had also expected that Vangey wouldn't bother to hide his annoyance at her appearance in his ready chamber. He didn't.
'Princess,' he greeted her with a curt nod, to what do I owe the pleasure of your-?'
He didn't even bother to finish the sentence but devoted himself to glaring at the herald until that courtier bowed hastily and withdrew-as far as the spot where Alusair's hand clamped fiercely down on his forearm. 'Attend us, herald,' she said loudly and merrily. 'By our royal command, we require your presence with us a breath or two longer, to bear witness to what follows.'
Vangey had still not even bothered to meet her gaze. He transferred his glare from the herald's back to the war wizard shadowing Alusair. He was one of an endless succession of silently polite escotts that Vangerdahast had assigned, seemingly to her elbow, to attend her every waking moment and report back to him everything she did. Every careless word, break of wind, and nose-picking moment. Gods, she hated wizards. This glaring one in front of her right now in particular.
'Royal Magician,' she said, before he could speak again and so control the converse, 'we have personally come to return this Wizatd of War who hath so ably and attentively attended us. He is polite and capable and hath offended us not at all, but his presence at our side every waking moment is no longer required. Cormyr needs his services-and those of all the war wizard escorts you so kindly have, seen fit to provide us with, these days paster more than we do. Now that we have our own personal champion, approved of by both our royal father, the king, and our royal mother, the queen, to protect our person and attend our every need.'
Alusair delivered one of her sweetest smiles to the glowering Vangerdahast. She had determined beforehand that no matter what befell, she would remain oh-so-sweet during this confrontation, because if she lost her temper she lost everything in the fires of Vangerdahast's sneering satisfaction at her-what had he called them? Oh, yes-'immature inadequacies.'
Vangerdahast slowly raised an eyebrow in the manner of a man condescending to humor a young fool. 'Your Highness, this welcome news puzzles me, in that I am utterly unfamiliar with anyone suitable for such an important office, who is not already fully engaged in tasks vital to the realm. As Court Wizard it is imperative I know the identity of such a personage, to prevent loyal war wizards from destroying him-or her, I suppose-in their zeal to defend your person. So this, ah, champion of yours would be-?'
Oh, but the man was a right bastard. Alusair clawed at her rising temper with both hands. Seeing by his smirk that her color must already have heightened, she said, 'Ornrion Taltat Dahauntul, better known to all as 'Dauntless,' has been named our personal champion. Ably protected by him, we shall no longer have any need of war wizards, to say nothing of their heavy-handed authority-or yours.'
Her words fell into a sudden icy silence.
Two war wizards who'd just shouldered into view through separate tapestries froze, staring at the princess. The herald trembled beside her, and the tingling of the ring-shielding that Alusair had awakened as she swept through the Palace told her the war wizard escort had stepped behind her-no doubt to hide himself from Vangey's fury-and was shaking, too, probably with mirth.
Then, with a shivery little thrill of fear, Alusair realized she had succeeded in enraging the Royal Magician.
'No, Princess, your conclusion is unacceptable,' he said. 'Dispense empty titles if you feel the need, but your doing so can not affect my deployment of our loyal Wizards of War. Your survival is vital to Cormyr, wherefore your escort must remain on duty by your side. May I remind you that ruling is not a game? As your longtime tutor, I urge you to reconsider your behavior, and as Royal Magician of Cormyr, I order you-for the good of our Forest Kingdom-to return to your senses.'
Alusair stared at him, fighting not to cower before the anger now bright and clear in his eyes. She forced herself to take a slow, leisurely step toward him.
'Tell me, mage,' she said, abandoning formal pronouns because they were unfamiliar fripperies her tongue could all too easily stumble over, and she had to do this right. 'Which of us in this room has royal blood in her veins and therefore a right to order the realm and so give orders to citizens of it-and which of us is an overbearing tyrant of an old man who wields just as much authority as we Obarskyrs let him have? Royal Magicians outlive their time and overreach their rightful authority, just as the gods tempt us all to do-and wizard, you long since ran out of yours, on both counts!'
Without waiting for a reply, proud that her voice had sharpened but neither risen into a shout nor ascended into querulous tones while speaking her last few words, Alusair turned away-and so of course found herself facing the white-faced herald and the open-mouthed and staring war wizard escort. 'So this little mattet has been decided,' she told them and treated them to a brief, bright smile. 'Well and good.'
She swept out, leaving a trembling-with-rage Vangerdahast staring after her.
He did not have to say a word to make the herald and the war wizard escort both bolt after the princess. They almost collided in the doorway in their haste to be out of the room. Tapestries roiled and billowed as the other two war wizards plunged back through them, leaving the Royal Magician alone in the room, glowering at an open doorway.
He was not alone fot long. Laspeera emerged from behind one of those busy tapestries so promptly it was obvious she had been eavesdropping. 'She's fight, you know,' she murmured, taking care not to smile.
The look Vangerdahast favored her with was as sharp as a dagger, but Laspeera stood her ground, uncowed.
'In one thing, Vangey,' she added. 'You are getting old. Years back, you'd never have let any Obarskyr's behavior get you this angry.'
'Angry, lass?' Vangerdahast snapped. 'You misunderstand me. I'm just enjoying getting my blood up. Our Alusair at last is growing a backbone and turning into someone it's going to be fun crossing swords with-just as the realm needs her to be! That is my life's work, forget not!'
He started to pace. 'First, this Dauntless-this conspirator for a young princess to work her mischief with! We must remove him far from her feckless royal grasp, faster than immediately. A good long mission elsewhere, of course… and as it happens, I have just such a task going begging. Bring him here.'
Laspeera nodded. 'By your command,' she murmured sardonically, as she slipped back through the tapestries.
Her tone made Vangey flush-but he found himself glaring around an empty room.
'Overbearing old tyrant, am I?' he said, striding across the floor. A wall loomed up before him, and he spun around abruptly and marched back, pausing mid-stride to twist a ring on one of his fingers and announce to the empty air, 'Tathanter Doarmund, make ready both the Halfhap portals and six horses-the latter with full field provisions, tents and all. You'll be escorting the six riders from the east doors of the Griffonguard Room to the portals, so after you've seen to those matters, I'll want you waiting outside those doors just as fast as you can get there.'
Wizard of War Tathanter Doarmund's reply was inaudible from halfway across the Palace, but Vangerdahast heard it and turned again, nodding ever so slightly. Some folk in the realm still obeyed him with alacrity, it seemed.
It seemed doubly so, a moment later, when the open doorway showed him a sternly expressionless Ornrion Taltar Dahauntul marching toward him, with Laspeera striding along a pace behind.
Vangerdahast took a stance before the tapestries, matching the soldier's expressionless look, and waited. As Dauntless strode into the room, Laspeera softly closed the doots behind him, shutting herself out.
When the ornrion halted before him, Vangerdahast tendered a bright smile and said, 'A mission has arisen that requires your amply demonstrated capabilities, Ornrion Dahauntul. You are to shadow the Knights of Myth Drannor, see that they truly leave Cormyr, find out where they go, and report back their location, wherever in
