“It is, aye.”
“I was wondering…” Darshan mumbled before catching himself. Good grief, had that breathy tone actually come out of his mouth? Really now, this is just embarrassing. Next thing he’d find himself fawning all over the man like some simpering concubine. Pushing off the doorframe, he cleared his throat and tried again. “I would very much like to see some of your city.” He had originally considered remaining confined to the guest quarters, but now he had seen it? The thought of remaining here more than he needed to felt terribly constricting. “And I think a guided tour would be best at this moment. If you are of a mind?”
“Sure.” Hamish grinned as he spread his hands, indicating his bloodstained clothing. “But let me clean meself up first.”
Darshan inclined his head, his cheeks heating ever-so-slightly. He had rather forgotten about the man’s less than immaculate attire after the first word had left Hamish’s mouth. Clearly, the man had been indulging in what Darshan’s tutors had taught him was the local pastime here.
Hamish went to leave, then swung back around in the corridor to eye Darshan. “And you might want to change into something plainer if you have it.”
He reluctantly lowered his gaze from the giant of a man to his own clothes. In cut, his sherwani wasn’t terribly different from the overcoat Hamish wore, knee-length where the man’s attire stopped mid-thigh. And, of course, the fabric was leagues apart. Hamish’s overcoat looked to be made of soft leather whilst all of Darshan’s clothing was either silk or fine linen.
“Do I look so out of place?” he finally enquired. He thought this particular sherwani was plain. It had very little in the way of gemstones and the embroidery was limited to the fabric edges and his shoulders. He had a few stark outfits in his travel chest, but he had packed them in the off chance he’d need to travel beyond the city limits. “You seemed shocked to see me earlier.”
“To be fair, aye, you do. But by the way the court’s been talking, everyone was expecting a woman.”
“You mean Countess Harini.” Darshan nodded. He’d had only brief conversations with her whilst in court, but he knew what had become of her. “She was supposed to take up this duty. Sadly, she had the poor taste to… uh…” He gnawed on the inside of his lip, trying to remember the correct word. “I do not believe I was taught the Tirglasian equivalent,” he mumbled. His tutors had been diligent in focusing on more than the phrases he would need for the coming negotiations, but there were a few words they’d skimmed.
Hamish waited. Silently polite just as when the man had introduced himself.
A fresh flush of heat washed over Darshan’s cheeks. He could stand there all day and still be no closer to the word he wanted. Technically correct would have to do. “She was… slain.” He waved his hand, his mind racing for the words to explain. “A political affair. Terribly ill-mannered of her, of course.”
“Political?” the man echoed, his brows lowering in thought.
Darshan rather wished they hadn’t when Hamish’s sapphiric gaze also disappeared beneath his lashes.
“You mean she was assassinated?”
“Ah!” Darshan grinned, immensely pleased he’d managed to get across what had transpired. “You do have a word for it, after all. Splendid.”
“And that’s ill-mannered?”
“Of course. She should have had ample power to counter any attack on her person.” Unless those attacks had come from one of the Nulled Ones, who were immune to direct magic. But the Nulled Ones served his father. “It is not as if we are a bunch of barbarians.” On the other hand, his father was the type of man to eliminate barriers for his son. And it had seemed a little too convenient for the woman to die at the precise time Darshan was to be sent far from his homeland.
“Says the slaver,” Hamish replied, his voice flat.
Warning bells rang in his head. That was a topic he had been advised to speak sparsely on, if at all. “Heard about that, have you?” He wasn’t surprised. Every northerner he had ever spoken to seemed to be fond of pointing out the same fact, as if Darshan had no idea in regards to the status of the people around him.
“Doesnae everyone ken Udynea is the centre of the slave trade?” Hamish asked. It could’ve been the accent, but the question certainly sounded sarcastic.
“The centre, yes. But not the only country that deals in it.” Whilst his homeland’s neighbouring empires weren’t as large, Niholia and Stamekia both had a thriving slave trade. Yet, their trading in people also seemed to go largely unnoticed. At least by northerners. Geography likely had something to do with that, with the Udynea Empire taking up much of the continent.
“Do you have slaves?”
Darshan didn’t bother trying to hide his wry smile. There went his hopes of a stay in pleasant company. “Going straight for the personal questions, I see.” Sighing, Darshan rubbed at his temple. “I am certain you can deduce the answer there—and, should you wish to continue this conversation at another time, I will be quite willing to accommodate you—but I would prefer to discuss it when I have not just spent several months travelling aboard a wretched sea-going tub.”
“Fair enough,” the man muttered. “I’ll meet you in the courtyard in about an hour. You can find your way back, right?”
Darshan inclined his head, not at all keen to admit he’d been far too preoccupied in studying Hamish’s backside than the route they’d taken, especially not to the man in question. If it came down to it, he would enquire as to the proper direction from one of the servants.
He waited until the door closed and the sound of footsteps faded
