Along with deportment and public elocution, Grandmamma had made her take voice projection lessons from an early age and now Ellina was glad of it. Using the natural acoustics of the stone around her, she was able to make herself heard, even over the near-riot below. She saw faces turn up to hers and then fingers were pointing and a whisper went up.
“The Potentate…listen to the Potentate!”
“My People,” Ellina said again. “Be calm! The danger is past!”
She hoped this was true, even as she said it.
Just watch another big boulder fall down on my head and squish me to jelly like it did to Hennessy, she thought grimly. But nothing fell and after a breathless moment, it seemed nothing would. And moreover, it seemed that the people believed her. For there was no more scuffling and shouting—instead they were all looking up at her, as though mesmerized by the sound of her voice. So Ellina kept talking.
“We have suffered a frightful attack, but it is over now and all is well,” she continued. She wished she could see their faces more clearly but the sunlight beating down on her from above was very bright—it felt like a golden weight upon her shoulders and she was vaguely aware that it was making the golden dust her stylist had put all over her skin sparkle and gleam.
“We must leave in an orderly fashion,” Ellina told the people. “We must not hurt or trample anyone. You must help the old and the frail and the young among you to safety. You must be brave and not run or panic—I know you can do this, for you are my people. I have faith in your courage.”
There were murmurs from below and the people started to disperse—just as she had asked—in an orderly way.
But just at that moment someone broke through the barricade and came towards the steps of the platform, shouting wildly.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Ty stepped in front of her at once, prepared to kill anyone who tried anything—anything at all. He was just about to raise his spare blaster when Ellina put one small hand on his arm to stop him.
“Stop,” she murmured in his ear. And then to the guards who had halfway descended the steps she shouted, “No, it’s all right. Let her come. Let her come!”
It was the little girl’s grandmother, Ty saw, as the anxious old woman drew near. Her eyes were wild and she was panting and breathless but still she came, charging up the steps, her face filled with fear.
“Tutti! Tutti!” she cried, reaching for her. “Oh my Tutti, I thought you were lost and gone!”
“Grandmum!” The little girl at last unwound her arms from around Ellina’s neck and reached for her grandmother. The old woman took her gratefully and held her close, covering her face with kisses.
“Thufar bless Your Highness!” she said at last, looking up at Ellina with shining eyes. “I left the youngest one at home today with her grandpa but Tutti here was determined to bring you those yalla blossoms. And when I saw all the explosions and the cave-in happened, I thought she’d be trampled or killed. But you saved her—you risked your own life to save my granddaughter! Bless, you, Your Majesty! Truly you are the Goddess in the Flesh!”
She bent in a low bow, still holding Tutti to her, but her words had carried into the breathless hush that had fallen over the crowd as they watched the little scene playing out before them.
Indeed, Ellina did look like a goddess, Ty thought, staring at her. She was standing under a shaft of sunlight which poured down on her like melted honey from the broken ceiling above. The warm light set the gold dust on her hair and skin to sparkling and highlighted the glory of her deep, lustrous Sacred Blue skin tones. She looked nothing less than divine and her people didn’t fail to notice it.
“The Goddess in the Flesh,” someone in the front row behind the barriers repeated and then others took it up. “The Goddess in the Flesh…The Goddess in the Flesh!”
“My people,” Ellina cried, raising her arms to them for silence. “Thank you for your praise, but I do not deserve it all. My Kindred guard, Commander Ty’rial, saved both me and little Tutti here from certain death just now. Without him, I would not be standing before you.”
She pointed at Ty who stepped forward unwillingly. He appreciated that Ellina didn’t want all the credit for herself, but he much preferred to stay in the background. It was better to be unnoticed than to draw a lot of unwanted attention, in his opinion. But since Ellina had brought him into this, he saw no option but to acknowledge her acknowledgement.
He nodded briefly and raised one arm, then started to step back again. But before he could, Lor, Ellina’s chewchie, jumped lightly from her shoulder onto his. The fluffy little creature scampered up to the top of Ty’s head and sat up alertly, looking at the crowd.
This seemed to excite the Chorkay people and Ty heard several of them saying, “Look—the Potentate’s own chewchie has chosen him!” And… “Do you see? The Sacred Blue chewchie shows his respect and approval!”
Someone started a new chant and soon it was growing.
“Lan’Glaver!” they murmured and many of them were pointing at him now, Ty saw. “Lan’Glaver…Lan’Glaver…”
He frowned—what did it mean? Though he had taken care to study the Chorkay language thoroughly before taking on this mission, this word was unfamiliar to him. Yet the people kept chanting it.
“Lan’Glaver! LAN’GLAVER!”
The unfamiliar word rose from a whisper to a shout and then all the Chorkay were making signs with their hands—raising four fingers into the air and swirling them in a slow, figure-eight gesture.
“What are they saying?”
