The Shadow's heir

“Okay,” said Laela, coming to stand beside him as he’d beckoned her to. “Now yeh look like a King.”

“A King ready to meet an Emperor,” Arenadd murmured. “Now, remember your manners, Laela. I’d rather you didn’t embarrass me.”

Laela nodded sternly and stood a little taller.

Instabahn’s harbour came in sight. The ship angled toward it and came to a sedate halt as the sailors dropped the anchor and threw ropes to the waiting Amoranis.

A few moments later, the sailors had thrown down a wide ramp, and Arenadd walked down it with Oeka and Laela in step beside him. She had been aboard ship for so long that she stumbled a little, and her head spun before she managed to recover herself.

The moment Arenadd set foot on solid ground-the Mighty Skandar came down to land by his side as if from nowhere. He, too, had been groomed, and his gleaming feathers and fur only made him look more magnificent.

Arenadd walked on without missing a step, ignoring the other griffins, who landed as their own humans stepped off the ramp.

Ahead, the great court of Instabahn was waiting for them-dozens of men and women, dressed in their strange finery, most with griffins beside them.

At their head was a bald man of indeterminate age, wearing nothing but a yellow-and-blue-striped kilt, a pair of sandals, and a heavy collar decorated with dozens of tear-shaped jewels.

Arenadd walked straight toward him, halted, put his hands together, and bowed. Then he spoke-in Amorani.

The bald man smiled and put his hands together and bowed before he replied in the same language.

“An honour,” said Arenadd, using Cymrian now. “Great Khalid, Master of Amoran.”

The bald man smiled again. “I am sorry that I do not speak your own language, Great King,” he said in very good Cymrian. “If I did, rest assured I would use it.”

“Your courtesy is not in doubt,” said Arenadd. “I am honoured merely to meet you at last. Sacred Ruler, this is my partner, the Mighty Skandar, greatest of all griffins in my Kingdom.”

Khalid bowed deeply to Skandar. “It is a great joy of my life that I have met such a magnificent griffin,” he said-using griffish now.

Skandar peered at him, and snorted. “Furless human!” he declared.

After a moment of painful silence, the Emperor burst out laughing. “Observant, indeed, Mighty Skandar!” he said.

Arenadd smiled slightly. “My partner has a habit of saying just what he thinks, Great Emperor.”

“So I have noticed,” said the Emperor. “Now, who is your companion, who looks so much like you?”

Laela panicked for half a heartbeat, and then imitated Arenadd’s bow. “I am the Lady Laela,” she recited. “Master of Wisdom and chief advisor to the King. And this is Oeka, a very powerful griffin.”

Oeka moved closer to her to show her pleasure. “We are both honoured to meet you, Sacred Ruler.”

The Emperor looked at Laela with interest, and then he looked at Arenadd. “I see the ability to rise to great power is in your family’s blood, Great King.” He paused briefly, before his smile returned even more warmly than before. “Now, my own family and I are happy to welcome you to our home, and to invite you to come and share food and wine with us.”

“We shall be honoured to accept, Sacred Ruler,” said Arenadd.

The Emperor paused for a moment, and his smile became much more genuine. “My lord Vander!”

Vander came forward, bowing low. He greeted his master in formal-sounding Amorani, but the Emperor laughed and embraced him. Vander returned the embrace while Ymazu-now heavily pregnant-looked on approvingly.

Laela smiled to herself. Amoranis weren’t so different after all.

After that, they were ushered away from the dock and walked with the Emperor and his court along a paved road lined with enormous stone pillars and into a large building.

Inside, it was warmly lit, and dozens of low tables filled the space. A hall, Laela thought.

But while a hall in Malvern would have had wooden beams and probably some spears or hanging animal skins by way of decoration, this one was so rich it took Laela’s breath away. The walls and roof were completely smooth, as if they had been made all in one piece. The room was made all in sensual curves and elegant domes and arches, and everything had been painted. Laela saw images of brown-skinned women dancing and playing instruments, griffins using magic to cover a pillar in swirling patterns of red and green, and a massive flower opening to reveal a golden man with a serene smile.

Flowers were everywhere, in elaborate gold holders on the walls and on the pillars that held up the ceiling. More decorated the tables-ornamental vines, lush with blooms, flowing over the wood.

Laela realised her mouth was hanging open. She shut it again, so she could use it for a disbelieving grin.

Even Oeka looked taken aback. “Such magnificence!” she chirped. She spread her wings and fluttered them a little, as if trying to calm herself down. “What power humans possess!”

“What power these humans possess,” said Laela. “This place must be the most magnificent building in the country!”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Arenadd from behind her.

“Argh!” Laela turned sharply. “I hate it how yer always doin’ that!”

Arenadd grinned. “Call it a bad habit. Now, let’s mingle, shall we? I think the Emperor will want to introduce me to his daughter in a moment.”

The other griffiners had already spread themselves around the room and were beginning to mingle with their hosts-using griffish to talk to them.

“Everyone in Amoran speaks griffish,” said Arenadd. “It’s a sacred language to them-apparently they believe that Xanathus only listens to prayers spoken in it.”

Laela was about to ask who Xanathus was, but remembered in time. “Should make it easier for us here, eh?”

“Definitely.”

The Emperor was already seated at a table with a group of people who looked to be his family. Arenadd went to join him, with Laela and Oeka following. Skandar, typically uninterested, was wandering here and there, busily intimidating other males and making suggestive remarks to the females.

The Emperor received Arenadd with his usual smile. “So, how do you like our hall, Great King?” he asked. He had a gold ring in his nose, Laela noticed.

“A very beautiful place indeed, Sacred Ruler,” Arenadd said smoothly. “Your people are very skilled.”

The Emperor inclined his head. “This is only a minor hall-I apologise that I could not receive you in the Hall of Suns in our capital city, but I thought you would prefer not to sail up the River Erech for another moon’s turning, and I was in Instabahn regardless.”

Only a minor hall! Laela wondered if this Hall of Suns was made out of solid gold or something.

“No offence is taken, Sacred Ruler,” said Arenadd, inclining his head in return.

“Excellent.” The Emperor’s startlingly white teeth flashed. “Please, allow me to introduce the Imperial Family, Great King.”

The table had strange round cushions around it instead of chairs. Laela tried to get comfortable on hers, and listened while the Emperor named the other people with him.

“Aznaran, my first wife.” This was a middle-aged woman whose ears sagged under the weight of a pair of enormous gold hoops. Her face had been painted to make her dark eyes look bigger. Laela thought she looked how a mother should look.

“And Ilya, my second,” the Emperor added. This one was younger, and was openly staring at Arenadd’s pale skin.

“And this,” said the Emperor, “is my youngest daughter, the Princess Nyria. No doubt you have been longing to meet her.”

Unlike the other women there, the Princess wore a veil over her face-but it was thin enough for Laela to get an idea of what she looked like. She had a small, pretty face, and wore a gown covered in golden beads, and she stared silently at the table while she was introduced.