Mageborn The Line of Illeniel by Michael Manning (top novels of all time TXT) 📗

The gate here was also guarded, but a bit more seriously. “Ho! State your business traveler!” Two men barred our path. Their faces bore looks of extreme disinterest; apparently road weary travelers were rarely welcome.

“I am Mordecai Illenial, the Count di’Cameron and this is my fiancée Penelope Cooper. We seek entrance that we may obey the summons of our king,” I answered, using my most disdainful tone. I had been taking lessons from Benchley.

“You’ll pardon me my lord, if I find that hard to believe. Do you have papers to prove your claim?” He gave me a hard stare but the other guard’s eyes widened a bit. He leaned in to whisper in the first man’s ear. I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but I distinctly caught the word ‘wizard’ and ‘Tremont’. Even after a year the story of the battle at Lancaster must still be circulating.

“Certainly,” I answered him and drew out the letter from King Edward. As I handed it over I made sure he saw my grandfather’s signet ring on my hand. He scanned the document quickly, but I’m not sure he even read it.

“If you will come inside I will have someone escort you immediately, my lord.” His tone was suitably respectful now. We were taken in and told to wait for a moment in the courtyard. A moment later two groomsmen arrived to take our horses. One of them assured me our things would be sent directly to our rooms.

Penny leaned over to whisper in my ear, “Doesn’t all this make you nervous?”

I smiled at her confidently, “Hell yes. But one thing I learned from watching Marc is never let them see you sweat. Half of being an aristocrat is confidence.” In fact I had never been more nervous in my life.

“If you’ll follow me sir,” the man who spoke looked as though he might be a close relative of Benchley’s. He had that air about him, smug bastard. He led us through a maze of courtyards and hallways, until at last we reached a door. Presumably to our room, if it was a dungeon they were considerably upscale from what I had been led to expect.

He opened the door and passed me the key. The rooms, perhaps I should call them a ‘suite’, were sumptuous. The first room was a large living area, wide open spaces and furniture for lounging dominated the room. It had several doors leading off from it. Upon investigation I found one led to a large bedroom, the second to a smaller bedroom. A third door led into a private bath! I had never heard of such a thing.

It was like having a small pond indoors. Water ran constantly from a small opening on one wall and drained away where it overflowed through a clever arrangement of drains. I had no idea how it was managed but it seemed like purest extravagance to me.

“Are the rooms to your liking sir?” the servant asked meekly. Inwardly I was sure he was sneering. How could they not be to my liking? Until recently I had lived in a house with a dirt floor and thought myself lucky.

“They’re satisfactory,” I replied. I could ‘snob’ it up with the best of them. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing just how impressed I was. “When will we meet with his majesty?” I asked.

“He has already been informed of your arrival. I should expect he will send for you when he is ready.”

“What is your name?” I inquired.

He seemed mildly surprised, “Adam sir.”

I liked to know the names of the people I was dealing with, “Adam, could you give me an idea when that might be? I fear I am new to the royal court and have no clue what to expect. I’m sure you possess far more knowledge on the subject than I.”

Adam was definitely surprised now; I would guess he wasn’t used to being spoken to so directly. “I would venture to say he will probably call for you sometime before dinner. Otherwise you will see him at the evening meal.”

“I appreciate your candor, do you know if the Duke of Lancaster has arrived yet?”

“He sent his man over yesterday to announce his presence,” Adam replied.

“He isn’t staying at the palace?”

“The Lancasters maintain a residence in the city my lord.” That was news to me, but then I knew very little about the city. I knew Marc was here somewhere as well, but I had assumed he would be staying at the palace.

“How would I send a message to him? I am loath to leave myself, not knowing when the king’s summons might arrive,” I asked.

“Simply give me the message sir, or one of the other servants. They will see it delivered promptly,” he answered in a tone that made it clear I should already know these things.

“Very good, I’ll write a note out and give it to someone shortly. You may go now,” I made it clear that I was dismissing him.

After he had left Penny spoke, “You handled that well. You sound more like a Count every day.”

“Is that a compliment or a rebuke?”

“I’m not sure; I’ll let you know when I make up my mind,” she said, winking.

I wrote a quick note for the duke and gave it to a servant I found outside. Apparently the king could afford to have servants just waiting around for that sort of thing. After that I found myself at a loss for something to do.

We couldn’t exactly go sight-seeing. It was mid-afternoon and there was always the possibility we would be summoned by the king, which effectively tied us down. I gave serious thought to a nap, but Penny had other ideas.

“Don’t lie on the bed! You’re dirty,” she admonished me.

She was one to talk, “You’re not much better.” In fact the chain mail had her smelling significantly worse.

“Let’s try out the bath,” she suggested. Normally I wouldn’t have been a huge fan