Arc 5: Chapter 4: The Game
Not long after Desmond Wake made his address to the court, many of those gathered began to depart as the day aged and more pressing business concluded.
So it was that a gutted assembly turned its attention when I was finally called to speak before the throne. I took a deep breath, traded a nod with the Seydii ambassador, and stepped out into the middle of the hall.
More than a hundred eyes fell on me. Most of them were scribes and other bureaucrats, many of the lords having drifted out. Emma gave me an encouraging gesture, though I sensed some of my nervousness reflected in her face.
Distantly, I heard the main doors crack open. I caught a glimpse of two people entering, but my brief look didn’t tell me who they were before they shifted into the nooks behind the towering columns.
Markham and the Lord Steward fixed their attention on me. Oswald remained, though Princess Snoë had gone out not long after the Wakes. I saw no sign of the contending rulers of the Bannerlands, the Lady Ark and the young Lord Brightling. Roland, the King of Venturmoor, had taken a force out to investigate sightings of a rogue storm ogre still rampaging across the countryside, a sibling to the one I’d killed more than a month before. Many of the greater lords weren’t in attendance.
And I still didn’t see Rosanna.
Emma shot a glare to Cairbre, who’d been lurking off behind the assembly and trying not to be noticed. He flinched when he caught my squire’s stare and cleared his throat, lifting his voice to echo across the chamber.
“Uh, yes, erm… presenting Alken Hewer, the Headsman of, uh… Seydis!”
I winced. Titters ran like rustling leaves in a soft wind across the gathered officials. I took a deep breath, fought down my unease, and knelt on one knee before the throne.
“Rise.” Markham’s voice once again filled the chamber with rumbling volume. I stood, tossed my cloak behind one shoulder so my weapons and armor were visible as was proper, and rested my hand on Faen Orgis’s head.
Best to remind them all who I am, I thought. Emma’s warning hadn’t failed to find some purchase.