Prince Kaddar, heir apparent to the Emperor Mage, sat crossly under the midday sun, wondering what was keeping the delegation from landing their blasted ship and ending this hell that he was in. Though it was autumn, the heat oppressed the imperial retinue as if it were the very heart of the summer months. Slaves stood on either side of him with large palm leaf fans, but it did nothing but move the humid air around, making him more acutely aware that his long brown hair was sticking to his forehead, no longer as artfully made up as it had been this morning.
"When they were supposed to be landed," he grumbled. Abruptly, he stood, and signaled for a slave. "Bring me something to drink. Make it cold." The slave nodded and rushed off, returning presently with a carafe of water sweetened with mint. The prince took a glass, drained it in one mouthful, and held his hand out for another.
"Careful with that," the ship's captain warned. "You'll make your belly sick, in this heat."
Kaddar frowned. "I'm already sick with waiting, what's another ailment?" The prince's words were sharp, but he took to sipping his drink nonetheless. The captain had known him since he was a boy, and took no offense, indeed paid no mind at all to Kaddar's words. The older man was focused on the animals at the docks, sitting quietly, patiently, as trained as any house pet. Only they were wild beasts, and should not have been so. He made the Sign against evil.
"Have you ever seen the like?" the captain said in a low voice. Kaddar scanned the shore line, happy to take his mind off of the interminable waiting, if only for a few minutes. Dogs sat with cats, their feuds ceased for the moment, while gulls and pelicans mixed with finches and tanagers. None made a sound, and the silence was eerie. Kaddar made the Sign himself, then made a sound of disgust.
"It's the girl," he said. "They say there is a girl from Tortall who has an affinity with animals. There are tales that she can speak with them, heal them, even take their shape."
The captain looked sidelong at the prince. "As if northerners did not smell bad enough already." Kaddar grinned, despite himself. Leave it to his sailors to give not one fig about politics.
"Yes, well, I can only hope that is also a tale. I'm to be her escort, while she is here. It seems she is my age, and apart from healing my uncle's birds, she will have very little to do."
"Then we should be grateful for the fine weather, to make sure you have many open-air activities available for the animal-girl." Kaddar laughed before he could help himself, then bit his lower lip, trying to quell the smile. He did not know what to expect from this delegation, but already he felt like it was not much.
The subject of the joke sat in a small bunk on the idling ship.
"Scoot, Kit," Daine said to the small dragon, who curled up into a tighter ball with a low chirp of displeasure. Alanna smiled at the young girl, squeezing in beside her. Not so young anymore, though, the Lioness thought, eyeing her friend. Daine had turned seventeen, and still seemed more interested in animals than in the young men at court, but clad as she was in an off-the-shoulder blue gown that hugged her modest curves, Alanna was not so sure she would escape the notice of the men here.
Duke Gareth of Naxen looked around the room at the delegation. "Is the room secure?" he inquired. Alanna snapped her gaze from Daine and quickly sent purple fire to the corners of the room, where it bloomed and coated the walls.
"It is now," she assured.
"Very well," Duke Gareth said. "We all know why we are here. The chance for peace here is paramount, and this is the last chance we will get. You all have heard my warnings, but I give them again: we must be cautious, and give no offense to any, no matter how much they might deserve it. No losing our tempers." Here, he looked pointedly at Alanna, and she had the grace to blush. "The political climate is not like our own," Duke Gareth continued. "The Emperor Ozorne is fearsome enough in his own right, but it is his vizier that we be wary of. Master Numair Salmalin is, well…"
"The most powerful mage in all the realms," Harailt of Aili supplied. Harailt was the master of sorcery in Tortall, and knew such things. "There were once seven who could claim the mastery of the black robe. Master Numair has picked them off one by one, and styled himself the Black Mage. Though none have been able to lay charges against him for doing so, of course. But he alone wears the black. Even the Emperor Mage himself wears the orange. It is imperative that we show as much deference to the Black Mage as we do to the Emperor."
Daine frowned at the talk. She did not care much for politics, but this fellow sounded intolerable. "How can this Black Mage be as powerful as the emperor, if the emperor is also a mage?" she asked. Kit whistled alongside her, wondering the same. Duke Gareth turned his gaze to her, eyebrows drawn together.
"Emperor Ozorne and Master Numair grew up together. We do not know which man holds the power of Carthak. Some assume the Emperor Mage is all-powerful, and commands the love of the gods as well as the people. Others put Master Numair ahead of him, for he was always the better student, and given to more arcane pursuits." Duke Gareth frowned. "One thing is for certain. Emperor Ozorne may still have control of the Carthaki counsel, but it is the Black Mage that is dangerous. He is powerful, and worse, unpredictable. We know that Emperor Ozorne wants peace between Carthak and Tortall, and that gives us some advantage. We do not know what Master Numair wants, or if he wants anything from us at all." At that, he gave Daine another considering look. "I especially ask that you be careful, Daine. You are here to heal the emperor's birds, and that is all. No drawing attention to yourself, and no seeming remarkable." His lips drew thin, as he clamped down over words he dared not say. The Black Mage was a notorious womanizer, as well as an academic. There was no other wild mage as practiced as Daine, and no other expert on wild magic in the world other than one Numair Salmalin. She was not the Black Mage's preferred woman—that dubious accolade was reserved for shapely blondes—but Duke Gareth would be happier all the same when they were firmly back on Tortallan soil, with his young charge safely away from the eyes of the Black Mage.
"Unremarkable," Daine repeated with a wry smile. "I'll try my best."
"Wonderful," Duke Gareth replied. If he registered the sarcasm in her tone, he did not show it. Instead, he launched into more caveats for the delegation, which Daine decided not to listen to. Her thoughts were with the emperor's birds, and how sitting in the little room was keeping her from helping them. She did not care one hair for the Black Mage, or the Emperor Mage, or any other mages, for that matter. That was better left to Alanna and the rest of the delegation. Daine knew she would not have to try hard to escape the notice of Master Numair. She was unremarkable, just a young girl who had a way with animals. She wasn't the type to draw the notice of powerful mages anyway, and that suited her fine.
When everyone had cleared out of the room, Daine stretched, then frowned at the mirror. She tucked a curl back into place in vain, knowing it would break free the moment she took her eye off of it, but she had little to do until the ship finally docked, and she still had no clue how long that would be.
"What do you think the animals are like in Carthak, Kit?" she asked, turning to the blue dragonet on the bed. Kitten had not moved since the meeting, other than to spread herself out more thoroughly. The dragon chirped an idle reply, then sat upright suddenly with a low whistle. "Kitten? What is it?" Kitten trilled as silver mist swirled in the room, and Daine got her answer as the badger lumbered into the room and knocked her nose over tail.
—What are you doing here?!— The snarl was impatient, with an edge of worry to it. Daine picked herself off the ground gingerly, then sat once more. "Nice to see you too, Badger," she said, rubbing her head. The curls would never go back into place at this rate.
—Don't be impertinent. You should not be here. Turn this ship around and leave, now, before it's too late.— The badger god was not one to pace, but Daine noticed that he shifted his considerable bulk from side to side anxiously. The badger, anxious?
"I can't turn the ship around. And besides, I have to heal the emperor's birds. Whatever is happening?"
—It's not for kits to ask. But you must turn back. This land is not safe, for you or for those in it.—
"Badger, if we turned around now, the talks would fall apart before they even started. The Carthaks would start a war, and my friends would be in danger again. And the emperor's birds, remember?" The badger huffed, fixing her with a beady eye.
—You are truly not going to heed this warning?— Daine swallowed hard, for the badger's fear had become catching.
"I can't." The badger sighed, then waddled to the edge of the room, his back to her.
—Then heed another. Beware the Black Mage. The emperor may hold the power of the realm, but the Black Mage holds power foreign to even your best scholars. Do not cross him.— The warning almost made Daine want to laugh out loud. Would there be no end to the warnings about this Numair fellow?
"All I want to do is heal the emperor's birds and be on my way," Daine said. "I have no plans to cross some all-powerful mage, nor do I even know how I would try to do it." The badger's hackles lifted slightly.
—Plans change. Keep well clear of him.— He trundled back to Daine and gazed at her, his expression still worried. —I cannot convince you to go home? No. You are a good kit, for all that you do not listen to your elders.— The badger cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something, then frowned. —What? Oh, alright. But we will have a talk about this, later.— He turned to Daine. —I am sorry about this, but it was insisted upon.— The badger breathed, a silvery mist that enveloped her face. His breath smelled of rotting fish and earth, not entirely unpleasant, unlike the sensation that filled her mouth, nose and ears. Her head and lungs filled, like the time she had swallowed too much water under the waves and thought she would pop with pressure, and then the mist disappeared, and so had the badger.
"What," Daine asked Kitten, "do you suppose that was all about?" The dragonet looked as confused as she did, and chriped, low and worried, in answer.
A knock came at the door. "Daine?" Alanna called. "It's time. We're pulling into port, and we're all needed on deck to wave at our gracious hosts."
"Just a moment!" Daine called back. She looked once more in the mirror, to survey the badger's handiwork. Sure enough, he had knocked her curls into complete disarray. "Kit? The straightening up trick?" The dragon surveyed Daine for a moment before shaking her head. Daine sighed. Of course it would be too much to ask to present herself respectably. Perhaps it was just as well. "If I look a disgrace, then Sir Mighty Powerful Mage will probably lump me in with all the bumpkins and leave me be." She tried to smile at the young dragon, but Daine's heart wasn't in it. The badger's warning had shaken her. The knock came again at the door, and Daine jumped, opening it. Alanna stood at the other side, looking radiant in pale purple breeches and a gold tunic.
"Goodness," she said. "What happened to your hair? Well, never mind. We're already missed, and Lord Martin will have kittens if we don't present ourselves in whatever the proper Carthaki way is." Alanna took Daine by the hand and led her from the room at a brisk pace.
"Alanna, I have something to tell you," Daine started, but Alanna cut her off.
"Later," the knight said, her voice low. Daine was about to insist, but the look on Alanna's face brooked no disagreement. It's not like the badger said how quickly we had to turn around, Daine reasoned, and took a deep breath, steeling herself against Carthak, and whatever ills it brought with it.