Early the next morning—while Amichen was still quite asleep—the queen shook her awake. "Amichen! Your mother is here!"
Amichen sat bolt-upright in the bed, wide-awake. "My mother?" she gasped. She had forgotten that her mother was coming.
"Yes. The guards just spotted her party on the horizon and a messenger carrying her banner is riding ahead. He's probably here by now."
Amichen threw back the covers and hopped out of the bed, her heart racing. She had no idea what she was going to say to her mother because she had no idea how her mother would react. What if she berated her for not doing a better job at protecting herself? What if she did it in front of everyone else, shaming her publicly? Then the queen and Naissus and Wyliss and all the others would see that Amichen was not who they thought she was—that her mother had sold them a falsehood. In reality, she was weak and deficient in many ways and it would be best if they sent her back.
The queen told her that she didn't have to wear mourning black and to name whatever she would like to wear to meet her mother, but Amichen insisted on wearing her black dress. She did not want to forget her friends just yet.
When they went downstairs a short time later, they found the king standing on the porch, talking to the messenger.
"The Queen of Shi-Ha approaches," the king announced to his wife and Amichen.
"I'll have the kitchens make extra for breakfast," the queen said, starting to turn back.
"She's bringing a small army with her," he warned. "We need to find room for about fifty men and horses, plus half a dozen of her advisors."
"I'll take care of it," she said. She grabbed Wyliss—who was just coming out to see what was going on—and dragged her back inside. "I need your help . . ."
The king sent the messenger into the castle to find some food and drink, then he and Amichen stood together silently on the landing, waiting for the arrival of the Queen of Shi-Ha.
The rest of the family slowly trickled out—Naissus coming to stand beside Amichen. The queen and Wyliss were the last to join them, just as the trumpeters at the city gate began to blow a fanfare to warn everyone in the city that royalty was coming.
"Everything's ready," Amichen heard the queen whisper to her husband.
A few minutes later, the gates of the castle were pulled open and a huge retinue came trotting up the drive, the red and gold imperial banners fluttering in the bright sunshine. And, at their head, was Amichen's formidable mother, dressed for battle in her suit of armor and riding one of the large, coal black horses reserved for the Royal Family. The only thing she wasn't wearing was a helmet. Instead, her bare head was lifted almost defiantly, the sun glinting off her glossy black hair.
The queen rode up to the front steps where the Hyrulian family was assembled. A stableboy hurried forward to take her horse's reins while the king slowly walked down the stairs to greet her.
"Queen Xiao-Lin, welcome to Hyrule. I only wish the circumstances were better."
"Don't we all." The queen threw her leg over the back of her horse and dropped to the ground. The stableboy led it out of the way and the queen offered her hand to the king. Amichen thought it would have been a gesture of goodwill if she had removed her gauntlet first and offered him at least her bare fingers to touch, but if the king thought the same way, he didn't show it. Instead, he clasped her firmly by the hand like an old friend, then leaned forward and kissed her on both cheeks, showing that he viewed her as an equal.
"We have made arrangements for your men," he said, nodding to the group which was waiting silently behind her.
"Thank you. We have ridden hard to get here."
Queen Maris turned to the servants assembled behind her and nodded. They began pouring down the stairs, hurrying to help with the baggage and lead the advisors and noblemen to their lodgings in some of the castle's better rooms on the third floor.
"Come in and get comfortable," the king said to the queen. "Breakfast is nearly ready. We can discuss the latest news then."
She nodded. "Thank you, I will."
She followed him up the stairs, then paused at the top, looking over the assembly of daughters and daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
"It looks like your castle is quite full already," she said. Amichen wondered if that was supposed to be a subtle dig at the size of their family.
"Normally it's not, but with everything that's happened . . . well, I'm sure you can understand keeping your family close in a time like this."
"Yes—especially as I only have the two daughters. But one of them has not even come to greet me," she said, looking at Amichen pointedly.
Amichen slowly walked over to her mother, her head bowed. When she was in front of the queen, she bent her knees, dipping a type of curtsey that was peculiar to Shi-Ha. "Mother," she said obediently.
Then her mother did something completely unexpected: she put her arms around Amichen, pulling her close.
Amichen was so surprised to find herself pressed against her mother's breastplate, she couldn't speak. In sixteen years, she could never remember her mother ever hugging her.
She held Amichen for a long while and when she finally pulled away, she averted her eyes, as if trying to hide tears. "Show me to my room," she commanded.
"Amichen, her room will be right next to yours on the east side," Queen Maris said.
Amichen nodded, then walked with her mother into the castle.
She noticed her mother looking around as they crossed the entrance hall and went up the wide, curving stair.
"They know how to live like royalty, don't they, these Hyrulians?" her mother remarked. "I guess that's the benefit to living in peace."
"We've been at peace for many generations," Amichen pointed out.
"Only with our neighbors," her mother contradicted. "Among ourselves the fight is always simmering."
Amichen couldn't disagree with that.
She led her mother to the end of the hall and opened the door on a large bedroom almost exactly the same as hers; the only difference was it didn't have windows facing south, towards the city.
"Do you need anything before breakfast?" Amichen asked.
"I don't think so."
Amichen tried to beat a hasty retreat, but her mother stopped her almost immediately. "Stay here," she commanded.
Reluctantly, Amichen closed the door behind her. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with her mother. Just because she hadn't said anything in front of the others didn't mean she wouldn't speak her mind in private.
"Help me out of this," the queen said, lifting her arm. Amichen went to her and slowly began to unbuckle the straps on her mother's armor. She could feel her mother watching her like a hawk, but she kept her own head down and said nothing.
A few minutes later—when Amichen was nearly done—there was a knock at the door.
"Your Majesty? We have your luggage."
"Bring it in."
A few of the castle servants came in carrying large wooden boxes between them. "Put them anywhere," the queen said.
A maid came in and bobbed a curtsey. "Would you like me to draw you a bath before breakfast, Your Majesty?"
"No, but I will want one after I eat."
The girl curtseyed again. "It will be ready for you."
Once the queen was out of her armor and the servants had been dismissed, she went over to the luggage and began throwing open the lids and rummaging through it.
"Do you want something to wear, or do you like your Hyrulian clothes?" she asked Amichen.
"I will wear what I have on."
"Why is everyone wearing black? They all look atrocious in it. Whoever thought you would outshine an entire court?"
"Black is their mourning color. They have vowed to wear it until the murderers have been found and brought to justice."
The queen turned around and looked at Amichen. "You're wearing black. Do you mourn on their behalf, or for yourself?"
"I mourn for my friends who died."
The queen crossed the room with her long strides and came right up to Amichen, looking at her as if she would bore a hole through her. Amichen had to will herself not to take a step backwards.
"You still have that cowardly streak in you," her mother pronounced. "I can see you almost flinching. But there's something in your eyes that wasn't there before—a defiance. I would have expected the exact opposite after what happened to you; I would have thought you would have been broken beyond repair. But maybe you have some of me in you after all," she said, clucking Amichen under the chin almost affectionately.
"Of course," she said, going back to her boxes of clothes, "no man would have touched me and lived. But you are not strong—we know that. You have done as well as you can for yourself."
As much as Amichen knew it was true, her mother's words stung. "I broke the nose of one of them," she retorted. "It wasn't enough, but I did draw first blood."
Her mother turned back to her. "Did you really?" she asked, genuinely surprised.
"Yes."
"How?"
Amichen mimed the blow she had delivered with the heel of her hand.
Her mother actually looked mildly impressed. "That's a good first blow—although it's best to follow it up with others."
"I couldn't; he had me pinned to the ground." Suddenly she turned her head away, no longer interested in replaying what had happened in the woods. She didn't like the end of the story at all.
Her mother looked at her oddly for a long moment, then turned back to her clothes. "Help me dress," she said.
Amichen helped her mother peel off her gambeson, boots, and pants, then she got into a linen shift, three layers of robes, and a corselet. Then there was the elaborate pearl and gold-bead crown to set just so on her head.
Amichen found herself thinking about how odd it was that her mother could go from a fierce, armor-wearing swordswoman to a beautiful queen so quickly.
She also found it terribly odd that her mother wanted her help. Even if she didn't bring any servants with her—which seemed highly unlikely—there were maids enough in the castle; any of them could help her dress, even if they weren't familiar with Shi-Ha fashion.
"Take me to breakfast," her mother said, once Amichen finished arranging her crown.
Amichen led her mother back downstairs to a dining room that only the Royal Family used. It appeared that everyone was already there, waiting on them. As usual, everyone was talking. Even while in mourning—even while their sons and brothers and husbands were still out on the trail of the bandits and their future and success uncertain—it was hard for the royal family to be too dour. They were a happy family sitting at the pinnacle of a prosperous, happy kingdom. They could no more cease to be hopeful than Amichen's mother could stop scheming and looking for the worst in people.
"This is small," Amichen's mother muttered under her breath, looking around the room. There were several tables set up in a horseshoe shape. The king and queen sat in the middle of the head table with their children on either side of them and more children and grandchildren down either side of the other tables. As far as Amichen could tell, the king and queen were the only ones who sat in the same seats every day. Who they had around them varied. Sometimes the small children chose to sit next to a favorite aunt or uncle instead of their parents. And sometimes one of the adults would choose to sit next to their brother or sister instead of their spouse. Every day was different. The only constant, though, was that no one dined there but the royal family.
"This is just for them," Amichen whispered back. "They have a full-size hall they use if they want to eat with the entire court."
"They do not eat breakfast with their court?" her mother asked, sounding surprised.
"They don't have a court here much at all—only at certain times of the year."
"Really?"
Amichen nodded.
"How do they keep control over everyone if they don't watch them all the time?"
"They don't have to. Their nobles are all closely-related to the royal family and apparently their children spend a lot of time growing up here with the princes and princesses. So they act like a single family instead of a bunch of factions."
"Well, I suppose that's one benefit to having litters."
The king—at the far end of the table—rose to his feet, looking curiously at the two women lingering by the door. "Your Majesty, you may sit here," he said, gesturing to the seat to his left.
"Thank you," she said, sweeping up the room. Naissus jumped out of his chair and hurried to pull out the queen's chair for her.
"Thank you," she said, rather absent-mindedly, then she paused, looking at his eye patch and scarred face and his arm in a sling.
"Will you recover?" she asked bluntly.
"Not more than this, Your Majesty."
The queen sat down in her chair. "I see we have both had our children damaged," she said, addressing the king. He nodded gravely.
Naissus pulled out a chair for Amichen beside her mother. She didn't particularly care for that—it just meant that her mother was close enough to watch her carefully—but Naissus sat to her left, so that was a consolation.
Queen Maris nodded to the servants, who began to bring trays of food to the table.
"So what news do you have regarding those criminals?" Amichen's mother asked the king, as a server began to put food on her plate.
His face darkened. "Not much, I'm afraid. We lost their trail somewhere around the border of Erenrue and the men have not been able to find it again. It's as if they vanished into thin air!"
"Could they do that with magic?" Tosha asked.
"I don't know of anything that will make you completely invisible or allow you to fly, but I daresay there's magic that can hide your trail or confuse your trackers."
"That's the only thing that can explain why Reni hasn't found them again," Queen Maris said. "Even with the rainstorm washing most of their traces away, he should still be able to find something after so many days."
"They'll have to show up again," Amichen's mother said grimly. "Men don't organize that well for just one job. And their prize wasn't even that rich; Amichen didn't carry any money and her goods weren't worth a great amount—not on the black market."
"The horses were the only thing of value," Naissus said.
"Yes, and they were your royal horses and mine. I'm sure you brand yours, as we do ours."
Naissus nodded.
"Who will want to buy horses stolen from two Crowns? They are a liability more than an asset. Once they get where they're going, I daresay they will kill them and hide the evidence. Any man caught with such a horse would sign his own death warrant."
"I wonder why they went north?" Naissus asked. "It doesn't make any sense to leave the woods and head towards the plain where you're easier to spot at a distance. And, as you say, the horses are distinctive. That means they need to avoid villages and the city of Pallis. So I don't know where they mean to go. It looks like it would be safer to disappear into the southern woods."
"They might hide in the mountains," Wyliss suggested.
"Is there a way to get into the mountains without going through the city?"
She nodded. "Yes, if you know where to climb up. But you certainly can't take horses."
"Maybe that's where they will ditch the horses."
"What if they doubled-back and are in the south now?" Noni asked.
"They would have had to get past Reni and the others," Queen Maris pointed out.
"If they had magic, they might have been able to do it," Noni countered.
"Perhaps I should send my men south to check," Amichen's mother suggested. "Then you can move your men north and check the mountains as the Erenrue princess suggests. We have two forces; we might as well check in two places. The worst that can happen is we still don't find them. And since my men will eat as much—or more—here as on the road, we might as well put them to use."
The king nodded. "I think that sounds—" Suddenly, he stopped talking and his eyes grew distant.
His wife leaned forward in her chair and put her hand on top of his. "What is it?"
Before he could answer, Renault appeared next to him. It still startled Amichen to see people come and go without warning in Hyrule.
"Reni!" his mother exclaimed. But Renault didn't look at her. Instead, he staggered over to his wife, who quickly rose from her seat and let him have it. He looked dead on his feet.
"What's happened?" his mother asked anxiously, as he sank into the chair. A servant pressed a goblet of wine into the prince's hand.
"The worst possible thing," he said, sounding like a messenger of death. "Worse than before."
The queen gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. "What could be worse than before?" Noni asked.
He raised his head and looked at his parents. "Those bandits have taken over the castle of Erenrue. They're holding Princess Lorralie, hostage." He turned to look at Wyliss. "I'm sorry. Prince Fennris is dead."
"My brother?" she shrieked.
He nodded glumly.
She covered her mouth and didn't seem to breathe for a minute, then she burst into loud tears. Queen Maris ran around the table to comfort her.
The king waved to the door. "Children, go," he said, his voice uncharacteristically stern. The youngest children got up and headed for the door and several servants stepped in to help shepherd them out. A couple of the older ones tried to stay, but their mothers dismissed them, too. When they started to argue, the king roared, "OUT!" Amichen was startled to hear him shout; it was the angriest she had ever seen him. Apparently it scared the children, too, because they ran out of the room without further protest.
Once the door was shut behind them, the king turned to Renault. "What happened?" he asked, his face ashen.
"Apparently the bastards made straight for Pallis after they attacked Naissus and the others. We were hunting them as if they were fugitives—as if they were seeking some place to hide—but they weren't. They went right into Pallis, bold as brass."
"But . . . how?" the king demanded. "How could they possibly do that and not be recognized?"
"They put on our clothes."
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"They stole all of our luggage—and Princess Amichen's," Renault reminded them. "They dressed up as if they were our noblemen and Shi-Ha representatives and they told the palace guard they were there with a message from you," he said with a nod to his father, "for the king. The guard let them in without a second thought. They were riding royal horses and dressed like noblemen—why would the guard think they weren't who they said they were?"
Amichen shuddered to think about the guard letting in such monsters completely unawares. That must have been why they hadn't kept her for ransom; they had a much bigger plan and trying to keep up with her would have just slowed them down.
"Then what happened?" Kelsie whispered.
"Somehow they tricked the princess into showing them to the armory, then they grabbed her and locked her inside."
Wyliss lifted her head. "Why doesn't she teleport out? I could bring her here."
But Renault shook his head. "They've told her that if she leaves, they'll blow the armory. And there's enough powder in there to blow half of Pallis off the map and kill most of the rest of the inhabitants with the debris."
"But they will kill themselves in the process," Amichen pointed out. "They're bluffing."
He shook his head again. "I wouldn't think so. If they left someone—or more than one person—in hiding somewhere, then they could start a fire in the armory and get out before it blows. That's what I would do if I planned this—and it seems like they've planned it well."
"What about getting people in?" Noni asked. "Surely the princess can bring people in."
"Already tried that. That's how Prince Fennris died. They told her that they would kill anyone she brought in, but he wanted to risk it. He did and he died."
"Why not bring in more than one person?" Amichen asked.
"Because we can only teleport one person at a time," he explained. "Apparently, there are quite a few of them locked in the armory, so it's easy for them to kill anyone who teleports in before he has a chance to fight back or bring in reinforcements of his own."
"So what's going to happen now?" the queen asked. "What do they want?"
"Oh, nothing much," Renault said sarcastically. "Just half the treasury of Erenrue."
"You must be joking," Noni said.
"Unfortunately, I'm not. The king has three days to produce it or they'll blow the armory with the princess in it."
"And where do they think they'll go?"Amichen's mother demanded. "Anyone who appears anywhere with that much money would be instantly suspect."
"Well, again, if I was doing this, I would take my share of the ransom and hide most of it and only tap into it periodically and lead a respectable, but not ostentatious, lifestyle. That way, I wouldn't excite suspicion."
"And do you really think all of them will be that smart?" Amichen's mother asked. "Do you really think that all of them will resist that temptation?"
"Maybe not," Renault said with a shrug. "But that only leads to us finding one man—maybe one or two more. Imagine that they all go their separate ways and they don't know where the others are. One gets stupid and we catch him. He can't tell us where the others are, so unless they get stupid, too, they can hide in plain sight for the rest of their comfortable lives."
Silence descended on the table, save Wyliss' occasional sniffs. Finally, the king spoke. "Are our men in Pallis?"
Renault nodded. "We went there for supplies and a night's rest before looking elsewhere. We arrived just as all of this was transpiring. I came back to tell you in person, but the others stayed to help, if they can."
The king shook his head. "They need to come back immediately."
"Surely you don't mean to abandon us!" Wyliss exclaimed.
"It's not abandonment, my dear; it's an evacuation. And your family needs to get out, too. With or without the money, those bastards may very well blow the armory and then you can add your parents and Gustav to the casualty list."
Wyliss paled.
"Let me go back and talk to everyone," Renault said, standing up. "I'll see what they want to do."
"Offer our hospitality to Ricard and Valla. Try to get them to see reason and come here. But regardless, I want all of our people back here within the hour," the king commanded.
Renault nodded. "Within the hour." Then he was gone again.
No one much felt like eating after that. Wyliss retreated to her room to be alone and the queen and the other women left to begin preparing for the possible influx of another royal family. The king called an emergency meeting of his advisors and left to meet with them and discuss all of the ramifications of what was happening, and Naissus went with him. Amichen's mother left to update her advisors and to check that her retinue had been properly housed and fed.
Amichen found herself alone. She idly thought that she might find the royal library and see what books they had available, but, instead, she ended up aimlessly wandering the hallways, thinking about the situation in Erenrue.
The bandits had now killed ten people from all three kingdoms—including assaulting or murdering members of all three royal families. And if something wasn't done to save Lorralie, the body count might grow to eleven—or maybe even thousands.
What if they got their money and then blew the armory anyway, as the king pointed out. Even if the entire city was evacuated and no life was lost, save the Princess', the loss of the money and the destruction of the capital city would cripple Erenrue financially. Of course, Erenrue would be even more determined to hunt down the bandits and get revenge, but, at the same time, they might not have the money to do so for very long.
Which might make the bandits want to do that very thing.
Amichen supposed that they could work out a trade. Some amount of money could be exchanged for a certain amount of powder. Every delivery of gold would reduce the amount of destruction they could do until they had all their money and little to no powder. Then they could teleport out and leave the princess free.
. . . Teleport out to enjoy their ill-gotten gains for the rest of their lives. Unless they slipped up and spent too much money or said the wrong thing to the wrong person, they would never be punished in any way for their murderous deeds. There would never be any way to connect them to the ransom money.
And then Amichen was struck suddenly by an idea, like a flash of light.
She hurried to the nearest guard, who straightened up a little when he saw her approaching.
"Excuse me, but where would I find the king? He said he was calling a meeting with his advisors, but I don't know where they would be."
"They're almost certainly in the council room. Take the main stairs to the second floor, then turn left. It will be the first door on your left."
"Thank you!" she said, hurrying away.
"You're welcome, Your Highness," he called out after her.
She followed the guard's instructions and went to the specified door. It was shut and she could hear voices on the other side. She hesitated for a moment, unsure about interrupting them. Maybe they would think her idea stupid or impractical and she would have interrupted them for no reason. Perhaps she should wait to talk to Naissus or the king alone.
But they didn't have a lot of time; the gold had to be delivered within three days. If the king spent most of the day with his advisors, it might make it too late to implement her idea, even if they liked it.
She knew that her mother wouldn't hesitate; she would open the door and stride right in, like she belonged, and begin offering her opinion as if it had been asked for.
Amichen decided to compromise and knock on the door.
A man in a long, brick-red gown opened the door and quickly looked Amichen over. "Yes?" he asked guardedly.
"Um . . . I need to speak to the king, please."
"He's busy. We will announce when he's hearing petitions again." And then he shut the door in her face.
Amichen was so shocked, she stood immobile, unable to even think, much less move. She had worried that they might reject her idea, but she had no idea that they wouldn't even let her into the room.
A moment later, Naissus jerked the door open. "Amichen!" Then he gestured her in. "I'm sorry. Come in."
Amichen hesitantly walked into the room. The face of the man who had rejected her was as red as his gown, and he bowed very low.
"Oh, Your Highness, forgive me! I didn't recognize you. I just assumed you . . . I wasn't thinking at all."
"All is forgiven," she said, using a Shi-Ha expression that, for all intents and purposes, translated into, "I won't kill you for anything you've done." It was a way of burying the hatchet that was, unfortunately, used too rarely in the eastern kingdom.
"Did you need me?" Naissus asked quietly, looking at her.
"No, actually." She went to the head of the table where the king sat looking at her curiously. "I had an idea, Your Majesty."
"Let's hear it," he said. "We have a lot of speculation on what Erenrue's troubles will mean for us, but we're very short on ideas to help."
Amichen took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I think Erenrue should pay them the ransom money," she announced.
"Once the bandits have that, they're gone," an advisor interrupted. "Then we have no way of ever catching them."
"I think they should pay the bandits the money," Amichen repeated. "But I think they should do it with marked coins."
The king leaned forward, looking intrigued. "What do you mean 'marked'?"
"Either some little mark should be pressed or cut into the coins, or maybe new coins should specifically be struck with some mark or flaw in them that a normal person would never notice, but which would be obvious to a person looking for it.
"In order to keep them from getting their money and then blowing the armory anyway—or staying in it and demanding even more money—you offer them a trade: a certain amount of coin in exchange for a certain amount of powder. And you just keep giving them marked coins—as quickly as you can finish them—and get powder in exchange. That way, the risk to the city lessens in proportion to the amount of money paid. Even if they decided to cut out early and blow the armory, it wouldn't be as devastating.
"But, ideally, they will take all of the money and then leave. And we could have people in all three kingdoms who are secretly on the lookout for those marked coins. Have the tax collectors put each person's tax payment into an individual bag with their name on it, then have your inspectors examine all of the coins for the mark. When you find marked coins, bring those people in for questioning. Of course, they may not be the bandits at all; they may be innocent merchants who just took payment. But you can tell the merchants that there is a counterfeiting ring that you are trying to catch and that they had counterfeit coins. So you teach them to identify the mark and tell them if someone gives them a coin with that mark, take note of the man: what he looks like, what he bought, how often he comes in. Then you can arrange to have your bailiffs in place so that when the man comes in again, the merchant can give a signal and he can be arrested.
"If you do it quietly—and if you trump up false charges that are completely unrelated to what they're actually wanted for—you might keep all of the bandits from figuring out that we're on to them and that their coinage is marked."
Once Amicehn finished, there was silence in the room for a long moment. She began to worry that everyone was trying to figure out a polite way to tell her that her idea was stupid and she needed to go back to the living room and take up embroidery because she knew nothing about statecraft.
She spread her hands. "It's just a thought I had. It may not work or be too impractical," she added, giving them the opportunity to politely decline her advice.
But the king said, "I don't think it's impractical at all; I think it's a wonderful idea. I will pass it on to the King of Erenrue at once."
Amichen smiled, feeling relieved and pleased. Naissus came over to her and took her hand in his, then leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Who told you that you wouldn't be a good queen?"