*GASP* Only one review for the last chapter? Only one for poor Steelsheen? Thanks, red mage, but... *bursts into tears* Oh, wait, there's another one, yay... but still, only two... *sob*

Disclaimer: *is crying too hard to say anything* *official-looking person takes over and announces in official-sounding voice, "standard disclaimers apply"*

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Chapter Six: The Palace

Saali was trembling and sweating by the time they arrived at the gate of the palace. She had heard many stories about what happened to people who entered here, and most of them were quite unpleasant. One, however, had been about a thief boy who fell in love with the twenty-sixth princess, and she focused her whole mind just on telling that story in her head, word for word, to keep from having a heart attack.

Sir fetched her from the tower rather rudely, by slamming open the door and saying, "Come on already. We do not have all day."

Her legs trembled as she climbed down the rope ladder. It was the strangest feeling, as if they weren't there at all. She couldn't tell if they were or not, as she could barely see anything in the blinding sunlight, after being in the cursed room for a week. She could hear all right, though, and what she heard was jeering and whispering and the general noise of a suspicious, hateful group of people, and she gave as good as she got. She hated them just as much, if not more.

"QUIET, ALL!" Sir roared, and Saali flinched - she still hadn't quite gotten used to the throat-ripping-out sensation of his yells. "NOW! You are to wait HERE! Do not even get the IDEA of deserting, SCUM!"

Saali's foot hit the road hard, which was how she found out she was not on the ladder anymore. The road - they were on a paved road! Not sand! She shuddered. Why would someone as wealthy as the King, who lived on a paved road, care for a poor widow like herself? Her thoughts whirled as she staggered about blindly, trying to make sense of where she was through squinted slits of eyes.

A hand on her shoulder steadied her. She squinted up at its owner. She had begun to see, if painfully brightly, the silhouettes of things, and she just barely recognized Kentai's outline. "You have gone blind, then, have you?" he asked jovially, and she wished she could see his grin.

He then looked at Sir. "May we," he gestured to Reni, who stood silently behind him, "come along?"

Sir just looked at him.

"Oh," Kentai said sarcastically - Saali could make out his features by now - "I mean, 'Sir, may we come along, sir? Sir?' "

Sir gave a long, tired sigh. "I suppose so. They will send a hand to look after the mumaks."

Saali had a Tai moment, in which she saw quite clearly in her mind a very large disembodied hand stroking a mumak's trunk. "I cannot believe I just thought of that," she whispered to herself.

"Hm?" Kentai looked confused.

"Nothing," Saali snapped, and trotted after Sir as the gatewardens hauled open the great iron . She wanted to sprint the other way, but somehow managed not to.

She had thought something would happen once she passed through the gate - it would become cool and breezy, perhaps, or silent, or maybe someone would even shoot her full of arrows as soon as she entered. But nothing did. She still trotted down a dusty paved path -

But suddenly she was surrounded by lush greenery, something she'd never seen before. She gave a small cry as the leaves closed in around her, forming a roof over her head. She slowed down a moment to spin and look around at the walls of leaves, but Sir snapped at her to keep up -

And now they were in front of a pair of huge, vast doors, made of wood - real wood, from trees! - and laced with gold designs, perfectly symmetrical, set in a totally smooth clay wall taller than any wall she'd ever seen. Kentai gave a small sigh of awe from behind her, and then the doors were creaking open from the inside, one inch at a time -

And they were striding down a long corridor, made of plan clay, like most of the houses in the city, although it was noticeably smoother - fine craftsmanship, that! It was very small, and low-roofed; Kentai had to stoop to walk, and Saali had nearly to skip to keep up with Sir's deliberate stride -

And they were in, and oh! Jewels and gold and silver and rows upon rows of pillars with swirls and designs of every sort, a roof taller than four normal houses stacked on top of each other, beautiful glass lamps with roaring flames large as campfires and the stiflingly strong scent of incense all around. Saali had the feeling she could buy the whole second-wall district with the contents of a single pillar. The most obvious of the designs, though one had to stare at a wall for a long time to make anything out, were the snakes - hundreds upon thousands of them slithering motionless all over, pieced together from rubies and gold and some glinting black stone Saali didn't know, representing the twists and turns of life, Harad's symbol in all its glory.

The contents of the great hall would explain the guards posted every ten feet or so, huge men with spears who all looked as if removing Saali's head from her neck would be no big chore for them. Saali shuddered, completely overwhelmed by the beauty of the hall and her own terror. "It is a sight..." Kentai sounded like he had no idea what he was saying.

Somehow she made it down the main path of the hall, between the pillars, her booted feet clomping on the stone floor and echoing unpleasantly throughout the hall. The King sat on an enormous golden throne at the end of the hall - or so Saali assumed; as soon as she saw the chair she looked down, afraid to meet the monarch's eyes. She knelt clumsily, following Sir's example, and stared at the floor, trying not to breathe too much incense.

"My liege," Sir intoned raspily, with respect strange to hear from him. "Captain Nineyi son of Ekrosha." (Nineyi, Saali thought. I will remember that.) "I come humbly seeking your counsel on an important manner."

"Rise," the King said wearily. His voice had a certain deep, hollow sound to it, like a large bell. "Kneeling is painful on a stone floor, I should think."

Saali was very startled. She remained kneeling numbly for a moment, until Kentai seized her by the arm and hauled her up. She continued to look down.

"Who are they?" the King inquired.

"Private Kentai, of my regiment, and, er -" Sir coughed. "Er, the mumak-man." Saali could practically feel Reni's glare from behind her. "And this is Tasaali, the issue I must speak to you about."

Saali was just beginning to fume about being called an issue, when the King spoke to her. "You may speak for yourself, Tasaali. Why are you here? Look at me."

Saali's eyes widened and she raised her head to meet the eyes of the ruler. He was a rather large man, draped in a red robe embroidered with gold and absolutely huge pants, the ends of which trailed beneath his feet. Saali, as she thought, could have used them as a very nice quilt. His very long hair was braided with gold thread, and his eyes were deep-set and dark.

He heaved a large sigh. "I said, why are you here?"

"Er. Well." Saali's voice was a thin croak. "I, er, I -" She had to look down again. "I impersonated a soldier, sir, I mean, my liege, your majesty."

There was a long silence. The King seemed to take his time with speaking. "How so?" was all he finally said.

"Well, si - your majesty, I, er, dressed up, I mean, put on a uniform, and, er, left.... with the troops. I pretended I was a man."

Silence. Finally, "Why? Look at me."

Saali did. "Er, well... I, er, I did not enjoy... life at home, my liege."

Silence. "Where is your husband?"

Saali panicked, eyes darting back and forth. "I - I - I have none, si - my liege! Your majesty!"

"If you do not mind my interrupting," Kentai interrupted loudly, ignoring Sir Nineyi's death glare, "she was quite good at being a man. I believed her for a day, and I only found out because I was her tentie - shared a tent, I mean -"

As Saali blushed furiously at the wrong-sounding-ness of that statement, the King interrupted. "I know what 'tentie' means. Did anyone else believe her?"

"Well, yes, as I was saying, Reni here did until I told him, and everyone else did until Sir, i mean, Captain Nineyi -" he grinned fiendishly at Sir, like, I know your name! - "told them. She was real quiet, went unnoticed the entire time; it was very clever, if you do not mind me -"

"Went unnoticed, you say?" The King seemed to be extremely deep in thought. "Quiet?"

There was a hugely long silence, during which Saali could hear her own harsh breathing. Sir broke it, saying, "Well, there is no law against women in the army, so I thought I should... take it up with you, as it were..." very awkwardly. He must have been very flustered, since the "as it were" made no sense at all in the sentence.

The King's silence dragged on and on and onnnnnn. When he did speak, everyone jumped except Reni, who continued to look at him in a cool, scrutinizing sort of way that suggested he was not impressed by the monarch. "Captain Nineyi. Turn around and walk that way," the King commanded.

"Er... yes, your majesty?" Sir looked very confused, but did as he was told.

"Stop," the king said, as if he asked people to walk and stop on a regular basis. Sir did, and looked back at them in a very flustered sort of way. It was pleasing, in a way, to see Sir ordered around, and apparently Kentai agreed with her unspoken thought, as he gave a large guffaw. Reni just raised an eyebrow at the ruler, clearly saying, is this some sort of joke?

"I do not see anything funny. Now, Captain. Close your eyes." Kentai laughed harder as Sir did as he was told. Saali just wondered what the king intended to throw at Sir's back while he wasn't looking. "Tasaali. Walk up behind the captain."

Saali furrowed her brow and walked toward Sir. Clomp, clomp, clomp went her boots on the floor. "No, no," the King corrected her impatiently. "Quietly. I want to see if you can sneak up on him. Captain, tell us when you hear Tasaali."

Saali backed up and tried again, feeling like a piece on a game-board. Kentai was nearly doubled over with laughter. At first, her boots clomped still, but she stepped lighter on the floor, using all her leg muscles to keep from making a sound. As she drew closer to the captain, she held her breath and concentrated on remaining completely silent. Somehow, it felt natural, like she had known how all along.

She got right up behind Sir, and she could practically feel him straining his ears to hear her. It made her feel giddy, powerful somehow. She tapped him on the shoulder, and he jumped, whirling around to face her. "How -" He stared at her. "I thought... you were still back there..."

Traces of a smile formed on the King's face. "Very good," he mumbled. "Perhaps another try..."

"You could try Reni." Kentai grinned recklessly at his king. "He has sharp ears." The King nodded, and Reni, frowning, went to stand where Sir had. Again, Saali was completely silent, and Reni knew nothing until she tapped him to let him know she was there.

"Hmm." The King was obviously deep in thought. Reni gave him an extremely confused and incredulous look, which he didn't notice. The mumak-man continued by tapping a boot loudly. The monarch still did not budge.

Soon, there were two pairs of boots tapping in unison, a Sir glaring fire at the owners, and a Saali staring at her feet, her mind racing. The King's voice broke into her thoughts. "Come toward me, now," he commanded, and closed his eyes.

Reni looked as if he would very much like to cut the ruler's throat while he wasn't looking.

Saali crept on cat feet toward the throne, stifling a gulp. What if she tripped and fell on the King, or what if he simply meant to grab her by the neck and strangle her when she didn't expect it? What she had seen of him did not vouch for his sanity... Worst of all, what if her widow's lock was slipping from its precarious hiding spot?

When she got up close enough, she was too afraid to tap him on the shoulder. Instead, she cleared her throat loudly. The King jerked back to awareness. "Very good... very good... Do you speak the Common Tongue?"

The question was so sudden, Saali hardly knew how to answer it. Most Haradic boys were taught quite a bit of Common as children - it was the mutual language of Harad, Umbar and Rhun, and it helped move trade along, so it was important to know some for use in the marketplace and such. It had also been the means of communication between Gondor and Harad in times less hostile. Since Saali had been taught everything a boy would have been, she was almost close to nearly fluent, but still could never have held a conversation. "I speak some Common," she answered in Common with a slight accent. She did not add that this was one sentence she had practiced often.

"Very good..." the King said again. "We shall have to work out that accent, but it is nearly good enough..."

"Er, my liege," Sir rasped. "Are, er, are you going to pass judgement on this woman?" Saali could tell he was worried about men deserting after being left alone so long.

The King gave a long, thoughtful sigh. "I am thinking," he said, and paused. Reni tapped his foot even louder than before, and the ruler gave him a look before continuing. "I am thinking that if this woman is capable of disguising herself as a man, remaining quiet and unnoticed, and speaking and understanding the Common Tongue, then she could prove a valuable asset to the army of Harad."

Saali was confused. She furrowed her brow as she waited for the King to continue. He did, saying, "From the beginning of this war, our weakness has always been information. We are fighting on unfamiliar turf, continually unaware of the enemy's position, and from what I have heard, our scouts are severely lacking in abilities and are nearly always caught." He paused, as if this much talk had wearied him. "If we could gain precise information on where the enemy is camped, how many there are, and suchlike, we could perhaps turn the tide. And if we could gain information on where they are going and their battle strategy, even better." He looked Saali, still puzzled, in the eye. "I believe Tasaali has the potential to become a spy."

Saali let out her breath in a sharp whoosh. A spy? She, Tasaali daughter of Eishali, had POTENTIAL for something? Something valuable, something crucial? She was NOT GOING TO BE KILLED? Wait! She could barely speak Common, and she had never learned to be a spy - but she was going to live! She was going to be IMPORTANT! PURPOSE! These thoughts pounded against her skull, rapid-fire one after another.

Sir gave a sort of cough. Reni raised his eyebrows. Tai was much less reserved; he let out a loud whoop and clapped excitedly.

Sir Nineyi glared at the boisterous soldier. "My liege, she has no experience in this field, begging your pardon, majesty," he said hesitantly.

"Well, she will get it soon enough," said the King reassuringly. "But there is one more thing - we must prove her skill with the sword. We cannot have her being killed defenseless in the field. Guards! Summon the Prince!"

Saali saw, rather dizzily with relief, a brawny guard strike a huge gong, which echoed in her head long after the sound had faded. After a few minutes of waiting, a tall young man swaggered into the hall through a door that had been invisible a second ago. He wore a brightly colored, fine-cloth shirt and breeches, studded with jewels. After him padded a huge, spotted animal that looked vaguely like a cat, only vicious, with a jeweled collar around its neck. It hissed at the visitors, showing huge sharp teeth.

"Quiet, Cat," the man said boredly, stroking the head of the beast self-assuredly. He must be very creative, to name the cat Cat, Saali thought vaguely. He is also not half bad-looking. "What did you want me for, Father?" the Last Prince sighed.

"It is time to put all that swordplay to some use," his father informed him. "This woman," he indicated Saali with a sweep of a large hand, "may become a spy."

The Last Prince snorted in a rather unprincely way. "You jest, surely," he scoffed.

"Your clothes are a jest," Kentai offered, but no one was listening to him at that point.

"No," The King intoned, "I always mean what I say. This woman has all the skills necessary to become a spy of the Grand Army of Harad, but we need to test her skills with a sword. You will fight her," he told his son, and there was no question of who was in charge there. "If she does well, she will be released to begin her training with Captain Nineyi's regiment. If she does poorly, well..." The monarch paused ominously. "If she does poorly, we shall see what will happen."

The Last Prince drew a longsword from its heavily jeweled sheath on his belt, running a finger down the flat of the blade, then swinging it through the air a few times, quick, efficient cuts. He was skilled, quite skilled, Saali realized with a gulp, and he was eager to begin. He was not about to let a woman best him.