I have tried to leave hints about the twist in this chapter from the start, but there was little room to give you clues without giving the entire plot away.
The Emperor's Mage
Chapter Thirty-three: Measure
None of the ponies in the stable were all that excited, and Cloud huffed her displeasure when they arrived at the stable to find Sarge chatting with the latest to be hired on to the Riders as an assistant. Daine hadn't done much work with Amadi, maybe, but the horses all thought very well of him. That was enough for her.
"Daine-girl, please tell me that somehow you brought Draper back with you," Sarge said without any ceremony at all.
Daine's jaw dropped, but she automatically recovered when she noticed the set of Sarge's back. He was playing at ease, maybe, but he was serious about the question. "Yessir. Arram told me about what really happened on the way back. He had a copy of himself executed while he was in bird shape, so Ozorne just executed a simal—samul—"
"Simulacra?" Amadi supplied politely.
"Yes, thank you. He had his simulawhatsit with enough magic that Alanna and Ozorne and everybody thought that Arram was dead, and on my way out afterward I had bird-Arram with me. Nobody was surprised at all, especially since he'd taken after a plover that was fair fond of me. Ozorne himself gave me permission to keep the bird, if that matters for anything."
Amadi smiled. It wasn't a very nice expression, exactly, but the fierce triumph seemed very obviously directed at Ozorne instead of her. "That will make things much easier, later, if the emperor that condemned Arram gave you permission to remove him from the country," Amadi said, as if that was any kind of explanation, before turning to look back at Sarge. For once, the always-casual trick rider looked a little nervous. "Sarge, are you..."
"I don't leave my people in over their heads when they're still learning to swim, you know that," Sarge interrupted, pointing toward the castle as he herded both of them forward. "Let's go on, it's bad enough that I'm losing Daine for a bit."
Daine stopped, leaving Sarge's broad hand pushing at her back with enough force that she almost toppled forward. "What do you mean, Sarge?"
"Thought it was obvious, lambkin. Draper's here, and the peacock cut his eyeteeth on your kind of magic. No offense to Master Reed, of course, but Draper can tell much more about animal-handling," Sarge said, practical as always. "You're going to be in lessons with him soon, knowing that he's an egghead and you're interested, and Carthak's already made your control better. Every last pony minded you when you were in a rush, and quietly at that."
"Oh." Daine hadn't had time to imagine anything that might come after, but she didn't have any protests to learning more about magic. "Why're you losing Amadi, then?"
"If no offense is taken, I would prefer to tell everyone at once," Amadi said, looking faintly embarrassed. That alone would have convinced Daine, even beyond the polite words, so they talked about little things as Sarge nudged them toward the king's office. Amadi mentioned several ponies that had taken an interest in his type of riding, and Daine and Sarge had helped him to understand just what it was about the ponies that coaxed them into stepping forward.
The conversation turned to recent injuries, as it always seemed to do with the small skirmishes against Carthaki forces, and that was when Daine remembered one of many smaller stories about Carthak. "Oh! Arram taught me a bit of healing, Sarge, and I bet that I can learn to heal just as much as the Palace folk. I fixed a bowed tendon on a prize little mare that rest wasn't helping."
Amadi stopped, that time, and she and Sarge had to turn back to see him. "Hanan?" he asked.
Daine nodded, puzzled. "Right." She would have asked if he had worked in the palace stables, to know the mare's name, but they had already made their way back to Jon's office door. This time, Sarge was the one to knock, but Amadi was the first one through the door. Daine barely recognized Arram Draper, pacing by Jon's desk in the plain clothing of a servant, but Amadi had thrown himself at the man without any trace of his usual reserve.
Arram looked just as shocked for a moment, but he recovered well and thumped Amadi on the back. Somehow, Arram had kept his balance despite the unexpected embrace. He disentangled himself from Amadi to nod to King Jonathon. "As I was saying, your majesty, I am pleased to offer you every advantage I can in the war that Ozorne will bring against your shores, perhaps before his patron goddess realizes that he has been neglecting her for several years. I maintained the temples, while I was there, but Ozorne has refused people the right to leave gifts for the Gods." All present made the sign against evil, except for Arram and Amadi. Arram looked tired, and Amadi was angry. "I was the sole keeper of the scrolls that describe just how to open the Realms of the Immortals, not that I ever told the emperor, and I sent them to your country for safekeeping in the hands of this man."
Some final weight had left Arram's shoulders, leaving room for a mischievous expression that Daine had certainly never seen before. Arram Draper bowed fluidly to the king, with every ounce of grace that he had, looking every inch a high courtier even while dressed as a servant. "King Jonathon, may I present His Royal Highness Kaddar, prince of Siraj, duke of Yamut, count of Amar, first lord of the Imperium, heir apparent to His Most Serene Emperor Ozorne of Carthak."
Amadi- Prince Kaddar- bowed to King Jonathon, the shallow bow due to the land's monarch's from a crown prince. Gary dropped his half-open scroll, Daine's jaw dropped, and Jon stared at the stable-boy that just might become emperor to Tortall's very aggressive southern neighbor.
Four seconds passed before Jon reacted. He calmly rang the bell that sat at the edge of his desk. When a servant appeared just moments later, Jon politely requested more chairs, and that the servant please send runners for Lady Alanna, Baron George Cooper, Sir Myles of Olau, Sir Gareth the Elder, Lord Martin, Prince Roald, Princess Kalasin, and the queen.
An hour later, after everyone had time to assemble in a larger meeting room, the servants had brought light refreshments, and both Kaddar and Arram had been dressed in something a little more suiting to the occasion, the true peace accords between Tortall and Carthak began.