‘Thorin!’ he exclaimed. ‘I knew you’d come!’ Then he produced a wide grin for Minikin. ‘And Minikin. I’ve been waiting for you!’
Minikin let Gilwyn help her down from the kreel. ‘It’s not been so long, Gilwyn. I told you — patience is a good thing for a regent.’
‘You left me wondering, and you know it,’ said Gilwyn. ‘I’m ready to learn.’
‘And I’m ready for some rest,’ said Minikin, stretching her little body. She shook out her long white hair, then nodded at the waiting Gilwyn. ‘I know you’ve been waiting. I promise you — we will talk. But let us rest a bit first, hmm?’
‘And eat,’ said Baron Glass. Eager to be down from his mount, he slid off the reptile’s back after the Jadori rider, who gave him a steadying hand. ‘We feasted on dried bread and fruit all day, if you can call that a feast. Let’s have some wine and meat, all of us.’ He inspected Gilwyn carefully. ‘Have you eaten, boy? You look like one of my saddle sores.’
Gilwyn sighed wearily. ‘No, I’ve been busy tonight talking with some of the warriors.’
Minikin raised an eyebrow. ‘About the kreel again?’
‘Minikin, they’re all worried,’ said Gilwyn. ‘If we don’t find more we won’t be able to defend ourselves.’
‘Kreel breed in their own time, Gilwyn,’ said Minikin. ‘The Jadori know that.’
Baron Glass reached out and tousled Gilwyn’s hair. ‘That big brain of yours needs food, boy.’
‘We’ll go in and get a meal,’ said Gilwyn, then suddenly frowned. ‘No Lukien?’
‘I’m afraid not, Gilwyn, not this time,’ said Minikin gently. ‘Lukien needs some time to himself, I think.’
‘He’s all right, isn’t he?’
‘He’s fine,’ replied Thorin. ‘He’s just troubled about what happened, killing those raiders. We never think it bothers Lukien to kill, but it does.’
Gilwyn nodded. ‘I know. I’m glad he didn’t come. He’s been patrolling too much lately. Which is why we need more kreel, Minikin. Having Lukien helps, but even he’s not going to be enough if Aztar ever really attacks us.’
Minikin smiled. ‘Let us go inside now.’
‘Minikin, we need to talk about this. .’
But the mistress was already making her way through the garden, her bodyguard Trog close on her heels. A sour expression crossed Gilwyn’s face as he watched her go.
‘She doesn’t listen to me,’ he grumbled. ‘Some regent I am.’
Thorin was quick to offer support. ‘That’s not it, Gilwyn. She’s got a lot on her mind, just as you do. And it’s been a long ride. She’s tired.’
The explanation appeased Gilwyn. With a boy’s enthusiasm, he asked, ‘Did you hear, Thorin? Minikin’s come back to teach me about my Akari. Finally, I’m going to find out about her.’
‘I know, and I’m pleased for you,’ said Thorin. He put his arm around Gilwyn as he led him back toward the palace. ‘It’s a great mystery to me, this Akari business. If it makes you happy, fine. Me, I’ll never understand it, or how a spirit could ever speak to someone.’
He volunteered nothing of his encounter with Kahldris, or how the dead Akari had spoken to him in his bedroom. He merely left the garden with Gilwyn, eager for food and answers about the Liirian Seekers.
There were no arguments during dinner that night. Baron Glass had rested and washed himself, then taken a hearty meal with Minikin and Gilwyn and some of the palace’s Jadori servants in a dining hall full of mosaic windows, a remnant from the glory days of White-Eye’s dead father. The mood was good around the table, passing figs and dates and flat bread to each other and leaning back on the pillows to laugh at Jadori jokes, which Thorin only half-understood. The servants who joined them weren’t really servants at all, because although Gilwyn had been declared regent over Jador he was uncomfortable in his role and held it only in the most informal fashion. They were all equals, not only around the table but everywhere else, and those who brought the food to them sat down to partake in the meal.
Minikin herself remained distracted most of the time. Expertly avoiding Gilwyn’s questions, she told him only that his lessons would begin tomorrow, and that all his queries would be answered then. The boy found it hard to restrain his enthusiasm. It had been a year since Minikin had first told him of his Akari, a spirit that had been gifted to him as an infant. He knew her name was Ruana and that she had been a young woman when she died, but Minikin had kept mostly everything else secret, and Thorin knew that vexed Gilwyn. The young regent didn’t eat much at the supper. Anxious for the morning, he played with his food and gave most of it to his pet monkey, Teku, who sat happily on his shoulder as her master passed plump dates her way. Her tiny hands held the fruit with precision as she ate, precision that Gilwyn himself had never mastered because of his clubbed hand. Once, Teku had been the young man’s saviour. Before Figgis — his former master in Liiria — had fashioned a boot for him to walk, Teku had compensated for him, climbing to fetch things out of reach and gingerly turning the pages of books. She was a remarkable creature, truly, but she was old now and it was good that Gilwyn had less use for her. Thorin didn’t know if it was the desert air or simply becoming a man that had made Gilwyn stronger, but he could walk on his own well now and seldom called upon his simian friend for assistance. Teku didn’t seem to mind her retirement, though. Gilwyn still loved and doted on her, and she went with him almost everywhere in the palace, perching on his shoulder like a loyal bird.
Baron Glass deftly avoided the topic of the Seekers. It was a sore subject for Minikin, he knew, so he waited until the meal was over and the little mistress left the room before broaching it with Gilwyn. As the giant Trog departed after Minikin, the room grew suddenly larger. Thorin sidled over to Gilwyn, settling down next to him on a red silk pillow. While the Jadori cleaned the table, Thorin spoke to Gilwyn in Liirian.
‘So,’ he said almost absently, ‘we should talk about the Seekers.’ He took one of the dates from Gilwyn’s plate and twirled it between his fingertips. ‘What do you know about them?’
Gilwyn looked at his friend slyly. ‘I’m surprised you were able to wait so long. I was wondering when you’d ask me about them.’
‘I had to wait until Minikin was gone first,’ Thorin conceded. ‘Do you know where they are?’
The young man nodded. ‘Out in the south side of the town. I’ve been working with them, trying to find housing for them. Their leader is a man named Paxon, from Koth.’
‘Koth?’ Excitement bubbled in Thorin. ‘That is interesting. Lukien didn’t mention that, not surprisingly.’
‘I’m sure he didn’t want to get your hopes up,’ said Gilwyn. ‘And really, what good does it do us to know where they’re from?’
The question frustrated Thorin, who squashed the date in his fingers then wiped his hand on a cloth. ‘You and Lukien are too much alike. Don’t you even care what’s happening back home?’
‘This is our home now, Thorin. Maybe you don’t know that yet, but you should. Chasing after these people won’t do you any good. They came here to escape Liiria, remember. There’s nothing left for any of us there.’
‘I’d rather find that out for myself, thank you. I left a family behind in Liiria, you know.’
‘Sixteen years ago.’
‘That makes no difference. Remember what Jazana Carr told me, boy — she intends to kill them, given the chance. If she’s on the move. .’
‘You don’t know that, Thorin.’
‘Precisely why I have to find these Seekers! Now, you have a big day tomorrow so I won’t make you come with me.’
Gilwyn laughed. ‘Oh, thank you.’
‘I’ll go to them myself. Just tell me where to find this Paxon.’
The village outside the white wall had never been Thorin’s favourite place. It was crowded and dirty and — because it was jammed with northerners — it reminded him sadly of home.