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“On to matters of work,” the high envoy continued. “I have arranged for you to be granted an audience at the palace on Friday morning to present your credentials.”
“Friday? But that is four days from now!”
“Yes, Your Excellency. And considerably sooner than I had thought they’d meet you. On her last visit, your predecessor waited almost a month for a meeting which never eventuated.”
“So, what? I just remain here waiting?”
“Yes. And until then, I recommend you don’t leave the embassy compound.”
He shot her a look as horrible as the decor. “You expect me to spend four days cooped up here?”
“Yes, Your Excellency. I do. For your own protection, of course. As is customary with diplomats across Dynosia, once your credentials have been accepted, you will have full protection—from arrest, from interference, from harm. But until that time, you are just another visitor in this polity. And you must understand that the Ardorans take a much less enlightened view of certain activities than we do in Mestibes. I am sure the archon wouldn’t want you getting into any trouble, would she?”
He glared at her. “And which royal shall receive me? Calix?”
She gave the slightest flicker of distaste, and Aurelius wondered how much she knew of the prince’s proclivities. Or of his own intentions in Ardora.
Urosina had seemingly only uncovered the information with considerable effort. But the high envoy had been here for almost thirty years. And it was her job to know things, after all.
“By convention,” she said, “it should be their royal majesties the king and queen. You are the archon’s voice in this land, after all. But given the current state of affairs? I suppose you could well be met by the crown prince.”
He drummed his fingers on the rough table. “And there is absolutely nothing I can do until then?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” she said with a thin smile. “Your scroll hive is full of classical history about Ardora. Let me know when you have digested them, and I will have the next set brought to you.”
25
TEIGRA
Teigra clutched the leather sack, the total of her worldly possessions, as Jaspar led her through the strange building—past the entrance hall, overlooked by a staircase to the second floor, along the long hall of offices that formed the western, ground-floor arm of the U.
Ms. Securia’s office was located exactly where Mother would have put it, right at the head of the corridor, so that no one could come or go without her seeing everything from the desk that faced the open door. The high envoy’s space was filled with codices along every wall and was also loomed over by one of the largest statues of Mesti she’d seen in a private space.
“They’re all empty?” she said, as they passed office after neat office, the furniture perfectly positioned but absent any other life.
“Oh, yeah!” said Jaspar, as if only just noticing them. “Isn’t that funny? They’ve been like that for so long now, I hardly even notice anymore.”
“They weren’t always this way?”
“Oh, gosh no. When I first got here every room was full! The corridor was so loud you couldn’t hear yourself think. We had a contingent of thirteen, back then: one high envoy, two mid envoys, and ten low envoys. There was Ariti handling vegetables. Lykaois looking after wood. Pachis covering wine. Vivlios on grain. Samari on steeds. And...”
His voice trailed away.
Teigra gave him a sympathetic look. “What happened?”
“Sama happened. A lot of people here got mad when Mestibes didn’t join the fight. I mean really mad. Like ‘don’t walk out into the streets’ kind of mad. The royals even passed a decree that would have closed our embassy—and kicked out all the envoys across the greater polity. Ms. Securia managed to negotiate a minimal presence of just three positions with the king. But that’s all they will let us have nowadays. The mid envoys we used to have in Cherrystone and Port Nikrizo and Gonimos and Mavelix—all gone! And that negotiation was also the last time Ms Securia was allowed to see anyone senior in the royal family. Or their officials.”
Teigra juggled her bag and reached up to place a hand on his sagging shoulder. His fur was soft. “That must have been hard for you, to lose all your friends like that.”
The shadow over Jaspar brightened, like a brief cloud over an otherwise sunny field. “Oh, it’s all right. If anything, it helped! We used to only deal with the big players. But now that so many nobles won’t talk to us, we make our contracts with the small farmers instead. It is a lot more work, but I’ve met more amazing people in the last five years than I did in the five before that!”
“So, does that mean you are here for another five years as well?”
“Yup. The same session that voted you in. And extended Ms. Securia’s term as well.”
“I’m sure there was a good deal less debate about your renewals than my appointment,” she said, clutching her bag tighter.
“Maybe they just needed to make sure they got the right person for the job,” he said. “And by the looks of it, they picked perfectly!”
