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Sarelle and the Ardelay twins go to their inn. They are greeted there the following day by Ekador apparently-Serlast, who says he'll be another two days settling up his affairs and then they can all go to Welce.
Ekador packs quite lightly for someone who's leaving the country on short notice and otherwise bears negligible personality resemblance to Loel. The carriage isn't particularly crowded as they make their way back to the port to find a boat leading back to Welce.
"There are three stops to make," Kiri tells him as they drive. "Although we'll land close to Chialto, I don't think that should be the first place we go. You'll have a much smoother go of taking over as uncontested prime if you can demonstrate at least minor magical power on demand - I don't think fielding questions of your legitimacy is anyone's idea of a good time and it would be better to have more than Sarelle's word to lean on. It doesn't help that anyone but her will mistake you for sweela. The Serlast estate is a couple of days by carriage from Chialto, there's a forest on the property, it's supposed to be special to the Serlasts, and going and having a walk around it might give you an idea of how to perform some minor visible magic."
"Might not. Loel figured out how to do magic without jumping into the Marisi River," shrugs Aleko.
"It might not. But it's worth a try if you don't have an epiphany before we get there," says Kiri. "Anyway, some of your cousins are living at the Serlast estate - off the top of my head, one of Valdin's children, his younger sister, and one of his grandsons, but I don't know how you're related to the family so I don't know who they are to you. You can kick them out if you want, but I recommend getting to know them and soliciting their help with the family business, and you have plenty of room to continue to board them. The Chialto house of the Serlasts was empty last I heard, but I'd be willing to bet you can re-hire Valdin's old servants if you want them, and you're entitled to maintain your own suite at the palace, too. You can divide your time between these places more or less however you please, although if you neglect the palace then the royal family may start issuing pointed invitations, and you might want to become acquainted with Prince Isten in particular, as he is heir to the throne and it's his succession you're necessary to ratify later."
"Isten's eleven," Aleko adds. "Coru, quiet."
"Questions?" Kiri inquires. "Do you want me to write any of that down, possibly in chart format?"
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calescent
liakoura
"Okay, then I'll think that at her later I guess when this comes up."
calescent
Eventually - with Kiri providing climate control on request - they arrive in Chialto. Kiri sends an update to Jayce - and also a letter to Loel.
Dear Loel,
In case you haven't heard the news from other channels, Auney Dochenza died during our trip to fetch you. Sarelle Dochenza is the new elay prime, and she had a lead on the Serlast heir, which panned out; Ekador Serlast has been retrieved from Malinqua and confirmed. Aleko and I have been showing him around and as of this letter's sending we are in Chialto.
It's likely that Ekador, Sarelle, and for that matter Patience, will have an interest in meeting you in your capacity as prime. I do not expect you to appear in Chialto anytime soon, but it would be good to know if you are willing to receive visits from them and people who might wish to accompany them the way Aleko accompanies me, or if I should make some sort of excuse on your behalf, or if you only want to meet them with me present to mediate, or have preferences I have not been able to anticipate.
Please direct replies to my Chialto house, where they can be easily forwarded to the palace if need be; but if you expect them to take more than a week to arrive it might be prudent to send a duplicate to the country house care of Jayce, who is kept abreast of my itinerary and will know where to send it on if my near future holds as much travel as my recent past.
I recommend watermarking your outgoing envelopes in such a way that it will be obvious if they have been tampered with. (My equivalent is high-melting-point sealing wax.)
Sincerely,
Kiribel Ardelay
pyrophyte
Ekador turns out to be quite fond of his Chialto house.
So the last item on Kiri's original itinerary is... the palace.
So the last item on Kiri's original itinerary is... the palace.
calescent
Yep! That it is.
She helps him with moving into the suite previously occupied by Valdin and shows him where all the relevant stuff is. (Aleko, while they're at the palace, usually parks in the suite and takes messages for them, so he's not there on the tour.)
If she should happen to run into Isten on this tour, she will make introductions.
She helps him with moving into the suite previously occupied by Valdin and shows him where all the relevant stuff is. (Aleko, while they're at the palace, usually parks in the suite and takes messages for them, so he's not there on the tour.)
If she should happen to run into Isten on this tour, she will make introductions.
If she should happen to consider the palace library relevant - and if she doesn't, Ekador will - they will find Isten there.
calescent
She does consider the palace library relevant!
"Isten, hello. Ekador, this is Prince Isten. Isten, this is Ekador Serlast; Sarelle and I found him in Malinqua."
"Isten, hello. Ekador, this is Prince Isten. Isten, this is Ekador Serlast; Sarelle and I found him in Malinqua."
Isten nods politely to both of them.
"It's good to see you again, Kiri. And good to meet you, Ekador."
"It's good to see you again, Kiri. And good to meet you, Ekador."
pyrophyte
"Likewise," says Ekador. Prince Isten seems a very polite and well-spoken child. And there's something else about him, some elusive yet definite quality - it is certainly there, Ekador just has no idea what it is. He might call it 'maturity' if pressed for words, but he'd know he was fudging.
In the process of paying closer attention to try to solve that mystery, he discovers that paying close attention to someone will tell him where and approximately when they have broken their bones in the past. It seems Prince Isten has had a childhood accident or two. Ekador decides not to mention it.
In the process of paying closer attention to try to solve that mystery, he discovers that paying close attention to someone will tell him where and approximately when they have broken their bones in the past. It seems Prince Isten has had a childhood accident or two. Ekador decides not to mention it.
"A lot of reading," he says, daring a smile. "Mainly tax records, this week."
(He has a long-term plan to go through and meticulously uproot every tax in the realm that exists because someone annoyed his father. When the time comes.)
(He has a long-term plan to go through and meticulously uproot every tax in the realm that exists because someone annoyed his father. When the time comes.)
calescent
"Tax records. Perhaps it's more interesting than it sounds."
"I'll have to know this kind of thing one day," he says with a slight shrug. "But, um... no, it isn't particularly." Another tentative-but-genuine smile.
Isten grins at him.
"I hope so," says Isten.
calescent
"I don't know if you care to greet the current king in person," Kiri adds to Ekador. "I avoid it, by and large, but as I understand it you can more or less sit next to him at any meal unless people of similar status - Isten, a queen, another prime - are trying to sit in the same chair at the same time, and then you'll have his attention and can arrange a more private meeting at another time. When I need to interact with him I write up a letter and give it to his assistant instead. I've got some copies of letters like that in my suite and can show you the protocol Alser taught me."
calescent
"All right. That can be our next stop, unless you'd rather be left to your own devices in this library for a few hours."
pyrophyte
He glances around him, momentarily tempted, then shakes his head. "I can always come back. Lead on."
calescent
"Personally I think my library is nicer," remarks Kiri as she waves to Isten and leads Ekador away. "It isn't as big, but it's been more carefully curated - the Ardelays have owned most of the libraries in Welce for a few generations and there's always some place that wants a book that isn't seeing much use in the private collection."
calescent
"You can come visit me there sometime. After you're settled in. I don't know how long it'll take you to settle in. Oh, I don't think I've told you the queens' names. Hector's first wife is Judin and his second is Risella; the latter is Isten's mother. He's hunti, Judin's coru, Risella's sweela."
pyrophyte
"I see," he says. "You hadn't, no. Thank you, I'm sure that is the sort of thing I could eventually be embarrassed by not knowing."