Volle (5 page)

The arch of the gate was much older than the metal bars which spanned it. The sentry, a large boar, looked more alert than the wolves at the front gate had. He checked their papers, then bowed to Volle and waved them through.

Ben drew in a gasp as the carriage entered the front garden. It was immense and, Volle had to admit, beautiful. Trellises lined the path, overgrown with purple and red flowers. Bushes of lilac had been sculpted into a sweet-smelling topiary to the left; to the right, small paths meandered through patches of red, white, and yellow roses. An enormous gazebo occupied the center of the gardens, with a field of bright yellow flowers on its low roof and bright orange flowers surrounding it on the ground. Volle had no doubt that the gazebo, viewed from above, would form the shape of a sunburst.

Ben’s jaw remained open as they pulled up to the main entrance of the castle. The steps were of white marble, but the archway and walls were of the same grey stone that made up the outer walls. A royal crest adorned into the keystone, but Volle didn’t have time to examine it. As soon as they pulled up, a liveried footmarten helped him down from the carriage.

“This way, my lord,” he said, and escorted Volle inside, leaving another footmarten to help Reese and Ben with the luggage.

To one side of the gates, Volle noticed a small wooden hutch, and heard the cooing of pigeons from inside. The footmarten, he noticed, was referring to a small scroll of paper, on which Volle saw the words, “Lord Vinton – new to the castle – show him to Steward.” So they used pigeons to communicate between the gate and the palace.

“Where are we going?” he asked. “I’m new here, you see.”

“Yes, Lord Vinton. The Steward greets all new arrivals to the palace and assigns them quarters. He’ll direct me and I’ll return to show your bags and servants to your quarters.”

“Thank you. And your name is?”

The marten ducked his head. “Renaldo, my lord.”

“Thank you, Renaldo.” Renaldo led him quickly down a large main hallway lined with tapestries and portraits, broken up by elaborate sconces that Volle expected would hold torches at night. The carpet they walked on felt soft and comfortable under his bare paws; thick wool, he suspected from the scent. He tried to keep track of where they were going, but after Renaldo led him up a staircase adorned with lion heads at the base, and around two bends in quick succession, he was no longer sure he could get back to the main hall.

Renaldo showed him to a waiting room that featured several plush-looking couches. Behind a desk, an alert-looking young red fox sat. He smiled at Volle when he saw him, a smile of familiarity that someone who misses his family wears when he sees another of his species. Volle answered the smile warmly, and waited politely while Renaldo announced him to the fox.

“The Steward is in,” the fox said, standing, “and I’m certain he will have time for Lord Vinton.” He walked close to Volle on his way to the other door in the room, and Volle caught a whiff of his scent. It was fresh and clean, like the forest on a spring day, and he thought that under it he detected the subtle scent of arousal. Interesting. The fox wore a subdued blue cotton outfit of tunic and trousers; not a uniform, but still a cut above the clothes Volle had seen on the people in the streets. He watched the fox’s tail as he stepped through the doorway, then back a moment later.

“The Steward will see you, Lord Vinton.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Arrin.” The fox extended a paw shyly. Volle reached out to grasp it, but to his surprise, the fox took his paw and bowed, touching his muzzle to it. “Honored to serve your lordship.”

“Thank you, Arrin.” Volle smiled. The fox was very cute, with his wide eyes and big ears and elaborate etiquette. Volle was sure that Arrin could smell his modest arousal as well as he could now smell Arrin’s, and he smiled. Maybe life at the palace wouldn’t be so bad after all. At worst, he might be able to talk to Arrin about where a discreet liaison could be found.

Renaldo clearly did not quite gather what was going on. He stayed standing where he was, paws clasped behind his back, waiting for Volle to go in. When finally Volle did, Renaldo stayed a step behind him.

The Steward’s office was nearly twice as large as the waiting room. Dark wood paneling lined the walls, here and there enhanced with a relief of the royal crest. The two large windows had a view of the river and the city beyond that was at the moment rather grey and gloomy. One portrait hung on the wall behind the desk, depicting a glowering bear dressed in robes the color of wine. Volle had seen the same portrait in the main hall, but hadn’t noticed the gold circlet. Now he realized this must be King Barris.

The Steward himself was a small, harried-looking coyote who wore a red velvet sash across his chest over a light green doublet. He was filing some papers and muttering to himself when Volle entered, but as soon as he noticed the fox, he stood and waved Volle to the chair in front of his desk. “Come in, Lord Vinton, have a seat.”

Volle sat down and arranged his tail behind the chair. Arrin and Renaldo remained standing. “Please call me Volle.”

“Volle, then. Pleasure. I’m Alister, the Royal Steward, and I’m sorry I’m going to have to be brusque and rush you out of here, but there is simply too much going on today. Load of wine arriving for the banquet tonight, or supposed to have, but nobody knows where it’s got to, and—not your problem, I’m sorry. Welcome to the Jewel of Tephos, but everybody calls it the palace, and yes I know it’s more like a fortress, can’t be helped. Call it the palace and it seems like more of one. You’ve got papers?”

Volle handed him the papers he had. “Right here. I was raised in—”

“Merinland, I see. Where’s that?”

“It’s a small province in southwest Ferrenis. My father, um, met my mother there while on duty in a minor skirmish on the border, and she lived there after he left. We never knew what happened to him, but I guess he was killed, because the people in Vinton didn’t know—”

“Killed twenty years ago, yes. Got the report right here. Ferrenis, eh?” He looked sharply at Volle, ears forward, golden eyes slitted narrowly. “You understand your loyalties, eh, lad? Lord Tistunish thinks you do, but he doesn’t say what he bases that on.”

“I bear no love for the Ferrenians,” Volle said stiffly, entirely in character now. “They barely lifted a finger to defend us when my father’s troops were attacking. My mother always said the Tephossians treated us better than our lord ever did. She died cursing Ferrenis after our lord’s men turned us out of our farm.”

“Sorry, lad. Did you ever meet your father?”

“No. He didn’t stay around to see me born. My mother said he wanted to, but…”

“Yes, I see.” Apparently satisfied, Alister consulted his documents. “The old lord Vinton never occupied quarters in the palace. He liked to be out on the road, as I guess you know.” He glanced up at Volle and then back down. “The quarters his father used are now occupied by Lord Fardew, and we won’t be turning him and his whole brood out. We’ve got half a dozen empty ones…ah.” He chuckled. “Renaldo, Lord Vinton will be staying on the first floor in the south wing, in the chambers next to Lady Gervis. You know the ones?”

“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it that the chambers are prepared and his lordship’s luggage taken there.” Renaldo turned sharply and left the room.

“Now, for staff. Most of the lords just have a personal servant. The palace has housekeepers to clean the room. You have a personal servant?” Volle shook his head. “Want one?”

“Yes.” They would trust him more readily if he had a native servant. If he brought his own servant, it would be easier to be suspicious.

“All right. I’ll have Arrin select someone and send him down. If he’s not satisfactory, just let us know. The Exchequer will take care of the fee if you like. You’ll have to see him anyway to sort out the taxes. Twenty years is a long time.”

“Taxes?” Volle hadn’t thought of that, and neither, apparently, had Seir or the others.

“Yes. You’ll have an income from Vinton, but part of that is owed to the palace.” He held up a paw. “Take it up with Minister Ullik, the exchequer. Arrin, can you see if Minister Ullik is free?”

“Certainly, sir.” Arrin looked at Volle before leaving, but turned his muzzle quickly when he saw Volle was looking at him. He hurried out of the room, tail waving.

“Banquet tonight, not in your honor of course, but you’ve come on a good night. There will be good food and a show. These things happen about once a month. Your personal servant will be told about them, or you can send Renaldo or any of the others to find out from my office when they are. The King holds audience once a week in the morning for commoners, afternoon for Lords, we can tell you when that is too. You won’t be on his Council yet—maybe ever—but there are a number of things you can sit in on. The Secretary administers all the governance meetings. I’ll have Arrin send him a note announcing your arrival. Arrin! Arrin!”

“He went to the Exchequer,” Volle said.

“Ah, right. Good lad. Anyway, tell him that when he gets back. Oh, and have him get you a certificate of residence. You’ll need that to get into and out of the palace regularly.”

“I got in just now without one.”

“And Renaldo brought you here to me immediately. You need the certificate to prove you live here. Oh, no guests without papers, and you have to get papers for guests from either this office or the Minister of Defense.” He looked up at Volle. “Five years ago there were some incidents with palace guests. Vandalism and such. So now all guests have to have papers. A few bad apples…” He sighed.

“I know how it is,” Volle said, but he was a bit shocked. That was stricter than at the Academy, even.

“Well, we carry on. Now, if you haven’t any other questions, might I trouble you to wait in the waiting room?” The coyote had already sat back down behind his desk and pulled his papers in front of him. His eyes remained on Volle, but Volle could see his eagerness to get back to his work.

“I’m fine. Thank you very much for your help.” Volle smiled, stood, and bowed.

“Pleasure. Call on me if you need anything. Welcome to the palace.” With that, Alister bent his head over his papers.

Volle wandered out into the waiting room, closing the door behind him, and smiled to himself. Alister reminded him of the Steward back in Caril. Maybe the harried look and twitchiness came with the job. He hummed softly as he examined the portraits in the waiting room. None of King Barris there, but there were several other portraits of bears in royal finery. And near one of the sconces…

He examined the wall, still humming softly. The torch had left a sooty halo on the wall, but to the left there was a patch on the edge of the halo that was markedly lighter than the rest, about a foot from the edge of the portrait. Obviously another portrait had hung there in the past and been taken down in favor of this one. The painting that hung there now was an old one, showing a grizzled female bear with spectacles. Her clothes indicated that the portrait had been painted some sixty years ago or so, if his fashion knowledge was reliable.

“That’s a nice song. What is it?”

Arrin had padded up behind him while he was distracted. Startled, he bristled and then calmed down. “A lullaby. My mother used to sing it to me.”

Arrin’s expression softened, and he looked up at the portrait Volle was examining. “That’s Lady Althea Barris. Great-grandmother of the king.”

Volle smiled. “She looks pretty fearsome.”

“Legend has it she killed her own daughter because she tried to run off with a commoner,” Arrin whispered. He lowered his whisper even further. “Some say it was a common
woman
!”

Volle blinked. He looked at Arrin. The fox was smiling, and Volle thought he was only joking. He smiled back. “Well, my mother’s dead,” he said, “so I’ve nothing to worry about on that account, anyway.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Arrin’s expression changed immediately from amusement to sympathy. He lowered his ears respectfully.

“It’s all right. She died in her sleep.” His mother had, in fact, died in her sleep the previous year. He’d gotten a letter about it from his aunt.

Arrin nodded, and slowly brought his ears up. “The Exchequer is free in two hours, just before dinner. His office is just one floor above this one.” He pointed up.

“Thank you. Oh, the Steward told me to ask you to leave a note with the Secretary about me?”

“I already did.” Arrin flashed white teeth in a broad smile. “He’s available to discuss your involvement in the government at any time tomorrow or the day after. And here’s your certificate of residency, all filled out and stamped.”

“Thank you again.” Volle took the paper and bowed his head, and Arrin’s ears flicked in embarrassment.

“Just doing my job, my lord,” he said. “Um…since Renaldo isn’t back yet, may I show your lordship to his chambers?”

Volle smiled. Was Arrin flirting with him? He couldn’t be. The Orthodox Church…well, maybe when he was more sure of his position here, he would be able to tell how to respond. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

“Let me just tell the Steward where I’m going.” Arrin walked quickly across the room to the Steward’s office, and Volle noticed his tail wagging jerkily from side to side, as if he were trying to stop it and not succeeding.

“My Lord.” Renaldo entered the waiting room and bowed. He was panting slightly. “Please forgive my tardiness in returning. Your lordship’s chambers are being prepared and will be ready for you within fifteen minutes. In the meantime, I will show you some of the other rooms of the palace. If your lordship has finished here?”