Free Shadows Return by Lynn Flewelling

Klia, Elani?” Korathan asked, testing the waters.
    “If it pleases the queen,” she replied, her young face giving nothing away.
    It chilled Korathan a little, to see how much Phoria’s influence was already blossoming in such a young protégé.
             
    Riagil í Molan and his wife, Yhali, met them at the gate of the clan house.
    “Your arrival is unexpected but most welcome, Seregil of Rhíminee! And Alec, too,” he exclaimed, clasping hands with them both when they’d dismounted.
    Yhali offered a hand to each of them and led them inside. “Come in, and your escort, too. I’ve ordered a feast in your honor.”
    “You shouldn’t go to such trouble for unannounced guests,” Seregil replied, as etiquette required. Any guest—expected or otherwise: friend, enemy, or stranger—could expect such hospitality at any clan house in the land.
    Traneus and his men were given rooms and the use of the household bath chambers. Seregil and Alec, however, were given a bedchamber by the family’s private bath.
    “Your favor has improved here,” Alec noted, sliding happily into the warm, scented water. After so many days in the same clothes, he was hardly even bothered by the presence of the bath attendants.
    Seregil had no such modesty, ignoring them completely as he threw off his clothes and settled in the deep tub next to Alec’s. “That means more than I can say, talí,” he admitted with a deep sigh of satisfaction. “I guested here so often in the old days, with my uncle and kin, it was like a second home. I don’t mind so much not having a name, so long as I have a welcome.”
    By the time they’d refreshed themselves, a meal had been laid out on the long tables under the trees in the central courtyard. The little fretted lamps nailed to the trunks were lit, too, just as Alec remembered.
    Seregil was given a place of honor on Riagil’s right. Alec sat at Yhali’s left. Traneus, Alec noted with secret amusement, looked a bit put out with his place far down the table.
    Yhali poured a cup of wine and passed it to Seregil for the guest’s libation.
    Seregil tipped a few drops onto the flagstones, then took a sip and passed the cup to his hosts. It was more than a ceremony; it was an unspoken pledge that neither party would harm the other while they shared the same roof.
    “What brings you across the Osiat at such an unlucky time of year?” the khirnari asked as the spiced lamb and parsley bread were served.
    “We’re on the queen’s business,” Seregil replied. “Phoria has sent us to Bôkthersa to fetch Princess Klia home.”
    “Ah, she will be pleased!” Yhali exclaimed. “I think she’s been homesick, though she’s too proud to say so.”
    “And this is your escort?” Riagil raised an eyebrow at the small number of Skalans.
    “I think we can ride from here to Bôkthersa without fear,” Seregil assured him.
    “Queen Phoria has sent new soldiers to attend her sister.” Riagil paused, letting the observation hang on the air as he sipped his wine. “We thought that very odd.”
    “I’m not privy to the queen’s thoughts,” Seregil replied. “Captain Traneus, can you shed any light on the subject?”
    The captain rose and bowed. “I fear not, my lords, though I’m sure her reasons were sound.”
    Riagil seemed satisfied and the conversation soon turned to talk of rains and trade, births and horses.
             
    As soon as the meal was over, Traneus took his leave and went to see his men settled for the night. Seregil and Alec lingered a while under the flicking lanterns, enjoying the autumn night and the last of the year’s night-blooming white flowers. A young woman fetched a harp, and Seregil obliged his hosts with some soft music, while Alec accepted a challenge to shoot against some of the young men who’d heard of his prowess with his Black Radly.
    “It seems odd that the queen would not send you with a proper escort,” Riagil observed.
    Seregil smiled over his