“Oh, aye,” agreed the red-bearded guard, quite amiable. He reached to pet the black cat Abeke held. “This isn’t a Great Beast.”
“No,” Abeke said. “Her name is Kunaya.”
“You named her?” demanded Meilin, pressing her hand to her face.
“Does she have special powers?” the guard asked.
Meilin made a sour face. “Shedding. Clawing. Being heavy.”
Abeke merely smiled mysteriously. She was good at that. So was Uraza. Actually, so was the little black cat Kunaya. Smiling mysteriously was a rather feline magical power.
Rollan didn’t trust cats, but he thought they were all right. Better than weasels.
A messenger made his way to them, a little out of breath. “Lord MacDonnell is pleased to welcome the heroes! He is throwing a banquet in your honor tonight. Would you like to see your rooms?”
The four kids looked at each other, surprised. They couldn’t have asked for a more opposite experience from Trunswick.
Rollan’s stomach growled. Banquet!
The messenger mistook their silence. “They are quite nice rooms,” he promised quickly. “No comfort is wanting!”
“Oh, no,” Finn said. “It’s just . . .”
Rollan finished, “It’s nice to have such a warm welcome.”
As they were led toward the main castle, Rollan glanced over his shoulder. The plaque about the three truths wasn’t visible from this side, but he hadn’t forgotten it.
It was indeed a warm welcome. Rollan and Conor were given a room to share. Though they were from very different backgrounds, both of them were equally stunned by the size of it. And the beds! — great poster beds, with a pillar at each corner supporting a draping fabric ceiling. One for each boy. Most inns in Amaya didn’t even have two beds in a room, and when they did, it was only to cram five or six people — sometimes strangers — into the same space. And there was a private washbasin with soft cloths beside it. Fresh clothing had also been laid near the washbasin, two choices of outfits for each boy. One was a deep green surcoat and kilt that matched the guards. The other was a more standard-issue Euran surcoat and leggings.
“No way am I wearing that kilt,” Rollan observed.
Conor touched the tartan wool fabric. “I think it’s interesting. Why not?”
“Too much like a uniform. You know how I feel about those. What did you think of that plaque over the gate?”
“Er, remind me what it said again?” Conor asked sheepishly, and Rollan remembered with a pang of regret that the boy was not a talented reader.
“Something about the Law of Glengavin. Death and hugging.”
Conor shrugged. “Seems like an orderly place. Makes sense they’d want people to obey the law. Why, are you feeling anything about it?”
After the dismal experience of asking Essix to check out Glengavin, Rollan had almost forgotten about her otherworldly powers of observation. It felt like a long time since they’d had a moment of connection.
“I just don’t like rules,” Rollan answered finally. “They’re like uniforms.”
The boys continued poking around in the room. All the furniture was very fancy, and probably expensive, but that impressed Rollan less than the pillows.
“Probably one thousand geese were plucked to fill this thing,” he told Conor, burying his face into it. It was a cloud of indistinct perfection.
“Two thousand,” Conor replied drowsily. Neither boy had had a decent night’s sleep since well before Trunswick. “Did you see the washbasin? You can get rid of your fresh smell.”
He made a face as he said it so that Rollan knew he was joking about Rollan’s comment to Meilin earlier.
“Oh, sure, I’ll get right on that.”
But neither of them did. Instead, they let the pillows suffocate them for a few hours until a messenger woke them for the banquet. They washed and dressed before following another servant. The great hall was as richly decorated as the gardens. A woman in a brilliant dress played a skin-headed drum. A man in a matching tunic played a set of humming bagpipes. A younger teen played a carved wooden harp. The sound beat up the tapestry-covered walls.
“Look at this place,” Conor said to Rollan.
“Look at you,” Rollan replied. Conor had opted for the kilt. Rollan had not.
Flushing, Conor said, “It seemed polite.”
Polite was never really on Rollan’s list of priorities.
“If we have to make a speedy escape and you have to do it in that skirt, that’s all on you,” Rollan whispered.
As the bagpipes buzzed a merry jig, Meilin and Abeke entered the hall. Both looked startlingly different in the lush green surcoats that had been provided. Meilin in particular looked stunning and odd. It took Rollan a moment to realize that it was because it had been a long time since he’d seen her clean.
The two girls joined them. Meilin’s eyes lingered on Rollan for a long moment before finding Essix. The falcon perched on an unused torch holder and ran her beak through the feathers on her leg.
“Rollan, you look clean,” Meilin said. Her gaze still seemed to linger on him a little longer than usual, a fact that didn’t bother Rollan a bit.
“Hey,” Conor protested.
“Oh,” Meilin added hurriedly, “you do too. The green, uh, brings out your eyes. It’s nice to be staying somewhere civilized.”
“More civilized than I’m used to. Any sign of Rumfuss?” Conor asked.
Rollan said, “Yeah, any boars running around the castle?”
“Actually,” Abeke pointed out, “there is a tapestry with a boar on it in the hall near our room. I think it is Rumfuss. I asked the servant who led us here, and she said he was the boar in the gardens — but nothing more.”
“Boar in the garden?” Meilin echoed. “She wouldn’t say anything more?”
“She said it was against the law for servants to carry on with guests.”
“That’s a funny law,” Rollan said.
“This place seems to have a lot of them,” Abeke agreed. “I tried to leave our door open for some air and one of the guards told me that only the lord or the lord’s family was allowed to leave their doors open. They said it was a privilege.”
Rollan sniffed indignantly. “That seems stupid.”
Meilin broke in. “It’s exotic. But I’m sure Zhong’s customs would seem strange to an outsider as well.”
“That’s true,” Abeke agreed. “Nilo is quite different from Eura or Amaya, especially some of the more remote villages. At least it is pleasant here.”