"Malvina, carry these baskets and follow me. I'm going to call on the new Tortallan ambassadors," Tamana ordered that afternoon. Obviously, the ambassadors were already there, the gossip only traveled slowly. Malvina sighed and picked up the two baskets, overflowing with welcome gifts, fruits, incense, jewels, cloths, and such, and somehow managed to balance on against each hip. Tamana had prepared them to give to the ambassadors, hopefully before the other maidens had a chance to deliver their gifts. They arrived shortly at the ambassador's suite in the east wing of the palace. Tamana knocked on the door and a short man with a red face and brown stubby hair opened the door.

"May I help you?" he asked, almost out of breath.

"I come with welcome gifts for the royal ambassadors of Tortall, Lady Margaret and Sir Tokon of Wellam. "

"Please come in, I am Tokon." The man ushered them inside. Malvina barely held in a laugh at Tamana's reaction. From the look on her face, she had thought that this man was a servant! However, Tamana recovered quickly, "I am Tamana, daughter of minister Linshu."

"Very pleased to make your acquaintance, lady Tamana." Sir Tokon bowed.

"Where might I have my servant place these gifts?" Tamana asked after returning his bow with a curtsy.

"Please, follow me," they did, into the next room. Malvina breathed in the pleasing smell of books as she looked at the many shelves.

"Malvina," Tamana said sharply, dragging her attention from the multitude of books, "place the baskets on the table."

Tokon, who had been gazing at a map on the wall, turned quickly and stared at Malvina. She self-consciously bowed her head, her long blond hair falling over her shoulder[i], and placed her burdens on the indicated table. The next moment a woman, a full head taller than Sir Tokon, swept into the room. She was introduced as Lady Margaret.

Tamana was invited to have a cup of tea. She accepted telling Malvina to leave. "Malvina, I will return in an hour's time and I expect my clothes for tonight to be ready," she instructed. Malvina bowed to her mistress and to the ambassadors, but as she was turning she caught a surprised glance Lady Margaret shot at her husband and the small nod he gave in return. Puzzling over their reactions she did as directed by her mistress.



~~*~~

Carpathos was nervous. He sat at a table in a far corner of the Dancing Dove, alone, waiting for Myles to appear. He was later than usual. Carpathos grasped his mug, ignoring the raucous laughter at the other end of the room. Finally he saw Myles enter. Quickly he stood and walked over to intercept the knight's path, before he could go to his regular spot.

"Carpathos!" he said with surprised pleasure, "I haven't seen you or Ariadne in a while."

"Myles, please come sit with me," he said, trying, without success, to cover up his urgency.

"Certainly," Myles said, slightly startled.

Carpathos grabbed his elbow and just about dragged Myles back to his table.

"Are you okay Carpathos?" Myles asked quietly.

"I need to talk to you privately. Can I meet you at your town house in one hour?"

Myles just stared at him.

"Please, Myles, I'll explain everything to you then." Carpathos practically begged.

"Okay, one hour. But Carpathos…" but Carpathos had already left.



"So?" asked Ariadne as Carpathos walked in the door.

"I asked him if I could meet him in an hour, well, 30 minutes now, at his town house."

"What?"

"Well, I wasn't about to bring out the Dominion Jewel in the middle of the Dancing Dove!" Carpathos said defensively.

Ariadne had gone pale. "Didn't you look around you before you came in?" she hissed, "Men of the King's Own have been patrolling the streets since dusk, and a notice was just read, curfew is in 15 minutes!"

"Oh, no. That can't be true!" Carpathos stammered.

"Yes, it is. I think they're searching for the stone!" Ariadne said.

"Well, I'll try and slip out now then, before curfew," Carpathos was really getting nervous now. What if he didn't have a chance to tell Myles? What if they found him with the Dominion Jewel? Quickly he walked back outside and, just as quickly, found that the street was blocked off by two of the King's Own, armed, at each intersection. Everyone was being sent back into their homes. Carpathos returned, pale and panicky, to the house.

Half an hour later the house by house search reached their home. A knock came, "Open, in the name of the king!" a voice commanded.

Ariadne quickly opened and three men of the king's Own entered. One soldier searched upstairs, one searched the downstairs, and the third ordered Ariadne and Carpathos to empty their pockets, removing everything except their clothing. Finding nothing, the man upstairs returned to his partners.

Carpathos was almost ready to think they'd get off free, that these men wouldn't find the stone, when one spoke up, "Take that from around your neck also," indicating the string the leather pouch was on. Carpathos sighed, resigned to his fate. With three armed men in the house and even more on the street outside, running was not an option; he'd most likely get killed. He slowly handed the pouch to one of the men and immediately bowed his head in submission. The man, startled at this boy's behavior quickly checked the contents of the bag and immediately drew his sword, in case of any resistance, "By order of the King, you are under arrest for stealing the Dominion Jewel." At that moment, the man who had been searching the downstairs found the stolen travel bags, containing Numair Salmalin's papers and other possessions. He quickly walked out of the house and brought back reinforcements, accompanied by, Carpathos noticed, Lord Raoul himself.

In minutes Ariadne and Carpathos found themselves shackled and marching down the street, escorted by two dozen of the King's Own. Carpathos was absolutely terrified. They'd never believe it had been a mistake, or that he had meant to return the jewel.

As the procession made its way through the lower city, more men joining the ranks at each intersection, Ariadne caught a glimpse of Sir Myles. She slowed and tried to catch his eyes, she succeeded. His eyebrows shot up in surprise at the entourage and he quickly guided the horse he was riding over to Lord Raoul. The two held a short conversation in which Raoul quickly told him that Carpathos had been arrested in possession of the Dominion Jewel.

They were led to the Citadel and into a cell with two cots and a lamp sitting on the floor. The door was closed and locked, a sentry standing guard.

"Now see where this has gotten us!" Ariadne was almost hysterical.

"Don't worry, I'll tell them that I stole it, you didn't do anything wrong. They'll let you go," Carpathos answered with more confidence than he had.

~~*~~

It was mid-morning but the sun was already beating down on the pages in the training yards; it was unusually warm for fall. Taro was waiting his turn at the quintain when he saw Sir Myles walk over to Lord Wyldon. The training master's face went red and he yelled "Taro of Wellam." Taro trotted over quickly.

"Leave your horse, the servants will take care of it. Go with Sir Myles." Taro could tell that Lord Wyldon did not like interrupting the training session.

Following the knight into the castle, Taro wondered what it was this time.

"Ah, Taro, there you are," Numair said as Myles led him to the causeway entrance that led to the Citadel, "I assume you want to come also Myles?"

"Yes. I know he boy."

"Who are we talking about?" asked Taro.

"The boy who stole the Dominion Jewel. It was found last night, but the young man refuses to talk and, for some reason, neither my truth spells nor the king's seem to work on him. I remember what you said, that he might be immune to magic, but you were able to break through his spells and find the stone before, you might be able to help now." Numair explained as the trio walked into the fortress.

A few minutes later they were in a cell that was occupied by the king, Lord Raoul and one prisoner. "Page Taro, thank you, I believe you can help us," Lord Raoul said.

"Wait a minute, where is Ariadne?" Myles asked.

"She had nothing to do with this," spoke up the boy, who looked like he had Bazhir ancestors, "I promised that I'd cooperate if he let her go."

"Page Taro, I will need you to do a truth spell." The king started.

The prisoner spoke up, "I said I'd cooperate if you let Ariadne go. You don't need to use a truth spell."

"Well then," the King said in an icy tone, "tell me why the Dominion Jewel was found on your person."

"I didn't mean to steal it! I meant to return it, that's why I asked Sir Myles if I could talk to him at his town house; I was going to give it to him to give it to you. Do you think I want you dethroned by some tyrant, like Ozorne, who gets his hands on that?"

"Myles?" the King asked.

"It's true, sire, that he asked to speak to meet me at my house. When he didn't come I went to his house, because he had seemed so desperate to speak to me. I came across them as Raoul was escorting them here."

"What do you know of Ozorne, boy?" Numair asked.

"I know he was a tyrant. I lived in his kingdom for seven years as a slave, until I escaped with the help of your own Lindhall Reed. Too bad I didn't get to see him die and his castle crumble. And I'm not called 'boy,' I do have a name, it's Carpathos, for your information."

Page Taro, whom everyone had forgotten was in the room, started having a coughing fit. Myles turned, concerned, "Something wrong?"

"Your highness, may I ask what your ruling is in this matter?" Taro said, ignoring the odd looks he was getting for his fit.

The King studied the dark boy and then sighed, "I believe his story that he meant to return the Jewel, but the matter of the thievery still remains. I set a fine at five gold nobles, to be paid before he is released from prison."

Carpathos' heart dropped. He didn't have that kind of money, not since they had re-confiscated Master Numair's belongings.

"Sire, I would like to pay the fine for Carpathos." Taro said.

Everyone, including Carpathos, stared at him.

"Might I inquire as to the reason why, Page Taro?"

"Yes, I owe Carpathos all that I can give him. His brother saved my life three years ago. I'm sure my parents told you the story about how I was in the castle when it collapsed."

"You…you know where Wiglafan is?" Carpathos jumped up.

Numair, who remembered the story quite well, frowned, "Wiglafan…died saving Taro's life in the castle that night."

Taro solemnly nodded his head.

----------------------- [i] I know, in the books the slaves are bald (at least I think they are) but Malvina is not, she has long blond hair.