The Steel Princess

Chapter 9: The Ambassador And The Thief

Skye hadn't believed it possible for an ambassador to require such pomp and ceremony. Where she'd slunk into Celiande in the middle of the night, met only by Varren, the Empire's spokeswoman turned up with a full retinue of servants, stableboys, cooks - and guards, which, it quickly became apparent, were going to cause problems.

Minister Varren had taken it upon himself to oversee the ambassador's stay, and if Skye wasn't particularly happy at him spending days, perhaps weeks, in close proximity to an Imperial agent, there wasn't much she could do about it - no-one else seemed willing to go near Helida. Even he seemed uneasy at the full escort of sixteen soldiers who followed the ambassador through the streets of Celiande and up the switchback road to the castle, and it wasn't long before an argument broke out.

Not with Helida herself, thankfully, who hadn't yet reached them. No, Skye had taken up a position on the castle battlements, and both Varren and Borlas had joined her.

"Unacceptable," Borlas kept muttering, with which Skye was inclined to agree. "She can't bring that many armed men into the castle."

"The ambassador is a long way from home," Varren said, sounding very much as if he was trying to convince himself, too. "It's only natural she'd feel more comfortable with her own guards."

Borlas snorted. "What does she think we're going to do to her? Roast her over an open fire and serve her up for supper?"

"Enough, both of you," Skye ordered, and this time she didn't even have to raise her voice. Perhaps it was only that her meeting with the thief in the forest had her on edge, but she seemed to be getting the hang of giving commands.

Still, she was beginning to question her own insistence that she wouldn't see Helida until the morrow. She wanted to get the ambassador's measure, and it would be courteous to meet her - but would rushing to the gates look too puppyish, too eager? Skye would be her own queen, not beholden to the Empire, but at the same time she'd spent the last six years on Imperial soil; perhaps it paid to be friendly.

In the end, she gave it an hour, then another, waiting until the ambassador and her retinue, guards and all, were settled in the castle before summoning Helida for a meeting. They met in a little room behind the Great Hall, plushly furnished and lit by a blazing fire even in summer to banish the chill of stone walls. Skye took up a place before the fire, hoping it made her look commanding, and almost instantly regretted it; if she stood here more than a few minutes, she'd end up roasting her backside.

There was no time for further adjustments, though, because the far door swung wide and Helida swept in. At least, two of her guards did, and then the ambassador herself, two more guards behind her.

From the corner, Skye could feel Auda bristle. It was horrendous bad manners, even an outright threat, to bring a larger escort than that of the royalty you were meeting; no doubt Helida knew that, though she gave no sign. She did at least bow in Skye's direction, just deep enough to look sincere.

"Princess Iskyenna." Helida's voice was deep, soft and cultured. "It's an honour to finally meet you. I believe you've only recently returned from my home city?"

"Imaldra? Yes." Skye left it at that. Helida would know perfectly well what she'd been doing in Imaldra - let her chew over the implications of facing an assassin and a princess both. "How do you find Eskeleth?"

Helida gave a wan smile. "Cold, Your Highness. Your summers are not quite to my liking, though I'm certain I'll adjust soon enough."

She sounded so reasonable, so... friendly, but Skye didn't dare relax. Having a representative of the Empire here was no different from handling a viper and hoping it didn't bite you - less a case of 'if' and rather 'when'.