A Royal Audience (Part Two)

The palace had plenty of vacant rooms, but even the unoccupied ones were fully and lavishly furnished. Partly, this was to uphold the king's dignity; partly, it was because guests often came to stay. Some were mages invited by the king, while others were visitors from foreign countries. Guests like these could hardly be lodged elsewhere, so the king accommodated them in the North and South Palaces.

Local nobles were generally received in the North or South Palace as well. As soon as Romon's carriage stopped before the palace, court guards stepped forward to inspect it. Only after finding nothing amiss did they retreat a few steps and signal that the party could proceed.

"Viscount Teta Xiao, please come upstairs with me first. Your attendants can wait down here," Knight Kadelo suggested. "Someone will take charge of your gifts."

"All right." Romon knew Kadelo was being polite. Since he had brought it up, there was surely a palace rule to that effect. After giving Lu Xiupei and the others a few instructions, Romon followed Knight Kadelo through the doors of the North Palace.

It was only a side palace, yet the materials used in both its construction and decoration were extravagantly expensive. No less care had gone into building it than into the Main Palace.

Apart from being slightly smaller and standing farther north, it could rival the Main Palace in every respect.

"Please follow me." Inside the great hall, maids and noblewomen passed by in wafts of perfume. Romon paid them little attention. He followed Knight Kadelo through a ground-floor corridor to an ornate staircase leading to the second floor.

"Sorry for the trouble." Romon gave a slight nod.

Romon had no reason to offend anyone in the Royal Palace. He was not the sort of upstart who gained