Jankin snorted softly. "I never understood why everyone mistook you for a harmless kitten, as they liked to say. Any idiot actually looking at you can see you are no idle threat. It's all in the way you hold yourself, the way you move."
"It is in every line of his body," Berkant said, startling Ramsay, "and in his eyes. Any fool who mistakes you for a kitten simply has never seen a lynx and thinks that all cats must be lions or tigers."
"Uh—" Ramsay could not think of a single thing to say. No one had ever said anything like that to him.
Shafiq smiled. "Let him be. Nadir, Mazin, slip away with him. Jankin, tell the guards outside that audiences are finished for today. Guards, keep your mouths shut about all of this. You're dismissed for the rest of the day, please visit the healer to attend those wounds. Ender, pour that wine, if you please."
Then he strode to Ramsay and took hold of his hands. Ramsay was startled to find Shafiq's hands, while soft and smooth, were strong, capable. Not the limp hands of a monarch who'd never struggled a day in his life. These were the hands of a man who understood the burdens put upon him, and carried them willingly. "Thank you, master Ramsay. Nothing I do or saywill ever be enough. You have saved my son's life, and that is a debt even a king can never truly repay."
Ramsay shook his head but did not draw away from the hands holding his. "You may thank me when you hold your son in your arms again, Your Majesty. Until that moment, I have accomplished nothing."
"You have accomplished more than anyone else."
"I was in the right place at the right time," Ramsay demurred.
"The gods saw fit to putyouthere." Shafiq insisted. "I thank you for what you have done so far, whatever next comes to pass. Now go, before more people come and things become more difficult to hide."
Ramsay nodded and followed Nadir and Mazin across the room and up the dais. Rather than a simple wall, a portion of it proved to be a secret doorway. He was surprised they let him see it, but after this, he was unlikely to come back to the palace, and who would he tell?
They went first to a room that was the simplest, yet most luxurious room Ramsay had ever seen in his life. It was quite obviously the king's private chambers—and was just as obviously shared by several men. The rooms were enormous, so elegantly appointed, and he tried not to notice the hints of sweat and sex that lingered faintly.
Several minutes later, Nadir and Mazin more suitably attired, they were outside the palace. "I left my horse at a stable in the city," Ramsay said.
"We will purchase some in the city," Nadir said. "We dare not take any from the royal stables." He winked at Ramsay. "We are not permitted to leave the palace. We had best make this journey as quickly as possible, before someone notices we truly are missing."
Ramsay nodded and took the lead from habit, headed for the city, then through the crowds to the small stable at the northernmost end.
"I will go get our horses," Mazin said shortly, and vanished before anyone could stop him.
Nadir scowled after him and sighed. "I do wish Berkant could have come, but his absence would be noticed, especially at supper tomorrow night."
Ramsay only nodded and slipped inside the stable, moving to the furthest stall where his horse was kept. Feather whinnied at him as he approached, and he greeted her softly in Tritacian. He had been speaking Tavamaran almost exclusively since his arrival; his native language was beginning to feel strange on his tongue, even if his accent was still thick.
After he had paid for the stabling of his horse, they waited outside for Mazin to reappear, which he did several minutes later, two horses in tow. They rode off, traveling as best they could through the crowded city. He could not wait until they reached the open roads and could increase their pace. He was more than willing to ride through the night and stop only for the horses and the bare minimum rest he needed to stay sharp.
"Jankin has spoken frequently of you, and how important your role was. It is no easy thing, apparently, to become a Holy Protector of Tritacia, even if you were fated for it." Nadir smiled, and Ramsay wondered if he was more talkative than his brother, or if they were equally so, or if he was actually the quieter.
He shrugged in reply. "It is Tritacian custom to take a babe before the altar of the Goddesses and have the priests foretell the child's fate. My destiny reading said that I was meant to protect people, and my skill was great enough that I was given into training to protect our sacred rulers. I protected Crown Prince Wilmot for ten years."
"And now you are protecting our crown prince," Nadir said thoughtfully. "I do not like the idea of being told what to do from birth, but it does seem your Goddesses knew what they were about with you." He flinched. "Sorry, that sounds like I'm saying your brother dying is a good thing."
Ramsay shook his head. "I did not take it that way; I knew what you meant."
"Still, my phrasing was poor and I apologize for it."
"Forgiven and forgotten."
Nadir smiled softly. "My brother and I dabble in poetry a bit. Perhaps we shall compose a poem about you and all you have done for our king."
Ramsay grimaced at the idea. "Any poem about me would be very boring indeed."
Nadir smiled then in a way that would have made him shiver had were it not stupid to be so affected by a man who belonged to a king. Ramsay did not even want to know the penalties involved for touching a king's concubine. "I sincerely doubt anything about you is boring, Lynx."
He had never been the sort to blush, but something about the way first Berkant and now Nadir called him that completely undid him. He was not used to being noticed, not in a complimentary way. He should not be receiving compliments from such men, anyway. He was certain that violated laws as well. In reply, he only shrugged again and hoped his flush did not give too much of his thoughts away.
"We should be moving faster," Mazin broke in, looking annoyed. The expression did not suit his pretty face. It made him look pinched and soured.
"Soon enough," Nadir said patiently. "Rushing through the city would attract attention, and there are more reasons than I can list that we should avoid attention at all costs. So tell me, my new friend, what do you do here in Tavamara?"
