The Council chamber was a small round room. Green wreaths and flowers filled the room, hanging from the ceiling and bordering the center of the chamber in concentric circles. Breaks in the circles of greenery were interspersed around each circle, creating a meandering maze that led inwards. A series of seven plinths encircled a carved [...]

Allen was awake at dawn. He’d slept on one of the spare beds in the infirmary to keep an eye on Kilin and Jaella. When he woke, the two of them were still sleeping. There was little he could do to rush them toward consciousness, but he would stop by later and check on them. [...]

The infirmary was a section of the Guard wing that often received outside visitors. It provided a double function as a healing ward and as headquarters for the Guard physicians and a storage area for their supplies. There was the obligatory long chamber filled with beds, but at the moment it was only occupied by [...]

The King’s Mead was a Guard pub, as much as any pub would declare itself open only to one genre of patron. It was usually filled by palace guardsmen and Guards stationed in the capital and was frequented mostly by officers. Guard discipline didn’t forbid the mingling of officers and regulars while off-duty, but the [...]

“So you see, Lieutenant, all is well. You can go back to whatever you were doing.” The noble made a dismissive gesture. Allen didn’t move, but he did debate what it would take to throw the noble off the battlements. Service to the throne, after all. He’d been sitting at lunch when he saw this [...]