Chapter 15: The Bonded Court

The Regent received me in the Blue Room, not the great hall, and she had brought an audience.

Eleven lords and ladies sat in a half circle on carved chairs.

I knew the gull lord with the bruise on his throat, who looked at the floor.

I knew a tall heron in a grey gown, and a pair of seal brothers, and a pearl-faced old lady with a cane.

Tristram stood at Ottoline's right hand.

He did not meet my eyes.

"Miss Harlowe." The Regent smiled and held out a hand. "Sit. You look tired."

"I slept on a floor."

"Then the Prince is a poor host."

"He slept on the walkway," I said. "So I would say he's a very good one."

A few of the lords shifted.

Ottoline's smile did not move.

"I will be direct, as I like to be," she said. "A match of ninety-eight, sworn in my hall, has changed the way this court thinks."

"Everyone here would like to be read."

"I don't doubt it."

"Our houses have become careless," she said. "Cousins marry rivals. Heirs wander. A kingdom is only as strong as the bonds that hold it."

She looked around the half circle, and each lord sat a little straighter.

"I propose a bonded court. You will read each of my lords and each of their eligible heirs, and whatever number you find, you will say it aloud."

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