Whats his name now? Oh yes, RysanderSeydon.TheChief Counsellors son... But of course, hes one of the heirs ofAzrael Cordona.Cordona?Keons eyes widened. As in Bank Cordona?Dylennodded. Counsellor Yovan Seydon is wed to Mered Cordona. In anycase, its not surprising they took the entire Seralye for thenight. Can you imagine the scandal soup the gossip mongers would dishout were they to get a peek at a slew of rich and royal relations,all of them in their cups or in various states of undress?Keonchuckled. Nay, the Ardan brought his leman with him. A realbeauty, that one. I doubt Rohyr will care for any sport we have tooffer. Well, I must see to the refreshments.Justas Keon dashed off, Zarael slipped out of the taproom, closing thedoor behind him. The strains of a gittern and merry laughter emanatedfrom within. Zarael brightened when he spotted Dylen.Ah,youre here, he said, his eyes sparkling with his elation. Keontold you? Good, good. Go on in, Almerin and Silve are already inside.I will send Veanthe as soon as he arrives. Now I had better helpKeon. The kitchen staff is in an uproar!Dylenshook his head as Zarael hurried away. It was rare to see the usuallyunflappable club master thus affected. He started to open the taproomdoor.Itwas then that it camea feeling he had never thought to experience.He paused a moment to calm himself then cautiously peered into theroom.Heswiftly scanned the guests, taking note of the sumptuousness of theirclothing and jewelry and their refined speech even in banter. Royalkin indeed. And not a plain face among them. Indeed, for the firsttime in a long time, Dylen felt his own oft lauded looks paled incomparison to the comeliness of these scions of House Essendri.Hiseyes homed in almost inexorably on the Ardan.Sable-haired,with eyes of slate grey, and exceedingly handsomefar more thanmentioned in the descriptions Dylen had heard of himRohyr Essendriwas every inch the young monarch of Ylandre. Though he was not moreelegantly garbed than his cousins, one immediately knew he was theirpreeminent relation even if one did not realize he was king.Takinga moment to steady his nerves, Dylen entered the room. Almost atonce, even before either Almerin or Silve acknowledged him, Rohyrpaused in mid-sip of his wine and looked up. Searching for him, Dylenguessed. An instant later, Rohyr saw him. The Ardans eyes gleamedwith curiosity. The others, on the other hand, regarded him with openappreciation.Dylenbowed low before Rohyr while Almerin introduced him. Putting on hismost charming manner, he set himself to entertaining the members ofthe party.Theyformed a sophisticated and well-educated groupsharp-witted, fluentof speech and earthy enough to appreciate bawdy humor and subtlysuggestive parlor games. They were the kind of guests whose companyDylen enjoyed very much and would have done so now if not for hisencroaching anxiety.Asidefrom Rysander Seydon, there were the Minister of Internal Affairs,Keosqe Deilen, and Gilmael Calanthe, the head of Intelligence. ToKeosqes right was a noble of striking and foreign countenance.Reijir Arthanna, the young Herun of Ilmaren, he learned from Silve.He engaged in a long and lively discussion with a Deir whose haircaught the eye due to the rarity of its red-black color. AeldanMithani