He turned to Feranc before Ryllans could reply. ‘Have these... king’s men... made any representations at the palace for audience?’ he asked.
Feranc shook his head, but did not speak. Ibris turned back to Ryllans. ‘Could you have been mistaken?’ he asked, his voice softening. ‘Many people come to the city. Perhaps they were simply foreign merchants. You’d not long received Estaan’s news. You were upset...’
‘There was no mistake,’ Ryllans replied. ‘They were king’s men, and they must surely be here searching for us.’
Ibris spun on his heel and slapped his hands down violently on the stone parapet. A large part of him wanted to curse these intruders into oblivion. Two men, in the name of sanity! Come to his city to drag his Mantynnai back in chains! They’d need their mighty army!
But the
