“Then go to the Archpriest. Plan the ceremony for this afternoon: full guard, dress regalia, all available dignitaries. Full deployment on the Bridge and through the city, but make it look like a holiday.”
“Vardresh?”
“Not a word. Well, be vague: great victory, rebuilding, gathering details. Go.”
Sher-tal melted away with practiced haste.
Bal-jarrak bore down on Tyr’s parents. “Now, listen to me. The physician says your son be all right, so you have to take him home. There’ll be a carriage in an hour. And listen, not a word. If you say anything about what happened this morning, it will be denied and you will be under suspicion of conspiring against the realm. Do you understand me?”
Tyrmar and his wife were too shocked to speak, Azhur put his hands over his face.
“We never done nothin
