A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Thirty-Six

I would have never guessed that one day I would find myself at a coronation. Or, I decided on second thought, as someone invited to a coronation. Sneaking into one and stealing things was something I could easily imagine myself doing.

Deorun's throne room looked much better. The hoards of art had been distributed back into the castle. A few pieces had been left-a large tapestry on the far wall depicting the four pyramids, a few paintings of old kings and queens and two statues of Roe. Fresh air blew through new, pale red curtains. It was almost possible to forget what had happened in this room, and who had reigned in it for so long.

Valkiros stood in front of the throne, dressed in an elaborately embroidered red tunic and beige pants. It really wasn't that different from what he had been wearing the first time I'd seen him offering the old king a tray of treats. But things had changed. Instead of standing on a lower step, off to the side, he was front and centre. He stood tall and looked confident, although I suspected that was mostly for show.

On his left, Queen Navire was wearing the same kind of wraparound orange dress she had worn in Navire. Her wrists glittered with bracelets, and a slim gold crown had been braided into her dark hair. I still had no idea how old she was.

Tandrin was on Valkiros' right, dressed like a noble Telt. His cloak was gold-the colour of Zianna-but underneath, his tunic was a rich blue for West Draulin. He wasn't wearing a crown. He wasn't, I remembered suddenly, even King Zianna yet.

My gaze found Tannix next, standing on Tandrin's side of the dais, a few steps down. As always he was dressed in blue, but he didn't stand out as much as he had in Navire. Although the Navirians and Deoruns in the room favoured warmer colours, there were plenty of Telts dressed in nearly every colour possible. Mayah stood out to me, sitting near the front in her green dress. The knights were scattered around the room in blue. But there were other blues, other greens and purples mixed in with the warm reds, oranges and yellows.

I had been offered a seat near the front, amongst the important nobles, advisors and generals of all three kingdoms. I could see the chair sitting empty, and hoped none of the monarchs would be upset that I wasn't sitting there. It would have been too much. Too much attention. Too much praise. I was happier standing near the edge of the rows of chairs, with the less important guests, guards and servants.

Kor and Ender had given me odd looks when I joined them instead of taking my seat, but neither of them said anything. They knew me well enough to understand.

Despite the crowd, the room was silent. So when Valkiros started to speak, his voice easily carried. Although I couldn't understand a word he was saying, I could hear the way his voice changed as he spoke. He sounded firmer and more sure of himself with every sentence. Maybe because he had no practice addressing such a crowd. Maybe because the longer the audience paid attention, the more confident he felt. He finished his speech with a triumphant raising of his arms, and the people in the room who understood Deoran cheered.

Tandrin had the benefit of a translator. A young woman stood behind him, dressed in dark colours so she wouldn't attract too much attention as she whispered to him. The rest of us didn't. I exchanged a glance with Kor and Ender.

"Guess he was convincing," Kor said with a shrug.

"Oh, he was."

I shouldn't have been surprised when Kassia stepped out of the crowd and squeezed her way between me and Ender. I shouldn't have been surprised because she wasn't on the dais with Valkiros, nor had I seen her in any of the chairs. Of course she would seek me out.

But I was determined to not let her presence disarm me. "Care to translate?"

"Oh, it was all about repairing and rebuilding." Kassia waved her left arm, causing the bracelets on her wrist to click together pleasantly. "We have to repair Deorun's economy. We have to rebuild Deorun's cities. We have to restore our relationship with our neighbours. It was a pretty speech. He didn't write it, but..." She shrugged one shoulder. "He's new to all this. He doesn't have Avaloni's experience or Tandrin's charisma."