“Yes.” She blushed. “They told me to bring these to the Master of Vegetation. Is that your master?”
I snorted a laugh and took the pile from her. “That's me. I'm the only master here. But you can call me Sebastian.”
“You're a scholar? There are human universities?”
“Yes, and no. I am a scholar, but there aren't any human universities. There are, however, universities that accept human students if they show enough promise.”
“Oh,” she whispered and stared at me in awe.
“Thanks.” I grinned. “I don't get that kind of reaction a lot. Certainly not from the other races.”
“You are an inspiration, Master Sebastian.” She bowed to me. “It's an honor to meet you.”
A shiver ran through me. An inspiration? I had only ever sought security for myself. But yeah, I guess my journey could be inspiring to other humans. And that made me feel . . . shit, it felt good!
“Go after everything you want. Everything and anything,” I said to her. “That's my secret. Try. The worst that can happen is you don't get it. But you definitely won't if you don't try.”
She beamed at me. “That is wonderful advice! I will take it to heart.”
“Good.” I looked down at the pile of fabric I held. “Now, what's this?”
“Oh, the King sent this for you to wear to dinner tonight.”
“The King sent me clothes?”
She shrugged. “You must have made a good impression on him too. Have a lovely night, Master Sebastian.” She bowed again and left.
I watched her walk away and then looked down at the fine garments in my arms. Silk and embroidered linen. Holy shit. I turned and kicked the door closed. King Shaleros had sent me clothes. What was wrong with me? Why had I backed down and gotten so negative? I was going against my own advice.
“Try, Sebastian,” I said to myself. “The worst that can happen is he'll reject you. No biggie. Especially when the best that could happen would be him.”
Grinning, I went into the bathroom, leaving the garden plans strewn on the table in the sitting room. No one had ever distracted me from my precious plants before. Give me a garden project, and I would dive into it and not surface until it was done. But I now had two missions in Latur—to bring a wild garden back to its original beauty, and to bed the King.
I bathed, humming to myself, and scrubbedeverythingwell just in case. After drying off, I slipped into my new clothes. They were finer than anything I'd ever owned, though with a weight that would only suit the summers in Sken. The style was similar to what I was used to, with tunic tops and trousers, but the tunic was longer, leaner, and had buttons down the front while the trousers were loose, coming in at the ankles so that they billowed a bit. I almost went without undershorts to enjoy the feeling of my bits hanging free. But the material was so thin, that would have been a bad idea.
The tunic the King sent me was deep purple, telling me that Gunrel's suggestion had been wise. It had gold embroidery at the cuffs and around the neckline, and the neckline embroidery flowed down the front, to either side of the buttons. It didn't need a belt, so I left mine off and then put on my finest boots. Looking in the mirror, I was pleased with the result. My ass was covered by the tunic, but the silk hinted at theplumpness of it when I moved. And the tunic fit me as if made for me, skimming my chest and waist.
I winked at my reflection and stepped out of the bathroom. A clock on the bedside table said it was after six. If this court was anything like the Court of Sken, the courtiers would already be gathering in the dining hall, awaiting the King's arrival.
But I didn't know where the dining hall was.
With perfect timing, another knock came at my door.
It was another human servant. A man this time. His only reaction to my race was a long blink. “Are you Master Sebastian?”
“That's right,” I said.
He cleared his throat. “I'm to escort you to the dining hall, Sir.”
“Oh, thank the Gods,” I said as I stepped into the hallway. “I'm all dressed up but didn't know where to go.”
The man blinked again. “Yes, Sir. This way.”
I followed him through the corridors, paying attention to the turns, and ended up at a pair of massive doors. The great wooden panels were carved with elephants so that it looked as if the beasts were striding out of the dining hall, straight for me. Before they could trample me, a pair of soldiers opened the doors and stood to either side. One of them was a Deldin with long, silken ears coming out of the top of his head to flop to his shoulders, and the other was a Litoto. Internally, I squealed to see the Litoto. I'd met Deldin before, but never a Litoto, and the Litoto of Latur were special. I read about them in thatbook. They were the only tribe of Litoto on Serai whose feathers resembled those of peacocks. And this guy was a wonderful introduction to his race.
Have I mentioned that I love iridescence? The Litoto's wings were an iridescent blue, shining green with his movements. The blue faded into green flight feathers, spotted with brown ovals that had dark blue eyes in their centers, ringed in turquoise. Only the men had those flight feathers, just as it was with the birds. The women had the iridescent blue, but not the eyes. I was entranced and instantly decided that if the King rejected me, I'd try for a Litoto. Oh, to see those wings over me. How magical.
But then I was striding into the royal dining hall, past more elephants—porcelain statues set to either side of the doors. Carved wood panels adorned the twenty-foot high walls, but diaphanous silk veils softened them, hanging from ornate rafters to billow in the air currents. The silk made the room feel cozy even though it was massive, dividing the space into sections of low tables and equally low couches drawn up to them. Colored glass lanterns hung over each table as well as in a line down the center of the room, leading the eye to a single low table set on a dais.
