Zafir looked between our two outfits. “It must have. Now sit down so I can fix your face.”
“You really know how to talk to women, don’t you?”
His facial expression didn’t change. “I talk to women the same way I talk to everyone else.”
“With disparaging remarks and condescension?”
He shrugged. “At least I’m consistent.”
Zafir did my makeup and also knotted my hair into an elegant updo. After quickly adding some jewelry, I finally deemed myself ready just as servants came to escort us to the Parliament building.
The gold-paintedwalls gleamed so brightly I squinted, and it felt hot enough inside the Parliament chamber to bake bread. Velvet-cushioned chairs lined the tiered benches before me, each one occupied by a scarlet-robed official. It looked less like a courtroom and more like a nest of blood-red vultures, all ready and waiting to pounce on their prey and tear me apart with their questions.
I was led to the witness stand and Zafir was forced to follow. In the center of the room was a brazier filled with leaping blue flames that made the overly warm room even more stifling. With how blazingly hot the climate in this tzardom was, I would have thought they would try to cool things down but no, they must all be part reptile to love the heat so much. My gown would soon be drenched through with sweat.
One of the servants came up to Zafir and whispered to him, then listened as Zafir lowered his voice and whispered back with a shake of his head. The servant scampered up to relay the message to one of the Parliament members, who frowned.
I jumped as a gavel cracked against a mahogany desk, and the entire chamber immediately fell silent. The man at the center, withered and ancient, raised his head. “This emergency session of Parliament is now in order. I turn the floor over to Chairwoman Palla.”
A woman with short white hair, drawn-on eyebrows, and a dark-crimson lipstick rose to stand. “State your name and lineage,” she said.
I smoothed my dress and lifted my chin. “I am Lady Aliaof House Devraine, Duchess of the Western Marshes in Brisden.”
A hum of whispers rippled through the room as members of Parliament inclined their heads to each other, all speaking in hushed tones and keeping their hands over their mouths.
Chairwoman Palla shuffled a stack of papers. “We have no records of such a duchy, nor of your family name. Can you provide documentation to validate your claim?”
I folded my hands neatly in my lap. “In part. I don’t have any of my original documents, but I did draw up my family tree and other things to help prove who I am.”
“I can vouch for her as well,” Zafir said as he handed the documents over. “I’ve conducted my own extensive questioning over the last two days since she arrived.”
“Normally we would have you take a truth serum before questioning,” Palla went on, “but our vizier informed us that we are out, so you will be required to present documentation unless we can procure more truth serum and conduct additional questioning.”
The tiny bottle of truth serum hidden in my stocking made me want to laugh with relief. Thank goodness I’d swiped it when I had.
There were several minutes of silence as the documents were circulated among the Parliament members.
“You claim to be a duchess,” Palla said slowly. “Yet you come before us as any common foreigner. There was no envoy sent ahead to announce your arrival, and you’re linked with a vow bond to one of our viziers like an ordinary criminal. You can understand our skepticism.”
Her gaze drifted to the glimmering golden chain between Zafir and me. I smiled sweetly. “Ah, yes. Allow me to explain.”
Several Parliament members leaned forward.
“When I first arrived in Pyren,” I began, “your vizier here mistook me for a thief and had me arrested. I can’t entirely blame him; after all, I was quite travel-worn and we had a simple misunderstanding. Out of concern for your tzardom’s welfare, he wanted to have me questioned. He was doing his due diligence but we had an”—I glanced at him—“altercation, and he insisted upon the vow bond. After he questioned me, I felt that I needed to be compensated for how I was treated upon my arrival, and he agreed to be my temporary attendant as his way to make amends for the misunderstanding.”
Someone coughed to hide a laugh.
Chairwoman Palla arched a single, penciled brow. “You declared a vizier your servant? That could easily cause great offense, particularly with whom you selected. I find it difficult to imagine Zafir would agree to such a thing.”
“He caused offense to me by accusing me of crimes without any evidence and forcing me into chains when I’d done nothing wrong and didn’t agree to a vow bond in the first place.”
“Nowthatpart sounds exactly like Zafir,” one of the other Parliament members said. He looked perhaps fifty years old, on the younger side of the others sitting around him, and looked vaguely familiar. “My son already told me about Zafir keeping a woman chained to him.”
Ah, so this must be Julian’s father.
“We can arrange for you to have another attendant if you wish,” Julian’s father went on. “I hardly think that Zafir would be a good servant.”
I gave a smile. “Thank you, but I’d rather keep my arrangements as they are. You see, since Zafir was the one who treated me poorly, I think it only fair that he’s the oneto make up for it. Besides, he’s rather good at pouring my tea now, and I don’t want his training to go to waste.”
