Prince Korvos
held up his hand to stop Ionus. "Guards, take this peasant..."
At this point Elmuth finally walked up to the growing group. With
surprising strength, he grabbed hold of Ganiri and lifted him up
higher. "How did you get inside the castle!" he demanded to know. "No
one passes through those gates without my permission!"
"I- I- I was hired to cart in fire- firewood," sputtered the startled
peasant.
"Put the poor man down," instructed Korvos. "Guards, take that peasant
to the dungeon and hold him until he can be interrogated later. You two
guards, if he dies, you die."
"Yes, sire," said the Guards as they hustled Ganiri away.
Chapter 6: The Veil
Once everyone had taken their places again, the coronation began.
Prince Korvos solemnly walked down the center of the main hall, a
multitude of nobility to either side, being almost silent as the
trumpets blared. When he climbed up the steps to where Elmuth awaited,
the Prince turned around to look at the crowd. Feeling inspired, Korvos
began his speech.
"Before I am crowned, I would like to tell you all a parable," started
Prince Korvos as a loud groan escaped from Racius. Korvos continued:
"There were two sons. One son went forth, but was an evil son. The
other son stayed home, and performed many great deeds."
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As he
continued his recitation, Korvos noticed a young woman enter the main
hall. She was an apparition in a white, gauzy dress that almost seemed
to float along with her body. A partially translucent veil obscured her
face, and as the woman passed by a lit torch, for an instant the veil
looked like a fluttering halo.
Prince Korvos lost his train of thought, and started to stumble. "And,
uh, the one brother went forth. And, uh, was a bad brother. But the
other brother who stayed home was a good brother. But when the bad
brother came home, everyone missed the bad brother because he had not
been there."
As Korvos stumbled through the rest of his story, losing most of the
audience in the process. He saw the mysterious girl go over and join
Ionus' party and chat with some of the other guests. Who was this
enchanting beauty, for even though she was veiled, Korvos instinctively
knew that she had a beauty that outshone the stars. Without consciously
thinking about it, he found himself standing in front of the girl, and
while the rest of the guests watched in awe, he knelt in front of this
apparition.
"Will you be my Queen, my lady?" Korvos asked to the startled girl, who
with a startled gasp fled the Prince, leaving him dumbfounded.
As Korvos knelt there, heartbroken that he had been rejected, Princess
Theguis walked up to her friend. "You probably frightened her with the
marriage proposal. Next time, start out by asking her for a date." With
Racius help, the two stood up Korvos and led him back to the head of
the main hall.
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