Royal Palace and Monastery of Saint Zherneau,City of Tellesberg,Kingdom of Charis “A moment, if you please, Seijin Merlin.” Merlin paused and looked up in some surprise as Archbishop Maikel laid a large, powerful hand lightly on his shoulder. “Yes, Your Eminence? How may I help you?” They stood just inside the door of the chamber the rest of the Royal Council had just left, and Cayleb looked back at them with one eyebrow raised. “Is there something we still need to talk about, Maikel?” the king asked. “Actually, Your Majesty,” Staynair said, his tone more formal than usual, “I’d like to borrow the seijin for the afternoon, if I might.” Cayleb’s surprise showed rather more clearly than Merlin’s had, and the archbishop smiled. “I promise I’ll have him back in time for supper, Your Majesty. I simply have a minor matter I need to discuss with him, and since I have a pastoral errand to run in the city this afternoon, anyway, I thought I might ask him to come along with me.
