It wouldn’t be easy to slip away, vigilant as she was. He watched as Fer stood talking with the other contestants. Then Fer said loudly something about how using the glamorie to rule was wrong. Oh, the fancy ones in the nathewyr didn’t like that. Rook could hear them exclaiming to each other, disapproving of Fer and her bid to become a Lady like them. Or, maybe, not like them at all. The false one, Arenthiel, said something to her, and she glanced over at him. Instead of meeting her eyes, he stared at the floor. He had a crown to steal. He couldn’t afford to think about Fer right now. After a short while, the double doors at the end of the nathewyr swung open, and the High Ones paced in. Everybody in the hall bowed. Everybody except him, that is. He watched the High Ones carefully. He could feel their power, the way the nathewyr changed when they entered it, but their power couldn’t command him. The big bear-man stepped onto the platform and bowed. Again the gathered Lords and Ladies bowed.
