Daughter of Magic - Wizard of Yurt - 5 by C. Dale Brittain, Brittain

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    Antonia in spite of her surprise. She gave the king a quick glance and looked away again. “What a lovely dress, my lady! And what a, wel, unusual way to arrive! Come right this way; the best guest chambers are in the south tower.”
    The automaton stepped off the carpet with a jangling of joints to folow them. Gwennie gave a sharp gesture behind her back and several servants sprang forward, somewhat belatedly, to pick up the rest of the baggage. Paul remained stock-stil until Hildegarde took him rather firmly by the elbow.
    I looked thoughtfuly after the Lady Justinia and Gwennie. As I recaled, in the East slaves were common, and even trusted servants might throw themselves on their faces to kiss the ground at a master’s foot.
    But the lady did not seem to mind the relative informality of Yurt’s staff.
    The automaton returned in a moment to unshackle the elephant. Highly dubious stable boys led it away, leaving the dark red carpet by itself in the courtyard. The elephant stopped at the watering trough, drank deeply, then shot a trunkful of water across its back and al over the stable boys.
    “Maybe I can see a dragon some other time,” said Antonia, to reassure me in case I thought her disappointed. “But I’ve never seen an elephant before. Or a flying carpet either.”
    “I rode on one once,” I said, “al the way, hundreds and thousands of miles, from the East back to Yurt.” Antonia looked at me with new respect.
    Five minutes later, while I was examining the carpet and wondering if I might be able to keep it long enough to learn how the underlying spels worked that made it fly, Gwennie came racing back from the south tower. Paul and Hildegarde had gone outside again, although the king had appeared distracted enough that I thought the duchess’s daughter might have a chance to defeat him today.
    “Do you know what she said?” Gwennie demanded. Her eyes were wide and voice high. “She said she thought it very ‘quaint’ that Yurt has a woman as vizier! And then she asked if I would ‘bid the slaves’
    to come draw her bath!”
    “And what did you tel her?”
    “I don’t think we have slaves,” provided Antonia.
    Gwennie smiled for a second and ruffled the girl’s hair. “We don’t. That’s what I told her. I did tel her I could assign her a lady’s maid for her stay. She started to pul herself up, as though about to tel me I was a worthless vizier who should throw herself into the moat at once, but then she relaxed and said she was sure she could cope with some ‘inconveniences’ while fleeing for her life, especialy since she also had her servant. Have you ever seen anything like that creature, Wizard?”
    “The mage Kaz-alrhun makes automatons; I assume it’s one of his.”
    Gwennie shook her head. “If 7 was fleeing for my life I wouldn’t be worried about a slave shortage! I’d better send her a maid before this fine lady has to resort to something as degrading as pumping the hot water herself. Now, let’s see, which of the girls would be both skiled and obsequious, and unlikely to be spooked by that thing. ...” The maids Gwennie referred to as “girls” were al older than she was. I smiled to myself as she turned on her heel, her mind apparently made up.
    But she stopped for a second. “I’l tel you one thing, Wizard,” she said in a low, intense voice. “That lady would make a terrible queen of Yurt.”
    “How about a ride?” suggested Antonia, tugging at the tassels on the carpet. “I wasn’t scared in your air cart,” she added when I did not answer at once.
    “Al right,” I said, giving her a conspiratorial grin. “It’s not our flying carpet, but the Lady Justinia won’t be needing it for a while. And I think I stil remember the magical commands to direct one of these things. . ..”
    I seated myself, Antonia in my lap, and gave the command to lift off. The carpet shot upward, far faster than the air cart, and headed rapidly south. The girl’s braids