Tom adjusted his cloak and pulled his tunic down so that it hung neatly below his belt. Satisfied with his appearance, he stepped outside. A crowd of women was waiting for him. They were of all ages and from all classes. Elegantly dressed matrons with fur-lined capes rubbed shoulders with ragged peasant girls. Tom held out his hand to receive their kisses.
'Make way for the Sky Warrior.'
The girls of his guard laid into the women with the butts of their spears and escorted him to the steps to the House of Ways.
'There's no need to play the Good God,' one of them said.
'I'm not playing the Good God.'
'Yes, you are. We saw how those women looked at you.'
'It's not my fault if they think I'm the God.'
'Yes, it is,' the girl insisted.
Tom entered the building and saw the queen. She was sitting on a stool and wore a voluminous robe, which hung loosely about her ample frame and reached to the floor. Two young girls stood by her, combing the royal hair and tying it in plaits. They blushed when Tom looked at them.
'Sky Warrior.' She looked up. 'I heard a disturbance.'
'Just some country people, Majesty. They are here for the ceremony.'
The old woman pursed her lips. 'I thought I recognised the voices of some of my ladies. It's not like them to engage in such unruly behaviour.'
'They've brought the stallion in,' Tom remarked lightly. 'They're getting him ready for the ceremony. That's what all the shouting was about.'
'Aye. They're getting him ready,' the queen sighed. 'They're getting him ready for the part he will play ... just as they're getting me ready for mine.'
She looked tired and anxious. Tom knew she was worried about Adrina but there was clearly more on her mind.
'Do you know the ceremony?' she asked. 'Have you come across it before? Is there anything like it in your former realm?'
'There used to be but it died out, Majesty.'
'Aye.' The old woman nodded. 'I thought you would tell me that. Whenever you speak of your former realm, it seems a place with much to recommend it.' She hesitated. 'The stallion ... in your former realm ... was it white?'
'I don't think the colour mattered, Majesty. The main thing was that the beast should be well endowed.'
'Whatever do you mean?'
'Well equipped.' Tom gestured expressively. 'It had to be able to do the things which stallions are meant to do.'