"Princess Keritanima-Chan Eram, you are summoned to an audience with high Majesty, Damon Eram, king of Wikuna," he said formally. "You will attend immediately."

Keritanima's heart seized for just a second, then it was gripped with an icy calm. "Fine," she said. "I'll put on something-"

"Immediately, your Highness," he interrupted. "I am instructed to bring you right now."

So, her father tried catching her sleeping, so she'd have to report to him in her nightgown. That meant that the audience would take place in the Hall of the Sun, the throne room of the Palace, and she had no doubt that there would be many members of court present. They probably had to be dragged out of bed. Most court members didn't get up until noon. That had two uses for her father. To humiliate his daughter, and also to put a great many witnesses in the room with them to prevent her from carrying out on her threat. Killing him without being fingered for the crime was just fine, but if there were witnesses, she would be executed for high treason.

Azakar belted on his sword, and Binter immediately went into his chamber to retrieve his massive warhammer. Miranda set her plate aside and stood up, then brushed the front of her maid's dress with her hands calmly. "Very well," Keritanima said. "As soon as my bodyguard gets his weapon, we'll be on our way."

"You are instructed to come alone, Highness," the Chamberlain said tersely.

"I will not leave this room without my bodyguards, and I won't leave my maid behind alone," Keritanima retorted flatly. "If my father doesn't like it, he can come to me and voice his displeasure."

The Chamberlain looked a bit unsure, and his eyes darted back and forth for a moment before blowing out his breath. "Then have him hurry up," he prompted.

"Binter!" Keritanima called. "Let's go!"

The monstrous Vendari returned from his chamber holding his wicked weapon in his hand easily. He looked at Azakar, who simply nodded and set his large shield on his right arm and strapped it in place. Keritanima tended to forget the fact that Azakar was left-handed, and that made him a dangerous opponent for a right-handed adversary. He came up to Keritana's right, a position that would allow him to turn and throw his shield arm across her body quickly, in case she was threatened by some weapon.

After that, they were on their way. The Hall of the Sun was a good distance from her apartments, so the four of them and the ten Marines surrounding them walked for some time through luxrurious passageways. They passed many servants along the way, servants sho scrambled out of the way and bowed as the Princess passed. Keritanima's mind was surprisingly calm and serene. She had been preparing for this for nearly a month. She already knew exactly what she wanted to say, and now that she had an idea of what was waiting for her, she knew how to turn the banter with her father down the avenues she wished to travel.

They stopped in the antechamber leading into the throne room, and she smoothed her dress unconsciously before the two huge bear Wikuni holding halberds crossed in front of the ornate, deeply polished Heartwood doors opening into the throne chamber. They wore yellow and orange doublets and hose, the livery of the Royal Guard, and the sunburst symbol of Wikuna was emblazoned on the chest of their uniforms. They recognized Keritanima and pulled their weapons aside, then turned and faced each other to open a path for the procession. Then they saluted. The Royal Guard was an institution nearly a thousand years old, and their loyalty was to the throne of Wikuna, not necessarily the individual sitting upon it. Because Keritanima was the heir-apparent, next in line for the throne, they afforded her more respect than they did other people.

They opened the doors for her after she acknowledged them with an eloquent nod, and the Chamberlain scurried in before them. Azakar stopped and gawked a bit at the Hall of the Sun, giving the Chamberlain time to procure his ceremonial staff from a servant holding it. The throne chamber was suitably grand and lavish for the monarch of Wikuna, huge and towering, with vaulted ceilings and mighty buttresses rising up to reinforce them. The ceiling was arched, some hundred feet over their heads, where many chandoliers hung with their magically created lights to illuminate the huge chamber. A red carpet ran up the middle of the room, from the doors to the raised dais that held the throne itself, and flanking that carpet was nearly three hundred Wikuni dressed in various types of ridiculously expensive attire. Nearly the full complement of court, she noticed. The throne was a huge block of black basalt stone, shaped into a huge throne, with thick pillows and armrests to comfort the reigning monarch. In stark contrast to that black stone chair, a huge circular topaz nearly three feet across was embedded in the back of the throne, a good six feet from the chair's base, with a corona carved into the stone around it that was encrusted with smaller topazes, a begemmed replica of the sun on the kingdom's crest.

Sitting on that throne, dressed in the purple robe of the monarch and with the gold and topaz crown of Wikuna sitting atop his brow, was Damon Eram. Keritanima stared calmly at him as she stood and waited to be announced. From that distance, it was hard to make out the nuances of his features, but the flat, angry look on his face was evident to anyone who could see it. Standing beside him, on his left, was Keritanima's sister, Jenawalani. The mink Wikuni's face was pinched and hostile, and her brown hair and gray fur had been combed to absolute perfection. She wore a gem-studded gown with a daring neckline, a modest cream color to accentuate the color of her fur, but her boxy muzzle showed her barely contained snarl of envy and hatred of her older sister as she entered the room.

The Chamberlain rapped his staff on the tiled floor sharply, three times, and that caused the low chatter in the hall died down. "Your Majesty, Lords and Ladies, Keritanima-Chan Eram, Jewel of the Western Star, Lady of the Twenty Seas, Bearer of the five Bands of Nan, Holder of the Ring of Bakul, Crown Princess of Wikuna!"

The assembled courtiers bowed or curtsied at that announcement. Binter and Miranda did the same, Binter having to rap the back of Azakar's knees with the tip of his tail to get the human to do what was proper. From here on, Keritanima would be alone. She stepped away from the protection of her bodyguards and friends, stepped onto that red carpet, walking a gauntlet of amused looks, evil glares, and barely suppressed smiles as she marched slowly, measuredly, and regally up that carpet and towards her father. She didn't look anywhere but into his eyes the entire time, watching them begin to burn with anger and fury as she approached, but they were also tinged with just a little bit of fear. She reached the edge of the carpet and stopped, some fifteen feet from her father. No one was permitted to come any closer than that. Then she just stood there, when she was supposed to curtsy and make some kind of humble remark to satisfy the towering pride of the throne and the monarch.

Damon Eram blasted to his feet and raised an arm, a hand holding the golden scepter of the crown, and pointed it at her. "You will show proper respect for the King!" he roared.

Keritanima said nothing. She simply crossed her arms beneath her breasts and stared at him.

The fur on Damon Eram's face ruffled as the skin beneath flushed, making the fur move. "This is treason!" he screamed. "Bow to me right now, or I'll have you executed on the spot!"

Keritanima raised one arm and pointed the palm of her hand at her father. That caused him to recoil, to bring his scepter up as if to fend off some kind of attack, and several of the Royal Guard rushed from their positions at the sides of the dais and the walls to intercept her. But she did nothing more than reach down and grab the hem of her skirt, then make the barest of curtsies. She stared right into his eyes the entire time, her steady gaze making note of his fear and his reaction to her. Then she gave him a light, amused smile. That also generated a few barely audible chuckles and titters. Damon Eram feared his daughter, and she had just made that weakness public knowledge.