“Our Glorious Emperor has given this one tokens so that they will return immediately to the Valdemar Gate.” The Doll held out a mitten-like hand; in it were six small papers with Imperial Seals. “Will you require replacements for your entourage?”

“Are you asking if I’m going to need servants?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes.” The Doll’s blank head made talking to it somewhat unnerving.

“Yes, please,” he confirmed. “Lads, come get your passes back, and let the—Dolls—should I call you Dolls?—take the horses to where they belong.”

The Valdemar stablehands dismounted somewhat reluctantly, and even more reluctantly, approached the Doll that was still holding out the passes. They huddled for a moment, and finally one of them snatched all six passes and distributed them to the others. “Are you sure you want us to leave you with that—thing—milord Duke?” asked the brave one, looking him fully in the face. The stablehand’s expression told Kordas that the fellow, though absolutely terrified of the creature, was perfectly willing to stay right here if the Duke asked him to.

“I’m quite sure,” Kordas said firmly, as the other Dolls led the false Golds and the three strings of tribute horses to their new home. “Off with you, my lad. Be sure and tell my lady everything that you saw here, and give her my best.”

The young fellows were clearly reluctant to leave, but even more reluctant to stay. “Very well, milord Duke,” the brave one said at last. “If you’re certain.”

“I’m certain, and you have families you need to return to,” Kordas repeated, and deliberately turned away from them. “Now, if you would be so kind, my friend, my Herald and I would greatly appreciate being taken to our quarters.”

But the Doll froze for a moment. “Great Lord Duke,” it said, after a moment. “This one is nothing. It cannot be a friend.”

“You certainly are not nothing,” he said, perhaps more sharply than he had intended. “And you certainly can be a friend.”

The Doll bowed its head briefly. “As you will,” it whispered, with an air of both uncertainty and—was it shock? “Please, come this way.”

The Dolls had picked up Merrin’s heavy luggage as if it was nothing, and they made light work of the two packs. Kordas glanced over at Beltran; the poor fellow’s eyes were as big as plates, and he looked just as reluctant to have anything to do with the Doll as the stablehands had been.

He patted Beltran on the shoulder. “It’s fine.”

“No, milord,” Beltran gulped. “It’s not fine. But I will do my duty.”