Rishi continued without missing a beat. "Our honored traveler is a man of no small consequence, bearing a royal letter of introduction from the King of Erlkazar himself."

Queen Rosalind shifted her gaze to Atreus, then spoke to him in Realmspeak as modern as Rishi's. "Is this true?"

"I have it here, Your Majesty." Moving slowly so as not to alarm the queen's bodyguards, Atreus reached into his cape and withdrew the parchment. "It is from His Royal Highness, King Korox of Erlkazar."

Atreus held out the letter, expecting someone to take it from him and break the seal for Queen Rosalind, as was the custom in western lands. The action drew an astonished groan from Jyotish and stony silence from the queen's retinue. Atreus tipped his head back and saw that he was pushing the letter toward the Royal Husband.

"What are you doing?" Rishi hissed. "You must present the letter to Her Radiance, not her husband!"

"I beg your pardon." Atreus stepped to the edge of the queen's bed and offered the parchment to her. "In my own land, one does not approach the king-er, monarch- directly."

Rosalind's voice grew as icy as it was frail. "Yes, I am aware that customs differ in the west."

With great effort, she lifted her hand to accept the letter. Atreus placed the parchment in her shaking palm. She passed it to the Royal Husband, then let her arm fall to the bed before dragging her hand back to her lap. Atreus suddenly felt thankful to the warden for insisting that he cover his hideous face. The last thing he wanted was to scare the poor woman to death.

The Royal Husband broke King Korox's seal, then turned to Rosalind and read in a deep voice free of accent.

"Greetings and Good Tidings to Her Royal Majesty Rosalind, Most Radiant Queen of the Great Land of Edenvale.

"We hope that this missive finds you as well as we are in Erlkazar. Be it known that the explorer bearing this letter, Atreus Eleint, is a man of no small ability and a particular friend of ours. We ask that you grant him every courtesy due a man of high station and help him along his way. We eagerly await our chance to repay you in good kind.