He picked the sword back up, and opened the door, "The king is dead. Nobody enters this room. Wake the steward and no one else."
An expression passed the face of the nearer man, his lips trembling a bit. He looked past Baldwin, into the room, at the shape on the floor.
"Your highness—"
"Nobody enters." Baldwin's voice did not change at all. "And nothing leaves the palace before dawn. That order is already standing. Confirm it at the courier gate yourself."
The man went.
The steward came, and then the men the steward brought, and Baldwin told them what would happen and in what order, and every one of them did it — because the palace had spent nine days learning to move when he spoke, and because none of them had slept, and because a king was dead and somebody was giving instructions.
