Anahilapataka — The Royal Palace
The western messenger arrived at Anahilapataka just after sunrise, when the palace had only begun to fill with the ordinary noise of another day. Servants were carrying water toward the inner quarters, scribes were already seated beneath the covered galleries with their writing boards, and guards were changing shifts at the main gates when a rider covered in dust entered through the western gate carrying a sealed message from the frontier. He had travelled through the night and his horse was tired enough that two stable hands had to hold it while he dismounted. The guards immediately took the message toward the officials responsible for military correspondence, but the messenger refused to hand it over to anyone except the commander of the palace guard. From there it went to Arnoraja, and Arnoraja, after breaking the seal and reading the first few lines, decided that it was not something he wanted to keep to himself.
