Highness?’ Sparhawk grinned and opened his robe slightly to reveal his
sword-hilt. ‘Splendid, old fellow,’ Michan said. ‘i’d have been glad to
lend you mine, but a man always works better with his own equipment.
Haven’t you left yet, Camriel? If you plan to live long enough to see the
sun go down, you’d best get cracking.’ Councillor Camriel fled. ‘What
happened?’ Ehlana demanded impatiently. ‘if we choose to look at it in a
certain light, we could consider the Councillor’s flight to be a form of
apology,’ Stragen told her. ‘We do not accept apologies,’ Mirtai said
implacably. ‘May I chase him down and kill him, Ehlana?’
‘Why don’t we just let him run for a’while, Mirtai?’ the queen decided.
‘How long?’
‘How long would you say he’s likely to run, Milord?’ Ehlana asked Stragen.
‘The rest of his life probably, my queen.’
‘That sounds about right to me.’
The response of the Thousand to Zalasta’s description of the current
situation was fairly predictable, and the fact that all of the speeches
showed evidence of much polishing hinted strongly that there had been few
surprises in his presentation. The Thousand seemed to be divided into three
factions. Predictably, there were a fair number of councillors who took the
position that the Styrics could defend themselves and that they had no real
reason to become involved. Styrics had strong suspicions where Elene
promises were concerned, since Elene rulers tended to forget promises made
to StyriCS after a crisis had passed. A second faction was more moderate.
They pointed out the fact that the crisis here concerned the Tamuls rather
than the Elenes, and that the presence of a small band of Church Knights
from Eosia was really irrelevant. As the silvery-haired Michan pointed out,
‘The Tamuls may not be our friends in every sense of the word, but at least
they’re not our enemies. Let’s not overlook the fact that their Atans keep
the Astels, the Edomish and the Dacites from our doorstep.’ Michan was
highly respected, and his opinion carried great weight in the council.
There was a third faction as well, a vocal minority SO rabidly anti-Elene
that they even went so far as to suggest that the interests of Styricum
might be better served by an alliance with the perpetrators of the
outrages. Their speeches were not really intended to be taken seriously.
The speakers had merely sesed this opportunity to list long catalogues of
grievances and to unleash diatubes of hatred and vituperation. ‘This is
starting to get tiresome,’ Stragen finally said to Sparhawk, rising to his
feet. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Do? Why, I’m going to respond, old boy.’ He stepped to the centre of the
floor and stood resolutely in the face of their shouts and curses. The
noise gradually subsided, more because those causing it had run out of
things to say than because anyone was really curious about what this
elegant blond Elene had to say. ‘i’m delighted to discover that all men are
equally contemptible,’ Stragen told them, his rich voice carrying to every
corner of the hall. ‘I had despaired of ever finding a flaw in the Styric
character, but I find that you’re like all other men when you’re gathered
together into a mob. The outspoken and unconcealed bigotry you have
revealed here this afternoon has lifted my despair and filled my heart with
joy. I swoon with delight to find this cesspool of festering nastiness
lurking in the Styric soul, since it proves once and for all that men are
all the same, regardless of race.’ There were renewed shouts of protest.
The protests were laced with curses this time. Once again Stragen waited.
‘i’m disappointed in you, my dear brothers,’ he told them finally. ‘An
Elene child of seven could curse more inventively. Is this really the best
the combined wisdom of Styricum can come up with? Is ‘Elene bastard’ really
all you know how to say? It doesn’t even particularly insult me, because in
my case it happens to be true.’ He looked around, his expression urbane and
just slightly superior. ‘i’m also a thief and a murderer, and I have a
large number of unsavoury habits. I’ve committed crimes for which there
aren’t even names, and you think your pallid, petty denunciations could
distress me in any way? Does anyone have a meaningful accusation before I
examine your failings?’
‘You’ve enslaved us!’ someone bellowed. ‘Not me, old boy,’ Stragen
drawled. ‘You couldn’t give me a slave. You have to feed them, you know even
when they’re not working. Now then, let’s step right along here. We’ve
established the fact that I’m a thief and a murderer and a bastard, but
what are you? Would the word ‘snivellers’ startle you? You Styrics whine a
great deal. You’ve carefully stored up an inventory of the abuses you’ve
suffered in the past several thousand years and you take a perverted
pleasure in sitting in dark, smelly corners regurgitating them all, chewing
them over and over like mouthfuls of stale vomit. You try to blame Elenes
for all your troubles. Does it surprise you to discover that I feel no
guilt about the plight of the Styrics? I have more than enough guilt’ for
things I have done without beating my breast about things that happened a
thousand years before I was born. Frankly, my- friends, all these martyred
expressions bore me. Don’t you ever get tired of feeling sorry for
yourselves? I’m now Going to offend you even more by getting right to the
point. If you want to snivel, do it in your own time. We’re offering you
the’opportunity to join with us in facing a common enemy. It’s just a
courtesy, you ,understand, because we don’t really need you. Keep that
firmly in view. We don’t need you. Actually, you’ll encumber us. I’ve heard
a few intellectual cripples here Suggest an alliance with our enemy. What
makes you think he’d want you as allies? The Elene peasantry would probably
be overjoyed if you tried, though, because that would give them an excuse
to slaughter Styrics from here to the straits of Thalesia. Joining with us
won’t ensure a lessening of Elene prejudice, but joining with our enemies
will almost guarantee that ten years from now there won’t be a live Styric
in any Elene kingdom in the world.’ He scratched thoughtfully at his chin
and looked around. ‘I guess that more or less covers everything,’ he said.
‘Why don’t you talk it over amongst yourselves? My friends and I will be
leaving for Matherion tomorrow. You might want to let us know what you’ve
decided before we go. That’s entirely up to you, of course. Words couldn’t
begin to express our indifference to the decisions of such an insignificant
people.’ He turned and offered his arm to Ehlana. ‘Shall we leave, your
Majesty?’ he suggested. ‘What did you say to them, Stragen?’
‘I insulted them,’ he shrugged, ‘on as many levels as I possibly could.
Then I threatened them with racial extinction and then invited them to sign
on as allies.’
‘All in one speech?’
‘He was brilliant, your Majesty,’ Oscagne said enthusiastically. ‘He said
some things to the Styrics that have needed saying for a long, long time.’
‘I have certain advantages, your Excellency,’ Stragen smiled. ‘My
character’s so questionable that nobody expects me to be polite. ‘
‘Actually, you’re exquisitely courteous,’ Bevier disagreed. ‘I know, Sir
Bevier, but people don’t expect it of me, so they can’t bring themselves to
believe it.’
Both Sephrenia and Zalasta had icy, offended expressions on their faces
that evening. ‘I wasn’t trying to be personally insulting,’ Stragen assured
them. ‘I’ve heard any number of enlightened people say exactly the same
thing. We sympathise with Styrics, but we find these interminable seizures
of selfpity tedious.’
‘You said many things that simply aren’t true, you know,’ Sephrenia
accused him. ‘Of course I did. It was a political speech, little mother.
Nobody expects a politician to tell the truth.’
‘You were really gambling, Milord Stragen,’ Zalasta said critically. ‘I
nearly swallowed my tongue when you told them that the Elenes and the
Tamuls were offering an alliance simply out of courtesy. When you told them
that you didn’t really need them, they might very well have decided to sit
the whole affair out.’
‘Not when he was holding all the rest of Styricum hostage, learned one,’
Oscagne disagreed. ‘It was a brilliant political speech. That not-so-subtle
hint of the possibility of a new wave of Elene atrocities didn’t really
leave the Thousand any choice in the’matter. What was the general
reaction?’
‘About what you’d expect, your Excellency,’ Zalasta replied. ‘Milord
Stragen cut the ground out from under the Styric tradition of self-pity.
It’s very hard to play the martyr when you’ve just been told that it makes
you look like a silly ass. There’s a fit of towering resentment brewing
among the Thousand. We Styrics are terribly fond of feeling sorry for