scroll into existence and handing it to him. ‘Just look wise and
pretend to be reading this while I do all the talking.’
He looked at the scroll. ‘This is blank, Pol,’ he objected.
‘So what? Were you expecting a bed-time story? You’re the
performer, father. Improvise. Simulate reading something of
earthshaking importance. Try to keep your exclamations of astonishment
and wonder to a minimum, though. If you get too excited, Aldorigen
might want to look at the scroll.’
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, Pol?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.’ I gave him that smug little look,
and he knew what that meant.
Dawn was turning the cloud-bank piled up on the eastern horizon
a fiery red when Aldorigen and his now-grown son Korodullin
entered the throne-room in the midst of an argument. ‘He is a
miscreant, sire,’ Korodullin asserted, ‘an outlaw. His presence here would
profane the most sacred place in all Arendia.’
‘I know that he is a scoundrel and a rogue, Korodullin.’ Aldorigen
replied, trying to placate his hot-headed son, ‘but I have given mine
oath. Thou shalt not speak disparagingly unto him, nor offer any
impertinence whilst he is within the confines of Vo Mimbre. If thOu
canst not restrain thine ire, remain in thy chambers until he doth
depart. I will have thy pledge to that effect, or I shall have thee
confined.’
The archaic language immediately took me back to the third
millennium, and when I spoke, it seemed almost that I was taking up
a conversation that’d broken off two thousand or so years back.
,Good morrow, your Majesty,’ I greeted Aldorigen with a curtsey.
,Mine aged father and I have but recently arrived from Tol Honeth,
and though all bemused by the splendor of this most renowned of
cities, have we come straightway hither to consult with thee and to
divulge unto thee certain information concerning that which hath
come to pass and which doth concern thee and thy realm most
poignantly.’
Aldorigen responded with fairly typical Mimbrate
longwindedness, and we exchanged pleasantries for the obligatory half
hour or so, and then we got down to business. My message –
instruction, if you’d prefer – was simple. I was there to prohibit a Mimbrate
assault on the Angaraks who’d soon be camped outside Vo Mimbre
until we were ready for them to come out of the city. That took a
while. It’s very hard to persuade someone who believes that he’s
invincible that a bit of prudence might be in order.
While I was pounding this into his head, he advised me that his
Asturian counterpart, Eldallan of Asturia, was coming to Vo Mimbre
for a council of war. I saw an enormous potential for disaster in
that plan, given a thousand or so years of senseless slaughter in the
Asturian forest. Putting a Mimbrate and an Asturian in the same
room was very likely to be hard on the furniture, if not the entire
building. Korodullin was already well on the way to a number of
quaint forms of greeting. darkly hinting that the rascally Asturian
duke would most probably seize the opportunity to defect to the
Angarak side in the attack on Vo Mimbre to insure the city’s
destruction.
Father threw a quick thought at me, but I was already well ahead
of him. I don’t think father ever fully comprehended the significance
Of my title. ‘Duchess of Erat’, nor the persistence of old traditions
In Arendia. I had been – and still was – the equal of Aldorigen and
Eldallan. They both knew that, and they also knew that I could
make them very uncomfortable if I chose.
I proceeded then to shame Aldorigen and his hot-headed son into
semblance of good manners. When you throw words such as
‘timid’ and ‘womanish’ into a Mimbrate’s teeth, you’ll definitely get
his attention.
It was precisely at noon when Duke Eldallan and his very pretty
daughter, Mayaserana, arrived and were rather coldly escorted into
Aldorigen’s throne-room.
Then I heard that internal bell again, and when I saw the looks
of hereditary hatred Mayaserana and Korodullin were exchanging,
I almost laughed aloud. This promised to be a very interesting
and noisy – courtship.
‘You’re getting more perceptive, Pol,’ mother’s voice complimented
me.
‘Perhaps so, but how am I going to keep them from killing each other
before the ceremony?’
I’m sure you’ll think of something.’
The air in the throne-room positively reeked of animosity, and I
realized that this ill-advised conference hovered right on the edge
of an absolute disaster, so I stepped in and threw my rank into their
faces again. ‘This will cease immediately!’ I commanded Aldorigen
and Eldallan. ‘I cannot believe mine ears! I had thought that ye were
serious men, but now I perceive mine error. Can it truly be that the
rulers of Asturia and Mimbre have grown so childish? Are ye both
so foolish as to cuddle animosity to your breasts as ye would some
cherished toy from earliest childhood? The world about us is on
fire, my Lords. Ye must set aside this petty bickering and join with
the Alorns and Tolnedrans in quenching it. This absurd exchange
of threat and insult doth weary me, and presently shall I be obliged
to demonstrate the full extent of mine irritation. Thou, Eldallan,
shall join thine archers with the Sendars and Rivans and move
against the Angarak rear. And thou, Aldorigen, shalt defend thy
walls but make no move ‘gainst thy besiegers until the third day of
the battle, and shalt emerge only at the pre-arranged signal. Since
it doth appear that ye have played at war for two eons and more
and still have no better grasp of the art than the newest recruit in
a Tolnedran legion, I must here assert mine authority. These are
mine instructions, and ye shall obey, lest ye bring down my wrath
upon your heads.’ I sighed then, a bit theatrically, I’ll admit. ‘Clearly
I was in error in the third millennium when I had hoped that mY
beloved child, Arendia, might someday reach maturity. That was
obviously a vain hope. Arends might grow old and grey, but they
will never mature. Mine alternative in those by-gone years was clear,
but my love for Arendia had made it most repugnant. Now I see
that I should have set that repugnance aside and performed my
duty. Since all Arends are incapable of adulthood, I see now that I
should have annexed both Mimbre and Asturia and ruled then, by
imperial decree. I am sure that it would not have overtaxed my
abilities to teach ye how to kneel in the presence of thine empress
and to obey her commands utterly.’
That jerked them both up short. I pretended to consider the idea
further, looking them both up and down like sides of beef.
‘Perchance it is not yet too late for that to come to pass. I shall consider
it. Thou, Aldorigen, and thou, Eldallan, are presentable, and could
be – with firm instruction – suitably well-spoken, so ye would make
adequate vassals to mine imperial throne. I will think on it and
advise ye of my decision anon. But first, we must deal with Kal
Torak.’
Well, of course I didn’t have imperial ambitions! Where are your
brains? Still, ‘Empress Polgara of Arendia’ does sort of have a nice
ring to it, wouldn’t you say?
I think it was the notion of change of government that made
Aldorigen and Eldallan suddenly very polite to each other, and Eldallan’s
suggestion that after the battle they might have a friendly little
get-together – with swords – to discuss their differences at greater
length sealed the whole bargain.
Aldorigen provided father and me with suitable quarters, and
after we settled in, the Old Wolf stopped by. ‘You weren’t really
serious about the “empress” business, were you, Pol?’ he asked a
bit nervously.
‘Don’t be absurd, father.’
‘I wouldn’t be too quick to throw away a good idea, though,’ he
mused. ‘It’d be one way to put an end to this silly civil war.’
‘Feel free to annex the notion, father. You’d make a splendid
emperor.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’
,’I was just going to ask you the same question. Have you heard
from uncle Beldin?’
‘He and General Cerran are riding south to start the legions
marching toward the coast. Eldrig’s war-boats are already on their
way down there to pick them up.’
‘It’s going to take time for them to get here, father,’ I reminded
him. have you come up with a way to delay Torak as yet?’
‘I’m still working on it.’
‘~work a little faster. I’ve got some very personal reasons to want
lot Of soldiers around me when Torak arrives.’
‘Oh?’
‘We can talk about it later. Get to work, father.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I thought I might spend an hour or so in my bathtub.’
‘You’re going to melt if you don’t stop spending so much time