‘The physician,’ I corrected. ‘You have a very serious condition,
Duke Nerasin, and if you don’t do just exactly what I advise you
to do, I can’t hold out much hope for your recovery. First of all,
“,,you’re going to send word to the people you have holding Duke
Alleran’s son. Tell them to bring the little boy here immediately.’
Then, just to make sure he got my point, I released a fresh flow of gastric juices into his inflamed stomach.
He immediately tied himself into an intricately complex knot and
became very cooperative. There was a bell-pull at the head of his
bed and he quite nearly tore it from its mounting when he
summoned assorted servants. He gave orders in a hoarse whisper and
then fell back on his bed, sweating profusely.
‘There, now,’ I said in a motherly sort of way, ‘see how much
better you feel already? I’m very pleased with how well your
treatment is progressing. We’ll have you back on your feet in no time.
Now then, while we’re waiting for your people to bring little
Kathanrion here, we’d probably better go over the things you’re going to
have to do to prevent a relapse of this dreadful condition. You really
don’t want this to happen again, do you?’
He shook his head violently.
‘The Arendish Council will be meeting at the Great Fair again
this summer – as it usually does – and I really think you should
make plans to attend – for reasons of your health, if you take my
meaning. Then, just to be sure that this distressing condition doesn’t
recur, you’d probably better call all your spies, assassins, and
assorted other troublemakers back here to Vo Astur. All this
scheming and plotting is very hard on your stomach, and that delicate
conscience of yours could cause all this to flare up again the moment
YOU do anything the least bit dishonorable. It may take a bit of
getting used to, Nerasin, but you might very well go down in history
as the most honorable man to ever be born in the Duchy of Asturia.
Doesn’t that make you proud?’
He gave me a sickly little smile. ‘Honor’ is a nice word, but the
concept was totally alien to Duke Nerasin.
‘I think perhaps you should rest now,’ I told him, ‘but first, you’d
better pass along orders that no one in Asturia should in any way
interfere when my friend and I take little Kathandrion home to his
parents. I know that the thought of the child’s happiness just fills
your heart with joy, and you wouldn’t even think of hindering me,
would you?
He shook his head so hard this time that it almost flew off.
Some scruffy-looking ruffians brought Alleran’s young son to
Nerasin’s apartments shortly after dawn. ‘Aunt Pol!’ The little boy
cried delightedly, running to me on his sturdy little legs. I swept
him up into my arms and held him very close for a while.
Nerasin provided horses for Killane and me and a fairly sizeable
escort to take us as far as the Wacite frontier.
‘Will th’ belly-ache be after goin’ away in time, me Lady?’ Killane
asked as we rode out of the bleak granite pile known as Vo Astur.
‘It’ll seem to, Killane,’ I replied. ‘I’ll probably have to turn it on
a few more times before Nerasin falls into line, though. He’ll try
something sneaky in a few months, and I’ll set fire to his belly again.
He’ll wait a little longer before he tries something else, and I’ll stir
the fire again. Nerasin’s a thoroughgoing scoundrel, so I’ll probably
have to remind him about “his condition” a half-dozen or so times
before he finally decides to behave himself. In the end, Arendia
should be fairly quiet – for a generation or so, anyway. After that,
who knows?’
*CHAPTER19
It was about noon when Killane and I returned little Kathandrion
to Vo Wacune and his distraught parents. They fell all over themselves
with gratitude and listened entranced to Killane’s somewhat
exaggerated account of just how we’d obtained the boy’s release.
‘I think you can pull your archers out of Asturia now, your Grace,’
I told Alleran then. ‘The war’s over, so you can stop ambushing
cows and pigs. Duke Nerasin’s seen the light and he’s going to
behave himself from now on.’
‘You can’t trust that man, Aunt Pol!’ Alleran protested.
‘Beggin’ yer pardon, yer Grace,’ Killane said, ‘but th’ rascally
Nerasin’ll do just exactly as Lady Polgara tells him t’ do – be it,
II quit makin’ war” or “sit up an’ beg”. She’s got her fist wrapped
around his tripes, don’t y’ know, an’ he squeals like a pig every
time she squeezes.’
‘Do you really, Aunt Pol?’ Alleran asked me incredulously.
‘Killane’s language is a little colorful, Alleran, but you’ve known
him long enough to realize that. The term “tripes” isn’t entirely
accurate, but otherwise his description comes fairly close. From here
on until the end of his life, Nerasin will fall down in a heap every
time he does something that I don’t like. Oh, you’d better let Corrolin
know that the war’s over as well, and then you two’d better start
brushing up on your manners. Nerasin’s coming to the council
meeting this summer.’
‘What?’ Alleran exploded. ‘After all the crimes he’s committed?’
‘Alleran, dear, that’s what those council meetings are for,
remember? We settle disputes over the council table now instead of on the
battlefield. Whether we like him or not, Nerasin rules Asturia, so
he has to attend those meetings, and so do you and Corrolin.’
‘I’d be listening t’ her, yer Grace,’ Killane suggested warningly.
‘She knows exactly how t’ find a man’s tripes now, so I wouldn’t
be after makin’ her cross, if I was you.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s yer own
personal belly, though, so do as y’ see fit.’
What a treasure that man was!
Things were a bit stiff at the meeting of the Arendish Council that
summer, but Nerasin, casting frequent nervous glances in my
direction, was disgustingly obsequious. Alleran and Corrolin were curtly
civil to him, but the pair of them obviously had something else up
their sleeves. That made me a little nervous, so I watched them very
closely. An Arend with a secret under his vest might be able to keep
the secret itself in hiding, but concealing the fact that he’s got one
is quite beyond his capabilities. Alleran and Corrolin were obviously
up to something’.
The actual business meeting didn’t last long, and it consisted
mostly of the Dukes of Wacune and Mimbre dictating peace terms
to Nerasin.
Then, when that was out of the way, Alleran rose to his feet. ‘My
Lords,’ he announced quite formally, ‘methinks the time hath come
for us to express our undying gratitude to she who guides us
through the alien byways of peace.’ Then he looked directly at me.
‘We will brook no opposition in this, my Lady Polgara, for will ye,
nil ye, this is our unalterable decision. There have ever been three
duchies in Arendia, but from this day forward, that will no longer
be true. Duke Corrolin rules Mimbre; Duke Nerasin leads Astur
and I try as best I can to guide Wacune; but henceforth there will
be a fourth duchy in our poor Arendia, and that duchy is thine. I
bid thee welcome, your Grace.’ Then he looked around the pavilion.
‘All hail her Grace, the Lady Polgara, Duchess of Erat!’
‘Hail Polgara!’ everyone in the ornate tent responded, rising to
their feet and then falling to their knees in an excessive genuflection.
Now that took me completely by surprise. I could immediately
think of a dozen reasons why it wasn’t appropriate, but Alleran’s
assertion that they were going to do this to me whether I liked it
or not silenced my objections. Since they’d seen fit to tack that ‘your
Grace’ on to me, I decided to be gracious. I curtsied my acceptance,
and they all cheered wildly. ‘My Lords,’ I spoke then, ‘this honor
quite o’erwhelms me, and I shall strive to mine utmost to be worthy
of it.’ Then, since they were all obviously dying for a speech, I
saddled up my vocabulary and galloped it at full tilt around,
through, and over the top of them for an hour or so. Then, when
their eyes had started to glaze over, I wound down to a stirring
conclusion and received the customary standing ovation.
They presented me with the elaborately decorated proclamation
signed by all three of them – that declared my duchesshood, and
appended thereunto was a description of the boundaries of my
realm in profoundly tedious detail.
I didn’t really have time to read it because of the party that broke
out at that point, but as best as I could gather from one brief glance,
my duchy lay somewhere in what is now Sendaria. I gave the