“—hence the reintroduction of the hereditary principle seems called for, although—”
He gave a quick glance at his daughter, seated just four chairs to his right. And, slightly behind her, the stools and attendants which kept her offspring in something vaguely resembling “order” at a public event. Three of them, now—with, judging from the swell of her midriff, yet another soon to join the world.
Sure as anything, no spirits did that.
As he droned on—orated, rather—Demansk had to repress a grin. He had no doubt his grandfather would have fiercely disapproved most of what Demansk was doing, not least of all the way he was favoring an Emerald son-in-law. But on one subject, at least, the stern old man would have grudgingly given Adrian Gellert his approval. Keep ’em barefoot and pregnant, whatever you do. Barefoot, you can negotiate, now and then.
“—so, to conclude, I propose a modification which, I think, will give us, dealing with present circumstances, the best of all possible worlds.”
He was tempted to add: as shown to me by a machine which knows all possible worlds. But he left it unsaid. For almost all of the people gathered around this table, as well-educated and sophisticated as most of them were, the explanation would have been indistinguishable from “magic.” Given that Demansk had not yet seen fit to eliminate the laws outlawing magic, that would be . . . awkward.
He was nearing the end of his speech, which was going to probably be awkward enough.
“—each Triumvirate, therefore, to become a cycle. A training ground, as it were, the senior Triumvirs—with the approval of the others—adopting their own successors. Neither relying on the vagaries of fate—”
As always, the memory of Barrett ached. Not so much, true, yet never absent. But Demansk had long since realized that particular ache was the surest sign he was still sane.
“—nor the whims of factional strife—”
Drone, drone—wrap it up, damnation.
“So, in conclusion, I take this occasion to announce my own successor. A choice which, I might mention, has the full approval of both of my fellow Triumvirs as well as”—here, his voice grew stern: the patriarch in full glory—”my own magnificent sons.”
And . . . that’s enough. There’ll be endless time for all the squabbling. I’m tired of drama. Have been for a long time.
He simply pointed to Adrian, seated three chairs to his right. With no one between him and Demansk except Olver and Trae.
“Him.” And sat down.
* * *
Three things happened simultaneously.
Dead silence fell over the small crowd. Except—
Olver and Trae both shot to their feet, holding up their goblets of wine and calling for a toast.
Arsule leaned over and whispered into his ear: “I thought you’d sworn off drama and histrionics.”
* * *
The fourth thing which happened, of course, was a given. Far down the table, one of the officials from—Demansk couldn’t quite remember which branch of the bureaucracy; some post in the Registry—rose to his feet and began speaking.
“—fully agree with the political insights of the Paramount—”
Again, a whisper from Arsule: “I told you to have the whole lot of them executed. Exile just one of them! Ha! Like trying to drown a redshark.”
“—still, a well-nigh insuperable problem. Difficult, at the very least. As the Paramount’s son, of course, the august Gellert will have no choice but to divorce his wife, she now being his sister. But—”
Adrian choked on his goblet of wine. Helga sat up straight in her chair and bestowed upon the far distant bureaucrat a glare of fury that would have wilted anyone except—
“I’m telling you, Verice,” whispered Arsule, “they’re not really human. Trust me! According to the high priest of Jassine, bureaucrats are actually—”
“—leave the legal problem of the status of the children to be decided. By rigorous interpretation of existing law, of course, exposure on a rock is the only—”
* * *
What followed next confirmed for Verice Demansk, anew, the wisdom of always having two strings for his bow. His daughter had long since given up the practice of bearing a sword in public. But—no fool, she—Lortz was always nearby, ready to hand it to her.