The Twilight herald

'Then he is at least Suzerain Anvee,' interjected Suzerain Sarin sharply. 'Certinse and his family were not defending their suzerainty against invasion by another. If I had been at their side, then perhaps they would have a case to discuss, but there can be no argument here.'

The countess raised her hands in deference. 'I am not condoning his actions, merely questioning whether it is a wise course to publicly hang the man. It ca

'You fear insurrection?' Tila responded, forcing the countess to turn back to her.

Isak thought he saw a flicker of doubt on the woman's face, but she continued without hesitation, 'Nothing so dramatic, but the embar-rassment and disgrace will be wide-reaching. The more foolish the nobility looks, the closer to the common folk we appear, and that could give rise to dangerous illusions. With General Lahk you have enough of his peers in this room to hold the trial here, and now '

Isak turned to the steward and grimaced. 'You hear thai, Dupres! he whispered. 'Don't you start thinking yourself the same species as the countess, now.'

'I would not dare to, my Lord,' Dupres replied dryly.

'Even now that I'm suddenly not a commoner, I fail to see what she fears. The rich are rich, the poor are not. Such are the lives we lead When I was poor, I wanted to be rich, not because I hated the nobility ity, but because it's better than being pool. And yet this lot seem to live in terror of the day when their servant turns around and declared himself lord of the manor.'

'Such a thing is possible, my Lord,' Dupres said. 'Revolt has happened countless times in the past, despite the best efforts of the nobility.'

'But usually for a reason. When there is famine, and the lord does nothing about it, who can blame a man for trying to feed his family?'

'If it wouldn't be too bold, my Lord…'

Isak waved Dupres to continue. He wasn't interested in decorum, he wanted the man's opinion. Dupres looked hesitant for a moment, but he'd seen enough today to realise how informal the white-eye was with his aides.

'Whoever is managing your estates in Anvee while you're away

I'm certain he would blame a man for stealing food, as much as declaring himself lord of the manor.'

'Perhaps, but when was life ever equal? When revolts do take hold, there'S rarely much that changes in the end: a different man gets rich, or the whole region collapses. Does a more equal way exist? The nobility are convinced it does, and they spend their days fearing it. The commoners they're so frightened of get on with some real work instead.'

Dupres had no answer to that.

Isak drained the goblet of wine and the steward immediately took it to refill.

'Will you join me for a cup? It would be good to hear a sensible man's opinion on the state of the Land.'

'It,.ah, it would be unseemly, my Lord, for the steward to be drink-ing the wine he serves-'

'I know. It is considered a blurring of boundaries,' Isak replied glumly, before clapping a hand on Dupres' shoulder. 'Fortunately, as I

wass commenting on the way here, I happen to be lord of all I survey. And that includes you, my friend, as well as our noble friends down

there.'

The suzerain would still be displeased.' There was a hint of hope in Dupres' voice, despite his words. It was clear that Isak was not to

be dissuaded, and how often would this chance arise, for Dupres to drink and talk its an equal with Nartis' chosen representative? But

convention had to be acknowledged.

Bugger him. I'm his lord too, and we white-eyes are notoriously fickle creatured. You have to put up with a lot from us, and he'd hardly be happy if you refused an order from me.' Isak gri

Isak guessed that the hunter's moon had to be somewhere near the horizon by now, and midnight not far off. He raised a silent toast with Dupres to Kasi's passing that evening and they resumed their curious vigil.

'So, how lordly do I appear?' Isak muttered to his companion. 'No, wait, what I would hear is how folk have taken news of Lord Bahl's death.'

'Well, my Lord…'

'Do stop doing that every time you speak to me – makes everything you say take twice as long! No true lord would be in a darkened corner getting drunk with his host's steward, therefore it must be a delusion of yours, and one should always call delusions by their proper name.'

'But if you do, don't they cease to become delusions? Call something by its proper name and it becomes a true thing.'

'Oh, let us hope so,' Isak sighed.

Dupres narrowed his eyes at Isak for a moment then nodded. 'That you would care about it answers your first question, I think. As for the second, we were frightened – as probably the rest of the tribe were too. Lord Bahl ruled us for two hundred years. Our grandparents knew no other lord. To lose that, and under circumstances that were never fully explained, is to lose the cornerstone of your world. Can you tell me what happened?'

Isak shook his head. 'He was doing something that would have made the tribe more secure. I can tell you no more of it.'

'Of course. What I can tell you is that we were cheered by news of your exploits arriving with the death notice.'

'My exploits? The battle in Narkang?'

'Exactly. Folk are calling you Isak Stormcaller; they say that you wield a power Lord Bahl never did.'

'Bahl rode the storm in his own way.' Isak grimaced and waggled his pure white fingers in Dupres' face. 'But he didn't pay the price I had to.'

'So that's true?' Dupres asked in astonishment. 'You really won touched by Nartis when you called the storm?'

'Not exactly. That was the day Bahl died – Nartis was close to me that day, his hand on my shoulder. If it hadn't been for that, 1 wouldn't have survived when I called the storm myself. To call such power requires a bargain of sorts, I'm told, The magic almost killed me, and it stripped all colour from my arm. The mage I spoke to said that if I had died, it would have continued until all colour was lost from my body – or perhaps that it would have continued draining colour until I was dead; the jury was out on that detail.'

'Magic,' Dupres shivered. 'I'm glad I'm not so blessed.' He scratched at the red embroidering on his sleeve, a band of grapevines that en¬circled the left-hand sleeve. The right sleeve bore a variety of fruits hanging from branches. It prompted Isak to wonder whether Dupres had to serve wine with one hand and food with the other. He vaguely remembered Tila saying something like that, but the details were lost to him.

'Magic has its advantages,' Isak pointed out, vaguely feeling as though he should defend it, but without knowing quite why. 'If you're not giving in to your own base desires, the price you pay is worth¬while.'

Dupres grimaced. 'Still. Paying prices you ca

Isak grunted. 'But what if my every act seems to make times more troubled?'

Dupres didn't have any answer to that and the pair fell into silence. Isak's gaze drifted the length of the table. There was nothing left of the meal aside from piled platters of fruit. Men were leaning on the table, now, debating the ramifications of executing Duke Certinse. The room was lit mainly by four brass candle-wheels hanging from the balcony where Isak watched. The iron chain holding one was tan-talisingly within reach; Isak could see in his mind the white droplets of wax falling, if he only reached out and gave the chain a twist. His hand actually twitched towards it before he remembered himself and stopped.