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“No more than anyone else.” Casuel looked puzzled.
Urgent knocking on the door startled everyone in the room.
“Not now!” Tadriol yelled angrily.
Temar looked at the Emperor. “She asked how many more of your Name had to die. Does that have some darker meaning for you?”
Ryshad was barring the i
The Emperor looked sharply at him before glowering at Temar again. “And Dirindal conveniently half admits it!”
The knocking came again. “Is everything all right?” a hesitant voice called.
“You, chosen man, get rid of them,” the Emperor ordered abruptly. Ryshad slipped out of the room. “Wizard, do you spy like this for D’Olbriot, for the Archmage or both? How often?”
“I’m no spy,” Casuel protested weakly.
“I ca
“There are ways of loosening tongues.” Temar chose his words carefully, wishing Ryshad hadn’t just disappeared. “I know you have spoken with Planir, so you must be aware there is more than one kind of magic”
“These so-called dark arts of the Elietimm?” The Emperor scowled suspiciously.
“Artifice is a tool, like any other. A knife can cut bread to feed a child or to stab a man to the heart.” Temar didn’t dare let his indignation show. “It was a cornerstone of justice in the Old Empire because no one could speak falsehood under the seal of their oath.”
“And how was that marvel achieved?” demanded the Emperor with obvious scepticism.
“With the oaths and invocations you still use in your courts,” Temar shot back. “In my day they were backed with enchantment. And where Artifice can bind a false tongue, it can loosen another to speak the truth, all unwitting. Demoiselle Tor Arrial is a highly skilled Adept and she was in the next room laying an invocation on the Relict prompting her to speak.”
“Prompting her to speak her mind or merely making a puppet out of her?” countered the Emperor.
Temar struggled for an answer, hearing Ryshad arguing with someone in the outer room, seeing Casuel looking uncertainly from face to face. He closed his eyes to concentrate better.
“Aedral mar nidralae, Avila,” he said suddenly. “Demoiselle, please get here as fast as possible. Bring Velindre and Allin.”
“I thought you were here to ask about an insignia!” The Steward’s irate voice made Temar open his eyes. The man was standing in the doorway, Ryshad behind him ringed by menacing guards with swords.
Temar waved a frustrated arm. “Give me just a little longer and I can prove our good faith!” The evidence of his own eyes had convinced Ryshad, hadn’t it?
“You don’t raise your hand or your voice to the Emperor, boy!” The Steward snapped his fingers and the men-at-arms moved closer.
“Enough, Master Jai
The words weren’t unkindly meant but still stung Temar like a slap across the face.
“I do not know if I want to be a Sieur on your terms; I do not know what the title means in this age,” he retorted. “But I know what it meant in my day, and that was a duty of care to all who depended on you. By Saedrin’s very keys, I will do my duty to the people of Kel Ar’Ayen. They crossed the ocean trusting in the Names of Den Ra
“What he means is—” began Casuel in strangled tones.
“I can speak for myself, Master Mage!” Temar spat.
“Then speak,” the Emperor commanded.
“The only reason I came to you is my people will suffer still more in a quarrel not of our making. Kel Ar’Ayen is simply one more piece on the game board between Tor Bezaemar and D’Olbriot, and I ca
“You wear a chosen man’s armring,” the Emperor observed, a distinct chill in his voice. “Shouldn’t you be keeping your Sieur’s confidences?”
“I believe an open quarrel with Tor Bezaemar will harm the House.” Ryshad continued to stare straight ahead. “My loyalties are to all who bear the Name, not merely to the person of the Sieur.”
“Guliel’s not stupid, he must see this will only discredit his arguments in court,” said the Emperor, frustrated. “Why’s D’Olbriot taking justice into his own hands?”
“In my day we went to the Emperor for justice.” Temar stepped round the table to stand toe to toe with Tadriol. “You must stop this quarrel before it gets out of hand. Before all your advocates have said their pieces, i
“When I see open antagonism between two powerful Houses I will act to limit the damage,” the Emperor protested.
“Can you not stop it before it starts?” demanded Temar. “Do you wait until the roof catches before you tear down a burning house?”
“Then bring evidence untainted by magic before the courts,” repeated the Emperor with some heat. “Where all can witness it and justice can be seen to be done.”
“If we had it, we would!” Temar cried, frustrated. “We do not. Why else do you think we tried this?”
“I doubt shouting is going to achieve very much.” Avila strode into the room with Velindre and Allin at her heels. All three swept graceful curtseys to the Emperor, the swish of skirts the only sound to ruffle the abrupt silence.
“May I make known Avila, Demoiselle Tor Arrial,” said Temar, for want of anything better. “And Velindre Ychane, Allin Mere, mages of Hadrumal.”
“You didn’t get here by carriage.” Tadriol looked disconcerted for the first time.
“Velindre’s magic served the purpose rather better.” Avila fixed the Emperor with an impatient glare. “I take it you want us to prove ourselves?”
“How do you know that?” Tadriol looked instantly suspicious.
“Allin scryed for you when the Relict left.” Avila spared the girl an approving smile that set her blushing scarlet. “It did not look a happy conversation and I have had a bellyful of Tormalin scepticism these last few days, so it seemed a likely guess.”
“You didn’t translocate here when you only knew the place through scrying?” Casuel was looking scandalised at Velindre.
“Where’s Lady Cha
“On her way home in her carriage,” Allin assured him.
“Can we stick to the point before us?” Avila asked, scathing. “What kind of proof do you need, highness, to accept the evidence of your own eyes?”
Tadriol looked thoughtful, rolling the overlarge ring round his finger. “You say this spell has to be worked between two mages?”