Intruder

“Now that is the most tenuous of co

Cajeiri listened remarkably politely, though with his eyes occasionally glazing over, and a mere human attempted to co

Arcane stuff. But it mattered to the traditionalists. It mattered because it contained history and subtext. That Lord Tatiseigi, traditionalist to the hilt, and Geigi, a Rational Determinist and a modernist, sat there comparing ancestors was amazing. Just amazing. The time had been when those two had been bitter, bitter opponents on the grounds of the very ancestors they now compared.

And thenc

Then there came into question, not quite a case of business at di

But in conclusion of the meal, Ilisidi of course offered brandy in the sitting room, which would be the venue for serious, even disagreeable discussion, and Bren braced himself.

“One would very much wish to attend the after-di

It was Ilisidi the lad addressed. Lord Tatiseigi looked a little put out at the idea, and he probably wanted to say the boy belonged home in bed at this hour.

But the things at issue were matters Cajeiri knew intimately—quite intimately, the boy having seen far too much of the warfare on the peninsula. Ilisidi had not withheld information of that sort from the boy. Ever.

“You will remember your promise,” Ilisidi said, “Great-grandson.”

“One assuredly will, Great-grandmother.”

“So, well,” Ilisidi said, and gathered up her cane, which her bodyguard Cenedi slipped conveniently under her hand in the same moment he moved her chair back. Ilisidi gathered herself to her feet, they all got up and filed out of the room, bodyguards arranging themselves as they went—Cajeiri’s youngsters adding a little confusion and inexperience to the process, but Cenedi sorted it out quietly behind them.

So they settled in the sitting-room, with brandy and one iced fruit juice—and faced one another for what was not going to be such a nice conversation.

“One does not wish, aiji-ma,” Tatiseigi said, “to offend young ears. But one must speak.”

“You will not offend him,” Ilisidi. “Nor, one hopes, Tati-ji, will our efforts to have peace in the south displease you. You know how very long we have desired a settlement, we do know that you hold opposing views in the interest of your region, and, fortunate third, we do hope to satisfy all your objections, because we have had them particularly in mind while arranging the agreements. You have been our instructor and our constant thought while we were working these things out. Do kindly hear us out before you frame an opinion.”

Neatlymanaged, Bren thought. A magnificent segue, delivered almost while the old man was drawing breath to object.

“Well, well,” Tatiseigi said, frowning, “but understand—” He used the all-inclusive plural. “—our objections reside in our concern for the aishidi’tat, which is an irreplaceable structure.”

“To that we heartily agree, nandi,” Geigi said. “And, speaking as one who has sometimes been at odds, but no longer, one hopes—we greatly appreciate your position. The aiji-dowager has often cited your opinions, and one now greatly appreciates the wisdom of your position, nandi. When one was young, one was far more reckless, but time and events are persuasive. Your objections are wisely made, and must be respected.”

Tatiseigi blinked. Twice, parsing that for traps, and Bren parsed it a second time himself, in some little admiration. God, Geigi had grown in office. Ilisidi looked on that with her usual calm demeanor and smiled a sweet little smile.

“So we do,” she said, “always consult with Lord Tatiseigi.”

The paidhi-aiji could hardly top that opening statement. He sat there sipping his brandy very cautiously, saying only, “One absolutely concurs, aiji-ma. Nandiin.”

“Well, well, well,” Tatiseigi said, a little flustered, and took a sip of his own glass. “Let me then advise you of my concern that anyimproved rail link will immediately become a conduit for spies and mayhem. That anyincreased trade with the South will upset the economy by competing against northern industry.”

“On the latter, we rely on your excellent knowledge of the northern economy to advise us,” Ilisidi said. “It will be extremely easy at this stage to make provisions to protect these northern enterprises, whether by making them more competitive or by managing import from the south. Not forgetting there will be export from the north, which may offer profit.”

“Export. These bare-elbowed folk in the south can hardly afford our goods.”

“Indeed,” Geigi said, “but an improved economy in the south will mean they can, and will want them, in increasing numbers. This is a major new market once it has elevated its standard of living.”

“They are a lazy, contentious lot,” Tatiseigi said, “who had rather waste their substance in war than improve their own living. The black market dominates their economy.”

“This has not been their choice,” Bren felt obliged to say. “Nandiin, they have maintained leaders whose warlike nature has made them feel safer—not that it has made them safe, but the reputation for violence has in fact defended them from the other clans in the Marid. Thatis the sort of choice the aiji-dowager has undertaken to change. She has identified one warlord with a vision exceeding his predecessors, and in consequence of his talent, he has become a target of his neighbors—with a good result for the aishidi’tat, because it has necessitated his accepting the guilds into the Marid to a degree that will profoundly change the politics of the district. But the guilds ca

“Setting up a massive clan structure in that district to rival the Ragi,” Tatiseigi muttered, “is dangerous. Destabilizing to the entire aishdi’tat.”

“For all his days, Tati-ji,” Ilisidi said, “Lord Machigi will be engaged in building up his merchants and his shippers and enriching the people of the Marid. He will have no time for adventures of a political nature, and once he has wealthy merchants under his roof, he will have the same constraints as does my grandson. Wealthy merchants, save those selling munitions, do not like war in their own region of operation, and we shall have the Marid trading in porcelains and textiles, wood products, foodstuffs—anything butmunitions.”

“For now, Sidi-ji. But the next leader—”

“Should any future leader of the Marid step out of those bounds, the Guilds will be quite sure he does not step farcjust as the Guilds constrain us in Shejidan. That is the profound difference in this agreement, Tati-ji. Machigi has taken the Guilds to bed, and now he is wed to them. So will his successors be.”

Tatiseigi was quiet for a moment, head tilted to one side. “And these foreigners in the heavens the paidhi-aiji warns us of? What when they appear? What when they play one region against the other? Or incite the humans against us? We ca

“Precisely,” Ilisidi said, “we ca