Bloodname

Perhaps, Joa

For once Lenore Shi-Lu seemed ill-at-ease. She glanced toward the Loremaster for guidance, but his attention was so focused on Roshak that he did not notice her silent plea. Finally, she turned back to Roshak: "I am sorry for being obtuse, Falconer Commander, but perhaps you can explain how this—may I call it obsession?—with Ramon Mattlov relates to the accusations and concerns of this assembly?"

"It will become clear."

"I am relieved. Go on, sir."

Roshak paused for a moment, seeming lost in his thoughts. Actually, he was marshalling them into ranks so that he could march them past the council members with military precision.

"On the day Cadet Aidan's sibko arrived on Iron-hold, I thought I was seeing a ghost when I looked at the young man. It was as though Ramon Mattlov, a bit younger than when I had first known him, were back in the flesh before me. Oh, others in the sibko also resembled my former comrade. That was only natural in a group with the same genetic background. Another one of them, a young woman, also strikingly resembled Ramon Mattlov. She is among us now, an honorable warrior who has won the right to the Pryde Bloodname."

A few in the audience glanced at Marthe, who showed no expression.

"But I saw something more in Cadet Aidan than a mere resemblance. At first sight I almost believed he was the reincarnation of Ramon Mattlov."

The gathered Clan warriors muttered at this last statement, which seemed a clear indication that Ter Roshak was mad. Insanity among Clan warriors was rare, but not unknown.

"Cadet Aidan not only looked like my former commander, he stood like him, with a defiant tilt to his shoulders, with his feet placed on the ground as though ready to spring. None of the other sibkin displayed that posture. When I noticed him speak to Cadet Marthe, he had a way of leaning his head toward her that was a duplicate of the way Ramon Mattlov instructed another officer."

"That is all quite remarkable, Falconer Commander," said Lenore Shi-Lu, "but how does it justify your subsequent acts?"

"Bear with me, Inquisitor. That day I studied Cadet Aidan secretly. When, as his commanding officer, I got close to him, I stared into his eyes. Cool, confident, they were the eyes of Ramon Mattlov. Not only that, I saw in them the same hint of danger.

"At that first encounter, the training officer gave the cadets the usual beating every newly arrived sibko deserves. When Falconer Joa

"As training continued, the resemblance became even more pronounced. And the major likeness was to Ramon Mattlov's tendency to go for the big strike and his unwillingness to accept defeat under any condition. Ramon Mattlov turned the tide of battle several times at a moment when most warriors would have been submitting terms of surrender. So extreme were his tactics that he often risked losing a battle. He would underbid his firepower, for example, or choose tactics so unorthodox that even seasoned combatants tried to change his mind. He was lucky, though, and usually achieved his objective. He had earned his right to contribute his heritage to the sacred gene pool long before his death in combat."

Roshak glanced around the room, silent now during his eulogy to Ramon Mattlov. Lenore Shi-Lu quietly broke the stillness: "Go on, Falconer Commander."

"It was this that fed my desire to see Cadet Aidan succeed. It was why I prodded him, pushed him, and made sure my officers did the same. His successes in early tests were denigrated instead of praised to spur him to try all the harder. His lapses were magnified so that he would brood on them and seek ways to eliminate them the next time around. During that time I had few actual encounters with him, but I do recall once coming upon him suddenly when he was standing guard. For a moment, I mistook him for Ramon Mattlov. I knew then that if Cadet Aidan did not win his Trial, it would be a dishonor to the memory of Ramon Mattlov."

"I am not certain I follow your reasoning, Falconer Commander," Lenore Shi-Lu interrupted. "In the Clan, as you know, metaphysics are discouraged. How might the very real achievements of Ramon Mattlov be dishonored by a cadet who had a mere physical resemblance to him?"

For the first time Ter Roshak looked flustered. "You misunderstand, Inquisitor. His resemblance was not a merephysical one. I believed him to be the embodiment of all Ramon Mattlov had been. That meant he must be the best in all Clan combat activities. When the young man failed his Trial of Position, I could not accept it. He should have won. Anyone who examines the records or tapes of that test would agree.

"Even then, I would not have interfered if Cadet Aidan, by now astech Aidan, had not escaped from Ironhold at the first possible opportunity and begun to seek his own fortune. In similar circumstances, Ramon Mattlov would have done the same. That was when I knew what I must do. I had to create the circumstances for another Trial."

"And to do that," Lenore Shi-Lu interrupted again, "you found it necessary to arrange for the death of a freeborn to give a new identity and another chance at the Trial to this cadet you favored so much?"

"That is essentially correct."

"Essentially?"

Ter Roshak seemed to hesitate before responding. "I did not merely arrangefor the freeborn's death. I personally planted real explosive charges in a training minefield. When the only survivor of the explosions was the freeborn cadet whose place Cadet Aidan was to take, I killed the cadet, too."

Aidan was surprised. He had not known the extent of Roshak's personal involvement.

"We are grateful for your honesty, Falconer Commander, but in truth, the deaths of a few freeborn cadets have little bearing on this case. The issue is whyyou engaged in deceit, not how.Are we to understand, then, that loyalty to Ramon Mattlov underlay all your actions regarding Star Commander Aidan?"

"Expressed so succinctly, your statement diminishes the gravity of my objectives, but what you say is quite true. Loyalty is the way of the Clan, and my loyalty to Ramon Mattlov overrode other considerations."

"Loyalty to a deadcommanding officer, I am forced to point out. Loyalty in the extreme. Meritorious on some level, I am sure, but not worth defying Clan law."

The approving murmurs in the hall seemed to endorse Lenore Shi-Lu's words.

"If you so believe, Inquisitor, I would not attempt to disagree."

"Why not, Falconer Commander? When you have disobeyed Clan law, why not disagree with one of its loyal minions?"

"With all due respect, Inquisitor, I believe I have established my motives in the actions for which I was called here. Judgment follows. I have no more to say."

Ter Roshak did, however, speak more, responding tersely to Beck Qwabe's questions, which Roshak's own previous testimony had rendered irrelevant. Foreseeing the outcome of the case, Qwabe was merely going through the motions, presenting the questions submitted by those warriors sympathetic to the Advocate case. He had been surprised at the numbers who seemed to support the defendants until he noted that most of them were of Ter Roshak's generation, aging warriors in their last years of service. Roshak had called in some favors, Qwabe was certain. The vote would be closer than Qwabe had originally expected.