by Tom Lloyd
Isak leaned on the rail as the men had.and looked down to see hiis dinner companions. There were twenty t hree people around the table, settled into an easy informality after a decoroun start He could see three or fout conversations around the table Catching the steward eye, Isak grinned and hunkered led down to enjoy the show The steward visibly relaxed and fetched a goblet of wine, which he pressed it into Isak's hand.
'Thank you,' Isak whispered.
The steward bowed and, when Isak gestured at the rail next to him, hesitated for a moment, then resumed his position beside the lord of his people. Isak had to stifle a smile; he'd never seen a man lounge in quite so formal a way, but he was beginning to recognise the effect of his title. He'd have to get used to it.
'What's your name? You've been in Suzerain Foleh's service a long time?' Isak asked, too quietly to be heard by those below.
'Dupres, your Grace, my name is Dupres. I have spent my life working in this castle, and I have been steward to the suzerain for six summers.'
Dupres was a man not long past forty, Isak judged, with a widow's peak and worry-lines around his eyes. He had seen the man earlier, constantly at his master's elbow, discreet, but anticipating his every need.
'You serve him well; I have seen few servants so attentive.'
'Thank you, my Lord.'
From below, the voice of the Countess of Lehm caught Isak's atten¬tion. He leaned further over the banister to hear the conversation better.
'Count Vesna, has Lord Isak said what he intends to do with Duke Certinse?'
'He's going to put the man on trial, of course.' Vesna's response was curt. He hadn't liked her tone any more than Isak had. She was Heading a careful line, for speaking about Isak while he was absent was a discourtesy most nobles wouldn't dare. Isak knew the customs of the nobility were still largely a mystery to him, but he had begun In recognise the formal ways in which a person of noble birth would couch a completely opposite request.
'And you have not counselled him against this?' Against it? Let the traitor hang, that's what I say.'
Isak couldn'l yet work out if the countess was either stupid and in-sulting, or if she was carefully positioning herself to make some point, that Vesna would later tell him in private.
But is that wise in the long term?' The other voices around the table had fallen away, every face was watching the exchange as in-tnently to as Isak.
'How would it not be wise, my Lady?' enquired Tila. 'Duke Certinse is undoubtedly a traitor. He ambushed us and tried to kill the Lord of the Farlan. For that, execution is the only response.'
'It's a merciful one,' growled Lahk, more to himself than anyone else.
The countess pointedly ignored him. 'But Duke Certinse is a man of title, of position in society. It is hardly seemly that he be treated like a common criminal. And Lord Isak has not yet been officially confirmed as Lord of the Farlan, so there could be legalities to compli-cate and prolong the trial.'
'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 cannot do the common folk good to see the highesi of the nobility executed, especially when others will fall with him Every tavern gossip across the Land will delight in the particulars of that trial.'
'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 grinned. 'Which I have put issued, by tthe way, so be a good lad and fetch yourself a cup.'
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 we
re 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 cannot guess at, consort¬ing with daemons – I'd rather not. I know its uses, and that you have such power relieves many fears. To know our armies are still led by a powerful man is reassuring in troubling times, but I'm deeply glad it's not me having to do it.'
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.
'look at my faithful subjects,' Isak muttered, swinging his goblet Inwards them. The remaining wine slopped up, but fell back into the cup rather than dripping down the cleavage of the woman beneath. isak shared a relieved grin with Dupres and continued, 'They all sit there talking happily, despite their master having disappeared from the room, Surely one of them should he wondering if I've fallen into
the privy by now.'
Perhaps they give you more credit than that,' the steward replied, warming to the irreverent conversation, 'or they are secretly con¬cerned, but etiquette restrains them from voicing their concerns.'
Isak nodded with mock gloom. 'More than once over the last year I've suspected that tradition will be the death of me.'
At the table below Tila's voice cut though the wider conversation. 'But that encourages Lord Isak to bypass the rule of law. Surely the examples of Lord Atro and Lord Bahl demonstrate the need for con¬stant restraint, rather than encouraging a lord to exercise religious authority.'
'Perhaps, my dear,' replied the countess, an indulgent tone in her voice. Isak could just imagine Tila's expression. 'But I do not feel it is appropriate for dirty laundry to be done in public'
'Dirty laundry, my Lady, is done by servants,' Vesna joined, 'as I believe you were at pains to point out. But, while he will be surprised by its source, I'm sure Chief Steward Lesarl will be glad of your en¬dorsement that he need not bother with legal technicalities; it does take up such a large proportion of his time.'
'Hah, now he is one I would like to see publicly hung!' the countess exclaimed, 'and from what I hear, Lord Isak shares that opinion.'
'The Chief Steward is loyal to his tribe,' Vesna said firmly, stamp¬ing firmly on any such rumours. 'Lesarl will serve Lord Isak as well as he did Lord Bahl, and he will continue to do the Farlan a great service. Now that Duke Certinse is under guard and his uncle dead, you should be more concerned about enemies from abroad rather than anyone within the tribe.'
'And who poses a greater threat than that sadistic megalomanic, who will no doubt be spending every waking hour devising ways to bypass your noble lord?'
'The White Circle is the most immediate. They proved themselves to be our enemies in Narkang, and while their leader may be dead, t he organisation is not. You heard tonight that Siala has been quickest to act; there can be no confusion as to why she has taken direct control over Scree. Without that city under her control she cannot be sure of winning the war in Tor Milist – indeed, resolving that conflict must be her first priority, to free up her troops. With Scree and Tor Milist under her control, she will not be challenged for leadership of the Circle, and that will give her the powerbase to mount a strong resist ance against any action we might take.'
'Your assessment sounds right,' Suzerain Foleh said. The portly old man had always been, by his own admission, more a merchant than a soldier and he was happy to concede authority in the military field to the hero of the tribe, despite Vesna being his social inferior. 'But I have heard the Circle is plagued by infighting, lacking any sort of controlling structure. Wouldn't any attempt to create a kingdom from those three city-states just as easily provoke an internal struggle that would become as drawn-out as the war in Tor Milist itself?'
'Surely the first step to defeating your enemy is to know what he wants,' the Countess of Lehm interrupted. She directed an enquiring look up and down the table, and asked the assembled men of politics and war, 'We still do not know what the White Circle's ultimate goal is. Should we not be directing our efforts towards that, before we go as far as invading Scree?'
She was greeted with silence. The question of the White Circle's motivation was long-standing, and the only people sitting at the table able to answer had kept their own counsel. Isak watched their faces carefully. He knew more than most, and even he still hadn't made up his mind what to do.
'For the moment we should consider Siala's goal to be a three-city state,' Vesna said cautiously. 'If we prevent that, we block the pursuit of any further ambition, at least for the time being; their position is precarious and their priority is now survival.'
'I think that's my cue,' Isak muttered as he straightened up and raised his voice. 'I'm glad you think that is the priority,' he called down to Vesna, 'because you're going to be the one to do that.'
Everyone looked up in surprise, Suzerain Foleh blanching at hearing a voice echoing down from the servants' station. He peered up past the candles, not quite believing Isak was really standing up there.
'My Lord? What are you doing up there?'
'Enjoying a drink with your excellent steward.' Isak raised his gob-let and gestured back at the way he'd come. '1 found a stairway and wondered where it led, nothing more.' He tried not to beam at the astonished faces gaping up at him, but he did find it terribly entertain-ing to see the band's finest completely speechless.
'What am 1 going to be doing, my Lord?' Vesna asked. He knew Isak welI enough not to have been too surprised by the white-eye's actions.
The lull in Tor Mihst will not last long, and we need to ensure Priata Leferna does not defeat the duke. The answer should be obvious enough.
'You want to aid Duke Vrerr?' Tila demanded, too infuriated to
remember the formal niceties. No one seemed to notice. Isak guessed from their faces that most of them were still trying to work out why a duke would voluntarily share a drink with a steward.
'If the alternative is a coalition of united White Circle cities on our southern border, why not?'
'Duke Vrerr is a cruel despot who has abused his people for years,' she protested, 'and prolonging the war means more will die of famine. You know they cannot feed themselves as it is.'
'Would you prefer me to kill him? We could conquer the city, ex¬pand our borders a little?'
'Of course not.' Tila faltered briefly. 'But you do know how Vrerr governs? By torture, murder, destroying entire villages at the slightest provocation. He doesn't even bother to control his soldiers; half of them are mercenaries, little more than regiments of bandits.'
'But there is nothing I can do about him unless I depose him. At the moment the only alternative is the commander of the White Circle forces, Priata Leferna, and she is certainly not acceptable. Thus, es¬teemed ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we can hope that Duke Vrerr is competent enough to resist the challenge, or we can lend some assistance. I am fully aware that the people of the city would actually be better off under White Circle control, but that would not last if they subsequently find themselves at war with us.' And this is what it is to be Lord of the Farlan, Isak thought sadly. I know exactly what sort of man Duke Vrerr is, and I have to ignore it for my own selfish ends.
'Count Vesna, you will lead a division of cavalry into Tor Milisi lands. 1 don't want Vrerr's troops supplied with horses or weapons, but I do want you to do what you can to damage Leferna's position there… Consider yourself in charge of a mercenary company.
'Anything that results from prolonging the war is, I'm afraid, not our problem. It is a means to an end, and the suffering it causes is necessary. Full intervention in the war will result in a puppet govern ment in Tor Milist under my control, and history shows that whenever we've done something like that in the past, it's been a bad idea in the long run.'