Exile's Honor

they become.'

Alberich turned that over in his mind, and found it certainly matched some of his own experience. 'But that isn't the whole of it,' he objected.

'Of course not. I just suggest that this was where the corruption started,' Geri replied. 'Then came the power, power that came from giving people what they wanted instead of what they needed, and power is just as seductive and even more addictive than any drug. Now—I don't know, Alberich. I don't know how it can be fixed. Or even if it can. It would take the Sunlord Himself in manifestation, perhaps. And someone as the Son of the Sun who is willing to hold to the hard course and be disliked, even hated.'

'And loved.'

'And loved,' Geri agreed. 'At one and the same time, and probably by the same people. Because when you demand that each situation be considered separately, and not responded to with the predigested Answer, you are always going to anger someone since you're always going to disagree with someone. Probably even someone who agreed with you the last time, and now takes this new response as a betrayal.'

Alberich smiled sourly. 'It would take the Sunlord Himself to protect someone like that.'

'I fear so, and I am very, very, glad it isn't me.' Geri drained his cup and poured himself another, then smiled. 'So, since I am not going to give you any answers, what can I do for you?'

'Give me an opinion.' He outlined, as best he could, what he was doing with his four putative agents. 'They have seen the very best that Karse is, in the form of Father Kentroch, my protector and teacher, and if I'm reading them correctly, they have warmed to him just as I did, and more importantly, responded to his ideas of responsibility and honor. We're just about up to the point where I first learned I had a witch-power; I suppose each of them will have a similar experience, but the witch-power will be his or her own Gift in real life.'

'If you're wondering if you have somehow betrayed your vow to protect the people of Karse, let me tell you now that both Henrick and I are positive you are doing nothing of the sort,' Geri said firmly. 'If anything, you are going to put four more protectors in place, just as you had hoped. Did you know that all four of them have been coming down here for practice in the language? Or so they say.'

Alberich shook his head, surprised.

'Well, they have—and what Henrick and I figured out after the first two visits was that they didn't want lessons in Karsite—their accents are impeccable, by the way—but an understanding of how our version of the Sunlord differs from what they're going to encounter in Karse.'

Something about the way he said that made Alberich stare at him. 'Oh, no—' he said, feeling his heart sink. 'Please do not tell me that they want to convert.'

'We wouldn't accept them as they are now if they did,' Geri said with a laugh. 'No, actually, I think they're integrating their two personae; then once they know how things are now, they'll react as a Karsite who was brought up in the old ways would.'

Alberich felt a profound relief. The last, the very last thing he had wanted to do was to change anyone's religion. 'That's sensible. Geri—' he hesitated.

Only now did Kantor interject something. :Geri is your priest. This is surely a question for your priest.:

'I'm torn,' he said at last. 'It feels as if there must be something more I can do, for Valdemar. Valdemar has given me so much—what should I be doing in return?'

Geri considered that question carefully. 'Alberich, my friend, it is also my duty to tell you things that are true. You are doing as much as any other Herald; someone has to be helping to keep the peace here in Haven, and you are doing that. You still serve as Selenay's bodyguard, and thus free someone else to go South. And in case you were wondering if you should offer your military expertise—no.

'No?' That surprised him. 'But—my training—'

'One of the things that is true is that you are not a great general. Not yet, anyway. Valdemar has great generals, and it doesn't need you in that capacity.' Geri gave him a look shaded with pity and understanding.

'Ah.' He felt deflated. But—well—

:We have the Lord Marshal, with decades more experience than you. Perhaps you have the advantage of training at the Academy, but we have the Collegium, which is, dare I say, just as good. It isn't only Heralds who are taught here. Occasionally, among the Blues, there is a young military genius from the Guard, and the Lord Marshal was one of those.: Ah. Geri was right, then. He stared down at his cup. 'So—'

'So other than doing what you are doing—you should be getting yourself prepared for the day when the King and the Heir and everyone else that can hold a blade goes down to the battlefields of the South to hold off that last big push that you know is coming.' Something about the tone of Geri's voice made him