Elvenborn

'My Lord Kyndreth, our family has long preferred to keep our own company, and live quietly and even reclusively,' Ly­diell murmured. 'It is not out of unseemly pride, I beg to urge, but out of modesty and a genuine preference for a quiet and reclusive life. All of us—my late husband, his father before him, and my son as well as myself—are more of the tempera­ment of a scholar than of a courtier, and the life of a seeming hermit suits us well. Perhaps our needs and pleasures may seem simple to you, but we find that they satisfy every wish and de­sire we have, for our wishes and desires are for the inner world of thought, rather than the outer world, which others might find stimulating, but we find contentious and disturbing.'

Kyndreth sighed, a bit melodramatically, perhaps. 'And I wish that you could continue to enjoy that quiet life, my Lady, but the times, I fear, will not permit your modesty to deny the genuine talents that lie hidden in this little haven of yours.'

Now he turned to Kyrtian. 'Lord Kyrtian, I do not have to tell you what your reputation is among the ignorant; you have heard it already from the mouth of your kinsman, Aelmarkin. I was prepared to discount that reputation when I accepted your

invitation, but now I find that your kinsman was not only incor­rect, he was—' Kyndreth shook his head. 'Words fail me. Ael-markin is either poisonously prejudiced against you, or completely blind. I have seen and heard enough in two days to convince me that, despite your own disclaimers, you, Lord Kyrtian, are nothing short of a military genius. This is no mere eccentric hobby that you have, it is a genuine vocation.'

Kyrtian opened his mouth to protest, but Kyndreth silenced him with a wave of his hand.

'You have, with no help other than that of some ancient man­uscripts, uncovered a training method that creates expert fight­ers in a fraction of the time we have taken heretofore and as you yourself pointed out, with none of the criminal wastage that our method entails. I have seen your strategic ability in action, I have seen your careful attention to every aspect of military life. Lord Kyrtian, you cannot remain a hermit any longer; you are desperately needed. The High Council needs you.'

'I—cannot imagine why you would think that,' Kyrtian stammered, taken completely by surprise. 'You already hold the key to the training-magic, and you are a greater mage than I—'

'We need your military knowledge,' Kyndreth insisted. 'Be­tween the wars with the Wizards and the revolt of our own un­grateful offspring, there are precious few with the wisdom and knowledge to command, and none with your talent. We need you, Lord Kyrtian. We need you to lead our armies.'

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyrtian saw his mother tense, and realized that although he had not anticipated this demand, she had.

'You already have leaders,' he protested. 'Leaders of higher rank than 1.1 would not dare—'

'With my backing, no one would dare dispute you' Kyn­dreth countered, grimly. 'With my backing, I can easily per­suade every Councilor that matters that you are the only possible Commanding General for our forces.'

Kyrtian was dumbfounded; he had hoped that Kyndreth's gratitude would bring them a respite from Aelmarkin's enmity, but he had not expected Kyndreth to propose he take his place among the Greatest of the Great Lords!

'Lord Kyndreth, please do not think me ungrateful—rather, I am stunned,' he managed. 'And surely you realize that I have no practical experience!'

Lord Kyndreth raised his eyebrow. 'All the practical experi­ence of our current Commander has availed him nothing,' he pointed out. 'The situation with our young rebels has been in stalemate for the last month and more.' He paused. 'And that is to go no further than this table; only the members of the Coun­cil are aware of it.'

'Stalemate—' Kyrtian bit his lip. 'How much territory are they holding?'

'Roughly half of the estates are in the hands of the rebels,' Kyndreth replied. 'We are fortunate that none of them are vital to the economy—they were mostly estates producing little ex­cept slaves and luxuries. Nevertheless, that is a great deal of ter­ritory to be in unfriendly hands—and there are isolated estates within that territory that are still in the hands of our people, loyal folk who need and deserve succor.' Now he looked shrewdly at Lydiell. 'Unless I am very much mistaken, one of those is the estate of Lady Morthena, your kinswoman.'

'Lady Moth?' Lydiell paled. Kyrtian bit his lip. Granted, Lady Moth had conspicuously not taken sides, and if the rebels had troubled her, Lydiell certainly would have heard about it by now. Still, she might be presumed to be in danger.

'Lady Morthena is encircled and certainly trapped,' Kyn­dreth continued, his eyes nicking from Lydiell to Kyrtian. 'As yet, she has held control over her slaves, so that she has pre­vented any incursions onto her lands. As yet, the rebels have not attempted any serious effort at capturing her. But how long will it be until they see her as a valuable bargaining tool? She is a Great Lady; the honor of the High Lords and the Council would be compromised if she were to be captured and held against her will. We would either be forced to abandon her— which is unthinkable—or make concessions to the rebels— which is also unthinkable.'

It is all unthinkable. Kyrtian gritted his teeth. Kyndreth ei­ther knew or guessed that he would be extremely loyal to those members of his family—unlike Aelmarkin—who deserved loy-

alty. He had known that Lady Moth was close to the territory held by the rebels, for she herself had told them. The Young Lords could not block teleson messages, and did not even try; so far Lady Moth had seemed entirely unconcerned about her position in the midst of the Young Lords, even professing to a certain detached sympathy for their cause. But Lord Kyndreth was right; if the Young Lords cared to, they could take Lady Moth captive to use her as a bargaining-chip. A quick glance at LydielFs face told him all he needed to know; this was no idle speculation, but a real possibility.

'You must give me time to consider all you have said, Lord Kyndreth,' he managed, finally. 'I am—stunned. I need time to shake my thoughts loose.'

'I can sympathize,' Kyndreth said gravely, but there was a smile of satisfaction in his eyes. He already knew that Kyrtian would agree, just as Kyrtian already knew he must agree. It was only a matter of time, and time was not his friend.

12

Lord Kyndreth retired to his guest-suite and the competent hands of his body-slaves with a feeling of total content-ment. Not only had he just savored the pleasure of enjoying

an exquisitely prepared, presented, and served High Court feast, but he was perfectly well aware that he was about to ac­quire a most useful adherent. He had seen young Kyrtian's re­action to the double temptations of power and the opportunity to play the hero. He had also noted Lady Lydiell's. The boy might be naive, but his mother was no fool, and she knew that the Great Lord and High Councilor Lord Kyndreth would not have made those offers if it was possible to refuse them.

She also knows that without my patronage that cousin of theirs will continue to be a thorn in