of his family. Instead, he bought and sold land until he became shrewd at it, anticipating where cities would expand, and which trade routes would rise in favor. What coins he made, he spent sponsoring the crafters most Sembian merchant clans of note preferred to ignore and belittle: the common folk working as finesmiths, wood-carvers, jewelers, and the like.
He rode with them through lean times, dealing fairly, and to them the name Uskevren came to mean not 'dark, lawless pirate' but 'loyal friend.' He sold their wares into the cities, made them wealthy, and in doing so refilled the Uskevren coffers. In Sembia, to rebuild wealth is to rebuild one's name… and so the spring came when the Uskevren began to restore Stormweather Towers, returning to Selgaunt as if they had never been away.
The whispers began, of course, and were fanned by houses-Soargyl and Talendar prominent among them- who were not pleased to see a vanquished rival return, but Thamalon Uskevren dealt fairly in the trading halls of Selgaunt. This was something other proud houses were seldom seen to do.
When troubles erupted, the family guard Shamur had founded, trained, and secretly tested to weed out the disloyal proved their worth. Several of the most troublesome Soargyl and Talendar 'disappeared.'
Mages were hired. Mornings found more sprawled bodies, and Soargyl and Talendar warehouses and ships burned-just as Stormweather Towers had burned.
When the cost grew too high, the only fires that remained were smoldering in Soargyl and Talendar eyes, but the two families no longer dared to openly attack Uskevren or family retainers in the streets.
Years passed, Stormweather Towers arose from its ashes in opulent glory, and most folk in Selgaunt came to respect Thamalon's honesty, fearless but polite dealings, and quick business wits. The Uskevren family was truly prosperous, highly regarded-and well-supplied with foes-once more.
Far too well supplied with foes, it seemed____________________
'Butler!' the man who claimed to be Perivel Uskevren boomed suddenly, 'I bid you bring hence all my beloved kin. I desire them to be present, to bear proper witness as I reclaim the wealth that is rightfully mine.'
The butler, Erevis Cale, seemed to hesitate for the briefest of moments. He'd already passed through an archway into the gloom of a low-lit passage beyond, and it was hard to be sure if he'd properly heard the pretender's order at all.
Damn all the dancing gods, Thamalon thought, this man might be Perivel-or might be anyone who had access to a captive Perivel and a lot of time to question him about family matters.
Thamalon raised his eyes at the sound of faint rustling in the feast hall balconies, caught sight of a sleeve he knew to be his daughter Thazienne's, and dropped his gaze again to the foes at his table. His sons and daughter would have had to be creatures of leaping lightning to have responded so swiftly to any bidding from Erevis Cale. One of the other servants must already have warned them of what was brewing in the hall.
The head of House Uskevren drew in a deep breath and thought, Gods above, let my children keep silent until at least the testing is done.
With this hired mage swollen with deadly spells and the lawmaker in attendance, it'd take little more than hurled words from the balconies-let alone weapons-to give the Talendars and the Soargyl excuse enough for feuding to begin in earnest.
Thamalon did not have to look to know when his wife entered the hall. He could feel the warmth of her regard-and, as always, felt stronger, as if her presence was both cloak and armor raised around him. She must have returned early from the revel she'd expected would last well into morning. Shamur would know the danger here at a glance, and she'd keep their sons and daughter silent.
Of course, one danger always gives way to another. There had never been anyone in Selgaunt, Thamalon included, who could keep Shamur silent.
As if to belie Thamalon's dark thoughts, the hall grew suddenly still, as if everyone in it were holding their breath. With stately solemnity, his footfalls almost inaudible, the butler came into the heart of that heavy, waiting silence bearing the Quaff of the Uskevren on a silver platter.
It stood alone, a large and plain-looking goblet. It looked old, and somehow strong, as unyielding as the old foundation stones of Stormweather Towers. Erevis Cale, evidently well aware of the importance of the occasion, raised the platter high before him and slowed, so that all eyes could look long and well upon the Burning Chalice.
Iristar Velvaunt pointed a peremptory finger at him then at the table, indicating that the butler should set it down in front of him, but Cale stepped smoothly around the mage and brought the platter to his master.
Thamalon gave him a slight smile of approval, and with a gesture of his own indicated that the butler should take the goblet to the man who wore the name of Perivel Uskevren.
The pretender looked at him in surprise. Thamalon gave him a wider smile and gestured at him to take up the goblet.
The pretender stared suspiciously into its depths. It was empty and a little dusty. As if its appearance had suddenly struck the young maid who for some time had been silently gliding around the far reaches of the hall, dusting, she turned and glided forward, a dust rag ready in one slender hand. Thamalon waved her back into the shadows. She inclined her head in a silent nod of acknowledgment, and returned to her work.
Perivel hesitated, and turned his head a trifle, as if looking for some signal from the mage. Presker Talendar stirred, smiling faintly up at the balconies from whence the silent Uskevren stared down-but if the sorcerer Velvaunt gave any sign to the pretender, Thamalon did not see it.
Suddenly the man who claimed to be Perivel Uskevren stretched forth a hand to the platter Cale, as patient and unmoving as any statue, was holding out to him. The pretender stretched out a hand, hesitated, then swooped to snatch up the goblet like a hawk striking at prey.
He caught hold of it, lifted… and held on high, up for all to see: a chalice that was not ablaze, but just an old, empty goblet.
'Well?' Perivel Uskevren asked the hall, in triumph. Unburnned but not waiting for an answer, he set the chalice back on the table.
The lawmaker, carefully staring across the table at no one, asked formally, 'Saer Velvaunt, is this indeed the true Uskevren Chalice?'
The mage inclined his head with a smirk of his own, a bare moment before he passed his hand in front of the cup in an intricate flourish. 'Indubitably,' he replied firmly.
The Lawmaker of Selgaunt lifted his eyes at last to meet Thamalon's gaze. 'Well, it seems clear enough,' he said, his voice gathering strength with each word. 'This is Per-'
The name was chopped off as if by an axe as their host in Stormweather Towers lifted one hand in a signal, and murmured, 'Cordrivval?'
The curtains behind him parted, and a gaunt, white-bearded man who moved with the painful shuffle of aging hips appeared through them. 'I attend, lord,' he announced calmly.
'Mage,' Thamalon asked, 'before Saer Velvaunt, just a moment ago, has any spell been recently cast on the Burning Chalice?'
'Oh, yes. The Saer cast a spell on it just before he-' Cordial pointed at the man claiming to be Perivel Uskevren '-reached forth his hand to touch it. Velvaunt removed that spell just now, when he pretended to identify the chalice. He-'
A sudden spasm shook the old mage, and a shadow passed over his face. 'My-lord!' he gasped, voice suddenly thick, 'he-'
Cordrivval Imleth had probably not intended to end his days toppling like a felled tree onto an imported Tashlutan carpet woven with a scene of two dragons locked in mortal combat, but it was a splendid carpet. He'd admired it many times, exhibiting superb judgement. So thick and soft was it that his crashing fall made barely a sound.
'Too many lies can kill anyone,' Saer Velvaunt remarked smoothly. 'His heart must have been weak. Perhaps he was older than he appeared. I hope he didn't owe you over-many coins, Lord Uskevren?'
Thamalon's eyes were as hard and as sharp as two drawn daggers as he met the hired sorcerer's mocking gaze. 'So, too, I've heard it said,' Thamalon replied, 'can the casting of too many ill-considered spells 'kill anyone.'
