Lord of the Silent Kingdom

your life.' The man was nervous. He had trouble meeting Hecht's eyes. He had lost hair and gained weight.

'Not at all. I owe you. You gave me work when I was new here. I gave you my best while I was here.'

Grudgingly, Paludan admitted, 'You did turn us around. You did win back the respect we'd lost.' Lost because of Paludan Bruglioni's indifference toward management of the family he had come to head at too early an age.

'But you were unhappy with me anyway. So I hear.'

'You say you have something…?' Paludan lost focus. He stared at a shadowed corner, the color draining from his face.

'I may have found the ring I was so sure I didn't have.'

He had a note on paper fixed to his left wrist. Writing never forgot. 'If this is it.' He handed the gold band to Bruglioni. 'I found it with some coins and jewelry I brought back from Artecipea. I don't know if I picked it up there or if I had it all along. All along makes more sense.'

Paludan glared as hard as a frightened man dared.

'I showed it to Principate Delari. He said there's a spell on it that makes you forget it. I wrote it all down.' He showed his wrist.

Bruglioni studied the ring. 'It looks like the one Divino had. And he always claimed that only people who had seen it but didn't actually have it could remember it.'

'So what's the point of it if you don't know you have it? What kind of lunatic sorcerer makes a magic ring like that?'

'I couldn't guess the reasoning. Maybe the ring did what it was supposed to do way back when and is still around because nobody remembers it long enough to melt it down.'

'That fits. The Principate thinks it goes back to antiquity, even before the Agean Empire. But he couldn't guess why it was made.'

Bruglioni had been turning the ring over and over. Now he slipped it onto a finger. 'Uncle Divino didn't know. Didn't remember he had it till it was gone.'

'I'm really pressed for time. I just wanted to do right after I found out I'd been wrong and really did have the ring. And I wanted to see for myself that everything was going good here.'

'Still better than before you came here. Gervase prods me when I backslide. He shows me the youngsters coming up. That reminds me what might be-if I don't pay attention. I'm sorry I shoehorned him into Divino's seat. He isn't around enough, now.' He shrugged. 'Gervase is the best we have.'

Hecht offered to shake hands. Bruglioni passed. It was not a current custom. He told Hecht, 'Good luck in the Connec. Clean them out this time.'

'I mean to try.'

Paludan let out a startled squawk soon after Hecht left him.

That old man was going to get himself into something he could not handle, someday.

Principal Delari was in a dark mood. 'You're late.'

Hecht said, 'Your grandfather played one practical joke too many. We almost didn't make it out of the Bruglioni place.'

Februaren managed to look sheepish. For a moment.

Hecht joined Heris. She was looking down at the giant map of the world. 'There've been changes.' Heris was grubbier than usual.

'The ice line?'

'That.' That was obvious. 'But some more subtle things, too.'

'There's the sea levels rising in the Negrine and those two lesser seas farther east. More snowfall to the north means more meltwater during the spring and summer.'

'You're well informed.'

'Grandfather has been sneaking me in here all year. To learn the Construct. Hoping I'll be able to work it someday. Now he wants to crash train you, too.'

'What? We don't have an ounce of talent for sorcery between us.'

'He claims it doesn't matter. The sorcery is in the engine. You just have to know how to tell it what to do. Februaren is a true master. He doesn't even have to talk to it. Maybe he'll teach us. Grandfather isn't good at getting ideas across.'

'If Februaren can stop pinching bottoms and tugging ears. How did you get here? Bribe the guards?' The only women allowed in the Chiaro Palace were nuns of the Bettine Order. And those nuns down there, updating the map.

'I come in underground.'

That explained the dust and grime. 'Wow. You have more guts than I do. I've only been down a few times. I won't go again unless I have to.'

'Grandfather told me. But it's tame, now. He's made sure. The old man helped.'

Hecht sighed. 'I don't know how he gets around and gets all those things done.'

'The Construct.' Heris gestured at the map. 'He's a virtuoso.'

'That's how he skips all the walking in between?'

'Yes. He's the only one who can do it today. The wells of power are too weak and too many revenants are competing for what power there is. Your work in the Connec should help. Grandfather really wants the good old days back. He couldn't even get himself out of that hole where you found him that time. When he still thought he was Lord of the Silent Kingdom.'

While they talked Cloven Februaren sparked around the vast chamber, looking over the shoulders of people working on the Construct. He restrained his urge to startle.

Principate Delari did the same, using ladders and catwalks.

Heris said, 'If the wells come back strong, you and me, we should be able to do what the old man does. If we study hard enough and want it bad enough.'

Heris wanted it badly enough. But her motives might not be pure.

'What?' Heris asked. 'I didn't hear the joke.'

'Thinking of motivation and purity. In this city. In this palace.'

'That would be a joke, wouldn't it?'

Six weeks more passed before Boniface gave the order that sent Patriarchal forces into the field. Piper Hecht spent five hours each day beneath the Chiaro Palace. He did not believe he was doing any learning. Delari and Februaren disagreed. 'You're becoming attuned,' Februaren insisted. 'Eventually, we'll be able to communicate from afar. I can watch you from afar already. I won't have to tag along quite so much. So. Go on out to the wild country, where the people talk funny, and kill some gods. I need the power they're sucking up.'

Four days before leaving for the wild country Hecht received a request that he visit the Penital, a direct appeal from the Imperial legate himself. With assurances that no misdirection was involved.

Rumors that the Imperial nuptials had grown shaky abounded. Hecht supposed the legate wanted to set the record straight.

He supposed right.

The legate told him, 'The wedding has been postponed again. Because of complications with King Jaime's recovery from his wounds. He was less ready to travel than he believed. He collapsed as his party neared Khaurene.'

'Is he trying to elude the commitment?'

'Not at all. He's too eager. Her Majesty will contact you as soon as we set a new date.' The legate smiled at some private joke.

'My appreciation, My Lord.' Hecht left the Penital bemused yet again by the Empress's evident interest. Why?

The legate had shrugged and shaken his head when asked the question direct.

The Patriarchal army approached the Dechear River with twenty-four hundred men, all Boniface VII would approve for the campaign. The Patriarch believed a larger force might spark a Connecten resistance while fewer soldiers would not be enough to handle the anticipated supernatural chaos. The Captain-General had no Principates underfoot. Members of the Collegium were sticking close to Brothe. The next Patriarchal election would be a critical one. It would be fought to the bitter end. There would be no antique compromise to fill the slot while younger men maneuvered. Hecht hoped there would be no election for years. He liked Hugo Mongoz as Patriarch. He hoped