"In addition, the queen proposes a military alliance for the mutual benefit and defense of our two lands. She asks that you commit to a levy of Aurenfaie warships, soldiers, and wizards, with her pledge in kind to provide the same in the event that Aurenen is attacked."

"A hollow pledge, from a land that cannot even defend itself," observed a Haman. Torsin pressed on as if he hadn't heard.

"Finally, she earnestly desires to reestablish the accord that once existed between our two peoples. In this dark time, she prays that the Iia'sidra will honor the call of blood to blood and once again treat Skala as her friend and ally."

Nazien i Hari was on his feet before Torsin finished rolling up his scroll. "Are the memories of the Tir so short, Torsin i Xandus?" he

demanded. "Has your queen forgotten what sundered our peoples in the first place? I am not the only one present today who is old enough to recall the outcry of your people against Corruth i Glamien when he married the first Idrilain, or how he disappeared immediately after her death—murdered by Skalans. Adzriel a Illia, how can you support those who ask us to embrace the murderers of your own kinsman?"

"Are the Skalans a single clan, that the action of one member brings shame to all?" Adzriel replied. "The Exile, once my brother, stands among us now in part due to his role in solving the mystery of Corruth's disappearance. Thanks to his efforts, the bones of my kinsman lie in Bokthersa at last, and the clan of those who killed him has suffered disgrace and punishment. Atui had been served."

"Ah, yes!" sneered Nazien. "And what an advantageous discovery that was. It occurs to me that we have only the word of his murderers that the bundle of charred bones we saw was that of Corruth. What proof has been offered?"

"Proof enough for his kinswoman, the queen," Klia retorted. "Proof enough for me, who saw the body before it was burned. And proof remains. Seregil, if you would?"

Steeling himself, Seregil rose and faced Nazien. "Khirnari, did you know Corruth i Glamien well?"

"I did," Nazien snapped, then added pointedly, "in the days long before discord sundered the bonds of friendship between Haman and Bokthersa."

Thanks so much for bringing that up here, Seregil thought. But strike a bruise often enough and it goes numb.

"Then you would recognize this, Khirnari." He pulled out the ring and carried it slowly around the circle for inspection.

Nazien's face darkened with suspicion as it came round to him. "This was Corruth's," he grudgingly acknowledged.

"I removed this and the consort's seal ring from the hand of his intact corpse before it was burned," Seregil told him, looking the man squarely in the eye. "As Princess Klia has stated, she herself saw the body." When all had seen and acknowledged the ring, he returned to his seat.

"The murder of Corruth is the concern of Bokthersa and the Skalan queen, not of this assembly," Elos i Orian of Golinil argued impatiently. "What Princess Klia has just proposed challenges the Edict of Separation. For more than two centuries we have lived peacefully within our own borders, trading with whom we choose without allowing foreigners and barbarians to roam our soil."

"Trading with whom Viresse chooses, you should say!" Rhaish i Arlisandin burst out angrily, prompting a groundswell murmur of agreement from many of the minor clans sitting in the outer circle. "It's all well and good for you eastern clans—you do not have to cart your goods past the ports you once used, and you profit from those who must. When is the last time the markets of Akhendi or Ptalos saw Tirfaie goods and gold? Not since your Edict of Separation closed its hold about our throats!"

"Perhaps Viresse would prefer to see Skala fall?" Iriel a Kasrai of Bry'kha suggested. "After all, it has always been a shorter voyage to Benshal than to Rhiminee!"

Ulan i Sathil remained conspicuously silent as the others of the council warmed to the familiar fight; evidently the khirnari of the Viresse knew when to let others fight his battles for him.

"There's your strongest adversary," Seregil told Klia, letting the surrounding uproar cover his words.

Klia glanced in Ulan's direction and smiled. "Yes, I can see that. I want to know this man better."

Silmai was the wealthiest of the western clans, and Brythir i Nien had spared nothing in the name of hospitality. Tense as he was from the day's business and the prospect of the evening still ahead, Seregil felt something loosen a little in his chest as he and the others entered the rooftop garden Brythir i Nien had prepared for them.

Flowering plants and trees in huge carved urns were thickly banked around three sides of the roofline, screening the rest of the city from view except for the broad avenue below, which had been cordoned off for displays of horsemanship. Bright silk banners and prayer kites rustled softly in the evening breeze overhead. In water-bowls decorated with sea creatures, tiny silver ships carried candles and smoking cones of incense on their decks. The sen'gai of the Datsians and Bry'khans who'd already arrived added to the illusion that they'd all been transported to Silmai itself.

"I thought the Haman were to be here?" Alec whispered, scanning the crowd warily.

"Not here yet. Or perhaps my presence scared them off?" "Nazien i Hari doesn't strike me as someone easily frightened." Dressed in a sen'gai and flowing festival robe of Silmai turquoise, Brythir i Nien leaned on the arm of a dark-eyed young woman as he welcomed Klia and her party.

"You honor our household with your presence," he said as he gently urged a little girl in a colorful embroidered tunic forward. The child bowed and presented Klia with a pair of heavy gold and turquoise bracelets. Watching her place them on her wrists with the Gedre bracelets and Akhendi charms, Seregil wondered if such gifts didn't eventually burden the arms. It was unlikely he'd ever find out for himself.

"I'm told that you have an uncommonly fine appreciation of horses," Brythir went on, giving Klia a knowing smile. "You ride a Silmai black, I understand?"

"The finest mount I've ever owned, Khirnari," she replied. "He's carried me through many a battle between here and Mycena."

"How I should like to show you the great horselands of my fai'thast. Our herds cover the hills."

"If my time here in Sarikali is productive, perhaps you shall," Klia replied with a subtle smile.

The old man recognized the unspoken implication. Offering her his frail arm, he gave her a mischievous wink that belied his years as he led her into the garden. "I believe tonight's entertainment will be very much to your liking, my dear."

"I understand Nazien i Hari will be joining us," said Klia. "Is he an ally of yours?"

The old man patted her hand as if she were one of his granddaughters. "We are friends, he and I, and I hope to make him one of yours. This Edict has worn sorely on me over the years, much as I loved Corruth i Glamien. He was a nephew of mine, you know. No, we Silmai are travelers, sailors, the best traders in Aurenen. We don't like being told where we may go and where we may not. How I miss lovely Rhiminee atop her high cliffs!"

"Your garden makes me long for the western coast," Seregil remarked as he and the others trailed along beside them. "I almost expect to see the green Zengati Sea shining beyond the rooftops."

Brythir clasped Seregil's arm for a moment with one frail hand. "Life is long, child of Aura. Perhaps one day you will see it again."

Surprised, Seregil bowed to the old man before moving on into the garden.

"That's encouraging!" Alec whispered.

"Or politic," Seregil muttered back.

His reception was somewhat cooler among the other guests. Datsia, Bry'kha, Ptalos, Ameni, Koramia—these clans had all supported his father's efforts with the Zengat, and thereby lost the most