The Jade Lords,' murmured voices. The twins,' sighed others.

'Nephron,' said Spinel. Carnelian followed the nervous flicker of his eyes past the Turtle's Voice, to the south-east where high in the firewall something was embedded like a black diamond. Spinel turned a frown to the north-west. 'And Molochite.'

In that direction stood an emerald man. Carnelian looked around him in time to see his third lineage snatch their eyes away from him. One looked down like a shameful child. Carnelian felt again his robe and crowns dragging him down. Were they all going to vote against his father? His foreboding seemed to be leaching out from him into the air. The grumbling chanting had begun again.

'You who are the Lords of the Earth,' the homunculi of the Wise broke out in chorus, 'who even now stand upon the Three Lands in power, as you do upon this floor, shall now make ready to choose as once you were chosen.'

'As it has been done,' the Great broke into thunderous voice, 'so shall it be done, for ever, because it is commanded to be done by the Law-that-must-be-obeyed.'

The chanting had grown stronger, more insistent.

'He that shall be chosen by you will be raised as a cup to the sky and thrust as a scoop into the earth that in truth are two but one. Thus he shall receive the double Godhead so that They might once more take Their place here, at the centre of this realm, within the embrace of the Sacred Wall that They flung up to conceal from profane eyes this place of Their transcendent birth.'

The Great answered the Wise, 'As it has been done, so shall it be done, for ever, because it is commanded to be done by the Law-that-must-be-obeyed.'

'As the Law ordains, this choosing shall be determined by the casting of blood-rings into vessels of jade and of obsidian.'

The syblings below him raised up bowls in time with a growling of trumpets.

'Molochite of the Masks by virtue of primogeniture shall be the green candidate, Nephron of the Masks shall be the black.'

The trumpets hung several ragged notes above in the swirling incense.

The candidates are of the same blood, dewed from the Gods Kumatuya and squeezed from the womb of Ykoriana Four-Blood. Their taint is zero, zero, zero, zero, six, thirteen, ten, five, fifteen, four, thirteen, fifteen.'

The trumpets grazed each number into the air.

'Let all be aware that any blood-taint zero, zero, zero, three, zero, twelve, eleven, seventeen, two, three, fifteen or lower shall be forfeit at the Apotheosis that shall be held in four days' time.'

The horns and trumpets began a slow crescendo and were joined by the oscillating calls of the shawms and a shimmer of cymbals. The voices rose deafeningly, pulsed, collapsed, rose again to shrillness, the trumpets playing a ragged ululation over which the shawms brayed a lilting counterpoint. They fell echoing silent.

'Choose!' cried the homunculi.

The forest of gold around Carnelian shimmered into movement. He took hold of Spinel's sleeve. It is not too late.

The Lord gave him a look of contempt as he pulled his sleeve free. Carnelian glimpsed the guilty faces of Tapaz and others as they turned their backs on him and began moving towards the syblings standing under the lantern posts. Around the edge of the Osrakum platform, the Ruling Lords were casting their votes. Carnelian saw one as he waited his turn, twisting his blood-ring into a loop that held a bunch of others. Carnelian's eyes were drawn to a white oval, Jaspar's face. Carnelian turned away from its look of triumph and went to cast his own vote in despair.

He stood in line with other Lords until it was his turn. The iron faces of the syblings stared eyeless. One held an urn of jade, the other of glassy obsidian. Carnelian removed his blood-ring, held it over the mouth of the black urn and dropped in its paltry twenty votes. Then he turned and waded a little way off into the golden robes.

Carnelian allowed his mind to float on the chant. He had searched the faces of all those who had come to the edge of the Osrakum platform to vote and he was sure Osidian had not been among them. Still masked, Ykoriana was a doll gazing at his father. Hopelessness seemed written on his yellowed ivory face. Carnelian refused to resign himself to defeat.

A hubbub of excitement made him turn to see gaps opening everywhere among the Great. At their edges, crowns leaned together as the Lords watched something passing below them. Then he saw the syblings filing up onto the Osrakum platform, each pair carrying two voting urns.

'Now for the result.'

Carnelian glanced round at the speaker and recognized Tapaz. Spinel was there, Opalid, the other Suth Lords. Only Spinel dared look at him. A delicate shimmering chime was drowned by rustling as the Chosen everywhere sank on their ranga. The House of the Masks had knelt too, revealing the Grand Sapients with their homunculi looking out from under the bell. Carnelian watched the syblings lifting the urns up to the Wise. He realized he alone was still standing and quickly bent his knees.

Without any preamble the homunculi began in rapid random sequence to announce the votes. Chosen names rattled from their throats, each named Lord assigning a single vote to Molochite. Carnelian listened carefully, hoping to hear Osidian mentioned. He realized that he did not even know which way his friend might vote. Hearing that all the votes were going to Molochite, Carnelian thought at first Nephron's would follow after. The announcement of a vote for Nephron followed instantly by another for Molochite cheated him of this hope. He squeezed his nails into the palms of his hands and reassured himself that these were after all only the results for the individual Lords of blood-rank one.

'Suth Veridian for Molochite, one vote.'

Hearing the name, Carnelian looked instinctively for that Lord and found him gazing fixedly away. Carnelian's eyes were drawn to Spinel. The Lord's lips were moving as he added up the votes. He looked round as if he had felt Carnelian's gaze and smiled at him. After that Carnelian tried to show no reaction whenever another Suth Lord's vote for Molochite was called out. All five Lords of the third lineage had voted against his father.

His heart jumped when he heard,'… of the Masks.' It was now that he would hear Osidian's name. He listened to each as it was called out. There were more than thirty of them and almost all were voting with the Dowager Empress. Carnelian frowned when the homunculi began announcing the votes cast by rank two Lords. The only names he had recognized from the House of the Masks were the Hanuses who had each voted for a different candidate. Carnelian could not believe Osidian could be higher than blood-rank one. Still he listened attentively. At least now more votes were being cast for Nephron, perhaps a half of what Molochite was receiving. Among the results, the Aurum Lords had declared for Nephron, all from Vennel and Imago for Molochite. Carnelian had to endure Emeral, Tapaz and Spinel all being declared defying their Ruling Lord before the Chosen. He watched his father as each was announced having to hold his head up in plain view of all. Carnelian smiled bitterly as he heard Opalid's votes going to Nephron. His own twenty votes soon joined them. Almost thirty House of the Masks' Lords were called out, but once again Osidian's name was not among them. When the block votes began being announced Carnelian gave up any hope that Osidian was in the chamber. He tried to fight the doubts and conjectures forming in his mind. His friend had stolen or borrowed a blood-ring. In spite of his white, jade-eyed beauty, he was not Chosen. Osidian had never claimed to be Chosen. Carnelian wondered again about the taint scars that Osidian had down only one side of his spine. He watched one of the Grand Sapients reading the rings strung on a necklace with his cloven hands. He knew without a doubt now that he would never see Osidian again. The emptiness spread out from his core and seemed to fill the whole chamber.