Lawrence Watt-Evans - The Vondish Ambassador

The gargoyles clambered up out of the fissure, and Ithinia lowered her flute and tucked it into her right sleeve. "We have come to address the Imperial Council!" she proclaimed.

The crowd murmured, and someone opened the palace door and slipped inside.

Lar bestirred himself and hurried to Ithinia's side, with Emmis trotting after him. "They may not be in session," the ambassador said.

"I know that," the wizard replied.

"And the Regent may be in the castle, over there."

Ithinia turned to glare at him. "Yes?"

"Should I go see if he's there?"

"Your Excellency, I would think that an earthquake splitting open the market square and allowing a party of magicians to emerge would draw his attention, wherever he is."

"Well…" Lar could not really argue with that, and subsided. Emmis thought the ambassador was just eager to get a good look at his home, now that he was unexpectedly back here.

The door of the palace opened again, and a youth in a black-and-silver tunic emerged and ran across the square, circling around the visitors and heading full-tilt toward Semma Castle.

"We could go inside," Lar suggested. "The Council doesn't make anyone wait out here in the sun."

Ithinia turned to glare at him. "If I wanted you to play native guide, Your Excellency, I would have asked you."

The palace doors opened again, but this time both valves swung wide, and a soldier in a red-and-gold uniform emerged. He saluted Ithinia and the other wizards, then cleared his throat.

"Lady Kalira, Chancellor and Vice-Regent of the Empire of Vond, welcomes you and invites you all to come inside and be made comfortable." He spoke Ethsharitic with only a very slight accent, less than Lar's.

"We have come to speak to the full Council," Ithinia replied.

"The full Council is not here, honored visitor. A messenger has been sent to the Regent, but at present only Lady Kalira and three other Councillors are in attendance."

Ithinia frowned, then turned to confer quietly with the other wizards. As they spoke, Emmis noticed the soldier staring at Lar. He had the expression of someone trying to figure out where he knew a face from.

He also noticed that Lord Ildirin did not look happy. Despite his vigor, Ildirin was a very old man, and they had been doing a great deal of standing around in the sun; Emmis thought he was probably exhausted.

One of the other wizards – Serem, was it? – pointed to Ildirin just then, and Ithinia nodded.

Then she turned back to the messenger and said, "We will accept the Chancellor's invitation, with the understanding that our business here is not private, and that members of the public must be admitted."

The soldier bowed. "This way, please," he said, and turned to lead them in.

Almost the entire party from Ethshar – all of it but the two gargoyles, who took up posts on either side of the palace doors, and the four prisoners who had been left behind in Lumeth and Ashthasa – followed him, through a grand entrance hall and around a corner into a large and luxurious drawing room equipped with a goodly assortment of chairs, sofas, and settees.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," the soldier said. "Lady Kalira will be here shortly, and Lord Sterren should be on his way."

Emmis was happy to take a seat and give his feet a rest; Lar settled beside him, then leaned over and asked, "How did Ithinia find out about…" He hesitated, glancing around to be sure no one was listening. "Did you tell her we wanted to prevent warlocks from coming to Vond?"

"No," Emmis said. The settee suddenly seemed a bit crowded and much less comfortable.

"Did you ask her to do any of this?"

"No," Emmis said. He twisted in his seat. "Didn't you? You and Lord Ildirin were talking to her – I thought this was your idea."

Lar shook his head. "No, we just asked her to help us locate and capture the assassins. Which she did. And we asked her questions about protective spells. But we didn't ask for the Guild to help this way."

"Did you ask her about…" It was Emmis's turn to glance about. "…about the hum? The source?"

"No. She frightened me. I didn't want to trust her that much."

"She frightens me a little, too," Emmis admitted.

"So what did you tell her?"

Emmis considered that, then said, "I didn't really tell her much of anything. I asked her a question, and then she figured everything out."

"Do you think that was magic?"

In fact, Emmis was fairly certain no magic had been used, that Ithinia was just smarter and better informed than she had any right to be, but he turned up a palm. "I don't know," he said.

"What was the question?"

Emmis shifted uneasily. "It was about something the theurgist told me in the Wizards' Quarter," he said. "Corinal said something about wizards guarding the Lumeth Towers, and I asked her why they do that."

Lar cocked his head. "Did she tell you?"

"Not really," Emmis lied.

A few days ago, he knew, he would have happily explained everything to his employer; even now, he wasn't sure why he was holding anything back. The events of the last few days, though, had taught him that information was power – and that there was power in withholding information, as well. Knowledge, once shared, couldn't be taken back. And partial information was dangerous. A few apparently harmless facts had sent the Lumethans into a panic and set assassins on the ambassador's trail; a few words here and there had let him save the ambassador from those assassins. The magicians in the Wizards' Quarter charged high fees for answers to questions they didn't understand, while Ithinia seemed to have figured out half the World from being asked a question. Questions and answers, facts and mysteries, could lead in any number of unexpected directions.

Emmis was not sure what Lar would do with knowledge of the Towers' origins and purpose, so he was not about to give it.

"Are the towers the source of the hum?" Lar asked.

"I don't know," Emmis said. "They might be. I didn't mention the hum to Ithinia." He hesitated, then added, "Whatever they are, the Wizards' Guild doesn't want anyone interfering with them – that's why they're doing all this, to protect the towers. I really, truly wouldn't want to be anyone who threatened those things."

"Ah," Lar said. He looked thoughtfully in Ithinia's direction.

Just then there was a small commotion at one side of the room and a woman entered, a tall woman with aristocratic features and dusky skin, wearing a gown of dark red embroidered in bright red and gold – though not embroidered terribly well, Emmis thought when she got close enough for him to see her clearly. She was escorted by two more soldiers, in red kilts and brown leather breastplates.

The Ethsharitic soldiers all stood ready at the sight of this pair, but the woman between them ignored that. "I am Lady Kalira," she announced.

"I am Ithinia of the Isle," the wizard replied, rising from her chair. "I am here as the chosen representative of the Wizards' Guild."

"You want to address the Imperial Council?" She spoke Ethsharitic with a thick accent.

"Yes."

"I am sorry. Only four of the seven councillors are in Semma; the others are in other parts of the Empire, on business, and will not be back for some time. I have sent for the Regent, and he should be here shortly; are the five of us enough? I can send messengers to get the other three."

"That won't be necessary," Ithinia said. "The five of you will suffice."

Lady Kalira blinked, and leaned toward one of the soldiers. "G'dyas 'suffice'?" she murmured.

"Golishye," the soldier muttered back.

She nodded. Then she smiled at Ithinia – not a very convincing smile, one obviously owing more to protocol than to any sort of warmth – and said, "Will you join us for dinner?"