David Zindell - The Lightstone

'So, then,' my father said, as if echoing my thoughts, 'it's clear how Raldu found his way into Mesh. But what was he doing in Ishka? Is it possible that the Ishkans had no knowledge of this man's presence?'

My father turned to look at Salmelu then. And Salmelu looked back at him as his hand touched his sword and he snarled out, 'If you think to accuse us of hiring assassins to accomplish what good Ishkan steel has always done quite well, then perhaps we should add that to the list of grievances that only battle can address.'

My father's hand tightened into a fist, and for a moment it seemed that he might accuse the Ishkans of this very crime. And then Count Dario raised up his voice and said, 'Mesh and Ishka: the two greatest kingdoms of the Valari. And here you are ready make war against each other when the Lord of Lies is on the march again. Isn't there any way I could persuade you of what a tragedy this war will be?'

My father took a deep breath and relaxed his fingers. And then he spoke not just to Count Dario but to all those present in the Hall. 'War,' he said, 'has not yet been decided. But it is growing late, and we would like to hear from anyone who would speak for or against war with Ishka.'

As quickly as he could, Lord Harsha rose to his feet. He seemed in a combative mood, probably because he had lost his chance to chastise Maram. He rubbed the patch over his missing eye, then pointed at Raldu's body and said, 'We'll probably never know if the Ishkans hired this man or his friend. But it doesn't matter if they did. It's plain that what the Ishkans really want is our diamonds. Well, why don't we give them a bit of Meshian steel, instead?'

With that, he patted the sheath of his sword, and the cries of many of Mesh's finest knights suddenly rang out into the hall. As he sat back down, I noticed Salmelu smiling at him.

During the whole time of the feast, my grandmother, sitting six places from me near the center of our family's table, had been quiet. She was rather small for a Valari and growing old, but once she had been Elkamesh's beloved queen. I had never known a more patient or kinder woman. Although she was shrinking in her body as the years fell upon her, a secret light seemed to be gathering in her eyes and growing ever brighter. Everyone loved her for this deep beauty as she loved them. And so when Ayasha Elahad, the Queen Mother, arose to address the knights and ladies of Mesh, everyone fell silent to listen to her speak.

'It's been twelve years now since my king was killed in battle with-the Ishkans,' she called out in a voice like aged wine. 'And many more since my first two sons met a similar fate. Now only King Shamesh remains for me – and my grandsons by him.

Must I watch them be taken away as well over a handful of diamonds?'

That was all she said. But as she returned to her chair, she looked at me as if to tell me that it would break her heart if I died before she did.

Then Master Juwain arose and gazed out at the hundreds of warriors with his clear, gray eyes. 'There have been thirty-three wars,' he said, 'over the centuries between Ishka and Mesh. And what has either kingdom gained? Nothing.'

That was all he said, too. He sat back down next to Master Kelem, who sagely nodded his hoary old head.

'It's to be expected that Master Juwain would feel thusly,' Salmelu called out from where he still stood by the cart. 'The Brothers always side with the women in avoiding matters of honor, don't they?'

It is one of the tragedies of my people that the other Valari such as the Ishkans, do not esteem the Brotherhoods as do we of Mesh. They suspect them of secret alliances and purposes beyond the teaching of meditation or music – all true. But the Brothers, Maram notwithstanding, have their own honor. I hated Salmelu for implying that they – and noble womca whom I loved – might be cowards.

1 rose to my feet then. I took a drink of beer to moisten my dry throat I knew that almost no one would want to hear what I had to say. But the kirax was beating like a hammer in my blood, and I still felt the coldness of Raldu's body in my own. And so I looked at Salmelu and said, 'My grandfather once told me that the first Valari were warriors of the spirit only. And that a true warrior would find a way to end war It takes more courage to live life fully with an open heart than it does to march blindly into battle and die over a heap of dirt. And this is something women understand.'

Salmelu gave me barely enough time to return to my chair before firing his sneering words back at me: 'Perhaps young Valashu has been spending too much time with the Brothers and the women. An perhaps it's well that his grandfather is no longer alive to spread the fooloshness of myths and old wives' tales.'

Again, as if I had drunk a cup full of kirax, A wave of hatred came flooding into me.

My eyes hurt so badly that I could hardly bear to keep looking at Salmelu. But I couldn't tell if this poisonous emotion me originated from myself or him. Certainly, I thought, he had hated me since the moment I had bested him at chess. How deep did this hate reach, I wondered? Could it be that this prince of Ishka was the man who had shot the arrow at me?

'You should be careful,' my father warned Salmelu, 'of how you speak of a man's ancestors.'

' Thank you, King Shamesh, for sharing your wisdom.' Salmeiu said, bowing with exaggerated punctilio. 'And you should be careful of what decision you make here tonight. The lives of many warriors and women depend on this famous wisdom.'

As my father caught his breath and stared out at the great wooden beams that held up the roof of the hall, I wondered why the Ishkans had really come to our castle.

Did they wish to provoke a war, here, this very night? Did they truly believe that they could defeat Mesh in battle? Well, perhaps they could. The Ishkans could field some twelve thousand warriors and knights to our ten, and we couldn't necessarily count on our greater valor to win the day as we had at the Diamond River. But I thought it more likely that Salmelu and his countrymen were bluffing trying to cow us into ceding them the mountain by displaying their eagerness to fight They couldn't really want war, could they? Who, I wondered, would ever want a war?

My father asked everyone to sit then, and so we did. He called for the council to continue, and various lords and ladies spoke for or against war according to their hearts. Lord Tomavar, a long-faced man with a slow, heavy manner about him, surprised everyone by arguing that the Ishkans should be allowed to keep their part of the mountain. He said that Mesh already had enough diamonds to supply the armorers for the next ten years and that it wouldn't hurt to give a few of them away.

Other lords and knights – and many of the women – agreed with him. But there were many more, such as the fiery Lord Solaru of Mir, who did not.

Finally, after the candles had burned low in their stands and many hours had passed, my father held up his hand to call an end to the debate. He sighed deeply and said,

'Thank you all for speaking so openly, with reason as well as passion. But now it is upon me to decide what must be done.'

As everyone watted to hear what he would say and the room fell quiet, he took another deep breath and turned toward Salmelu.' Do you have sons, Lord Salmelu?' he asked him.

'Yes, two,' he said cocking his head as if he couldn't grasp the point of the question.

'Very well, then as a father you will understand why we are too distraught to call for war at this time.' Here he paused to look first at Asaru and then at me. 'Two of my sons were nearly murdered today. And one of the assassins still walks free; perhaps he's among us in this room even now.'

At this, many troubled voices rumbled out into the hall as men and women cast nervous glance at their neighbors. And then Salmelu rebuked my father, saying,