The Vondish Ambassador

by Lawrence Watt-Evans

  "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?"

  Ithinia looked around the room, at the five other magicians, the Ethsharitic guardsmen, at Lar and Emmis, and finally at Lord Ildirin, who was sitting straight in his chair, but whose papery skin was red from the sun. "We would be delighted," she said. "And perhaps something to drink, while preparations are made?"

  "Drink? Of course," Lady Kalira said. "I will see to it." She turned, gesturing to her escorts, and the three of them marched back out the way they had entered.

  Emmis watched them go. "Who is she, exactly?" he asked Lar quietly.

  "She is Lord Sterren's second in command," Lar explained. "She is head of the Imperial Council, and runs everything in the Empire that Sterren doesn't want to bother with."

  "So is it Lord Sterren or this Council that's actually in charge?"

  Lar sighed. "The Council says it's Lord Sterren. Lord Sterren says it's the Council."

  Emmis turned to look at his employer. "You're serious?"

  "Yes."

  "I thought the custom in the Small Kingdoms was to fight over who got to rule, not over who didn't have to."

  "It is. But the Emperor didn't want to be bothered with all the details, so he named Lord Sterren his chancellor and let him run things. Lord Sterren said it was too much for him to do alone, so he made the Imperial Council. They were all chosen to be people who knew how to run things but who didn't want to rule; Vond did not want to worry about being overthrown by the Council."

  "Oh."

  "When Vond went away, Lord Sterren named Lady Kalira as his successor and resigned as chancellor. The Council wanted someone else in charge, so they made Sterren Regent. Now they argue about who is in charge." He turned up a palm. "They agree on almost everything else."

  "Why don't they just resign?"

  Lar sighed. "If the Regent resigns the Council will declare him guilty of treason. If any councillors resign without the Regent's permission he won't bother with calling them traitors, but he might hang them. So they stay."

  "It's ridiculous. Can't they find someone who wants to run the Empire?"

  Lar looked at Emmis pityingly. "Would you want someone in charge who wants to be an emperor? They lived under Vond. They saw. No one wants that again."

  "But it wouldn't be a warlock!"

  "Does that matter?"

  "Um." Emmis didn't have a good answer for that. After all, the overlord wasn't a warlock, but his authority was still fairly complete. In theory he ruled because he had the consent of the city's people, but in practice the people were never asked; the overlord could pretty much do anything he pleased. If he ever went mad, or turned out to be incompetent or evil, the other two overlords would remove him – that was the whole point of having a triumvirate rule the Hegemony, so that one bad ruler wouldn't ruin the whole thing – but he could undoubtedly do a lot of damage before that happened.

  The Empire of Vond didn't have a triumvirate, or any pretense of popular consent.

  "So you didn't say anything to Ithinia about warlocks?" Lar asked, startling Emmis.

  "No. But when I asked about the towers' magic she figured out that since I'm working for you, the Empire must be concerned about magic, and the Empire's only important magic was Vond's warlockry, so she put it all together and decided that warlocks mustn't be allowed in Lumeth or Vond."

  "Reasonable. She's a smart woman."

  "She's a wizard."

  "Wizards aren't all smart, Emmis."

  "She's a Guildmaster."

  "Well, yes, you have a point there."

  And that was when the door swung open and a line of servants carrying trays appeared, bringing an assortment of beverages. The two men put their conversation aside to join in the refreshments.

  Emmis had just finished a mug of amazingly bad, unpleasantly warm beer when the door opened again and a young man, about his own age, wandered in.

  He was dressed in black, with silver embellishments on his shoulders and cuffs – simple but elegant. His hair had been trimmed by someone who was very good at trimming hair, but it, too, was very simple. Back in Ethshar Emmis would have taken him for the son of a noble or wealthy family; here he wasn't sure what to make of him.

  Lar, however, had apparently recognized him instantly, and was bowing deeply. Hesitantly, Emmis bowed, as well.

  "Who is he?" Emmis whispered.

  "That's Lord Sterren," Lar hissed back.

  Emmis blinked and almost fell; he jerked up awkwardly out of his bow.

  "That's the Regent?" he said. "But he isn't any older than I am!"

  It was only when the entire room fell silent and a dozen eyes turned to stare at him that Emmis realized he had sp
oken aloud. He felt himself redden, but he refused to look away or apologize; he had simply stated the obvious.

  Lord Sterren looked at him, obviously amused.

  "I'm Sterren," he said, stepping over and holding out a hand. "And yes, I'd say we're of an age, you and I. Who are you?" He spoke Ethsharitic like a native – in fact, Emmis thought he would have sounded right at home in Westgate or the Old Merchants' Quarter.

  Emmis took the hand in his own. "Emmis of Shiphaven," he said. "I'm the ambassador's aide."

  "Are you? Then you're on my payroll?"

  "I suppose I am. Ah... what's the proper way to address you, my lord?"

  "Whatever you like. 'My lord' is fine. Care to earn your pay by introducing me around?"

  Emmis bowed. "I would be honored." He turned, looked at the gathered magicians and soldiers, then added, "If I can remember everyone myself, that is."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  At dinner Emmis found himself seated between Guildmaster Ithinia and Princess Shirrin of Semma, who he was informed was Lord Sterren's fiancée. She was a lovely young woman in her late teens; Emmis thought she was perhaps a bit young for Sterren, but that was the Regent's concern, not his.

  She also had a tendency to giggle that Emmis did not find endearing, but perhaps Lord Sterren did.

  Sterren was seated on Ithinia's other side, and for the first part of the meal the two of them spoke at some length. Emmis was not deliberately eavesdropping, but they weren't being particularly quiet, so he listened to their discussion between sips of wine.

  His earlier beer had convinced him to switch to the grape at dinner, and he was glad he had; the vintage, he was informed by the wine steward, was a fine one, from Dwomor. Emmis knew very little about wine, but he knew this one tasted very good and went well with the pastries and roast chicken he was served.

  As they ate Ithinia explained the Guild's demands to Sterren, and the Regent seemed very pleased with them.

  "No invasions either way? We can't touch Lumeth, and they can't touch us?" he asked.

  "Exactly. We'll have journeymen putting up wards all along the border in a sixnight or so."

  "And you've given Ashthasa assurances we won't invade?"

  "Unless provoked. We don't intend to interfere with your right to defend yourselves."

  "I'm delighted to hear it. I don't suppose you could talk to the kings of Kalithon and Nushasla?"

  "I'm afraid you'll need to do your own diplomacy there, my lord."

  "And Shassalla, and Hurla, and Trozdossa, and Ethirillion?"

  Ithinia spread her hands, a fork in one of them. "Not our concern, my lord. Though we have declared warlocks unwelcome in Shassalla and Kalithon."

  "As well as in Lumeth and throughout the Empire."

  "And in Gajamor, Calimor, Yaroia, Zenda, and Eknissamor."

  Sterren smiled crookedly. "I'm not even sure where all of those are," he said. "It's taken me three years just to learn our eighteen provinces and our eight neighbors."

  "They're Lumeth's neighbors. Well, Eknissamor doesn't actually share a border with Lumeth, but it's close enough to the north that we included it."

  "That's a great relief, and you will have my full support. If any of the Imperial Council object, I'll be happy to remove them."

  "I trust that won't be necessary."

  There was a pause then as both took a moment to eat; then Sterren remarked, "I tried to contact the Guild three years ago, you know, when Vond was still here. I sent a wizard named Emner to find you."

  Ithinia nodded. "Emner of Lamum. He reached us."

  "You didn't do anything, though," Sterren said. Then he added, "Did you?"

  "Not much," Ithinia admitted. "We were fairly certain that Vond would solve the problem himself, just as he did. We did have a few words with the Council of Warlocks, though, to discourage emigration in this direction."

  "Well, thank you for that much."

  "We spoke to the Chairman of the Council a little more vigorously a few days ago," Ithinia continued. "Quite vigorously, in fact. And the Council owes us a debt from twenty years ago, when Azrad VI attempted to outlaw warlocks entirely, so they profess themselves eager to cooperate. They understand that no warlocks are to set foot within twenty leagues of Lumeth."

  Sterren nodded. He glanced around, then lowered his voice.

  Emmis tried hard to listen without appearing to do so.

  "Do you know," Sterren asked quietly, "where Vond got his power?"

  "Do you think," Ithinia murmured back, "that we would tell you if we did? You, in particular?"

  "I would only want to know so I could stay away from it!" Sterren retorted.

  "Well, you know it's in Lumeth," Ithinia said. "And if you set foot in Lumeth, we'll kill you. It's nothing personal. And if you think you can protect yourself against wizards, well, we've sent word to the Cult of Demerchan."

  "Is it those towers?"

  Emmis was just as glad he couldn't see Ithinia's expression as she replied; the tone of her voice was quite bad enough. "Didn't I just say we weren't going to tell you?" She spoke in a low tone that seemed to be coming through gritted teeth. "But I will tell you that the towers are a large part of why we've taken an interest. The Guild has reasons of its own to want those towers preserved, and we have safeguards in place – but a warlock of Vond's abilities might be able to get through those safeguards, and might be mad enough to try, so we intend to ensure that there will never again be another warlock of Vond's abilities. Which means you, my lord, more than anyone else in the World, would be well advised to not ask any more questions about anything in Lumeth."

  So Lord Sterren was the other warlock, Emmis thought. That was interesting – though it probably didn't matter anymore.

  He sipped his wine and turned to smile at Princess Shirrin.

  A few minutes later, as the chicken bones were cleared away and plates of iced fruit set out, Ithinia turned to Emmis.

  "I suppose you heard everything the Regent and I said," she said.

  "Well, most of it," Emmis admitted.

  "You wouldn't have, had I been concerned about your trustworthiness," the Guildmaster said.

  "Thank you," Emmis replied.

  "You did well, bringing back Zhol's body. And you showed good sense dealing with Fendel's Assassin."

  "Thank you," Emmis repeated, throwing Shirrin a quick look, but she was entirely caught up in a lively conversation in Semmat with the man on her other side.

  "I hope you didn't mind being dragged along on this trip; I suppose your presence wasn't really essential, but it did seem as if you were the one who started the whole thing."

  "Oh, I don't mind at all, Guildmaster. It's been very educational." He hesitated, then added, "I would like to know how many more of those flutes you have up your sleeve, though."

  Ithinia smiled at him. "Just one," she said. "The one that takes us full circle, back to my garden in Ethshar."

  "So each flute..." Emmis hesitated. "How do they work? I never heard of this Transporting Fissure thing until a few days ago, but it seems as if they could be awfully useful."

  "They can be," Ithinia agreed, "but they're also very difficult. Each flute can only work once per enchantment, and it must be purified before it can be enchanted again. It's a seventh-order spell that takes hours to prepare – in fact, I had to use time-distorting spells to prepare these four in the two days I had. You need... well, there's no reason to go through the ingredients list, but rest assured, my boy, it's not a cheap spell, nor an easy one. And determining exactly where the passage will come out – that's tricky, as well. Not to mention that if I had played a single wrong note it wouldn't have worked right, and of course the fissure closes up again the instant I stop playing."

  "But still..."

  "It's not exactly subtle, either," she continued, before Emmis could finish his sentence. "It's noisy, and effectively causes a small earthquake at each end. And there are places it just can't go – some where the magic doesn't wo
rk, or the terrain won't allow it, but even in ordinary places, if you try to come out in a building that isn't big enough you'll bring the whole thing down around your ears. Generally speaking, we prefer other methods. One of the best takes roughly a full year to prepare, but once it's done it can be used indefinitely. It's instantaneous, completely silent, easy to hide – much nicer than Hallin's Transporting Fissure."

  "What would happen if you played a wrong note?" Emmis asked, glancing at the sleeve he believed held that fourth and final flute.

  "That depends," Ithinia said. "We might just come out a few feet away from where we planned – or a few miles. Or the passage might be too narrow, or not solid enough, and if it crumbles while you're inside it you can fall out of the World entirely."

  "Oh," Emmis said. He swallowed.

  "Don't worry," she said. "I always have to go in first, after all – if there's any danger, it'll probably get me before you even take the first step. And I didn't get any notes wrong on the first three, did I?"

  Emmis acknowledged that she had not. Still, his enthusiasm for the journey home was somewhat dimmed, and he was relieved there would be no other stops along the way.

  He was also glad Ithinia hadn't told him any of this before they walked through the first three fissures.

  "We gave Morkai of Crooked Hill an enchanted flute twelve years ago," Ithinia said, as she scooped chilled melon from her plate. "To use if anything ever threatened the towers and he couldn't contact us by other means." She thrust a well-filled spoon into her mouth.

  "So he was working for the Guild, and he betrayed you?"

  "Not exactly," Ithinia said, pulling out the empty spoon. "He was a member of the Guild, like every wizard, and because he lived right below the towers we asked him to let us know of any threats, and we gave him the flute. We had plenty of spells in place to warn us of trouble, but a human observer may work when magic doesn't. He wasn't working for us, in the sense of having any regular duties or being paid; he just had instructions to let us know if anything went wrong, and we gave him the flute and a few other things to that end."