Part 18 (1/2)

Bernanswered the door. He tried to say something, but Hanner was in no mood for polite greeting and pushed past him, leading his party quickly into the house and through the long gallery toward the front. As he pa.s.sed, Hanner toldBern , ”Uncle Faran's coming.”

Alris, sprawled on a divan in the front parlor, heard that. ”He is?” she called, startled. ”He's not still in the Palace?”

Hanner turned up an empty palm as he stood in the doorway to the parlor. ”He'll be here any minute,” he said.

”Is Nerra with him?” Alris asked, rising.

”No,” Hanner said. ”He was alone.”

”No guards to take charge of the prisoners?” Zarek asked from the parlor-he had been seated not far from Alris. ”Does he know what you did with them?”

”He's alone,” Hanner said. ”I don't know any more than that I don't know why he left the Palace or why he's coming here or why he's alone.”

Bernarrived as Hanner finished this speech.

”My lord,” he said, ”I really think you should know,before your uncle arrives, that we have additional guests.”

Startled, Hanner turned to face him.

”They're upstairs, resting,” Alris said. ”Two of those people you had here last night, who went home thismorning. They came back. Their neighbors were shouting at them and throwing mud.”

”What? Why?” Hanner asked.

”Because they're warlocks, of course,” Zarek said.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the seven of them-Hanner, Mavi, Rudhira, Othisen, Alris, Zarek, and Bern- stood scattered about the parlor and hallway, looking at one another, seeking some clue as to what was happening and what they should do.

And then the front door opened, and Lord Faran stepped in.

”My lord,”Bern said with a bow. ”May I take your ...”

He had not yet said the word ”cloak” when Faran flung the garment at him.Bern caught it and began smoothing and dusting it as Faran looked around at the others. Hanner, from years of experience, saw that his uncle was regaining control of a lost temper; he suspected the others saw nothing but a man relaxing after the exertion of a brisk walk in the summer sun.

”Hanner, my boy,” Faran said. ”A pleasure to see you here. Would you introduce me to your friends?”

”Of course, my lord uncle,” Hanner said, bowing. Formalities that he never bothered with if he could help it, that he almost never used when he was surrounded entirely by family or entirely by outsiders, seemed necessary and natural in this particular setting. ”Lord Counselor Faran, may I present Rudhira of Camptown?”

Rudhira had the wit to curtsy.

”I believe you have already met Mavi of Newmarket, who I had the good fortune to meet in the square just now and invite to accompany us. This young man is Othisen Okko's son, and that is Zarek, known at present as the Homeless.”

Neither man managed a decent bow, but Zarek did make a belated and halfhearted attempt, while Othisen just gaped.

”I understand you are the master of this house,” Rudhira said. ”Our thanks for your hospitality, my lord.”

She smiled warmly-a little too warmly, Hanner thought.

Faran smiled in return, a smile that Hanner had seen many times before, and Hanner knew where that would lead. He cleared his throat.

”It's a pleasure to welcome guests such as you,” Faran said. He looked around. ”And are there any others? My understanding was that my nephew had brought more than a dozen visitors here last night.”

Hanner hesitated. ”The others left, my lord,” he said. ”The four criminals have been turned over to the Lord Magistrate of the Old Merchants' Quarter, since Lord Azrad refused them entry, and the others, now that the excitement has subsided somewhat, went home. But two of them have come back.”

Faran raised one eyebrow. ”The excitement, my boy, has scarcely begun.”

”That's why the two returned,” Hanner said. Faran nodded. ”Tell me, are all my guests here possessed of the new magic that appeared last night, this so-called warlockry?”

Hanner swallowed and looked at the others.

”I am,” Rudhira said proudly, spreading her arms and rising a few inches from the floor. To Hanner's surprise, Faran's smile broadened.

”I'm not as powerful as Rudhira, but I'm a warlock,” Othisen said.

”So am I,” Zarek admitted.

Faran looked at Mavi, who turned up both hands. ”Not I,” she said. ”I was just talking with Hanner in the square when we saw you leave the Palace, and I was brought along.”

”The two upstairs are warlocks, though,” Hanner said.

”Ah,” Faran said. ”Then counting that mysterious unnamed pair, there are six of us.”

”Us?”Hanner said, startled.

Faran's smile vanished. ”Us,” he said. ”I, too, am a warlock. Thus Lord Azrad, that useless old fool, has cast me out.”

Hanner's mouth fell open, and he could see Alris's eyes widen with shock.

The revelation that their uncle was a warlock was perhaps the biggest shock, but it was by no means the only one. That Faran had called Azrad a fool before these near-total strangers was another, almost as great. They had both heard their uncle speak disparagingly of the overlord before-quite often, in fact-but never before where anyone outside the family could hear. In fact, it had been pounded into Hanner from an early age that as a hereditary lord he must never, ever speak ill of Lord Azrad in public; whatever they might think or say among themselves, the n.o.bility had an obligation to present a united front to the World at large, so as never to undermine the public trust.

And the idea that Azrad would evict Uncle Faran from the Palace was almost more than Hanner could comprehend. For as far back as he could remember Azrad had relied on Faran, had trusted him to make all the decisions that would keep the city running smoothly. That even strange new magic could shatter that trust in a single day was hard to grasp.

”He threw you out of the Palace?” Alris gasped.

”Oh, he has done more than that, my dear niece,” Faran said. ”It would seem that Lord Azrad the Sedentary, in his infinite stupidity, has sentenced the four of us, and all the others upon whom this new magic was bestowed, to die.”

Chapter Nineteen.

Die? Forwhat?” Rudhira demanded.

”For endangering the peace of the Hegemony of Eth-shar by the mere fact of our existence,” Faran said.

”Or perhaps for kidnapping or murdering a few hundred people-he didn't seem very concerned about a reason.”

”But we haven't... well,I haven't hurt anyone!”

Zarek cleared his throat. ”Rudhira, you killed a man last night,” he pointed out.