Sovereign

'Four talismans?' Jenrosa asked suspiciously.

'Yes, you see already. Four talismans that became the four Keys of Power. When he had finished making them he died. Instead of ruling in his name, the great ones he had called together fought among themselves for the talismans. One of them eventually gained control over all four, but by then the one people had divided into all the tribes that exist today.'

'What was the name of this magiker king?'

'Colane Oeser.'

Jenrosa shook her head and laughed lightly. 'Never heard of him.' For some reason she could not explain, she felt relief at that.

Lasthear shrugged. 'It is not important. What is important is that his passing marked the break-up of the one people. The legend goes on to say that the people will be united again when one like him reappears.'

Jenrosa stiffened. 'One like him?'

'It was said he could see all possibilities for any course of action at the same time. He often said that "The past is the same, but the present has no boundary."'

'No!'Jenrosa said loudly. 'No, this I will not believe!'

Lasthear looked sadly at Jenrosa but said nothing.

'No!' Jenrosa cried. She pulled hard on her reins and galloped away from Lasthear and the glistening harbour.

It took longer to garrison the harbour than Ager had thought. Besides organising a mixture of troops—Chett and Haxan—to secure the foreshore and its precincts, he had to set work gangs to put out fires and then clear away wreckage. Over the next few weeks the docks and warehouses would have to be repaired before traders would be able to visit Kolby and unload their goods. Trade was the lifeblood of cities like Kolby, and without it eventually they withered and died. Ager reminded himself to explain this carefully to Lynan, then snorted at his own arrogance. Lynan had been raised in the court of Usharna, and she would have made sure all her children knew how the Kingdom paid for itself.

By the time it was nightfall the worst of the fires were out and most of the bodies collected and taken away. Ager started the rounds then, making sure the new guards were doing their job properly. By the time he had finished, the stars were riding high overhead, and he found himself standing on one of the less damaged clocks. There was a sunken ship on one side, its mast sticking out of the water like a grave-marker. He sat on the edge of the dock, his legs dangling over the side, and said a silent prayer for the sailors inside the ship's belly.

He looked out from the harbour, and down the Oino River that led eventually to the sea north of Theare. He had been on a few merchant ships that in more peaceful times had made the run down the Oino to Kolby. He remembered it being a pretty city. It would be again, he told himself, mostly believing it.

He sensed rather than heard someone move behind him, and as he looked over his shoulder he placed one hand over the hilt of his sword. When he saw Morfast he relaxed and smiled ruefully. 'You'll never do any good as an assassin.'

'I wanted to watch you without you knowing I was there,' she said, and came to sit beside him.

'I could think of more entertaining ways to spend my time.'

'I like watching you,' she said plainly. 'I try to imagine what it is you're thinking.'

'And what did you imagine I was thinking just now?'

'Something about the water. I know you used to work on merchanters.' She studied his face carefully. 'There is a glint in your one eye, Ager. Do you miss those times?'

'No, not really. Not the work anyway. But the sea. Yes, I miss the sea sometimes.' He laughed softly. 'It wasn't something I missed on the Oceans of Grass. That was like being at sea. The plains are well named.'

'I would like to go to sea one day,' Morfast said. 'I have always been curious to know what it is like.'

'I will take you to sea one day,' Ager said.

Morfast leaned over to kiss his cheek. 'You will be too busy working for the king to take anyone to sea.'

For a moment Ager did not know who she was talking about, then understood that by the king she meant Lynan. It made him feel odd, as if he was out of his true time and place.

'Yes, I suppose that's true,' he said vaguely.

'And when you're not doing the king's business, you'll be looking after your clan.'

Ager smiled suddenly. It still amazed him that he was chief of a Chett clan. The clan's previous head had tried to ambush him one night, because Ager had wounded his honour in single combat. Having slain the chief and his immediate family, Ager had inherited the clan. He had grown to be as proud of his Chetts as they seemed to be of him, and they had proven their worth as warriors in three great battles. In fact, members of the Ocean Clan regarded themselves as the equals of the Red Hands, Lynan's personal bodyguard.

'That would be no duty,' he said softly, then looked at Morfast. 'Where are we camped?'

'We are billeted!' she said. 'His Majesty has placed the two of us in the palace so we may be near him while we are here.'

'Ah.' He tried not to sound disappointed.

The palace was dark. No one was around to light braziers and fires. Some moonlight filtered through lancet windows set high in the outer wall, adding an eerie silvery sheen to marble columns and pavers. Lynan's footsteps clinked hollowly in the hallways as he explored. With his acute eyesight he recognised a painting done by a Kendran artist Usharna had sent to Salokan years ago as part of some trade agreement. Now it belonged to Grenda Lear again.

For I have conquered it, he told himself, and Grenda Lear will belong to me.

He studied the painting more closely. A stream of blood whipped across the bottom like a decorative sash. His feet squelched and he looked down. There were still great puddles of blood on the floor. The bodies had been removed hours ago, but no one had yet bothered to clean up properly. He wiped his feet on a dry part of the floor and went on. He could hear voices ahead and followed them. Eventually he found himself in a wide and relatively narrow hall. Someone had lit the braziers: the room was criss-crossed with shadows. There was a large stone seat against the centre of one of the walls.

Lynan realised this was the throne room. It was smaller than he had imagined. But then he was used to the throne room in Kendra, which by itself must have been a quarter the size of this whole palace.

Korigan was sitting on one of the arms of the throne and giving instructions to a banner leader.

'You should be sitting in that,' Lynan told her. The banner leader bowed low to Lynan and Korigan and hurried from the room. 'After all, your Chetts won it.' Korigan smiled easily, and he expected her to come back by saying it was his throne.

'It is below me,' she said simply.

'Below you?' He could not help the surprise in his voice.

'Haxus is now nothing more than a province. This is a governor's chair, not a throne. I would not deign it with my backside.' She was still smiling. 'And nor should you.'

'I am tired,' he countered. 'Bone dead. I will sit on it until I find someone else to fill it.'

'And who will you find?' she asked.

'You speak as if I'd already made up my mind.'

'And haven't you?'

Now Lynan smiled. 'Yes.'

'Salokan?'