"Do you think they'll incarcerate me, Pietr? Do you think theyVe proof to hold me until the trial?"
Lehmann smiled and touched Wyatt's shoulder. "WeVe the best advocates in the seven cities, Edmund. I'm sure they'll keep you from the cells. But even if they can't, it won't be so dreadful. Privilege is privilege, even behind bars. You'll not lack for comforts."
Wyatt smiled, but shadows gathered beneath the firm and pleasant line of his mouth, clouding the attractive sparkle of his eyes. Many old friends had come to visit him this morning. More friends than he'd thought he had. For a time he had let himself be buoyed by their good wishes, but now they were gone and he was alone with Lehmann.
"You know, this frightens me, Pietr. I couldn't sleep last night thinking of it. Wondering how I would handle myself. How I would bear up before all these lies and smears. Wondering what kind of man I would be at the end of it."
"You'll be your father's son, Edmund. You're like him. You have his strength."
Wyatt looked down. "Maybe."
He said no more, but Lehmann, who knew him as well as any man, could sense what he was thinking. Wyatt's father had been strong but inconsiderate, his mother weak and conciliatory. She had died when Edmund was only five, leaving him almost defenseless against his hectoring father. That he had grown up such a sane and balanced individual was testimony to the influence of his sisters and aunts.
Lehmann glanced down at the ornate timepiece inset at his wrist. "The General will be here soon, Edmund. We should get ready for him."
Wyatt nodded abstractedly, then turned to face him. "It's not myself I'm afraid for, it's them." He shivered, then wrapped his arms about himself. "It's why I couldn't bear to have them here with me today. If I lose this—if, inexplicably, they find me guilty of Lwo Kang's murder. . ." He looked down, all color gone from his cheeks. "Well, their lives would be forfeit, too, wouldn't they? It's the law. A traitor and all his family ..."
Lehmann breathed shallowly, forcing himself to meet Wyatt's eyes. "That's so. To the third generation."
"Still"—Wyatt forced a smile, then came across and held Lehmann to him tightly—"I'm grateful, Pietr," he said more quietly. "Truly I am. However this turns out, I..."
Lehmann felt Wyatt's body shudder in his arms and steeled himself against all feeling. Even so, he answered Wyatt gently.
"You would have helped me, wouldn't you?"
Wyatt moved slightly back from him. There were tears in his eyes. "I'd kill for you, Pietr. You know I would."
Necessary. He heard DeVore's voice saying it and felt a shiver run down his spine. It's easy for you, Howard, he thought; you never liked him.
Lehmann smiled. "Let's talk of living, eh?"
There was a pounding on the mansion's huge front doors.
Wyatt looked up, past him. "They're early. I didn't think they'd be early."
They went through, out into the marbled hallway. Wyatt's Chamberlain, a stout, middle-aged Han, greeted them with a bow.
"Shall I open the door, master?"
Wyatt shook his head. "No. Let them wait, Fu Hsien."
There were footsteps on the stairs overhead and a murmur of talk.
"Ch'un tzu.'" Lehmann went to the foot of the stairs and greeted the three elderly Han as they came down to him. It had cost him over a million yuan simply to bring them here this morning. If the case went on for months, as it was likely to do, it would cost his faction somewhere between thirty and fifty million. Wyatt had been told nothing of this, but his sisters and aunts had been briefed already. In time they were certain to let Wyatt know whose money it was that was paying for his defense.
Lehmann turned, smiling, and watched the three graybeards greet Wyatt once again. At the introduction, earlier, all three advocates had seemed impressed by Wyatt's protestations of innocence. As indeed they ought. Edmund didn't merely seem innocent, he was. The full force of his self-belief had carried any remaining doubts the three had had. They had agreed to take the case.
But things were not as simple as they seemed. On paper Wyatt's case seemed good. In court he would make a fine impres-
sion. Public sympathy was sure to be in his favor. But Wyatt had to lose. He had to be made to seem a victim of conspiracy and power-brokering.
New evidence would be introduced as and when necessary, for his good friend Edmund Wyatt was to be a martyr.
The hammering came again. A voice shouted from behind the door. "Open up! We come on the T'ang's business!"
Again the Chamberlain looked to Wyatt. This time he nodded.
Tolonen came through first, in full dress uniform, the chi (ing, or unicorn patch of a first-rank officer, resplendent on his chest. Behind him strode two officers and an elite squad of eight armed soldiers.
"General Tolonen," said Wyatt, with cold politeness, offering his hand. But Tolonen walked past him, ignoring him.
"Who represents the prisoner?" he demanded brusquely.
One of the three Han stepped forward. "I am Advocate Fou, General. I act for Shih Wyatt in this matter. And I'll remind you that my client is not a prisoner but should be addressed as the accused."
Tolonen snorted and turned away. One of the officers at once handed him a long silvered tube. He hefted it a moment, then passed it to the advocate.
"Please read the document. All three of you, if necessary. Copies will be provided at your offices."
Advocate Fou tipped the scroll out into his hand, passed the tube to one of his colleagues, then unfurled the document. Wyatt moved past Tolonen and stood at the advocate's side, trying to make sense of the sheet of blood-red pictograms.
"It's in Mandarin," he said. "That's illegal, isn't it?"
Advocate Fou shook his head, then muttered something in Han to his colleagues and rolled the document up again.
"What is it?" Lehmann asked, coming up beside Wyatt.
The advocate looked across at Tolonen, then back at Lehmann. "I am afraid we cannot help you, Under Secretary. I am most sorry. This matter has been taken out of the jurisdiction of the courts. Please . . ." He handed the document across to Wyatt. "Our apologies, Shih Wyatt. We wish you luck. If innocence has weight in law you will triumph yet."
As one, the three Han bowed and took their leave.
Wyatt stood there a moment, dumbfounded, watching them go. Then he turned to Lehmann. "What in the gods' names is happening here, Pietr?" He thrust the document into Lehmann's hand. "What is this?"
Lehmann looked away. Gods! he thought. This changes everything.
He turned back. "It's an edict, Edmund. The Seven have passed a special edict." He unfurled the white, silken roll. "See here." He pointed out the rigid line of hardened wax. "These are their seals. The Ywe Lung, symbol of their power. All seven of them. They must have met in an emergency session and agreed to this."
Wyatt had gone very quiet, watching him, a new kind of fear in his face.
"An edict?"
"Yes. You are to be tried in camera, by a council of the T'ang's ministers." Lehmann swallowed then looked across at Tolonen, an unfeigned anger in his eyes. "This changes things, Edmund. It changes everything. It means they want you dead."
HENO KOU paused in the doorway, then knelt down and touched his brow to the cold floor.
"Nephew Yu. I am most sorry to disturb your afternoon sleep. I would not have come, but it is a matter of the utmost urgency."
Heng Yu tied the sash to his sleeping robe and came across the room quickly. "Uncle Kou, please, get up at once. In private you are still my uncle."
Heng Kou let himself be drawn to his feet, then stood there, embarrassed, as Heng Yu bowed to him in the old way.
All that has changed, he thought. The T'ang gave you years when he gave you power. Now you are our head and the family must bow before you. So it is. So it must be. Or Chung Kuo itself would fall.