The soldier bowed. "This way, please," he said, and turned to lead them in.
Almost the entire party from Ethshar – all of it but the two gargoyles, who took up posts on either side of the palace doors, and the four prisoners who had been left behind in Lumeth and Ashthasa – followed him, through a grand entrance hall and around a corner into a large and luxurious drawing room equipped with a goodly assortment of chairs, sofas, and settees.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable," the soldier said. "Lady Kalira will be here shortly, and Lord Sterren should be on his way."
Emmis was happy to take a seat and give his feet a rest; Lar settled beside him, then leaned over and asked, "How did Ithinia find out about…" He hesitated, glancing around to be sure no one was listening. "Did you tell her we wanted to prevent warlocks from coming to Vond?"
"No," Emmis said. The settee suddenly seemed a bit crowded and much less comfortable.
"Did you ask her to do any of this?"
"No," Emmis said. He twisted in his seat. "Didn't you? You and Lord Ildirin were talking to her – I thought this was your idea."
Lar shook his head. "No, we just asked her to help us locate and capture the assassins. Which she did. And we asked her questions about protective spells. But we didn't ask for the Guild to help this way."
"Did you ask her about…" It was Emmis's turn to glance about. "…about the hum? The source?"
"No. She frightened me. I didn't want to trust her that much."
"She frightens me a little, too," Emmis admitted.
"So what did you tell her?"
Emmis considered that, then said, "I didn't really tell her much of anything. I asked her a question, and then she figured everything out."
"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.