Doran was not to be deterred.

He did not care what Roquan said to him. He did not care what Roquan was doing at the moment, even if he were in bed with one of his slaves. There was too much to talk about and too much to be done. He would not be turned away.

He dutifully gave Roquan until the sun had risen fully above the eastern horizon. That would certainly give him enough time to have his morning meal and do whatever urgent Manor business needed his attention. He knew that there had been some ruckus the night before near the merchant camp, and the merchants were none too happy about it.

Surely what he had heard could not be true! Roquan seriously believed someone had opened an unauthorized Portal into his midst? Preposterous!

Doran had turned down the path that led to Roquan's quarters when he was brought up short by the person he saw leaving the very same place.

"Ah, good morning, Overlord Doran."

Doran was too surprised to speak at first. "Uh, yes, good morning, Overlord Trennan."

He stared. Why was Trennan emerging from Roquan's quarters? And why was he smiling so broadly? Doran had never seen him so chipper.

"Doran, you're supporting Roquan in the Conclave, are you not?"

Doran was sure that he had made that clear enough multiple times. It showed exactly to what Trennan's ears were truly tuned. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"Roquan didn't initially strike me as someone who was ... well, as someone who understood how things worked," Trennan said with a knowing smirk. "I must say, I may change my opinion of him yet."

Doran was perplexed. "Er ... you may?"

"The man knows how to deal. It is little wonder he does well with his clients despite his Clan's youth." Trennan smiled and clapped Doran on the arm. "See you at the Conclave later. I may actually start attending the debates now. Perhaps what Roquan has to say is worth a listen."

Doran's jaw simply dropped as the spirited Trennan walked away.

What in ...?

He finally marched towards Roquan's quarters again and entered without announcing himself.

Roquan looked up from his desk. "Ah, Doran, just the person I needed to see."

Doran blinked, momentarily nonplussed. "I am?"

Roquan finished writing something onto a parchment scroll and carefully rolled it up and set it aside. He rose to his feet, giving Doran a pleasant smile. "Yes, of course. We need to discuss some of the other deals that are to be made. I wish to ask that I be allowed to determine the timing of my visits to the other Overlords you mentioned yesterday."

"Well, yes, we need you to offer ... now, wait just a moment!" Doran declared. He had been so taken by Roquan's sudden cooperative manner that he nearly forgot what had happened outside. "Did I just see Trennan emerge from your quarters not ..."

"Yes, indeed, you did. I am happy to say that I have made him reconsider our offer with successful results."

"You what?? Are you serious?!"

"I have never been more so. Now, about the other Overlords, I believe that ..."

"Wait! Stop!" Doran cried, waving his hands. "Roquan, just ... just what did you offer him?"

"I managed to procure some additional spirits that Trennan was quite interested in."

"You did? From where?"

"From the young foreign merchant Jollis that arrived with the Ne'land Merchant Clan."

"That's not what I meant! What kind of spirits?"

"Does it matter?"

Doran looked aghast. "Does it matter?! Where in Oceanus would you have procured anything that could have topped whatever Berin had offered?"

Roquan carefully schooled his expression and his voice when he spoke again. "It is quite possible that we overestimated the value of Berin's contribution. If, as you said yesterday, he is receiving goods illegally, he may not be comfortable with relying on such a conduit for his supplies."

Doran stared. "Are you telling me you simply went on a hunch? Found some random spirits and offered it to him? And it paid off?"

Roquan paused a moment. "While I would not exactly call the selection 'random', I did indeed move, as you say, on a hunch."

"I do not believe this ..."

"Doran, I told you yesterday that I am very well versed in dealing with clients. I simply adapted the process here. Perhaps we fear Berin's ability to tip the scales more than we need to."

Doran scowled. He was certain his information had been correct! He was sure that Berin had a major pipeline into the black market! After all, Berin's Clan had inherited a great deal of wealth some five years ago. He had plenty to spend on such things, which was why Gronnus was using him.

He sighed and cast a hard look at Roquan. "Fine. Then if you feel your negotiation tasks are up to snuff, there are three Overlords today you can make offers to by the time the Conclave convenes ... what?"

Roquan had started to shake his head. "Let us not rush," he said evenly. "We have Trennan again now. Let me move a little more slowly. I wish to concentrate on only one today."

"Only one? But ...!"

"Please, Doran, allow me to do this. You may coach me on what the Overlords may wish in terms of goods, but let me decide when and where I meet with them."

Doran frowned deeply. He cast a narrowed gaze at the other Overlord, as if trying to see what was on Roquan's mind. Finally he let out a slow sigh. When he spoke again, he wagged a finger at Roquan. "By the gods, you better know what you are doing! This is not the time to be playing games."

Roquan's gaze became icy. "This is no game to me, Doran. Last night someone opened an unauthorized Portal near the Manor."

"You can't mean what I've been hearing is true? Who would do such a thing?"

"Emperor Z'haas."

Doran snorted. "Ridiculous!"

"He is the only one in Oceanus that has a vested interest in disrupting this Conclave."

"Did anything or anyone come through this Portal?"

"We have yet to find anything, no. It is possible we detected the Portal in time and disrupted the Emperor's plans."

"That is far-fetched, Roquan! Would he be capable of doing such ..."

"As much as he was capable of disguising an Imperial agent as a slave."

Doran fell silent.

"Do you see what we are up against? Do you see why this Conclave is so important?"

"I have seen, Roquan! I supported you from the start! That's why I don't want you to try anything rash!"

Roquan paused a long moment. "Trust me when I say this, Doran: Nothing I do is rash. I give everything the full weight of my thinking. When I choose to do something, I do it because it is the right thing to do ... and I accept the consequences of my actions."

Doran thought that this was a somewhat odd thing to say, but he simply nodded in acknowledgment. He was tired of arguing with the man any further. "I suppose you will be Presenting Amanda again as a little gift to open negotiations?"

"Indeed I am. I will be calling for her shortly as soon as we are done."

"Then I shall not delay you," Doran said, turning away after a respectful nod of his head. "But please do tell me later how things went and let me know if you need help."

"I will indeed, Doran. Thank you for your support."

Doran paused at the door, giving Roquan one last look before heading out the door.

Amanda had hoped that Roquan was finally finished Presenting her, so she met with chagrin the summons back to his quarters that morning. It was not so much having to have sex with the older men of the Conclave anymore. Instead, she did not want to stand before the Overlord with all these thoughts going through her head and be unable to express any of them to him, or even ask the simplest of questions without his permission.

As before, Amanda was led to Roquan's chambers and bathed by two other slave girls. This time, however, Roquan remained present, hovering in the background as if observing her.

When the two girls were finished, they escorted Amanda into Roquan's bedchamber. Roquan paused, turning Amanda's collar over in his hands and looking at her intently. Amanda returned the gaze, though she felt suddenly nervous under his scrutiny.

Roquan dismissed the two slaves and waited until they had departed. He looked back at Amanda, still making no move to replace the collar around Amanda's neck. He took a deep breath.

"Amanda, I wish to make you aware of the fact that the information you provided me was very helpful," he said.

"Yes, master," Amanda said dutifully. She cast a rueful gaze at him despite her best efforts. Not even a "thank you," she thought.

Roquan paused a long moment. It appeared to Amanda as if he were struggling with something. "Now ... I must ask you to do this again for me."

Amanda gave the Overlord an odd look.

"I will be bringing you to one of the Overlords this morning. I believe that not long after this, Berin will visit him as he did Trennan, and they will likely discuss business. I wish you to listen and remember what they say and inform me afterward. Do you understand this?"

Amanda had to pause a moment. Only now was she feeling the full weight of what Roquan was asking her to do. She was stunned.

"Amanda?"

Amanda lifted her eyes to his and cast a piercing gaze at him. "Yes, master, I understand. You wish me to spy on them."

Roquan appeared taken aback by this. "No, I am not asking you that. I am simply ..."

"I'm sorry, but that is what you are asking me to do. At least that is what they call it back on my homeworld. Do you have another word for it here, master?"

"Amanda, this is not the time to be difficult."

"Then don't ask of me something that is difficult to do."

Roquan's gaze grew icy. Amanda's became defiant in equal measure.

"I fail to see how this is difficult for you," Roquan said, an edge creeping into his voice. "You are simply using your natural skill at observation and your intelligence."

"It is difficult, master, because you are telling me to go against my slave training, training that you yourself said would be a challenge to perform on me. Why would you then have me do this and make it even more of a challenge for me?"

Amanda's anger was rising, and she was unable to control it. Her voice grew increasingly acidic and terse. Roquan was very aware of this, and had to resist the urge to chastise her into submission.

For one thing, he had a feeling that it would simply not work on her this time. For another, he needed her to do this rather desperately. He could not afford to have her refuse. He did not want to threaten her into it, for he feared she would not perform well in that case.

"You can be assured that this is not going to somehow count against you. In fact, I will consider this a great duty you are performing for me."

"But why are you entrusting it to me? I'm sure you trust your older slaves more than you do me. Why not have one of them do this for you?"

"Because you are the one being Presented, Amanda, not them."

"Surely your other slaves service them as well, master?"

"Yes, but this will not ..."

"Or are you considering another reason?"

By this time, Amanda's eyes glared at the Overlord, and her hands had curled into fists. Her voice had started to rise.

Roquan cast a steely gaze on Amanda. "Please remember who you are speaking with. You are very close to being disrespectful towards me."

"I am sorry, master," Amanda said crisply. It was very clear to Roquan that she was anything but sorry. "I am simply frustrated that just when I believe I'm doing better at slave training, you ask me to forget a very important part of it."

"I realize this. I am grateful you are serious about wishing to be a good slave. I will not forget what you are doing for me. I intend to reward you for this when the Conclave is done."

"Will you be rewarding me in the same way Mistress Freya attempted, master?"

Roquan's eyes flared anger at this. "We have discussed that before, Amanda. That is certainly not something I intend to do to you."

"Why not?"

Roquan paused, looking at Amanda strangely, furrowing his brow. "What?"

"I said, why not, master? Mistress Freya thought it was a fine reward."

"I believe I had made it clear that Freya should not have used such contraband on you ..."

"But that's not the point, master. The point was that it is considered a good reward. Even Mistress Sirinna said so."

Roquan glared at Amanda and took a step towards her. Amanda did not flinch in the least. "I had told you to keep everything in confidence," he said darkly.

"I did, master. I said nothing about Mistress Freya in connection with it. I simply asked her about things that make you cum continuously. So why would you not make that my reward since it's something that's given to other slaves?"

Roquan paused a long moment. "Because, as you stated yourself, you would not enjoy it."

"And why don't I enjoy it, master?"

Roquan remained silent. His hands gripped the collar more tightly.

Amanda's voice rose. "It's because I'm different from the other slaves, isn't it, master?"

Roquan's jaw tightened.

"It's because I haven't had the Draught, isn't it?"

"That's quite enough, Amanda," Roquan said in a low voice, turning away.

Having the Overlord turn his back on her suddenly made her anger escalate into raw fury. "The Draught does more than just make people forget. It changes them. It does something to them."

"I said, that's enough!"

"Sirinna wants sex all the time. All the other slaves do, too. They crave it. But I don't. The Draught did that to them, didn't it? There's something else in it. You and the other Overlords use it to make them trainable, by making them crave sex. You make all your slaves addicted to sex!"

"Enough!"

Roquan's eyes blazed as they fell back on Amanda. There was a long silence. Finally, the Overlord spoke in a tone of forced calm. "You will not speak of this to anyone. Anyone."

"But is it true, master? Is that what the Draught does? It's the only thing that makes sense! Or would you rather I continue thinking I'm a failure as a slave?"

Roquan sighed. Perhaps Amanda never did want to be a slave in the first place. He could get himself to admit this now. Yet she possessed the drive to excel at any task she had been given. And to do what she had done when starting at an inherent disadvantage was amazing indeed.

She deserved some reward for that.

"The Draught does not make a slave addicted to sex as you so crudely put it," Roquan said with some disdain in his voice. "I personally frown upon the practice of putting that much of the ingredient in it."

For a moment, Amanda was aghast. She had hoped on some level that she had been wrong, that she had misinterpreted everything. She thought hearing herself vindicated would make her feel better. Now she had an explanation for her difficulties and it was not her fault. Instead, it filled her with horror.

"It is hard to explain exactly what the ingredient does," Roquan explained. "It lowers inhibition a bit. It makes having an orgasm give a greater sense of euphoria. If there is any actual craving, it is very mild. Just enough ..."

"To make her easier to train," Amanda said flatly.

"Or him. It works equally on males as well."

"And what about Mistress Freya, master?"

Roquan stiffened. "She uses entirely too generous an amount in her Draughts," he said, the disgust evident in his voice. "That much reduces the slave to a plaything."

"And what was she trying to prove by using that toy on me, master?"

Roquan remained silent. He knew of one possible answer, and he feared that it was the correct one. He could not get himself to say it.

Amanda, however, felt under no such compunctions to keep it quiet. "She wanted to find out if I had had the Draught, right? That explained what she did the first time."

"That is possible," Roquan said in a low voice.

Amanda saw the anxiety in his face. Her expression and voice softened. "Master ... would it be bad if someone discovered that I had not had the Draught?"

"Yes, Amanda, it could indeed be."

"Then ... why did you do it, master?"

Roquan raised an eyebrow.

"Why did you collar me? Why did you try to train me instead of forcing me to go home?"

Roquan believed he knew the answer to that as well. He liked that answer no better than the other. It was Rennis that had told him several times in the past that he sometimes needed to set his ego aside. Perhaps if Rennis had been there when Roquan had collared Amanda, Rennis would have stopped it.

He could admit this to himself. He could not admit it to anyone else.

"Would you have been happy to be forced home?" Roquan asked instead.

Amanda hesitated. "No, master," she replied softly.

She did not add what she was thinking, which was: since when did Roquan care what other people wanted? Ultimately she decided it was not fair to him to ask that. At least not now.

"It is useless to go over the past," said Roquan. "I cannot 'revoke' your position. We have both committed to the path of making you a slave, and that is how we must continue."

"Yes, master, I understand this."

Roquan stepped up to her. "It is good that you do." Amanda lifted her chin as the Overlord fit the collar around her neck. "Amanda, realize that I have entrusted you with a great secret. You must not reveal what you know of the Draught. It would bring chaos to an already bad situation."

Amanda balked at this a bit, but only because he was failing to acknowledge that she had largely figured out most of it herself. She held her tongue, however, as she was more interested in what he had meant by what he had just said. "Master, are you in trouble with the Conclave?"

Roquan finished closing and locking the collar. "Not directly, at the moment. But my position is in jeopardy. I need to sway key members of the Conclave to my side in order to win a vote in favor of censuring the Emperor for what he has done."

Censure? Amanda knew what the word meant, but had no idea what implications such a thing had in Narlass. Or if, perhaps, he were soft-pedaling the true implications of the Conclave vote.

One thing was very clear to Amanda now. Roquan needed her very badly. Much more, perhaps, than she needed him.

"Master, may I ask a question?"

Roquan picked up the restraints from the bed and brought them over to Amanda. "Yes, you may."

Amanda automatically turned around and crossed her wrists behind her. "You said you wished to reward me for this. How did you intend to do this?"

Roquan paused. "In truth, Amanda, I had not settled on anything as yet."

"Because you know the usual slave rewards would not work on me."

"Yes, that is partially correct."

"Then will you allow me to make a request?"

Roquan finished securing the cuffs to Amanda's wrists. He did not say anything in response to her until he had fetched and reattached the chain to her collar, as if wanting to first feel back in control over her again. "It will depend on the nature of the request, Amanda. Realize that there will be things I simply cannot do for you, or allow you to do."

"All I want is to learn about this world," said Amanda. "About Narlass."

"And what specifically do you wish to know?"

"That's just it, master. Nothing specific. Anything. History, politics, people. Especially history, it was my favorite subject at school. Unless ... that's not allowed of slaves, either?"

"Some slaves are indeed educated in these things, yes. Some clients prefer slaves with whom they can converse intelligently. But we generally do not begin that until much later in the training."

"Then can I ask as my reward that you push that up a bit, master? You don't have to formally teach me anything. Just give me stuff to read."

Roquan considered this. "Realize that this cannot take away from your normal training, Amanda. I cannot have Sirinna let up on you in that regard."

"I understand, master."

Roquan tried to think of a reason to refuse her request. It was unusual, certainly. No slave generally made such a request. Having had her past taken from her with the Draught, there was little incentive to want to learn about Narlass' history. Yet there was nothing inherently wrong about it, nor was there anything about it that went against tradition.

"I will agree to this," Roquan said. "Provided you continue to do what I ask of you without further argument or debate."

"Yes, master."

Roquan cast a mildly admiring gaze at Amanda. Truly she was shaping up to be a most unusual woman.

He snapped the chain lightly. Amanda turned and stepped before her Overlord. "Now, come along."

Amanda again adopted the role of the obedient slave, and proceeded before her master.

"He WHAT?!" Gronnus roared. "He backed out of the deal? How? Why?!"

Berin cringed, squinting at the bright sunlight that streamed in through Gronnus' window from where the sun had just cleared the trees along the edge of the bluff. "N-now, Gronnus, don't get upset ..."

"I'll get upset all I want!"

Gronnus stomped away from Berin. He gave a cry of frustration and balled his hands into fists, his face livid with anger and frustration. "What game is Trennan playing at? He cannot possibly want even more from us!"

"If he does, Gronnus, I have no more to deliver, I am sorry to say, at least where the Colosi goods are concerned," Berin said. In his struggles to see the other Overlord clearly, he lifted a hand to block out the sun. "I am stretching myself as it is."

Gronnus rounded on him. "Well, this is a fine time to tell me this!"

"But ... n-now, see here, Gronnus ... I'm already taking a big risk with this. I don't like the current political climate in Oceanus right now, and ..."

"To blazing hells with the political climate!"

Berin swallowed. "I-I can't dismiss it as casually as you can, Gronnus. According to what I've heard from my contacts at the Imperium, the Emperor is taking a harder line with Colos each passing day ... oh, really, Gronnus, do lower that shade, will you?"

Gronnus grumbled as he untied the cord that held the shades rolled up, letting them down with a loud flapping sound. Berin sighed with relief and lowered his hand, blinking at the purple dots that danced before his eyes.

"Only Roquan would be so incompetent as to build an Overlord's quarters on the west side of the island and have it oriented towards the morning sun!" Gronnus declared. He paused and looked askance at Berin. "Wait. You have contacts at the Imperium?"

Berin sighed and rolled his eyes. He glanced nervously behind him at the door to make sure he had secured it and lowered his voice. "Of course I do! How else do you think I can consort with the black market safely? I need fair warning of the Emperor's moves. And I don't like what I'm hearing."

Gronnus folded his arms and gave Berin an indignant look. "I suppose now you want to rally to Roquan's banner?"

"O-of course not!" Berin said, huffing anxiously. "But ... but Gronnus, I just don't like what some of the Emperor's plans appear to be for Colos ..."

"Berin, stop sniveling. Remember that you are an Overlord, and we ultimately have say over Imperial policies."

Gronnus was rather impressed with himself. He was able to deliver that line and almost believe it himself. Yet it caused an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind. They were indeed dealing with a strong Emperor, one of the strongest they had had in over a century. He secretly feared that soon the Overlords would have no influence over him at all.

Berin sighed. "I try to remember that, Gronnus, but it is difficult these days ..."

"Never mind that. We're drifting from the topic. What of Trennan, Berin? Are you sure you made your best offer to him?"

"Yes, I am sure! I gave him all that the black marketeers told me they could smuggle across the border. They will give me no more. They fear that Oceanus' armies are about to march."

Gronnus threw up his hands. "Cowards," he muttered. Surely the Emperor was not planning so bold a move yet! Not without the backing of the Nobility, and the Overlords would have to be pacified first before that would happen. "Do we have any idea what Roquan offered him?"

"No, and I doubt we will. Trennan is too cagey for that. Remember, we relied on the fact that he would not tell Roquan the deal he had made."

Gronnus considered this. Yes, Berin was right. Trennan would not break with tradition so blatantly. He much preferred they play the game of making their offers blind of the other counteroffer. He ultimately got the better deal for it. "Berin, think for a moment ... can you see any way that Roquan could have discovered what you offered to Trennan?"

Berin was already shaking his head. "No, Gronnus. Trennan and I were alone, save for a slave that had been servicing him shortly before I arrived."

Gronnus simply nodded at this and sighed. Perhaps he had underestimated Doran's abilities after all. Yet Doran had to be a mind-reader in order to have helped Roquan counter the offer so effectively! Even the Mages would tell him that mind-reading is a myth!

"So what do we do now, Gronnus?" asked Berin, wringing his hands. "I still have many goods on the way from the black market. I have to find a way to unload them!"

Gronnus was about to reply when he flinched slightly as he felt the summons.

Damn him and his impatient Imperial hide, the Overlord thought vehemently.

"Go with the original plan," Gronnus said quickly. He grabbed Berin's arm and escorted him to the door. "Wait until you see who Roquan visits. Just like Trennan. Let Roquan make an offer, wait if you need to if he offered a slave for his pleasure, then follow with your offer."

"But without Trennan ..."

"Blast Trennan, already! Perhaps if we get to the others before they hear of it, we still have a chance."

"Yes, Gronnus. I'll let you know what I hear."

Gronnus shooed the other Overlord out the door and closed it behind him. He raced over to the window and lowered the blind. "Insufferable ..." he muttered as he headed to the center of the room. He lifted his head and looked forward. "I accept the summons."

The image of Emperor Z'haas shimmered into impatient view before him. "Well?"

Gronnus sighed. "Well what, Z'haas?"

"I am in no mood for games, Overlord!" the Emperor thundered. "I have received very alarming intelligence of Roquan's latest collusion with enemies of the realm!"

Gronnus wrinkled his brow and gave the Emperor an odd look. What was the fool talking about?

"I wish to know your progress."

"Be reasonable, Z'haas. It has been a few days since you last contacted me! I tell you that things at a Concave do not proceed quickly."

"You are rapidly approaching your deadline, Overlord," Z'haas said evenly. "I gave you a quarter moon, no more."

"I need more time!"

"Time is not a luxury, not with recent developments."

"Then would you care to enlighten me as to what they are?" Gronnus said, a sarcastic edge to his voice. "I fail to see any evidence of any collusion on Roquan's part. He has been too busy ..."

"I have told you before, Overlord, that this is not your concern. I do not need to explain myself to you. I give you orders and you follow them, it is as simple as that."

Gronnus bristled at this. Perhaps the Emperor is only playing at being the strong one. When it came down to it, Z'haas was ensconced at the Imperial Palace. There was little that his reach could do here. The Emperor needed the Overlord far more than the opposite way around, otherwise Z'haas would just send his army to the Manor and take the lot of them.

"I have things in hand," Gronnus said simply.

"Explain."

"Why do I need to? I know the situation here, you do not. You handle your concerns there, I will handle them here."

The Emperor's eyes flashed anger, and when he spoke again, it was in dark tones. "Do not presume too much with me. That is a very dangerous course to take."

Some of Gronnus' resolve faded. "Very well. I am making deals with the other Overlords to counter any support for Roquan."

"When will the vote take place? Today? Tomorrow?"

Gronnus hesitated. "Not likely. There needs to be more time to ..."

"You are almost out of time. I cannot accept any more delays. If you cannot guarantee a quick vote and a quick end to Roquan's dissent, I will take matters into my own hands."

"You know how I feel about that, Z'haas!"

"That does not concern me. It has never concerned me. Again, you presume too much. I will not allow Roquan to sunder the realm."

This gave Gronnus pause. Sunder the realm? That was tantamount to accusing Roquan of instigating civil war, the very thing that he felt an assassination of an Overlord would do.

Gronnus did not understand any of this. Where was this collusion that Z'haas spoke of? He saw nothing of any foreign contacts save for one independent merchant. And how dangerous could a single merchant be?

He wondered idly if this had anything to do with the preposterous notion that someone had opened a Portal outside the Manor the night before. In that case, however, it had been Roquan that had been up in arms about it. Hardly the case were he the one that instigated it. Even if he had, to what end? Gronnus saw no evidence that Roquan was planning an armed uprising. Even if he were Farviewing Nobility to rally them, they would simply laugh at him.

The Nobility wanted nothing to do with war, and any war, civil or otherwise, needed their support. There was no way around it. They held the purse-strings of the realm, whether the Emperor liked it or not.

No, this was simply more of the Emperor's paranoid delusions.

"I have a cohort insuring that I will secure the necessary deals before any vote takes place, Z'haas."

"And how sure of the success of this endeavor are you, truly?"

Gronnus had to tread carefully here. If he gave away that Berin was dealing with the black market, he was not sure how the Emperor would react. Would he accept it as necessary to deal with Roquan or would he cite that as more "collusion with the enemy"?

And he could not reveal the loss of Trennan! That would earn the Emperor's wrath for sure.

"I am quite confident," Gronnus lied. "There is talk that Roquan himself may push for a Full Conclave in a day or two's time, as nervous as he is about me securing deals against him. There is simply not enough support there for him. No one wants to change the status quo."

Z'haas considered for a long moment, his face set hard. "And Freya D'yros?"

Gronnus was afraid that he would be asked this. "I do not foresee her being a problem," he said tonelessly.

"That is not what I meant."

"It is all I can give you. She is of her own mind."

The Emperor appeared to glance off to the side for a moment and then sigh. He turned back to Gronnus. "Two days, Gronnus, no more," he said in clipped tones. I will contact you then. If you have not secured a vote or are close to one by then, your usefulness in this is at an end."

Gronnus blinked at this rebuke, but before he could reply, the Emperor's image faded as the Farview audience was ended.

He paused, staring into the empty air for a few moments. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

Your usefulness in this is at an end.

Gronnus took a deep breath to calm himself, but it did little good. Nevertheless, he steeled himself as best he could and headed out of his quarters.

Emperor Z'haas stood still and silent for a moment, his eyes still gazing into the space that had been occupied by the Overlord moments before.

"My Emperor?" a voice asked gently off to the side.

Z'haas reached down and picked up the Farviewing pearl. "Has the Guild learned anything new, Q'yros?"

Mage Q'yros allowed himself a small, suffering sigh as his gnarled fingers curled more tightly around his staff. "No more than I told you this morning, my Emperor, when I last Farviewed with them."

"They still cannot detect the origin point of the Portal?"

"That is difficult to do in the best of times," Q'yros said in a sobering tone of voice. "It is made more difficult by the nature of the magic involved."

Z'haas turned and narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"The resonance of the magic used to create the Portal was unusual. It was a little different than the Guild expected. Much more tightly focused."

"And what does this mean?"

"It means that someone likely went through a great deal of expense to create a Focus that was very powerful. I don't believe the Guild Master has seen something quite like this in all his years as a Mage."

"That does not sound promising, Q'yros!"

Q'yros nodded his head once. "Granted, it is somewhat worrisome," he said in a neutral voice.

The Mage was being purposely coy. He did not reveal to the Emperor the truth, that the Guild Mages were in something of a full-scale panic. What they were seeing was almost a new form of Portal magic. Their understanding of it was so sparse at the moment that they had not detected the Portal until moments before it had opened. Normally they could easily sense the day-long buildup of energies across the continuum, and thus allow pinpointing of the anchor from which the Portal originated.

The Emperor gave the Mage a stark look, but Q'yros looked placidly back.

Z'haas' hand closed tightly around the pearl. "I shall not allow the realm to fall."

Q'yros said nothing. He was no longer so sure that the Emperor was jumping at shadows anymore.

"I will not wait for Gronnus," the Emperor declared.

"You will call upon your assassin, then?"

"I have no choice. He will need time as well to prepare."

"And the Overlord Gronnus?"

The Emperor's jaw tightened. "He will assist in the endeavor. He has little choice in the matter as well."

He turned and headed out of the chamber, his cloak billowing around him, his footsteps echoing into the distance.

Feedback

Did you like this story? Hate it? Printed it and lined the birdcage with it?

Please take a moment to send me some comments about this story. Your comments may remain anonymous if you prefer, or you can include an email address in your comments if you wish a reply.

Since this is a multi-part story, you may wait until the last chapter to send feedback about the story as a whole if you wish.