Chapter 65

The Council of Mirrors

Only very rarely did the full Council of Mirrors come together, and so the atmosphere when Julien entered the Council Dome was solemn. Klirks had been installed and secured especially for this event and the Palace had been inspected and searched for days on end in order to prevent any attempt at intrusion or sabotage, but Julien was still less than convinced that it was sensible to hold this meeting in a Palace where an 'unthinkable' attack had already taken place.

By the standards of the Palace this room wasn't very big. It was completely covered by a dome that seemed to have been cut from a single gigantic opal and it had in its centre a circle of ten seats clearly intended for the members of the Council and the Emperor himself. There were no markings on them to designate rank, but a number of them were designed to fit the morphology of their occupants. Behind, or in some cases beside, each seat stood an attendant.

Julien had put his foot down and flatly refused to be decked out in the fuchsia and gold ceremonial robe that had been provided for him. Instead he had chosen to wear the Ksantiri hatik that Niil had given him on the First Trankenn, claiming that it would demonstrate that, although Nandak had not been chosen as Mirror, the Emperor had still not rejected House Ksantiri. Of course this was simply an excuse to avoid having to wear a garment whose colours clashed horribly with his red hair, even as short as it currently was. But in fact Julien was happy to have a means of demonstrating his support for Niil. His only concession to the Imperial colours was to have a border of them woven into the bottom of his tunic. Xarax sat on his shoulder, ready to provide him instantly with any information he might need, even though he had already been extensively briefed about each Mirror by Master Subadar, a briefing that allowed him to avoid demonstrating any surprise at the appearance of the members of his Council, and also left him able to greet each by name and with the ritual formal compliment.

“Lady Dehandar of Yrcadia,” he began, “may the herds thrive forever in the Highlands of Arkanth.”

The dark-skinned Noble Lady with the ochre Marks inclined her head and gave the ritual answer: “May Your Highness forever protect our R'hinz.”

“Lord Wahaï of Yaï Ho,” continued Julien to the next Mirror, “do the Travellers run freely? Do the Poets sing fearlessly?”

The Guide with the bright red fur bowed gracefully, and his human assistant laid his hand on his neck and declared, “It will be so as long as Yulmir's benevolent gaze is directed upon us.”

“Lady Tahaxlaïl of Kretzlal, may your enemies tremble and your friends sleep in peace.”

The blue and green haptir also spoke through a human interpreter: “Fear, enemies of our Emperor!”

“First Mother of Emm Talak, may the brood remain safe and the reserves plentiful.”

This Mirror had a vaguely insectoid appearance, although Julien had never seen anything even remotely like her. She was enclosed in a kind of mechanical airtight box, and it was equipped with a voice synthesizer.

“The race of the Butchenns thrives amid the ruins,” it said, “and begs Yulmir to ensure that none shall interfere.”

“Lord Yinn Yeliann of Tandil, may your song forever cause the sun to rise.”

The vril bird spread his immense electric-blue wings and uttered a crystal-clear trill, which his assistant instantly translated as “May Yulmir's speech sing peace and justice to all.”

“Lady Wi Talatt of Zenn R'aal, may the eternal union of ice and fire forever rejoice your heart.”

The frail white-haired lady gave a gentle smile.

“May Eternal Youth bless us forever with the presence of Yulmir,” she said.

“Lord Shigyal of Der Mang, may the blood of your mounts never decline.”

“May our mounts,” replied the stern rider with the blue Marks, “forever rejoice in the privilege of bearing our Emperor.”

“Lord Aldegard of Nüngen, may the Towers of Aleth for ever glow at sunset.”

“May Yulmir at times honour them with his presence.”

“Very well,” said Julien. “Honourable Members of the Council, we are here to welcome and accredit a new Mirror for Dvârinn. In accordance with Tradition I have taken no part in his selection, and indeed in this matter I have the authority only to use my veto to oppose the candidate, should I deem it necessary. I ask that the chosen of the Council should now be introduced.”

Lord Shigyal stood up, stepped into the centre of the circle and faced Julien.

“I am sure that Your Highness is aware that the Noble Lord Nandak, First Lord of the Ksantiris, has declined the office. He begs the Council not to take offence at this refusal and swears that it is simply a recognition of his own inadequacy for such a task that compels him to cast this burden onto a more worthy bearer. The Council has therefore needed to undertake the delicate task of finding another candidate.”

Julien nodded.

“After a long discussion,” Lord Shigyal continued, “the Council came to the conclusion that none of the Major First Lords of the Great Houses of Dvârinn is truly suitable. Basically, only three of the fifteen who could genuinely make a claim to represent Your Highness on Dvârinn have the necessary wisdom and authority, and all three are by now too old to be able to perform the requirements of the post efficiently. Furthermore, in none of the three cases would it appear that their closest descendants have inherited their most important qualities.

“However, the Council is mindful of the need to appoint a Mirror for Dvârinn as speedily as possible, and therefore we would suggest that you choose the Noble Lord Tahlil of the Rent'haliks and provide him with whatever he may need in order to fulfil his office. Perhaps the Imperial Treasury would be able to pay for the construction of a suitable First Trankenn for him, and also to pay for its crew, while the budget for the administration and other services could be divided among all the Noble Houses of Dvârinn.”

“Of course the Imperial Treasury can supply whatever is needed,” said Julien, “but the idea of imposing a tax of the other Noble Families – particularly those that will see him as an upstart and mere favourite of the Emperor – doesn't seem to be a very good way of ensuring Lord Tahlil's popularity. The last thing we want is a conflict that would only be likely to escalate. I think it would be better if the Imperial Treasury were to foot the whole bill until such time as House Rent'halik can generate new income sources of its own.”

In fact this solution had just been given to Julien by Xarax, who could remember a number of precedents, most of which were almost certainly known to the other Mirrors. But by uttering the proposal himself – a proposal obviously drawn from those earlier cases – Julien clearly demonstrated to the Council that just because he looked like a child they needn't think they could treat him as one.

“Of course,” he went on, just to rub the lesson in, “this would probably require a small contribution from each of the other worlds as well, but I feel sure that for the good of the R'hinz we will be able to agree on that quickly. What is the opinion of the Council?”

It took the Council less than ten minutes to agree on the candidature of Lord Tahlil under the conditions Julien had suggested, and at that point Lord Tahlil was brought into the chamber. He was around forty, with golden-brown Marks adorning the salt-tanned face of a sailor.

“Noble Lord,” said Julien, “I haven't yet had the honour of meeting you, but the recommendation of this Council is sufficient to make me trust you. I'm sure you will do your best to be a worthy successor to Lord Ylavan. So now I have to ask: do you, Tahlil of the Rent'haliks, wish to become the Mirror of the Emperor on Dvârinn?”

Tahlil began to kneel, but Julien stopped him.

“Please remain standing and hear me out,” he said. “The Ritual, which I'm sure you know as well as anyone here, consists of a number of questions and answers. Well, I don't have anything against a good ritual, and the Great Book of Traditions is certainly an excellent guide. But on this occasion I would prefer, if the Council will allow it, to dispense with the normal procedure and the traditional oaths.”

Julien looked around the circle, but nobody seemed inclined to object.

“Right, then: Tahlil, do you want to be my Mirror?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You might find the job rather more difficult and dangerous than people might expect. In fact you're putting your life, and possibly those of your family, at risk here. Would you like to tell us why you would volunteer for such a mission?”

“I've given it a lot of thought, Your Highness. I don't have Lord Ylavan's power, or his money or influence. If the Council was reduced to sending its emissary to my distant island it can only be because nobody else could or would take the job. The rumours about Ylavan's death might not have any basis in fact, but the fact that such rumours exist at all clearly prevents his heir from becoming a Mirror of the Emperor. However, that doesn't mean that he turned the job down willingly, or that he might not change his mind about it in future. Furthermore, he has a number of allies who, while happy that they can still receive his favour as First Lord of the Ksantiris, will nonetheless be disappointed that they can't now count on the far greater influence he would have had as Mirror.

“So if I'd been sitting where the Council are I would have gone looking for the head of a House that is insignificant enough not to offend anyone – provided, of course, that the man in question was honest and moderately intelligent. It would also help if he had several heirs, which would offer continuity if he turns out to do the job well. And most important of all, if he should be assassinated it should be someone whose death will not immediately stir up serious strife and retribution amongst the major Houses.

“I happen to fulfil some of those requirements. It is also the case that the people who are under my protection trust me, and I try to be worthy of that trust. To refuse to serve, for the good of Dvârinn, in a post of which the Council judges me worthy would seem to be a breach of that trust. My people trust me, and I trust the Council, simply because Lord Ylavan, who sat on that Council, was an honest and trustworthy man.

“As for you, Your Highness, there's a saying that 'You don't know a man until you have shared a bag of salt with him.' Well, I haven't yet had a chance to share salt with you, but until such time as that happens I can only assure you of my complete dedication to the Empire, and to the duty of honour which compels me to put my body and my life between the Emperor and his enemies.”

“Lord Tahlil,” replied Julien, “I could ask for nothing more, and as far as I'm concerned your assurance is worth any number of formal oaths. If the Council agrees I would now like to welcome you into it, and I would ask you to take the seat left empty by the death of Lord Ylavan.”

oo0oo

Chapter 66

A grain of salt

Niil and Ambar had been warned that Julien was on his way back and that the new Mirror would be with him, and so when he arrived they were impeccably turned out in a pair of fetching Ksantiri hatiks. In fact they looked so presentable that Julien had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from actually congratulating them on their appearance. Of course Tannder had been the one who had made the necessary arrangements, and so there was also a large collection of food and drink on the table – because Julien had taken Lord Tahlil at his word and had invited him to share salt with him.

After the two boys had been introduced (“This is Niil of the Ksantiris, my Privy Councillor, and his brother Ambar, who is also my pupil”) and Tahlil had offered them his condolences on the death of their father, Ambar offered their guest – who was clearly not used to the warm weather of Nüngen and was flagging a bit – a large tankard of chilled beer, and while he was doing that Julien sent for Tannder and asked him to join them.

“Tahlil,” said Julien, “in a moment Tannder is going to tell you an interesting story, one which directly concerns me. After all, if we're going to be working together it's probably only fair that you know exactly what is going on. If you still want to stay on the Council once you've heard it, I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have. But first I'd like to hear a bit about you and your family – oh, and if you can do it without using the High Speech, that would be nice. We try to avoid using it when we're in private. People generally just call me Julien, or if you absolutely can't bring yourself to do that, I suppose 'My Lord' is just about bearable.”

“Well, there's not a lot to tell you, My Lord. The Rent'haliks rule a small archipelago of eight islands. Our resources are adequate, and in fact we are able to export part of our balang crop. We have a few good armourers, and our potters are famous throughout the Nine Worlds – indeed, I can see that there's a Tsang Niyeh fruit-bowl here on your table.

“Lady Wang Tcho, my wife, has given me two sons and three daughters. My eldest son, Tengtehal, will soon be fifteen cycles old and his tutor says that he's a good student. Our family trankenn cannot in any way be considered comparable to that of the late Lord Ylavan, but it gives a good account of itself in all weathers. Lord Aldegard tells me that you're intending to build me a new First Trankenn with funds drawn from the Imperial Treasury, and obviously I'm very grateful for the gesture – but perhaps that money should be used where it is more urgently needed.”

“Such as?”

“A lot of small islands are too poor to offer much in the way of support to the widows of those who perish at sea. That also happens in some of the more far-flung possessions of some of the Great Houses. There are some welfare societies, but often they are unable to meet the need. And another issue is that some of the smaller islands don't have the resources to pay a proper wage to teachers and minor Health Masters, and as a result several islands, and even some complete archipelagos, have neither.”

“Well, it's impossible for you not to have a trankenn that reflects your rank of Mirror. But I can make you a proposal: investigate this problem in detail, decide what needs to be done to resolve it, and I promise I'll do whatever I can to help.”

“Actually the solution isn't that complicated. I think that a well-run merchant shipping company could probably generate enough funds, and it wouldn't have to be too big, either. The main obstacle would be the amount - probably a quite considerable amount - that would need to be laid out in order to get such a company up and running.”

“I might be able to help you there, too. It's true that the Emperor isn't supposed to interfere in the politics of any of the Nine Worlds, but I don't think it's forbidden for him to offer a helping hand when one is needed.”

“Well, if I absolutely have to have a new trankenn, perhaps I could convert my existing ship into a flagship for a new merchant fleet. It probably wouldn't be too difficult, and if you're going to pay for the new First Trankenn it seems only fair, too.”

“That's an excellent idea. But tell me: if you're aware of this problem, how is it that Lord Ylavan didn't do something about it?”

Tahlil remained silent for a few seconds while he weighed his words.

“Well,” he said, “it would seem that Lord Ylavan had some difficulty in receiving your advice - over quite a long period, in fact.”

“You probably mean that he wasn't able to meet me?”

“That's what the rumour said, My Lord.”

“The rumour was true. But Ylavan didn't need my blessing to at least start tackling the problem.”

“Ah... you see, over the last few years at least, I don't think Lord Ylavan was getting all the information he should have been. I don't want to offend Lord Niil, but I'm afraid his Noble Brother rather tended to interfere with the way the Ksantiri lands were run, and the word is that quite a lot of the Family revenue was diverted into preparing for war.”

“If you're suggesting that my brother had dreams of launching a war of conquest,” Niil told him, “I'm afraid you're right. But I expect he'll go a bit quiet now, in the short term at least. And I want you to know that I am completely opposed to his plans.”

“I don't doubt that for a moment, Lord Niil. I'm sure you wouldn't be sitting here at this table today otherwise.”

“I think,” said Julien, “that maybe this would be a good time for Tannder to explain to you just why Ylavan was unable to reach the Emperor. And after that you can relax a bit and enjoy the Bakhtars' marvellous cooking.”

oo0oo

Comments, reactions, questions and so on may as usual be sent to the author at engor@laposte.net