Pug said, ‘I’ve not seen them since their wedding. Perhaps I am overdue at Rillanon for a family visit, if only to see my grandchildren.’ He looked at Nicholas with a friendly expression. ‘I’ll think about a visit to your father’s court on the way, and perhaps a stubborn father and his equally stubborn son can find something to say to each other.’
Nakor and Ghuda appeared at the entrance to the garden, the fighter wearing a finely bordered shirt of silk and balloon trousers tucked into his battered old boots. His bastard-sword had been left in his room, but his dirks were prominently evident. The little gambler wore a short robe of bright orange, which looked garish to Nicholas, but which seemed to delight him. He hurried forward and bowed to Pug. ‘Thank you for the fine robe.’
He caught sight of Ryana, and his eyes widened as his mouth opened in an O of amazement. He quickly spoke a few phrases in a language unknown to Nicholas. The woman’s green eyes widened, and she regarded Pug with an expression that Nicholas could only call alarm. Something the little man said had frightened her badly.
Pug held up one finger to his lips in the gesture for silence, and Nakor glanced at Ghuda and Nicholas. With an embarrassed laugh, he said, ‘Sorry.’
Nicholas looked at Ghuda, who said, ‘I never ask.’
Pug said, ‘Amos and Harry should be here soon. We can move to the dining room.’
The dining room turned out to be a large square room on the side of the central building farthest from the guest quarters. In the middle was a low, square table, with cushions on all sides. Pug spoke as Amos and Harry entered. ‘I prefer eating in the Tsurani fashion; I hope you don’t mind.’
Amos said, ‘As long as it’s food, I’ll stand if I must.’ Seeing Ryana, he halted, while Pug made introductions.
Harry couldn’t tear his eyes from the woman, almost falling over a cushion as he came to Nicholas’s side. Sitting next to the Prince, he whispered, ‘Who is that?’
Nicholas spoke softly. ‘A sorceress, or at least a student of Pug’s. And don’t whisper; it’s impolite.’
Harry flushed and fell silent as the two odd black men entered, carrying platters of food. They quickly set plates before everyone and left, returning a moment later with cups of wine.
As dinner was served, Pug said. ‘I’m out of practice entertaining, so I apologize should you find anything lacking.’
Amos spoke on everyone’s behalf. ‘We gave no warning of our approach, so nothing you offered would be lacking.’
Pug said, ‘You are kind, Admiral.’
Nicholas said, ‘I thought Father had some means to contact you.’
Pug said, ‘In an emergency only, Highness, and then only at great need. He has not needed to use the device I gave him. The Kingdom has been peaceful since I left.’
Conversation turned to gossip from court and other trivialities. Nakor was unusually silent, as was the Lady Ryana. Pug was a convivial host, able to draw the two boys into the conversation without making it obvious.
Both Nicholas and Harry had been drinking wine with dinner since they were old enough to sit at their parents’ tables, but as with most noble children, theirs had been diluted with water. Tonight they were drinking a full-bodied Keshian red, and after two cups, both boys were in a celebratory mood, laughing loudly at two stories they had heard Amos tell many times before.
As Amos started telling his third tale of adventure and wonder, Pug said, ‘If you will excuse me for a moment. Nakor, might I have a word in private with you?’
The little Isalani jumped to his feet and hurried toward the door Pug had indicated. They entered another of the many gardens on the property, and Pug said, ‘I have been told that this visit was your idea?’
Nakor said, ‘I never expected to meet …’
Pug said, ‘How did you know?’
The Isalani shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I just know.’
Pug halted next to a low bench and said, ‘Who are you?’
Nakor sat upon the bench, pulling his feet under him. ‘A man. I know things. I do tricks.’
Pug studied him in silence for a long moment. Sitting upon the edge of a reflecting pool, he said at last, ‘Ryana’s people have come to trust me. She is the daughter of one I knew twenty years ago. They are among the last of their race, and most men think them legends.’
‘I saw one once,’ said the unabashed little man. ‘I was traveling the road from Toowomba to Injune, in the mountains. At sunset I saw one off in the distance, resting upon the peak of a mountain, in the sunlight. I thought it odd that he should be sitting there alone, but then I considered he might think it odd that I was also there alone; so, it being a matter of perspective, I decided not to disturb his meditations. But I watched him for a few minutes. He was a thing of beauty, like your Lady Ryana.’ He shook his head. ‘Wonderful creatures. Some men count them gods, I have been told. I would like to talk to one.’
Pug said, ‘Ryana is young, just having come to intelligence after years of living as a wild creature, in the fashion of her race; she is barely able to understand her own nature or her new power. It’s better if we limit her contact with humans for a while.’
Nakor shrugged. ‘If you say. I have seen her. That is enough, perhaps.’
Pug smiled. ‘You are a rare man.’
Nakor shrugged again. ‘I choose not to become upset about things I have no control over.’
‘Why the visit, Nakor?’
The man’s usually grinning visage took on a somber expression. ‘Two reasons. I wished to meet you, for it was your words that brought me to Stardock.’
‘My words?’
‘Once you told a man named James that should he meet someone like me, he should say, “There is no magic.”’ Pug nodded. ‘So when he said this thing to me, I went to Stardock, to find you. You were gone, but I stayed there awhile. I found many serious men who did not understand that magic is only tricks.’
Pug found himself grinning. ‘I’ve heard you were a bit of a shock to Watum and Korsh.’
Nakor’s grin returned to match Pug’s. ‘They are fussy men, who take their school much too seriously. I moved among the students and recruited many to my point of view. They call themselves the Blue Riders in my honor and are united to resist the insular notions of those two old ladies you left in charge.’
Pug laughed. ‘The brothers Korsh and Watum were my most apt students. I don’t think they’d appreciate your calling them old ladies.’
Nakor said, ‘They didn’t. But they act like them. “Don’t tell this; don’t share that.” They just don’t understand that there is no magic’
Pug sighed. ‘When I looked at what ten years of work had brought forth at Stardock, I saw a repeat of the past, another Assembly of Great Ones, such as I knew upon the world of Kelewan: a band of men pledged to nothing but their own power and greatness, at the expense of others.’
Nakor nodded. ‘They like being mysterious and pretending they’re important.’
Pug laughed. ‘Oh, had you visited me upon Kelewan, so many years past, you would have said worse about me.’
I’ve met some of your Great Ones,’ answered Nakor. ‘The rift gate still operates, and we still trade with the Empire. Tsurani goods come through and we send back metals. The Mistress of the Empire is a shrewd negotiator, and everyone stays happy on both sides. From time to time a Tsurani Great One visits. And some alien magicians from Chakahar. Did you not know?’
Pug shook his head and sighed. ‘If cho-ja magicians from Chakahar are at Stardock, then the Assembly’s control over the Empire has been ended.’ His eyes misted over and he said, ‘There are things I thought I would never see in my days, Nakor. The end of that tradition was foremost among them – much of what gave the Assembly its power was based on fear and lies: lies about magicians, lies about the Empire, and lies about those outside the Empire’s borders.’
Nakor seemed to understand Pug’s words. ‘Lies can live a long time. But not forever. You should return and visit.’
Pug shook his head, not certain if the little man meant Kelewan or Stardock. ‘For nearly nine years I have put my past behind me. My children now look of an age with me, and soon will look older. I’ve seen my wife die, and my teachers. Old friends on two worlds have traveled into death’s hall. I have no wish to watch my children grow old.’ Pug stood and paced a bit. ‘I do not know if I was wise, Nakor, only that I feared that more than anything.’
Nakor nodded. ‘We are alike, in some ways.’
Pug turned and stared at the little man. ‘In what ways?’
Nakor grinned. ‘I have lived three times the normal span of a man. My birth was recorded in the census of Kesh in the time of the Emperor Sajanjaro, great-grandfather of the wife of Emperor Diiagái. I saw the Empress, his wife’s mother, nine years ago. She was an old woman who had ruled for more than forty years. I remember when she was a baby, and I was then as you see me now.’ Nakor sighed. ‘I have never been a man to trust others, perhaps because of my trade.’ He produced a deck of cards seemingly out of nowhere and fanned it with one hand; then, with a flick of his wrist, the cards vanished. ‘But I understand what you say. No one I knew as a child lives today.’
Pug sat again on the fountain and asked, ‘Why else have you come?’
