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endure another hour or so. But it would be better not to ride in the dark."

Protocol said that Regis should ride beside Kennard and Lord Dyan, but instead he dropped back toride beside Lew Alton. Marius was riding with a boy about Regis' own age, who looked so familiar that Regis frowned, trying to recall

where they'd met

While the entourage was getting into line, Regis sent his banner-bearer to ride at the head of the columnwith those of Ardais and Alton. He watched the man ride ahead with the silver-and-blue fir-tree emblemof Hastur and the casta slogan, Permaned&l. I shall remain, he translated wearily, yes, I shall stay hereand be a Hastur whether I like it or not.

Then rebellion gripped him again. Kennard hadn't stayed. He was educated on Terra itself, and by thewill of the Council. Maybe there was hope for Regis too, Hastur or no.

He felt queerly lonely, Kennard's maneuvering for proper respect for his sons had irritated him, but it hadtouched him

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too. If his own father had lived, he wondered, would he have been so solicitous? Would he have

schemed and intrigued to keep his son from feeling inferior?

Lew's face was grim, lonely and sullen. Regis couldn't tell if he felt slighted, ill-treated or just lonely,knowing himself different

Lew said, "Are you coming to take a seat hi Council, Lord Regis?"

The formality irritated Regis again. Was it a snub in return for the one he had given Marius? Suddenly hewas tired of this. "You used to call me cousin, Lew. Are we too old to be friends?"

A quick smile lighted Lew's face. He was handsome without the sullen, withdrawn look. "Of course not,cousin. But I've had it rubbed into me, in the cadets and elsewhere, that you are Regis-Rafael, Lord Hastur, and I'm ... well, I'm nedestro heir to Alton. They only accepted me because my father has noproper Darkovan sons. I decided that it was up to you whether or not you cared to claim kin."

Regis* mouth stretched in a grimace. He shrugged. "Well, they may have to accept me, but I might aswell be a bastard. I haven't inherited laran"

Lew looked shocked. "But certainly, you-I was sure-** He broke off. "Just the same, you'll have a seatin Council, cousin. There is no other Hastur heir."

"I'm all too well aware of that. I've heard nothing else since the day I was born," Regis said. "Although, since Javanne married Gabriel Lanart, she's having sons like kittens. One of them may very well displace me some day."

"Still, you are in the direct line of male descent A laran gjft does skip a generation now and then. All your

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sons could inherit it."

Regis said with impulsive bitterness, "Do you think that helps-to know that I'm of no value for myself, butonly for the sons I may have?"

A thin, fine drizzle of rain was beginning to fall. Lew drew his hood up over his shoulders and the insigniaof the City Guard showed on his cloak. So he's taking the regular duties of a Comyn heir, Regis thought. He may be a bastard, but he's more useful than I am.

Lew said aloud, as if picking up his thoughts, "I expect you'll be going into the cadet corps of the Guardthis season, won't you? Or are the Hasturs exempt?"

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"It's all planned out for us, isn't it, Lew? Ten years old, fire-watch duty. Thirteen or fourteen, the cadet corps. Take my turn as an officer. Take a seat in Council at the proper time. Many the right woman, if they can find one from a family that's old enough and important enough and, above all, with laran. Father a lot of sons, and a lot of daughters to marry other Comyn sons. They've got our lives all planned, and all we have to do is go through the motions, ride their road whether we want to or not."

Lew looked uneasy, but he didn't answer. Obediently, like a proper prince, Regis drew a little ahead, toride through the city gates in his proper place beside Kennard and Lord Dyan. His head was getting wetbut, he thought sourly, it was his duty to be seen, to be put on display. A little thing like a soaking wasn'tsupposed to bother a Hastur.

He forced himself to smile and wave graciously at the crowds lining the streets. But far away, through thevery ground, he could hear again the dull vibration, like a waterfall. The starships were still there, he toldhimself, and the stars beyond them. No matter how deep they cut the track, I'll find a way to break loosesomehow. Someday.

Chapter TWO

(Lewis-Kennard Utontray-Alton's narrative)

I hadn't wanted to attend Councfl this year. To be exact, I never wanted to attend Council at all. That'sputting it mildly. I'm not popular with my father's equals in the Seven Domains.

At Armida, nothing bothers me. The house-folk know who I am and the horses don't care. And at Arilinn nobody inquires about your family, your pedigree or your legitimacy. The only thing that matters ina Tower is your ability to manipulate a matrix and key into the energon rings and relay screens. If you'recompetent, no one cares whether you were born between silk sheets hi a great house or in a ditch besidethe road; and if you're not competent, you dont come there at all.

You may ask why, if I was good at managing the estate at Armida, and more than adequate in the matrixrelays at Ar-flinn, Father had this flea in his brain about forcing me on the Council. You may ask, butyou'll have to ask someone else. I have no idea.

Whatever his reasons, he had managed to force me on the Council as his heir. They hadn't liked it, butthey'd had to allow me the legitimate privileges of a Comyn heir and the duties that went with them.

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Which meant that at fourteen I had gone into the cadets and, after serving as a junior officer, was now acaptain in the City Guard. It was a privilege I could have done without The Council lords might be forcedto accept me. But making the younger sons, lesser nobles and so forth who served in the cadets acceptme-that was another •ong!

Bastardy, of course, is no special disgrace. Plenty of

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Comyn lords have half a dozen. If one of them turns out to have laran-which is what every woman whobears a child to a Comyn lord hopes for-nothing is easier than having the child acknowledged and givenprivileges and duties somewhere in the Domains. But to make one of them the heir-designate to the Domain, that was unprecedented, and every unacknowledged son of a minor line made me feel how little I merited this special treatment

I couldn't help knowing why they felt that way-I had what every one of them wanted, felt he merited asmuch as I did. But understanding only made things worse. It must be comfortable never to know whyyou're disliked. Maybe then you can believe you don't deserve it

Just the same, I've made sure none of them could complain about me. I've done a little of everything, as Comyn heirs in the cadets are supposed to: I've supervised street patrols, organizing everything fromgrain supplies for the pack animals to escorts for Comyn ladies; I've assisted the arms-master at his job,and made sure that the man who cleaned the barracks knew his job. I disliked serving in the cadets anddidn't enjoy command duty in the Guard. But what could I do? It was a mountain I could neither crossnor go around. Father needed me and wanted me, and I could not let him stand alone.

As I rode at Regis Hastur's side, I wondered if his choosing to ride beside me had been a mark offriendship or a shrewd attempt to get on the good side of my father. Three years ago I'd have saidfriendship, certainly. But boys change in three years, and Regis had changed more than most

He'd spent a few winters at Arrnida before he went to the monastery, before I went to Arilinn. I'd neverthought about him being heir to Hastur. They said his health was frail; old Hastur thought that countryliving and company would do him good. He'd mostly been left to me to look after. I'd taken him ridingand hawking, and he'd gone with me up into the plateaus when the great herds of wild horses werecaught and brought down to be broken. I remembered him best as an undersized youngster, following mearound, wearing my outgrown breeches and shirts because he kept growing out of his own; playing withthe puppies and newborn foals, bending solemnly over the clumsy stitches he was learning to set inhawking-hoods, learning swordplay from Father and practicing with me. During the terrible spring of

'his twelfth year, when the Kilghard Hills had gone up in forest fires and every able-bodied man between ten and eighty was commandeered into the fire-lines, we'd gone together, working side by side by day, eating from one bowl and sharing blankets at night We'd been afraid Armida itself would go up in the holocaust; some of the outbuildings were lost in the backfire. We'd been closer than brothers. When he

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went to Nevarsin, I'd missed him terribly. It was difficult to recon-cOe my memories of that almost-brother with this self-possessed, solemn young prince. Maybe he'd learned, in the interval, that friendship with Kennard's nedestro heir was not quite the thing for a Hastur.

I could have found out, of course, and he'd never have known. But that's not even a temptation for atelepath, after the first few months. You learn not to pry.

But he didn't feel unfriendly, and presently asked me outright why I hadn't called him by name; caught offguard by the blunt question, I gave him a straight answer instead of a diplomatic one and then, of course,we were all right again.

Once we were inside the gates, the ride to the castle was not long, just long enough to get thoroughlydrenched. I could tell that Father was aching with the damp and cold- he's been lame ever since I couldremember, but the last few winters have been worse-and that Marius was wet and wretched. When wecame into the lee of the castle it was already dark, and though the nightly rain rarely turns to snow at thisseason, there were sharp slashes of sleet in it. I slid from my horse and went quickly to help Fatherdismount, but Lord Dyan had already helped him down and given him his arm.

I withdrew. From my first year in the cadets, I'd made it a habit not to get any closer to Lord Dyan than

I could possibly help. Preferably well out of reach.

There's a custom in the Guards for first-year cadets. We're trained in unarmed combat and we'resupposed to cultivate a habit of being watchful at all times; so during our first season, in the guardroomand armory, anyone superior to us in the Guards is allowed to take us by surprise, if he can, and throwus. It's good training. After a few weeks of being grabbed unexpectedly from behind and dumped hardon a stone floor, you develop something like eyes in the back of your head. Usually it's fairlygood-natured, and although it's a

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rough game and you collect plenty of bruises, no one really

minds.

Dyan, we all agreed, enjoyed it entirely too much. He was an expert wrestler and could have made hispoint without doing much harm, but he was unbelievably rough and never missed a chance to hurtsomebody. Especially me. Once he somehow managed to dislocate my elbow, which I wore in a sling forthe rest of that season. He said it was an accident, but I'm a telepath and he didn't even bother to concealhow much he had enjoyed doing it I wasn't the only cadet who had that experience. During cadettraining, there are times when you hate all your officers. But Dyan was the only one we really feared.

I left Father to him and went back to Regis. "Someone's looking for you,** I told him, pointing out aman in Hastur livery, sheltering in a doorway and looking wet and miserable, as if he'd been out in theweather, waiting, for some time. Regis turned eagerly to hear die message.

"The Regent's compliments, Lord Regis. He has been urgently called into the city. He asks you to make

yourself comfortable and to see him in the morning.*1

Regis made some formal answer and turned to me with a humorless smile. "So much for the eagerwelcome of my loving grandsire."

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One hell of a welcome, indeed, I thought. No one could expect the Regent of Comyn to stand out in therain and wait, hut he could have sent more than a servant's message! I said quickly, "You'll come to us, ofcourse. Send a message with your grandfather's man and come along for some dry clothing and somesupper!"

Regis nodded without speaking. His lips were blue with cold, his hair lying soaked on his forehead. Hegave appropriate orders, and I went back to my own task: making sure that all of Father's entourage,servants, bodyguards, Guardsmen, banner-bearers and poor relations, found their way to their appointedplaces.

Things gradually got themselves sorted out. The Guardsmen went off to their own quarters. The servantsmostly knew what to do. Someone had sent word ahead to have fires lighted and the rooms ready foroccupancy. The rest of us found our way through the labyrinth of halls and corridors to the quartersreserved, for the last dozen generations, to the Alton lords. Before long no one was left in the main hall of

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our quarters except Father, Marius and myself, Regis, Lord Dyan, our personal servants and half a dozen others. Regis was standing before the fire wanning his hands. I remembered the night when Father had broken the news that he was to leave us and spend the next three years at Nevarsin. He and I had been sitting before the fire in the great hall at Armida, cracking nuts and throwing the shells into the fire; after Father finished speaking he had gone to the fire and stood there just like that, quenched and shivering, his face turned away from us all.