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and his people exerted themselves to be charming, and LadyLydiell was equally
charming and witty. Kyrtian was awed;he'd never seen his mother quite like
this before, and he had to stretch his own wits to keep pace with the others.
Finally, the last course was placed before them and the fact that
itwas the final course was signaled by the disappearance of every human
servant the moment each plate was placed beforethe diners. Each plate held a
single delicate, gilded fruit-ice thesize of Lydiell's graceful hand. Each
scoop of ice had been
molded into the Lion of Lord Kyndreth's House, with the de- tails
picked out in sugar-crystals and pearlescent icing.
Lord Kyndreth stood up, and raised his cup to Lady Lydiell.
"My dear hostess," he said, in a voice full of warmth and ad-
miration. "I cannot imagine how you conjured up a Court feaston less than no
notice, but allow me to declare that you aresurely the equal of any Great Mage
in the land, and I bow to your prowess. I drink to you, Lady Lydiell!"
The rest answered his toast, and Lydiell gracefully acknowl- edged
the compliment with a nod of her head.
Kyndreth sat down again. "I can see by all of this that myjudgment
of your House was not mistaken. If you do not move in the circles of the
Council, it is not because you do not merit such attention, but because you
chose not to seek it."
He looked from Lydiell to Kyrtian, and back again. It wasLydiell he
evidently expected to answer, and it was Lydiell who made the reply.
"My Lord Kyndreth, our family has long preferred to keepour own
company, and live quietly and even reclusively," Ly-diell murmured. "It is not
out of unseemly pride, I beg to urge,but out of modesty and a genuine
preference for a quiet and reclusive life. All of us my late husband, his
father before him, and my son as well as myself are more of the tempera-ment
of a scholar than of a courtier, and the life of a seeminghermit suits us
well. Perhaps our needs and pleasures may seemsimple to you, but we find that
they satisfy every wish and de-sire we have, for our wishes and desires are
for the inner world of thought, rather than the outer world, which others
might find stimulating, but we find contentious and disturbing."
Kyndreth sighed, a bit melodramatically, perhaps. "And Iwish that you
could continue to enjoy that quiet life, my Lady, but the times, I fear, will
not permit your modesty to deny the genuine talents that lie hidden in this
little haven of yours."
Now he turned to Kyrtian. "Lord Kyrtian, I do not have to tell you
what your reputation is among the ignorant; you haveheard it already from the
mouth of your kinsman, Aelmarkin. I was prepared to discount that reputation
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when I accepted your
invitation, but now I find that your kinsman was not only incor-rect,
he was " Kyndreth shook his head. "Words fail me. Ael-markin is either
poisonously prejudiced against you, orcompletely blind. I have seen and heard
enough in two days toconvince me that, despite your own disclaimers, you,
LordKyrtian, are nothing short of a military genius. This is no mere eccentric
hobby that you have, it is a genuine vocation."
Kyrtian opened his mouth to protest, but Kyndreth silenced him with a
wave of his hand.
"You have, withno help other than that of some ancient man-uscripts,
uncovered a training method that creates expert fight-ers in a fraction of the
time we have taken heretofore and as you yourself pointed out, with none of
the criminal wastage that ourmethod entails. I have seen your strategic
ability in action, Ihave seen your careful attention to every aspect of
military life. Lord Kyrtian, you cannot remain a hermit any longer; you are
desperately needed. The High Council needs you."
"I cannot imagine why you would think that," Kyrtianstammered, taken
completely by surprise. "You already hold thekey to the training-magic, and
you are a greater mage than I "
"We need yourmilitary knowledge," Kyndreth insisted. "Be-tween the
wars with the Wizards and the revolt of our own un-grateful offspring, there [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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