"Fools," she said.

"Who do you mean, mother?"

Aximaan Threysz waved her hand in a wide circle. "All of them. To cry out against the Coronal. To think that this is the vengeance of the Divine. Do you think the Divine wants to punish us that badly? We will all starve, Heynok, because the smut has killed the crop, and it makes no difference who is Coronal. It makes no difference at all. Take me home."

"Down with the usurper!" came the cry again, and it rang in her ears like the tolling of a funeral bell as she strode from the hall.

5

Elidath said, looking carefully around the council room at the assembled princes and dukes, "The orders are in Valentine's hand and signed with Valentine's seal, and they are unmistakably genuine. The boy is to be raised to the principate at the earliest possible appropriate time."

"And you think that time has come?" asked Divvis coldly.

The High Counsellor met Divvis's angry gaze evenly. "I do."

"By what do you judge?"

"His instructors tell me that he has mastered the essence of all the teachings."

"So then he can name all the Coronals from Stiamot to Malibor in the correct order! What does that prove?"

"The teachings are more than merely lists of kings, Divvis, as I hope you have not forgotten. He has had the full training and he comprehends it. The Synods and Decretals, the Balances, the Code of Provinces, and all the rest: I trust you recall those things? He has been examined, and he is flawless. His understanding is deep and wise. And he has shown courage, too. In the crossing of the ghazan-tree plain he slew the malorn. Did you know that, Divvis? Not merely eluded it, but slew it. He is extraordinary."

"I think that word is the right one," said Duke Elzandir of Chorg. "I have ridden with him on the hunt, in the forests above Ghiseldorn. He moves quickly, and with a natural grace. His mind is alert. His wit is agile.

He knows what gaps exist in his knowledge, and he takes pains to fill them. He should be elevated at once."

"This is madness!" cried Divvis, slapping the flat of his hand several times angrily against the council-hall table. "Absolute raving madness!"

"Calmly, calmly," Mirigant said. "Such shouting as this is unseemly, Divvis."

"The boy is too young to be a prince!"

"And let us not forget," the Duke of Halanx added, "that he is of low birth."

Quietly Stasilaine said, "How old is he, Elidath?"

The High Counsellor shrugged. "Twenty. Twenty-one, perhaps. Young, I agree. But hardly a child."

"You called him 'the boy' yourself a moment ago," the Duke of Halanx pointed out.

Elidath turned his hands palm upward. "A figure of speech and nothing more. He has a youthful appearance, I grant you. But that's only because he's so slight of build, and short of stature. Boyish, perhaps: but not a boy."

"Not yet a man, either," observed Prince Manganot of Banglecode.