Tirior showed Nish to a chair and drew others up opposite. He tried to hide his stained boot and trousers, but was uncomfortably aware of the smell of manure. Refreshments were brought. Nish held his gla.s.s up to the light, as he knew the custom to be, and praised the colour for being as green as seawater. Vithis sneered. Evidently the comparison was infelicitous. They waited for him to take the first sip.

He did so. The wine was superb. Nish said so. Vithis smiled thinly.

Tirior chuckled. 'It is from my own estate, held by many to be the finest on all Aachan.'

'It may have been once,' grated Vithis, 'though Inthis would dispute that. But the vineyards of Izmak lie under a span and a half of ash and will never sprout again.'

'Alas, true. And so we have come to Santhenar,' said Tirior, 'to make a new life, we few to have survived the calamity. I brought cuttings of the best vines and will plant them with my own hands.'

'Where do you propose to do that?' Nish asked.

'Ah,' said Luxor. 'Wherever we are made welcome. Have you come to talk about that, Marshal Hlar.'

'I have,' said Nish, 'or at least to open a dialogue. Those with the power to negotiate concessions will follow.'

'Bah!' said Vithis. 'This little little fellow isn't even the watchdog, much less the master. He's just a puppy and all he can do is p.i.s.s on First Clan boots, as his horse c.r.a.ps on his. Go home, Marshal Hlar. If you fellow isn't even the watchdog, much less the master. He's just a puppy and all he can do is p.i.s.s on First Clan boots, as his horse c.r.a.ps on his. Go home, Marshal Hlar. If you are are a marshal.' a marshal.'

'I am duly appointed to negotiate with you,' said Nish, signing for Ranii to pa.s.s forward his credentials. 'These are my papers.'

Vithis gave them a perfunctory glance, then tossed them on the floor. 'Any forger could have done better in a night and a day.'

Nish reached for them but Ranii shook her head. What was he supposed to do now? Pretend it had been an accident? 'My papers,' he said with an apologetic glance at Tirior. 'Would you '

Picking them up, she handed them to Ranii, inclining her head minutely. Vithis turned his back, which Nish knew to be an even greater insult. He struggled to maintain his temper, though he must at all costs. Surely even Vithis would not attack them under the blue truce flag. Maybe this was a test. Vithis must be baiting him, to test his mettle.

'Let me be honest with you,' he said, looking to each of the three in turn.

'Meaning you weren't honest before?' said Vithis.

Nish took a deep breath. The man was impossible to deal with. 'I will put our situation plainly. We have been at war with the lyrinx for seven generations. They have hurt us badly. We have lost Meldorin and some strategic cities on the east coast.' Better not make themselves appear too weak. 'Nonetheless, we are hardened by war and will never never give up. We have made many breakthroughs lately: new weapons, and means of delivering them, that will win us the war.' give up. We have made many breakthroughs lately: new weapons, and means of delivering them, that will win us the war.'

'I see no sign of it,' said Vithis, facing him again.

'We will reveal our weapons in our own time,' said Nish.

'Time is what you do not have.'

'We have enough. Even so, we would be glad of your aid. With Aachim help the war could be over within a year, and then ...'

'You ask for everything, yet offer nothing.'

'You invaded our world, surr surr!' Nish snapped. Realising that was undiplomatic, he added quickly, 'I meant that you ask for the greatest prize of all, part of our world. We are listening. Be sure that we will be generous, once '

'In my experience, true generosity is unconditional.'

'We are honourable people, surr,' cried Nish, knowing that he was losing the struggle but not how he might recover. 'I have come in good faith.'

'That proves what a puppy you are,' growled Vithis. 'I have been reading your Histories since we came here. A more treacherous, lying and deceitful species than old humans has never existed in all the Three Worlds.'

'Surr,' said Nish, reining his temper in with the most tremendous effort, 'I beg you, consider what I have come to say.'

'I can read you like a book, Little Marshal. Old humans are weak. You are losing the war; I'd say you have already lost it. There's no benefit for First Clan you can never deliver on your promises. You would say anything to get the aid you need so desperately. And if we did win your war for you, you would betray us. There is no grat.i.tude in humanity, only treachery.'

'Clan Nataz have a different view,' declared Tirior, pushing forward.

Vithis held out his arm, barring her way. 'Clan Nataz do not lead. First Clan has that honour.'

'I hardly think that the lyrinx ' Nish began. His blood was boiling. He wanted to smash the fellow in the face, though it would mean his doom, blue flag or not.

'The lyrinx are beasts, but honourable ones for all that. They do not smile and make lying promises, like creeping, crawling, treacherous humanity. Go away, Little Marshal. You have nothing to offer us. Begone!'

Control yourself. Don't react to the provocation. Nish did his almighty best but suddenly his rage exploded. 'I am young, as you point out. Inexperienced too. But if I wanted lessons in treachery,' he said savagely, 'I could have come to no better place and no more experienced tutor!' Behind him Ranii sucked in her breath. His career as a diplomat was finished, but in the glorious madness of the moment, that counted for naught.

Vithis raised a clenched fist. 'How dare you come into my camp with such insults. I'll '

Nish stepped right up to the tall man. 'I speak nothing but the truth and you know it, n.o.ble n.o.ble Vithis of Inthis First Clan. The evidence of your deceit and treachery lies all around you.' Nish pointed to the constructs extending in every direction. 'You lied to Tiaan. You used her innocence and her naive love.' Vithis of Inthis First Clan. The evidence of your deceit and treachery lies all around you.' Nish pointed to the constructs extending in every direction. 'You lied to Tiaan. You used her innocence and her naive love.'

A handsome young man ran forward, then stopped.

'You must have been building constructs for twenty years before you contacted her,' Nish went on. 'How dare you accuse humanity of treachery when your own soul is as black as your machines? You are a stinking liar, surr.'

Vithis's face went the colour of a leech's intestines. The young man threw himself between them. His strong hands kept clenching and unclenching. 'Foster-father ...'

Vithis swung him out of the way. 'No, Minis, and a thousand times no!' He seized Nish by the front of the shirt, lifting him off the ground. 'What do you know of Tiaan and the flying construct?'

Nish's legs swung in the air. He restrained the urge to kick Vithis.

'To lay hands on an envoy under the blue flag is an act of aggression, surr,' said Ranii.

Vithis tossed Nish to the ground. 'Well, worm?'

'She met the Matah in Tirthrax,' said Nish. 'I don't know anything about a flying construct.'

'How do you know she met the Matah?'

'I was there when the gate opened. I saw you all pa.s.s by. I pursued Tiaan and caught her but the Matah intervened. That is all I know.'

'It's all you will ever know,' cried Vithis, pulling out a black dagger.

Tirior sprang forward, seizing his wrist. Vithis strained but could not break her hold. Luxor stepped to Vithis's other side.

'And under a blue flag!' Nish sneered. 'Once more you prove your character, Vithis of Clan Inthis.'

Vithis shook the pair off, sheathing the blade with an angry thrust. 'Never will we ally with you, Little Marshal. The war will soon be over and you will lose it.'

As Nish turned away, he could not resist one parting sally. 'At least we will be able to say we fought to the bitter end, and that is more than the Aachim ever did. A hundred Charon took your world from you.'

'Get out!' raged Vithis. 'Get out or not even the blue flag will save you.'

Nish was drawing breath for a final insult when Ranii gripped his collar so hard that it hurt. 'I am not going to give away my life so you can score debating points,' she hissed. 'Walk to your horse, get on it and ride away. If you say another word, I will plunge my sword right through the back of your neck.'

THIRTY-FOUR.

By the time they slunk past the last line of constructs onto the plain, Nish's madness had worn off. Ranii said not a word. When he looked around she was back with the soldiers. He kicked the horse into a canter, then a gallop, despite the agony it caused his bruised backside and chafed inner thighs. What a fool he had been. Seize the opportunity with both hands. Ha! Vithis had set the trap and he had fallen right into it.

It was growing dark. The horse began to labour. The poor beast had been going hard all day and did not need a madman on its back at the end of it. A line of trees wavered across the plain in front of him. He slowed to a walk, heading toward the largest, and by the time the others caught up to him Nish had the fire going.

Ranii did not speak to him on the return trip but he knew what she was going to say to Troist. He should never have been entrusted with the job; he had taken what should have been hers, against her advice, and stuffed it up disastrously.

The soldiers were silently efficient. Not once did they meet Nish's eye. He was was a puppy. A failure at everything. a puppy. A failure at everything.

Mounce sought him out as they approached Troist's camp. 'Surr?' he said anxiously.

Nish had no heart to continue the farce. He was no marshal; no command of his could have any force. 'Yes, Sergeant Sergeant Mounce?' 'I Nothing, surr!' Mounce?' 'I Nothing, surr!'

Nish did not hurry to his meeting with Troist. By the time he dragged himself through the flaps of the tent, Ranii was halfway through her report. He listened to the rest in silence. Yara sat on the far side of the room but did not interfere.

Troist turned a haggard face to him. 'Have you anything to add, Marshal Hlar?'

Nish was in no mood to make excuses. 'No, surr. It is as Ranii says.'

'Come on, man, this does not sound like the son of a scrutator! You must have something to say in your defence.'

'The son is not the father,' said Nish. 'I was unbearably provoked, and finally I broke. I will say only this. Vithis is a man entirely without honour, and was so before before his clan was wiped out in the pa.s.sage through the gate. But ...' his clan was wiped out in the pa.s.sage through the gate. But ...'

'Yes?'

'The loss of his clan has driven him over the edge.'

'What do you say to that, Ranii?'

'I hate to say it '

Troist turned on her and his voice was very cold. 'Why would you hate to say it hate to say it? Have you something against Marshal Hlar?'

'I ' she began. 'No, surr, nothing at all.'

'I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate hate to think that you were being obstructive, envoy.' to think that you were being obstructive, envoy.'

'No, surr.'

'Go on.'

'Marshal Hlar may be right. I've never met an Aachim who behaved the way Vithis does. Grief must have turned his mind.'

'He was entirely unreasonable,' said Nish, 'and quite without honour. It is impossible to deal with him.'

Troist sighed. 'What does he want, apart from the conquest of this world?'

Ranii began to answer but Nish interrupted. 'Surely to build his clan anew. To make up for four thousand years of slavery on Aachan. Vithis, I feel sure, is driven to make up for the entire Histories of the Aachim. He will never negotiate.'

'How do you know, Cryl-Nish?'

'He said as much to Tiaan in Tirthrax, after the Aachim came through the gate. The Histories tell me the rest.' Poor Tiaan, Nish thought. I was wrong about her at Tirthrax. It raised the uncomfortable thought that he may have been wrong about her other actions as well.

'Is that all?' said Troist.

'Tirior and Luxor seem reasonable people, surr. If something were to happen to Vithis I believe they would be prepared to bargain with us, as would some of the other clans. It seems that they suffer Vithis for the moment, but clan rivalries run deep. He was openly hostile to Clan Elienor, who are not of the Eleven Clans.'

'Do you disagree with any of this, Ranii?'

'No, surr,' after a long hesitation.

Troist looked across at Yara, who made a gesture with one hand. Nish could not interpret it, but the look on her face suggested that she was as disgusted as Ranii.

'Do you have your commission, Cryl-Nish?' said Troist.

'My commission, surr?'

'As marshal! Surely you did not expect to keep it, after this fiasco?'

'Er, no,' said Nish. 'Vithis cast it on the floor at the beginning of our meeting.'

'Vithis threw your papers on the floor!' Troist exclaimed. 'You did not mention this, Ranii.'

'It ... slipped my mind, surr,' she said hastily. 'I have the doc.u.ments here.'

Troist took the papers and tore them in half. 'It is clear the emba.s.sy was doomed before it began and Vithis had no intention of negotiating.' Troist paced back and forth, as he was wont to do when thinking. 'You may go about your business, Ranii. I'll speak to you in the morning.'

When she was gone he said to Nish, 'I won't pretend I'm happy, Cryl-Nish. Though it seems the mission had little chance, a skilled diplomat might might just have extracted an offer we could have lived with. I am mindful that you are not a diplomat. Even so, you should have put up with his taunts. You have made things worse and I see no hope of an agreement now.' just have extracted an offer we could have lived with. I am mindful that you are not a diplomat. Even so, you should have put up with his taunts. You have made things worse and I see no hope of an agreement now.'

'The man is a tyrant, surr. Not striking back would be seen as a sign of weakness.'

'I didn't ask for a lesson in politics, Cryl-Nish. Our situation is more desperate than you know. With the aid of the Aachim we would probably have won the war. If they stay neutral we will probably lose. But if they ally with the lyrinx ...'

'Yes?' said Nish, when Troist had been pacing for some time.

'It will all be over in a fortnight! Leave us.'

The army continued to grow over the next few days as stragglers, and sometimes large bands, came in from all directions. They now numbered more than four and a half thousand, and their fleet of clankers, ninety-six. A powerful force, though matched by the lyrinx shadowing them in the west. Tension hung in the air, thick as glue. Troist paced more than ever. Fights broke out among the soldiers: brutal, ugly affairs that only ended when one was battered into unconsciousness. The other was whipped b.l.o.o.d.y, but it made no difference. Within hours, there would be another affray.

The whole camp knew of Nish's fall from grace, and that any chance of an alliance with the Aachim had vanished. He ate alone. Nish had begun to have stomach cramps, so knotted was he inside. He had let Troist down, and everyone else. Why hadn't he kept his mouth shut?