"Members of the White Heart sometimes find themselves in a unique position to act as mediators between opposing parties."

Expecting another lecture, she was startled when he said no more. But then, her own analytical mind took over. Of course. They would be trusted by both sides in disputes because the White Heart would try to preserve the lives of everyone, no matter who the aggrieved parties were. The White Heart's goal in any dispute would be a peaceful resolution. To achieve that, they would have to push for a fair settlement for both sides.

Leland commented, "Mind you, only a few within the White Heart have the subtlety to take on this additional role. But you, my dear girl, were born to it."

It was her turn to snort. He had no idea how true that was. She leaned forward, pitching her voice low for his ears alone. "Tell me this, then. Does the White Heart dare to stand between the Empire and its foes?"

He jerked and went rigid in his seat, then relaxed only by slow and forced degrees. He sounded genuinely horrified when he finally choked out, "The Voice himself would not presume to openly defy the Emperor."

Openly? Did that mean the Heart would do so covertly, however? Aloud, she echoed, "The Voice?" The title sounded familiar, but she could not place it. Her studies had not focused overly much on the current Empire.

Regaining his breath a bit, Leland answered, "The Voice is leader of the entire Heart. The Light is the title of he who leads the Royal Order of the Sun, and The Pure leads your order."

"It is not my order, sir!"

"Not yet," Leland replied lightly.

A servant interrupted just then to remind the landsgrave of his upcoming council meeting. Leland nodded impatiently and turned back to her. "I dare not leave you alone, even in my own home."

"Surely I am not in that much danger," she blurted.

He grinned briefly. "Not at all. I simply consider you that big a flight risk."

Chagrin flooded her. She had indeed been planning to bolt at the first opportunity. Although, she had to admit, Leland's line of reasoning had her intrigued. Where was he going with all this hyperbole?

She reasoned aloud, "The Heart at large does not openly defy the Emperor. But the White Heart ... it holds the deep affection of all the common people in every land, does it not? Out of gratitude for its long and peaceful service to them, it is in a unique position to draw together many traditional enemies to a single cause, is it not?"

Leland sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth. "Enough, girl. Say no more. Do not even think it. The Emperor's hounds are everywhere."

So. He begged for her silence not because he disagreed with her, but because he feared the Empire would catch wind of her ideas. She was on the right track to sniff rebellion in the offing. Leaning forward, she studied him intently. "This is the real reason you would force me into this tabard, is it not?"

His answer was hoarse. Heartfelt. "For love of the Lady, do not make me answer that, child."

Will was not reassured when Captain Krugar dragged him and Rosana to a sprawling, ornate pile of stone that looked exactly as he imagined the Emperor's palace to be. Krugar strode under the giant raised portcullis, and Will glanced up at its huge iron-clad teeth in dismay. It looked as if they walked into the jaws of a mighty beast. Mayhap that was not so far from the truth.

Krugar did not stop, nor turn either of them loose, even when a few troopers saluted him here and there. He strode into the great stone edifice situated in the middle of the broad bailey, through a shockingly extravagent anteroom of some kind, and into a huge hall.

"Sit. Stay." Krugar shoved the two of them down onto a bench along one of the walls. He flagged down a soldier and ordered tersely, "Watch those two. Do not let them go anywhere."

Rosana threw Will a chagrined look sidelong. She'd been thinking about making a break for it, too, had she? Smart girl.

She leaned close and whispered, "Say nothing. We both fall under the Kaer's protection. The governor would not dare do anything to us without permission from the High Matriarch."

"Why would she protect us?"

"I am Heart, of course. And you guard me."

She might be safe, but he was not the least bit confident that some stranger would gainsay the governor for him. His apprehension climbed as important-looking personages began filing to the hall and taking seats at an enormous table in the middle of the room.

He recognized various guild colors, and based upon the gray hair and aged visages of the men and women at the table, he surmised he was looking at the masters and mistresses of the Imperial guilds for the colonies.

People in other colors arrived, too. Rosana murmured identifications of a few of them-the Landsgrave of Delphi, Landsgrave Hyland. Landsgrave Talyn, a nulvari, dark elf. His holding, Talyn, was named after him as he was its first and only holder. His race's life spans were such that Talyn could expect to rule his holding for centuries to come.

A fourth man outfitted as a landsgrave sat down at the table. "Who is that?" Will whispered to Rosana.

"Gregor Beltane," she replied promptly. "Landsgrave of Lochnar." A gypsy landsgrave? Will had heard that a few gypsies remained loyal to the Empire, but he'd never seen one in person.

Over the next few minutes, Rosana identified a Heart adept who temporarily ran the Dupree Heart, adding a murmured comment about the Dupree Patriarch dying recently under unexplained circumstances. Apparently, the Heart had its suspicions as to who was behind it given how she threw a dirty look at the governor's empty seat, which was more throne than chair.

Alarmed, Will pondered the ugly ramifications of the governor assassinating a high-ranking Heart member until she pointed out a handsome solinari just coming in. The shining golden skin of the sun elf was hard to miss.

"The yellow elf with pointy ears is the Mage's Guildmaster Aurelius," she murmured.

Will caught his breath sharply at that. Aurelius was the guildmaster? Will's father had sent him to speak to the highest-ranking Mage's Guild member in all of Dupree? He studied the elf closely and was stunned to realize that nearly all the blazons on the guildmaster's chest were identical to the ones he'd seen on his father's chest on that fateful night in Hickory Hollow.

Every chair at the table was filled, but for the grand one at the head of the table, and the people seated in them fidgeted. Until a tall door at the far end of the hall swung open, that was. Then everyone at the table stood and the commoners around the edges of the room knelt. Will followed suit clumsily and slid off the bench to the floor.

A herald loudly announced the arrival of Governor Anton Constantine.

Will peeked up from his kneeling position and was startled to see a richly dressed man wearing green trimmed with gold, balding and approaching middle age, step into the room. His chest was loaded with a gaudy array of blazons, most of which Will did not recognize.

But one of them caught his eye. His father had worn an identical one that night in Hickory Hollow when Ty had donned all his old armor and weapons. It was round, with a turquoise-blue background with an irregular brown shape in the middle. It looked like a map of an island to him.

The man strode down the long hall toward the council table, checking when another man stepped forward without warning and blocked his path.

Will could not hear what the fellow spoke of with the governor, but it looked like a heated exchange. The man was well dressed, mayhap a craftsman or merchant.

"Get out of my way!" Anton snapped.

The man ignored him, continuing to press his point obstinately. His discourse was cut off by the schwing of a blade clearing its sheath. Anton whipped out a golden short sword and struck, fast as a snake, running the man through the heart.

The unlucky fellow and his unfinished speech dropped to the floor as shocked silence fell over the room. Anton yanked his blade free, the gold covered with blood. The Heart adept started to lurch out of his seat, but Anton swung the tip of the bloody sword in the fellow's direction.

"Sit." Anton bit out the order as if the Heart man were no more than a dog to be commanded.

The adept sat.

Anton casually wiped his blade on the dead man's trousers. A large pool of blood was spreading rapidly underneath the man's torso, forcing Anton to step back from the bright red pool. The governor gestured a pair of soldiers over to dispose of the body. "When he resurrects-if he resurrects-fine him five gold."

"For what offense, my lord?" one of the soldiers asked.

"For bleeding on my floor," Anton replied dismissively.

Will stared, appalled to the core of his being, as the governor strolled the remainder of the distance to the head of the table. Not one person at the table moved or spoke. Anton had just killed a man in front of them all, and they'd let him.

As Anton settled upon his throne-like seat, a nulvari woman slid out from behind it and emotionlessly ordered servants to mop up the pool of blood.

"What crime did that man commit?" Will whispered frantically to Rosana.

She shrugged. "He got in the governor's way."

"By the Lady," he breathed. "And that was enough to warrant killing a man and fining him so much?"

"Welcome to Governor Anton Constantine," she muttered back.

The man's death cast a pall over the proceedings as the business meeting commenced. Eventually, however, the subject of a rich vein of recently discovered minerals in the Ice Wall, apparently a great mountain range somewhere far away from Dupree, came up. The parties at the table commenced haggling vigorously over it.

The Forester's Guild claimed the surface lumber, and the Miner's Guild claimed the minable ore. But then the branch of the Forester's Guild that regulated hunters and trappers weighed in and wanted a portion of the forest set aside for them to ply their trade. The Mage's Guild accused the miners of wanting to keep any magical crystals they found for themselves. The Merchant's Guild protested at having to pay for road construction to the region. In response, the landsgraves declared that the merchants should bear the expense unless the landsgraves were cut in for a share of the revenue.

It was at that point Will began to develop a headache. Rosana seemed fascinated by the exchange, but his gaze roamed the hall. He spied an incongruous face across the hall from where he sat-a striking blond girl of nearly an age with him, maybe a few years younger. She looked on the verge of bolting at any moment. He knew the feeling. She glanced over at him, and he nodded at her in commiseration.

"You know her?" Rosana whispered.

"No. But she looks nearly as uncomfortable as me."

"Relax. I will not let any harm come to you."

He smiled a little at that. Rosana seemed fiercely protective of those she cared about and he supposed the trait made her a fine Heart healer. His attention was yanked back to the council table as the governor's voice cut sharply across the bickering.

"Enough. Since none of you can agree on anything, I declare that these mines will fall directly under my purview. All of you will surrender to me the usual percentages of your proceeds from the region, plus taxes of course. You shall share the costs of road building equally, and those, too, shall be subject to the usual tolls payable to me. Are there any questions?" The governor sounded well pleased with the proceeding. As he should be, Will supposed. He'd just taken a huge chunk of income for himself.

Although the others at the table attempted to hide their dismay, it was palpable in the room. That, and resignation. As if the governor seized vast territories and resources for himself on a regular basis.

"Let us move on to other business," Anton announced in a bored tone. "Captain Krugar, you said you have news?"

The soldier who'd dragged Will and Rosana off the pier stepped up to the long table at the governor's right hand. "Yes, my lord. The Heart has sent in a report of a Boki sighting on the Southwatch Road. This independently corroborates my own men's report of an orc attack."

The Heart's adept spoke up immediately. "I have received no such report!"

"I met yon healer at the docks, and she spoke directly to me," Krugar retorted, pointing at Rosana.

All eyes in the room turned in their direction. She shrank close against Will's side, and an urge to put a protective arm around her surprised him.

"Step forward, girl," Anton ordered.

Rosana threw Will a frightened glance but did as ordered.

"Give us your report, then," the governor demanded.

"Uhh, yes, sir. As you wish, sir." She dropped a little curtsy and about fell over in her nervousness. A few desultory chuckles wafted up while the governor rolled his eyes.

"I, umm, traveled with Brother Angelo and Kirchen and Moricello. Kirchen and Moricello, they guarded us. We have no Royal Order in our little chapter house, so we hired guards. But they were good boys. Honest. They wouldn't steal from the Heart-"

"The orcs?" Anton snapped.

Will saw Rosana's cheeks turn pink.

"Sorry, Your Highness, uhh, Your Governess, uhh, sir. So. We traveled the countryside seeking donations of supplies for the Kaer-umm, the Heart. Food is scarce after the hard winter we had, what with the drought and taxes-" She broke off in horror and visibly had to collect herself before continuing, "Our stores, they ran low."

"Get to the point," Anton growled. "The orcs. Where were they?"

"Oh. Yes. Of c-c-ourse," she stammered. "We traveled the Southwatch Road, way out at the far end of it near a bump in the path called Hickory Hollow...."

Will bristled a bit at having his home denigrated thus, although he reluctantly allowed that the hollow was, in truth, little more than the intersection of two footpaths and a few muddy streets lined with miserable huts.

"We threw a wagon wheel and lost most of the afternoon repairing it. We chose not to camp, but rather to head for Hickory Hollow, because the Wylde Wood is a dangerous place at night. We feared wolves or bears, of course, but not orcs. We had no idea Boki would be in the area. I mean really, who could have imagined that-"

"Enough already!" Anton yelled. "What of the cursed orcs?"

Will jumped along with everyone else at the outburst, but not nearly as hard as Rosana jumped. An urge to go to her and protect her from the governor's wrath washed over Will. Visions of a golden blade drenched in gypsy blood danced menacingly in his mind's eye. He watched on helplessly as her face grew even redder.

"The attack came after dark. Maybe, uhh, two hours after. All of a sudden, orcs rushed out of woods at us. They were screaming-"

Anton interrupted sharply, "How many?"

Rosana frowned. "I do not know. I, uhh, maybe panicked a little. They were very big and green. And smelly. They stunk like pig manure-" As laughter broke out, the governor looked on the verge of ordering her put to death. She added hastily, "Four. Maybe five orcs."

"Continue."

She was clearly rattled by the governor's constant interruptions. If the fellow would just let her tell the story, she would no doubt give over all she knew. Will scowled in Anton's general direction as she plowed onward.

"Well, they rushed us. And shouted really loud. Like a war cry." Without warning she let out an ululating howl that made everyone jump first and laugh second.

Anton looked ready to explode, but Rosana stumbled on heedlessly, "Kirchen and Moricello, they fought, or tried to fight, at least." She warmed to her story a bit more and used her arms to gesture as she added, "The orcs were very big. Strong. Fast. They carried giant axes. Never have I seen axes so huge-"

Yet again, Anton snapped. "Yes, yes. Get to the part where you decided this raiding party was Boki!"

"Umm. Right. Well, they were ferocious fighters. And they wove things in hair-you know. Teeth and bits of bone, and ... and...," she added in distaste, "... and cut-off ears. Human and elf and ... and ... other ears I didn't recognize."

Anton's palm cracked down on the table. Will jumped, but not nearly as hard as Rosana did. The governor roared, "This is what you bring to me as proof of an invasion, Krugar? Teeth and ears?" He turned his wrath on Rosana. "And you? Have you ever seen an orc before, girl? Are you sure it wasn't just a few goblins shouting? Or is this mayhap a filthy gypsy ploy to extract compensation out of me for something that didn't even happen?"

Rosana stammered, "B-b-but I didn't make up the attack. A brother and two guards are dead."

"And yet you walked away completely unharmed?" Anton growled. "What flimsy scam is this?"

Will's jaw clenched. Rosana looked near tears.

Beltane growled from his seat, the sound resolving into an angry outburst, "Just because the girl is gypsy does not make her a liar or a thief. Are you willing to risk another greenskin insurrection? Green fires still burn across the colony in remembrance of the last one."

Will stared at the landsgrave, shocked. Since when did such a highborn take up the defense of anyone to such a man as Constantine?

"She has no proof!" Anton raised his voice, drowning out all other protests. "How do I know the Heart hasn't sent a charlatan to trick me into sending troops and supplies to a chapter that's failing to support itself properly? I am no hotheaded landsgrave who overreacts to every outrageous rumor to reach my ears. I am governor, and I require proof before I act."

Someone from down the table, the Heart adept, half-rose out of his seat. "Here, now. There is no cause for accusations against the Heart. A young healer has come in good faith to report an attack upon a Heart caravan. The Heart is entirely within its rights to request support from the Imperial Army to investigate this attack-"

Anton cut the adept off. "Where is her evidence? You expect me simply to take this gypsy at her word and send out an army in response?"