himself to keep his appearance languid while the impatience of the Septs grew almost palpable. At last he reached the place reserved for the Emperor. A thin coat of dust covered the inlayed surface of his podium, where he gestured for the boy to set the parchment before waving him off in the general direction of Douver, the council secretary.
The page relayed the message he'd been given and the secretary looked up at Phoran incredulously. Phoran stared back, doing his best to look neither nervous nor smug as his page rejoined him.
Douver cleared his throat. "Septs of the Empire. I call a general roll so that His Glory the Emperor shall know who attends this meeting. Each Sept will call out as I read his name." He took up a paper and Phoran made a show of removing the top sheet of parchment, which was a copy of the clerk's.
In the end, twenty-four Septs were absent. Phoran was careful to mark each of their names with a stylus while the council watched. Everyone in the room knew that at least eighteen of those named were in the palace.
"Thank you," said Phoran graciously, and without a speech or any further delay, he picked up the first of the proposed laws. "The matter of the trade agreement between the Septs of Isslaw and Blackwater is declared to be Imperial Law."
He set the first parchment to one side and picked up the next. By the tenth parchment the Septs began shifting uncomfortably in their seats - except for Avar, who sat in his chair with arms folded across his chest, and stared at Phoran thoughtfully as Phoran continued his show.
Phoran took the fifteenth parchment and read, "For his services to the Empire, the Sept of Jenne is to be awarded the land from Iscar Rock to the eastern field of Kersay Holm in a path no more than ten miles wide."
He looked up and found the Sept of Jenne in his usual place in the council. "So, what service did you perform for the Empire, Jenne?"
The man he'd addressed stood up. A contemporary of Phoran's father, he was in his late middle years, with iron-grey hair and a short beard. He bowed. "If it please Your Imperial Majesty, it was in the matter of the trouble the Weavers' Guild had last year. I found myself in the position of being able to perform some little service in the matter of raising funds for the displaced merchants."
"Ah," said Phoran. "We had wondered. In any case, this proposal is denied. You may reseat yourself, Jenne." He set it to his left, away from the neat stack of signed documents.
He'd picked up the next proposal when the paralysis wore off and the Sept of Gorrish jumped to his feet followed by a fair number of his followers.
"I protest!" he said, and that was the last thing that anyone heard clearly for several minutes as the Council of Septs roared its displeasure with the Emperor.
Phoran set the parchment he'd picked up back where he'd gotten it and waited for the uproar to die down with as cool a manner as he could force over his pounding heart. His instincts told him that if he were not able to take control of the Septs at this meeting, he never would.
He watched the flushed faces of the men who protested, seeing the hidden satisfaction on Telleridge's countenance at the strength of the Septs' outrage, though Telleridge said nothing. Avar caught Phoran's gaze and raised an eyebrow, then he made a subtle gesture toward himself as if to ask, "May I?"
Avar thought he could do something about this? Phoran raised his own eyebrows (he had never learned the trick of raising only one) and nodded his head.
Avar stood up, jumped the waist-high barrier and landed on the council floor, six feet or so below the seating area. His action caught the attention of the Septs, buying him a momentary lull in the noise.
"Gentlemen," he bellowed. "Any man who is still standing and talking after a count of five, I shall personally challenge to armed deadly combat. Even if I have to fight each of you. His Imperial Majesty will then have a much more pleasant time with your heirs. One. Two. Three."
Avar could do it, too; Phoran knew. Could defeat each and every one of the Septs. That they agreed with Phoran's assessment was demonstrated by the fact that they were seated and silent before Avar reached "four."