old map. "That's where it is. It doesn't even connect to Jenne's lands."
Tier closed his eyes and thought back twenty years, trying to make the lines on the map correspond to the land he had known rather well at one time.
"Water rights," he said finally. "That's the headwaters of the creek that gives Gerant's people water. This piece of land belongs to the Sept of Jenne's father-in-law - or it did twenty years ago. The current Sept might be the son or grandson of the man I'm thinking of, but at any rate, the land's in Jenne's family's hands. It's pretty useless despite its size, because it's in the rainshadow of Brulles Mountain - won't grow anything but sagebrush. If Jenne had control of Brulles - that strip of map should be marked to show the mountain - he could hire a wizard to divert the flow of water and send it down the other side of the mountain, or find some way of diverting the small river that runs on the wrong side for their purposes."
"Hah," the boy exclaimed happily. "It's a payoff. That's the one I want, then. What can you tell me about Gerant's allies?"
Tier hesitated. "Gerant's a good man," he said.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "I'm not planning on hurting him. I..." Now it was his turn to hesitate.
"I suspect," said Tier softly, "that there's a law or two against a common man like me sharing a seat with the Emperor. If you've a need to be incognito, it might be better to take off that ring."
Phoran (doubtless the boy's name was Phoran - though Tier couldn't remember the number that went with the name) looked upset for a moment, glanced at the ring that was the Emperor's seal, then shrugged.
"I'll keep your advice in mind. Well enough. If you know that much, look here." He tapped the paper impatiently. "I need something I can use as a fulcrum to move the power structure in the Council of Septs so that I don't continue to be just a figurehead, and this document is it. It was in my twice-yearly stack of petitions to be signed into law. There aren't many signatures on this - only a few people who owed Jenne something. Like as not most of them didn't know what it was they were signing. You can't even tell that this land is Gerant's without this map."
"Right," said Tier. He hadn't realized that the boy was a figurehead, but then he hadn't concerned himself with any news outside of Redern since he'd left Gerant's services several years before the last Phoran died. "Twenty-sixth," he said aloud.
"Only if you don't count the first Phoran," said Phoran, not the least discomposed. "I like to, though my father didn't. Are you still with me?"
"Right," Tier nodded. "You have a bill, obviously a favor, but not for a Sept who is very powerful. So if you decide to decline to sign it, you're not going to make a slew of enemies. Who could object to your refusal to grant one Sept's lands to another without better reason than you've been given? And I'll put up my right arm that Gerant is no traitor or mischief maker that will embarrass you on this. He's true as oak. So you refuse to sign it, and the rest of the council either supports you, or makes it look like they think the council should have the right to take land from whatever Sept they want without giving an adequate reason."
"That's it," said the boy, gathering up his map and document. "And I have a toehold into ruling on my own. So, you have done me a favor." Carefully he folded the parchment so it fit into his pocket with the map. "I owe you an equal favor. Before I determine how best to repay you, tell me what you are doing here, what this Path that I'm not a member of is, and what the two have to do with each other."
"It's faster if I start with the Path," said Tier after thinking about it for a minute. "The rest of the story should fall out of that." Briefly he outlined the information Telleridge and Myrceria had given him.
Phoran stopped him. "They kill the Traveler wizards for power, these wizards who wear black robes?"
Tier nodded. "So I'm told. I've only met two people - three with you - since I was brought here." He thought the ladies in the bath didn't count.