have put any chance of that at risk by allowing yourself to be provoked into this foolish duel.’
‘Larien insulted my father and my mother.’
‘He insulted all of us, and he would have been dealt with in time, trust me on that.’
Tyrion did. He realised that he would not like to be subject to any desire for vengeance on his grandfather’s part. ‘Revenge, Tyrion, is a wine which improves with age. It’s one of the things you will need to learn, if you live. If you are to end up where you deserve to be.’
‘I cannot stand by and let my father be insulted.’
‘You will need to learn how to deal with such provocations better. Even if you live, this will not be the last such you will face.’
‘I will do my best.’
‘See that you do, lad, and one last thing...’
‘Yes, grandfather.’
‘Rest assured that if Larien does kill you, my vengeance will be one of which elves will talk for a thousand years.’
‘That would almost make it worth being killed,’ said Tyrion sardonically.
‘No, it would not. Go now and rest and practise. I want you to live. You have a lot to live for.’
Tyrion departed, feeling as if he had just been offered the world, and did not quite know what to do with it.
‘Are you proud of yourself for having provoked this brawl?’ Tyrion looked at his brother, then sprawled in the chair of their shared sitting room. Tyrion could see that he was worried, and that was what was behind his brittle sarcasm.
‘No,’ said Tyrion. ‘I am not. I would have avoided it if I could. I should have avoided it. I can see that now. But I lack your quick wits.’
‘That is not true,’ said Teclis. ‘You are sharp enough when you want to be. I think perhaps you wanted this fight. I think you want the glory of being a famous duellist. I think you are making an early start on a career of violence.’
Tyrion laughed, not least because his brother was right. He could see that now. He did want this fight. He was looking forward to it.
‘It might be a very short career,’ Teclis said. ‘Larien is, by all accounts, something of an expert with the blade. He has killed almost as many elves as Prince Iltharis.’
‘You have been asking around, have you?’
‘Lady Malene told me.’
‘It seems I have become almost as much of a topic of conversation as these daemonic attacks.’
‘Don’t let it go to your head. It most likely will though. There is nothing in that vast empty cavern to stop it.’
‘I am touched by your concern,’ said Tyrion, stifling a yawn.
‘Do not let cousin Liselle keep you awake too long. You are going to need your rest, if you are to survive this thing.’
‘I will survive it, brother, never doubt that.’ It seemed to Tyrion that he was the only one who thought that way.
Tyrion lay beside Liselle on the bed. He stroked her naked back with a feather that had come loose from the pillow during their love-making.
‘That tickles,’ she said, turning to face him and looking long and hard into his face.
‘You are going to have to fight Larien tomorrow, you know,’ she said. Tyrion looked at her. She had obviously heard something he had not.
‘I already knew that,’ he said. ‘I knew it when I struck him.’
‘He cannot be bought off. He cannot be intimidated. He seems to want to go through with this fight almost as much as you do.’ She sounded thoughtful. Tyrion tickled her once again. She squirmed away.
‘You should take this very seriously,’ she said giggling. ‘My grandfather has brought a lot of pressure to bear and it has not worked. That is not usual at all. Usually what he wants, he gets.’
Tyrion did not wonder that his grandfather had not tried to dissuade him. If Tyrion withdrew it would besmirch his reputation and that of his family. He would no longer be a potential candidate for the Phoenix Throne and would become useless as far as his grandfather’s plans were concerned.
‘You do not sound unhappy that this is not the case.’
‘It will not do the old megalomaniac any harm to discover he is not a god. My concern is that you will have to pay the price for his self-knowledge. I do not want anything bad to happen to you.’
Tyrion smiled at her, sensing the insincerity of her words. She was saying them because she felt she had to, because the role she was