That got a mixed reaction, Arends being what they are and all.

Corrolin, his face bleak, smashed his mailed fist down on the back of his throne. ‘Be not dismayed, my Lords and Ladies,’ he boomed. “There will be other entertainments. An extensive conspiracy hath of late befouled the air – not only here in Mimbre, but in Asturia and Wacune as well. It is my firm intention to cleanse the air here. Seize them!’ This last command was issued to Mandorin and the two-score knights under his command, and Mandorin was quick to carry it out – so quick in fact that there were hardly any casualties. A dozen or so Tolnedrans, both genuine and spurious, were clapped in irons, and several Mimbrate nobles were treated in the same way.

The Grolim who’d been posing as a servant in Kador’s entourage ducked under the arm of the knight who was in the middle of enfolding him in a steely embrace and darted for the door, gathering his Will as he ran. My father, however, was ready for him. Still garbed in that burlap monk’s robe, the Old Wolf delivered a crashing blow to the side of the Grolim’s head with his fist, and the priest of the Dragon-God fell senseless to the floor. Father, I noticed, had judiciously enveloped his right fist in lead, and his blow would have felled an ox. ‘Holy Belgarath’ has a colorful background, and I’ve noticed over the years that he’ll resort to the tactics of tavern brawling almost as quickly as he’ll fall back on sorcery.

The prisoners were all dragged from the room, and then Duke Corrolin described in somewhat tedious detail the Murgo plot which had come to within inches of succeeding. Then, while all the court was still in shock, he told them of the peace-conference that was already in the works. That caused a certain amount of grumbling, but the Duke of Mimbre ran roughshod over the protests. When you put an Arend in full armor, you can’t really expect a velvet touch.

I decided to let father take the credit for my little countercoup in Vo Mimbre. I’m more interested in results than I am in credit, but my father absolutely adores being the center of attention, so I let him bask – or wallow – in public adulation while I went on back to the northern duchies to hammer down the loose ends of my peace-conference.

Duke Kathandrion of Wacune and Earl Mangaran of Asturia had already met a few times, and Countess Asrana, her wicked eyes sparkling, assured me that they seemed to be getting along fairly well. ‘They’re as thick as thieves, Polly,’ she said with a little smirk. ‘That Kathandrion’s absolutely gorgeous, isn’t he?’

‘Never mind, Asrana,’ I told her. ‘Try to keep your predatory instincts under control. What condition’s Oldoran in?’

‘I don’t know about his liver, but his mind’s definitely gone. He’s seeing things that aren’t really there, and he’s raving most of the time. His family’s very upset about that. He’s got some nephews that were eyeing his throne with a great deal of interest, but I don’t think the title’s going to stay in the family. Mangaran’s been demonstrating his capabilities at every turn, and I don’t think any of Oldoran’s nephews are really qualified to replace him. When are we going to convene the peace-conference?’

‘Which peace-conference was that, dear?’

‘The one you’ve been working on ever since you came to Arendia. Don’t be coy, Polly. I know what you’re up to – and I approve of it. Wars are all very stirring for the men, I suppose, but the lives of the ladies here and in Vo Wacune and Vo Mimbre are very tedious when all the pretty young men are out playing in the woods. Now then, what can I do to help?’

Our impromptu peace-conference was to be held, as I’d suggested, at the Greàt Arendish Fair, which is technically in Mimbrate territory. This automatically made Corrolin the host. To be quite honest about it, I’d have been happier with Kathandrion at the head of the table, but you can’t always have things the way you’d like them. I’d have Baron Mandorin sitting at Corrolin’s elbow anyway, and I was sure he could keep his duke from making too many mistakes. I left Vo Astur and went on across the border into Wacune. I wanted to talk with Kathandrion before our conference convened.

‘We’re going to have to be careful, my Lord,’ I told my Wacite friend when I finally got him alone. ‘There are hot-heads in all three duchies, and a chance remark at the wrong time could make this all fly apart on us without any warning. I’ll be talking to the assembled notables from time to time, and I’m going to keep hammering on the fact that as long as any one of the Arendish dukes has regal ambitions, Arendia’s going to be vulnerable to Murgo plotting. There might be an undisputed crown of all Arendia someday, but not right now. I think that the best we can hope for at this particular time is an agreement between you, Mangaran, and Corrolin that there isn’t an Arendish crown, and there’s no point to killing half the population in order to cram a fiction on somebody’s head.’

‘It seemeth me that some unspoken rebuke doth hover over that last remark, my Lady,’ my handsome friend noted.

‘Look upon it as a cautionary word, your Grace. I shall not rebuke thee until thine opinion of thyself doth grow too exalted. Look with profound distrust upon any man who pretends to offer thee a pathway to a non-existent crown. Now, then, I don’t think that lasting peace is going to grow out of one meeting, so I’m going to suggest that we follow an Alorn example here in Arendia. The Alorn kings meet periodically on the Isle of the Winds for discussions of matters of mutual concern. I think we might want to give that notion some consideration here as well. If the three Arendish dukes meet every summer, they’ll be able to deal with any frictions that might have arisen during the past year. Let’s not give any imagined insults time to fester.’

‘I shall strive to mine utmost to make this come to pass, my Lady.’

Then I flew on back to Vo Astur to wheedle a similar agreement out of Mangaran and Asrana. In point of fact, I spent several months on the wing in the skies over Arendia. It’s not a bad idea when you’re dealing with Arends to get agreements on everything before you gather them around the conference table. I kept my agenda simple for this first little get-together, limiting our discussions to two or three crucial points. If I could make this gathering an annual event, there’d be plenty of time at later meetings to expand peaceful contacts.

It was mid-autumn by the time we all gathered in the garishly striped royal pavilion Corrolin had ordered to be set up on the outskirts of the fair, and each ruler rose in turn to address an assembly comprised of assorted state functionaries and by observers from Tolnedra and from the Alorn kingdoms. Corrolin, as host, spoke first. He formally greeted the other two rulers and the emissaries from foreign lands, noting in passing that Salmissra had declined the opportunity to send an observer. He then spent about a half-hour saying nice things about me. I found that part of his speech fairly interesting.