Engor

Julien and the Nine Worlds

Chapters 14-34

The kang was like a massive suite in one of the palatial homes of the French Riviera. Julien was waiting for them, sitting in one of a number of comfortable chairs that had been drawn up around a low table on which was laid out what was presumably intended as a late night snack, just something to appease their hunger before they went to bed – after all, they'd missed supper. But the way Ambar's face lit up when he saw this collection of amazing food almost made what they had gone through seem worthwhile: he was staring open-mouthed at the spread, most of whose wonderful delicacies were completely new to him.

"You got here just in time," Julien told them. "I was just about to eat Ambar's share."

Ambar clearly didn't know how he was expected to behave, and in the end Niil had to push him to a chair and more or less force him to sit down.

"You're going to have to get used to this," he told him. "You're now part of my family. You're not a beggar any more, or a servant. I know you've got no idea what it's like belonging to a Noble House, but don't worry, nobody is going to yell at you if you get things wrong. So help yourself to whatever you want and leave the rest."

"But… Noble Lord," protested Ambar, "Look at the state of me! I'm filthy, and I'll make dirty marks on anything I touch!"

"There's no point in cleaning yourself up now," Niil pointed out, "because you're sure to get gravy all over you. You can have a bath after we've eaten."

Ambar still looked doubtful, so Niil grabbed a fritter and gobbled it down in two bites, not worrying in the least about the fat that dripped from his chin onto his clothes. Julien, who had previously seen him eating with delicate little nibbles when he was dining at Izkya's table, thought it better not to comment.

"So… are you all right, Julien?" Niil asked. "I didn't really understand what happened to you, but you seemed to be stuck to the Guide. And how are your ribs?"

"A lot better, thanks. The doctors gave me something to drink that dulled the pain, and it worked so well that I can scarcely feel a thing. Apparently the ribs are just cracked, not broken, which was lucky – I could easily have ended up with a punctured lung otherwise. They reckon they'll heal on their own, but I'm supposed to take it easy for a bit. I don't care, just as long as it doesn't hurt any more… what about you? Are you all right?"

"There was nothing wrong with me, because I didn't manage to do anything. It's shameful – everyone was fighting and I couldn't help because I wasn't even carrying a knife…"

"You shouldn't blame yourself for that. The fight didn't last long anyway."

"So… just why were you clinging to the Guide like that?"

"I honestly don't know," Julien told him. "I was scared stiff, and then someone bumped into me and I just grabbed at whatever was nearest to stop myself from falling over. I can't really remember, to be honest."

Actually Julien could remember perfectly well how terrifying it had felt to be fused with Aïn. He didn't understand what had happened, though, and he really didn't want to talk about it now. So instead he joined Niil in trying to persuade Ambar to talk, although that wasn't easy, given how good the food was and how enthusiastically Ambar was sampling it. But eventually the boy relaxed sufficiently to tell them, in great detail, the story of his journey from the quay to the Tower.

Julien found a lot of it an absolute eye-opener – for example, the casual way in which this ten- or eleven-year-old spoke about other beggar-boys selling their bodies came as a complete shock to him, and the episode in the shower, and the glee with which this sweet little angel explained how he had beaten his overconfident opponent, also suggested to him that life here was nothing like the life to be found in the world he had left behind. And although he had no sympathy at all for a thug that had intended raping a child, nonetheless he did find himself wincing at the thought of what had happened to him.

"He didn't even have time to yell," Ambar told them. "He took a big breath, but then his head smacked into the wall and he went all floppy. But I hadn't asked him for nothing, and I sure as hell hadn't given him the old signal, so he didn't have no right to force me, did he?"

"Of course not, " Niil assured him. "You were quite right to do what you did – in fact you'd still have been right even if you hadn't had a vital mission to accomplish. I hope the bastard's balls go on aching for a very long time."

"Yeah, well, I hope I don't bump into him again, 'cos if he recognises me he might fancy a bit of revenge."

The idea of a Warrior of Yrcadia wanting revenge was a picture that Niil wanted to get rid of straight away, before Ambar really started worrying.

"There's no chance of that," he said. "You're under the protection of the Ksantiris now."

Now that his story was told, Ambar began to feel really tired – after all, he hadn't been asleep in the guardroom for very long. So he was just about out on his feet as Niil guided him towards a bathroom that Cleopatra would have been proud to use.

"It's all right, Noble Lord" Ambar protested sleepily. "I can manage on my own."

But Niil was having none of it.

"You can barely stand up," he pointed out. "You'd fall over and drown in the bath. And I've told you a hundred times already: stop calling me 'Noble Lord'! Julien, can you come and give me a hand, please?"

Julien wasn't completely sure he wanted to get involved in this. Obviously the thought of a nice hot shower followed by a good soak in a tub with a pair of good-looking boys was very attractive, but there was a clear downside: the sight of Niil removing Ambar's abba was already causing his body to react in a way that he really didn't want to make public – even if Niil, who was now naked himself, appeared to be displaying the same reaction quite unconcernedly.

Julien supposed that there were two possible explanations: either Niil was a raving pervert, or boys bathing together was simply a local custom in this world. Perhaps the same was true for boys and girls together, although that idea was distinctly less enjoyable. In any event, what was going on in front of his eyes was hardly the custom and practice in Paris, and even though he wasn't a regular churchgoer and had been spared the need to learn his catechism or to listen to fulminating clerics ranting on about 'bad habits' and 'unwholesome thoughts', he still knew that – in most people's opinion, anyway – anything that caused even a twitch of sexual excitement was a Really Bad Thing, and probably sinful with it. It would be a long time yet before the sexual revolution of the students reached the minds of the majority of the population!

Even what he and Niil had got up to earlier in the day would have been unthinkable in his own world, and although he'd be a bit irritated when the gong had interrupted them, at the same time he'd been quite relieved that they had been interrupted before they could take things to their logical conclusion. To put it another way, Niil wouldn't have to had to push him very hard at all to move him onto stroking… . (all right, w… wanking – he didn't know any other way to translate kuwa djinpa tang wa) … each other. But he knew perfectly well how ashamed he would have felt after the earth-shaking ecstasy had faded away – after all, that was exactly what happened, like some kind of divine punishment, every time he did it on his own. Not that it had stopped him from doing it – even though he knew how he would feel afterwards, he went on and on abusing his body in that disgusting way…

On the other hand, he was a guest here, and he didn't want to offend his host, did he? 'When in Rome… ', after all. So he stood up, removed his clothes and, not even bothering to try hiding his shameful tumescence, he went to join Niil and his pupil. It was his duty to do so, after all…

He quickly realised that he had misunderstood Ambar's apparent reluctance: the younger boy wasn't worried in the least about being naked, but he had been clearly terribly uncomfortable about the idea of the son of a Noble House acting as a servant to him. Still, once he realised that Niil was determined to do this he simply shrugged and accepted his benefactor's ministrations enthusiastically.

As for Julien, he managed to resist the onrush of lust for the space of three breaths… (all right, then, two and a half… almost… well, a second or two, anyway) before he grabbed a nearby sponge and jumped into the warm water that was cascading from overhead to do what Niil had asked him to – in this case, soaping Ambar.

After a few seconds he abandoned the sponge as a completely superfluous piece of kit, no doubt invented by some dried up old stick of a cleric somewhere. In order to soap someone up effectively and precisely, making sure you get into every nook and cranny (it would be unhygienic to do otherwise!) you have to use your bare (BARE!) hands against the other person's bare (BARE!) skin. Clearly the little pads at the end of one's fingers are intended for exactly this purpose.

This was only the second time in his short life that he had been given an opportunity to explore a body other than his own in this way, and he found the experience to be extremely satisfying. More blissful still was the feeling he got when Ambar, giggling because Niil was tickling him, grabbed Julien's hand and placed it right next to the little stiff member that hitherto Julien had only brushed with the back of his hand while applying the soap. Actually Julien found this quite unsettling, but he soon managed to overcome his initial feeling of shock and enter fully into the spirit of the thing by undertaking a little exploration.

It wasn't actually very big – maybe six or seven centimetres long and about the same thickness as one of his fingers – but the way it felt, an incredible mixture of rigidity and softness, filled him with an amazing feeling of warmth and happiness. It was just as well that he was kneeling down at the time, because he felt sure that if he had been standing up his legs would have betrayed him.

Now that he'd taken this first step and realised how wonderful it felt, he had no hesitation in ignoring the faint pricking of his conscience, which was vainly whispering that nice boys didn't take hold of other boys' personal places, and continuing the process by taking his exploration a step or two further. Besides, he told himself, it was hardly polite just to keep still while Niil was still energetically cleaning Ambar's bottom, even though Julien was pretty sure it was completely clean and had been so for some time. So he investigated what he was holding and discovered that the cute little foreskin retracted easily to display a little, round, cherry-pink head, not so very different from his own. Maybe his was a little larger, but then he supposed that he was rather older than Ambar. And the little bag at the base of Ambar's projection held two delicate little balls which, once again, felt much the same as his own.

He could have gone on fondling them all night, but at that point Ambar grabbed his hand, put it back on the shaft and moved it a couple of times, indicating that he was by now more than ready to finish things off so that he could go and resume his interrupted sleep.

It would have taken a heart of stone not to comply with the boy's evident need, and Julien didn't have a heart of stone. Sitting cross-legged, his nose only a few centimetres away from the object of his attentions, he gave it his best effort. He was helped by Niil, who was industriously applying his attention, and his fingers, to areas which Julien had previously thought to have nothing to do with pleasure – although Ambar's joyous reaction to being manipulated both front and rear fairly soon convinced him that he'd been missing something.

With two busy operators manipulating him in tandem it was clear that Ambar wasn't going to be able to hold out for very long, but when things reached their eventual conclusion it was to the accompaniment of some happy squeaking noises from Ambar, whose whole body tensed up for a few seconds before he sagged back into Niil's arms.

"Thank you," he said, politely. "Thank you very much." Which just showed that he'd been properly brought up, of course.

He fell asleep while they were still drying him, after which Niil carried his limp, blissed-out little body into the large bedroom, laying it gently on one of the three beds that had been prepared for them and covering it with a light sheet.

"I think maybe we should go to bed too," he said to Julien. "We'll have time enough tomorrow to have a proper soak in the tub."

Julien was distinctly disappointed: after the build-up he'd just been through he thought it would be difficult for him to get to sleep, especially given that one part of him at least was clearly not ready to switch off for the night. On the other hand, perhaps it would be just as well to stop now, before he became completely depraved…

"Would it be all right with you if we shared a bed?" Niil went on.

Of course, thought Julien, sharing a bed wasn't depraved, was it? This was simply a case of a boy who had been through a terrible experience just looking for a companionable shoulder to rest his head against… And it would have taken a heart of stone…

"Of course!" he replied. "I don't really want to sleep alone either."

***

To sleep, perchance to dream… but not just yet.

Niil extinguished all the lights except for one small one, and then they lay down on a bed so massive that it had either been designed with a giant in mind, or was intended for nocturnal activities with more than a single participant. Julien settled into the embrace of the strange boy that he was already starting to consider a friend, or perhaps even the brother he had never had. Of course, they were no longer in a bathroom, so this wasn't the time or place for horsing around… and what happened seemed to Julien to be so straightforward, so right, that he just went with the flow with scarcely a second thought.

Gradually Niil's gentle caresses began to overcome the restraints that had been imposed on Julien by the hypocritical, puritanical education through which he had grown – an education that despised not only the human body, but kindness itself, and gentleness, and which prevented boys from touching each other except when exchanging blows in anger.

It was clear that here things were different: the boys touched each other, and it felt wonderful. Now that they were no longer under the shower Julien could feel for the first time how soft Niil's skin was. He stroked the small of the other boy's back, feeling it arch under his caress, and moved on to the prefect curve of the firm, warm buttocks. By now all his reservations had vanished away and he explored his friend's body happily, allowing his fingers to wander where they liked, and he found that they apparently knew already precisely where and how to apply their caresses. Niil was teaching him exactly what to do, and he was doing his best to show what a good pupil he was by returning each gesture – with interest, if he could.

Slowly their caresses became more overtly sexual, until Niil took both erections in his hand and started to squeeze them together. Not wanting to be outdone, Julien took hold of their balls and held all four carefully in one hand.

Of course, this couldn't go on for too long: even though they kept fairly still, the way the whole lengths of their erections were rubbing against each other, and the sensation of the uncovered heads of their penises pressing against each other, was too powerful. And so, too soon, they were both pushed beyond the point of no return, and together they experienced the ultimate ecstasy, all the more powerful because they were both still dry.

And then finally exhaustion claimed them, so that before they could even disentangle their entwined limbs they both fell into the deep, calm waters of a dreamless sleep.

Sunlight filled the kang. The boys had been awake for some time,and when they had got out of bed they had opened the curtains to reveal a breathtaking landscape of towers and gardens, set against the backdrop of the elegant buildings of the city of Aleth. But at this moment they weren't interested in the view.

"I'm starving!" said Niil from the tub, where he was soaking in cool water after his shower. "I can't actually remember eating anything last night."

Julien, who had been woken up by the pain in his ribs, was twisting around carefully in order to look at the massive purple bruise in the mirror. He glanced into the next room and saw that the remains of last night's feast had been removed.

"I'm pretty hungry myself," he said. "We must have been asleep for quite a long time."

"We were. It's already after noon. And that's one hell of a bruise you've got."

"Yes, and it's starting to hurt again. Do you think they'll give me something for it?"

"Of course they will. It'll probably come when we get our breakfast."

"Noble Lord," said Ambar, who had just put on a plain white house lai, "Why don't I run to the kitchen to find you something to eat?"

Niil laughed. "Ambar, you're not my servant, remember?" he said. "You're my guest. Maybe you just want to head for the kitchen so that you can stuff yourself with our breakfast as well as yours, but tough, you'll have to wait here and share it with us properly. But you can pull the handle by the door if you like."

Ambar did that, and a smiling servant came in. He looked about forty, and the way he moved suggested that he might also be a bodyguard of sorts.

"Good morning, Noble Lords," he said. "My name is Tannder, and the First Lord has sent me to look after you. I'll make sure Your Lordships have everything you need and I'll serve as your guide around the house. Right now Your Lordships look as if you'd like something to eat…"

"Honourable Tannder," replied Niil, pulling a lai over his head, "do us a favour: drop the High Speech and just sort us out something to eat before we starve. Oh, and ask the Health Masters for some painkillers for Julien, too…"

***

The Health Masters had left a colourless, tasteless potion which dispelled Julien's pain completely. Breakfast turned out to be huge, and they got stuck into it enthusiastically, although afterwards Ambar did need another wash, of his face and hands at least.

By now Julien had had time to consider what had happened the previous evening, and he was delighted to discover that he didn't feel even remotely guilty about it. On the contrary, he found that he felt good about it – so much so that he felt sure that he'd want to do it again.

As for Ambar, now that he'd had a good breakfast he decided to take advantage of his apparent new status by squeezing onto the couch between the other two, wriggling about and posing in such a way as to suggest that there might be better ways of spending the afternoon than merely going back to sleep. He didn't even need to say anything: the look on his face and his body language were extremely expressive.

Sadly, fate intervened in the person of Tannder, killing the project stone dead before it even had time to be born.

"The First Lord wants to see all three of you as soon as possible," he said. "He left word that you were to be allowed to sleep for as long as you needed and to eat a good breakfast, but I think you should consider going to see him straight away now."

Niil belched discreetly, shielding his mouth with his hand.

"Very well," he said. "Lead the way, Tannder."

***

The windows in the private audience chamber were wide open, admitting some pleasantly cool air which suggested that it had rained a bit earlier. The First Lord was waiting for them there, and so was Aïn the Guide, and he just stared with his yellow eyes at Julien's face.

"Noble Son Niil," said the First Lord, "I've already met your First-Greeted, and I congratulate you for having been prepared to call on him for help when you needed to. However, I don't know your other companion. My daughter has told me a bit about him, and so has the Master Guide Aïn, but I'd really like to know a bit more."

"First Lord, I think that it would be better for the Honourable Julien to answer your questions himself."

"Very well. Honoured Guest, please speak."

So Julien spent the next two hours telling them his story and then answering the First Lord's many questions. And then Aïn, who had been listening closely, spoke for the first time since Julien had met him, and in so doing demonstrated why he had hitherto been so taciturn: his vocal system really wasn't suited to human speech, and what emerged was more of a squeak than normal speech.

"Yu-lee-yain," he began, "You say nowthing abwout Yol the Intwepid."

"I don't know who Yol the Intrepid is."

"You weaw his mawk. You hawve cewtainly met him."

"Well, it's possible, I suppose – but I don't even know what he looks like."

"He iss a Gwuide, like me. He looks like me."

"Sorry, but you're the first blue dog I've ever met – honest!"

"I do not know what a dowg is."

"It's an animal, a pet… I'm sorry, I don't meant to offend you…"

"It iss fine. Iss thewe a dowg in youw fwamily?"

"Yes, we've got a big black Bouvier. But his name is Ugo…"

He realised that this was a stupid remark, and amended, "Well, at least, that's what my parents called him."

Aïn thought for a moment, and then he got up and walked over to Julien.

"Yu-lee-yain, would you please put youw hand on me and allow me to look into youw mind?"

Julien didn't answer straight away. The prospect of having to open himself up to the Guide again really wasn't very appealing, especially bearing in mind what he'd been doing with Ambar and Niil since they reached the Tower.

"I know that it iss not pweasant," said Aïn, "but I will twy to be ass quick ass I can. Pwease give me youw pewmisswion."

Julien sighed and nodded. "All right," he said, unenthusiastically.

He put his hand on Aïn's neck, and once again he had the horrible experience of someone else riffling through his most secret memories, rooting through his thoughts and reminding him of things he would much sooner have forgotten. Then all that came to an end as Aïn spoke inside his head.

It is absolutely certain that you have crossed Yol's path. He's given you a lot of instruction, probably while you were asleep. I'm fairly sure that Yol was the one you call Ugo, although I have no idea why he didn't tell you his real name.

But Ugo is a dog, thought Julien. He's just an animal! Animals can't speak!

For a moment Aïn didn't answer, but Julien could feel that the Guide was seriously worried. Finally he spoke again.

I can't completely grasp this, but I am almost sure that Yol and Ugo are the same person. And as for you… well… I don't think you're just the person you think you are either.

The contact broke abruptly and the Guide went back to his place beside the First Lord, who put his hand on him for a few moments of silent but serious communication.

"Julien," he said eventually, "there's clearly a mystery here that we will need to unravel. But before that there's something else important that we need to deal with. Let's go back to your kang."

A few minutes later Lord Aldegard was speaking in a solemn voice to a very nervous Ambar, who was just about managing to stand still in front of him without fidgeting.

"Ambar, Son of Aliya of Fruit Quay, First-Greeted of Niil, Third Son of the Ksantiris: your Benefactor called you and you responded. At the darkest hour and in defiance of danger you fulfilled your mission without expecting any reward. Ambar, the Tradition is clear: you are entitled to demand a place as a full member of the Noble Family of the Ksantiris. Ambar, son of Aliya of Fruit Quay, is this your desire?"

It was obvious that the boy was extremely uncomfortable.

"First Lord," he said, "I've already told Lord Niil that I don't want no reward. He's been good to me, and anyway I didn't do nothing 'cept carry a message."

"Well if that is your wish…"

"First Lord of the Bakhtars!" interrupted Niil (thereby breaking all the rules of etiquette). "Mirror of the Emperor! I know the Tradition. It's not yet my First-Greeted's decision to make. Tradition says he has the right to refuse whatever I might offer, but there's nothing in it about him having to ask for anything. Forgive me, First Lord, I'm not trying to contradict you here, but I know that my Noble Father wouldn't want me to fail to do my duty. And clearly my duty is to ask my First-Greeted if he would do me the great honour of joining our Noble Family, in a position immediately below my own."

Ambar opened his mouth, but Niil hurried on without giving him the chance to argue.

"My Noble Father has often said that if we can't recognise courage and loyalty when we meet it, even if it is displayed by the humblest of men, then we are unworthy of command. Here" (and he pointed at Ambar) "I can see plenty of courage and loyalty – more than enough for him to claim the Noble Name of Ksantiri. Look, Ambar, my father won't be angry about accepting you – on the contrary, he'll be happy that I've recognised your bravery. Please say you'll agree to join our family as my Noble Brother."

"That's really good of you," said Ambar, blushing all over, "but what'll people think? They'll say as…"

"I really don't care what people think," cut in Niil.

"Sorry, Noble Lord, but they'll say as you're a fool and I've taken you for a ride."

Niil was about to answer that, but the First Lord started laughing.

"Ambar," he said, "anyone who said that would simply be showing themselves to be rather stupid and completely lacking in good judgement. On the other hand, I can tell you that I, Aldegard, First Lord of the Bakhtars and Mirror of the Emperor, think that Niil of the Ksantiris has made a very wise decision, and I whole-heartedly endorse his choice. So, Ambar – what do you say?"

"Nothing, I suppose."

"Right, then: Niil, greet Ambar the official way."

Niil approached the boy who was only going to be his First-Greeted for a little longer and, as he had done the previous evening when entrusting him with the rescue mission, he gently took hold of his head and touched their foreheads together.

After a few seconds the First Lord declared, "You are now Ambar, Fourth Son of the Ksantiris. Shortly your Noble Brother will transmit to you the Marks of your Noble Family. Our own Guardian of Traditions will help him with that in due course. Oh, and I'll contact the Noble Lord Ylavan myself to give him the good news that he now has a fourth son." He laughed, and that brought an end to the solemnity of the occasion.

"Now let's celebrate," he went on. "You're invited to dine with me this evening – and that goes for your brother and Julien too."

In this assembly of nobles and dignitaries Julien was a complete nobody, and yet, in defiance of all custom, he was seated on Aldegard's immediate left. On Julien's other side was Aïn the Guide, and Julien had to make a definite effort to stop himself from scratching him behind the ears, the way he used to with Ugo. Of course, Julien's mother would certainly not have allowed the dog to be anywhere near the dinner table…

At the other end of the table Ambar clearly felt uncomfortable in this exalted company and was sticking like glue to Niil, who was discreetly demonstrating how to eat the various delicacies that were constantly appearing before him in a refined and socially acceptable manner.

The First Lord gave Julien plenty of time to enjoy his meal before raising the important issue.

"Son, I know you're keen to get back home to your own world and to your family, and we'll do everything we possibly can to help you. But if we're going to do that I'm afraid it's going to mean you having your mind examined again. Aïn has told me how unpleasant that is for you, but we haven't been able to find any other way of finding out where you came from. Obviously we won't do anything that is against your will, so that's why I'm asking for your agreement."

Julien most certainly did not agree. Absolutely not! He turned towards Aïn, and now he really didn't feel like scratching his head. But he could read nothing in those big yellow eyes… He told himself that there was no rush: he was perfectly happy where he was, and he even had friends here. It was like being on holiday, only better. But… he really couldn't enjoy himself properly here knowing that his parents were going mad with worry. He supposed that there was really no choice.

"Yes… I mean, yes, First Lord, I agree for Aïn to enter my mind again."

"Then he'll come and fetch you this evening."

***

When the door finally opened to admit the strange 'blue dog' Julien had been ready and waiting for some time. For this occasion he had put on the green abba that Izkya had given him. Niil and Ambar, both wearing the grey lakh of House Ksantiri, made it clear that they intended going with him, but the guard who had accompanied Aïn made it equally clear that the First Lord did not require their presence. Niil was on the point of arguing, but he remembered just in time that in this place the First Lord's wishes were as law and could not be challenged.

Aïn and Julien met the First Lord in a bare circular room with no windows. Waiting with the First Lord were three stern-looking old men and two more Guides, one with fur that was a surprising apple-green colour and the other with a rather more orthodox reddish-brown pelt. In the centre of the room was a small raised dais, to which was bolted an empty wooden chair. The arrangement looked rather like the setting for an examination.

"Julien," said Aldegard, "I'd like you to allow three Masters of the Major Arts to examine you. With your agreement Aïn and these other two Guides will help them to try to find out where and how you met Yol the Intrepid. I should warn you that the procedure can be quite unpleasant. Nobody likes having his mind invaded, and you're free to refuse if you want. But right now we can't think of any other way to find the information we need to send you home. It's your decision…"

The idea of having six people digging away inside his head terrified him, but he recognised that without help he would be unable to find his way back to his world and to his parents.

"Noble Lord," he said, "I don't think I really have a choice."

"I think you're right. So now the Noble Master Frenndhir will formally ask your permission, on behalf of the whole group, to enter your mind. I'll stay to make sure that everything goes as it should and that the rules are adhered to."

He gestured to Julien to take his place in the chair, which reminded Julien rather ominously of the ones used in dental surgeries. Then one of the old men stepped forward.

"Julien, I am Frenndhir, of the Akshantaks, Master of the Major Arts," he said. "On behalf of myself and my five colleagues I ask for your permission to enter your mind in order to read it for your own benefit. Julien, do we have your permission?"

"Yes, you do."

The others formed themselves into a chain, alternating humans and Guides, and then Frenndhir pressed his hand against Julien's head.

He hadn't liked having Aïn inside his head and he'd thought that nothing could be worse than that sensation of complete nakedness and exposure to a particularly perceptive outside eye. But he'd been wrong. Now he had six people scrabbling about inside his head, and this time it wasn't just an alien that was like a sort of super-evolved dog – no, this time three of them were human. Humans like himself, who would recognise absolutely everything they found. Humans who looked disturbingly like the sort of old headmaster who thinks that 'leniency' is a dirty word. He felt like screaming. Fortunately Aïn, who could feel his distress, sent him some reassuring thoughts.

Julien, nobody is trying to embarrass you. We're just looking for signs of what Yol did to you, and for things that shouldn't be in the mind of an ordinary boy of your age.

Julien supposed that it was possible that the people rummaging through his thoughts only had the best of intentions. But right at that moment it felt to him that things were creeping into his every thought like probing fingers, digging up hidden memories and scrutinising them closely. Like, for example, that time four years ago when he had been on a school trip and had woken up with his pyjamas completely drenched… NOOO!!

Calm down. This time the thought came from a human. We're not trying to humiliate you, but we have to check all your memories. If it's too hard for you, we can stop.

And in fact it had stopped: once again he felt alone in his head… well, alone apart from the one old man who was talking to him.

If you tell me what you're looking for, maybe I can help, he thought.

You can't help. Aïn assures us that you are a Guide, but we can't find any sign of that. Other than the fact that you don't come from any of the Nine Worlds you seem to be a perfectly ordinary boy. Perhaps if we dig deeper we'll be able to find out how you got here, but if it's too uncomfortable for you we could take a break and try again later.

No, I'd sooner you carried on. The sooner we're finished, the better.

Once again his head was invaded by inquisitors who forced a jumble of memories to the surface, emotions and images flashing by like a chaotic video tape on fast forward, hurling his emotions from joy to despair and back again at high speed. He went uncontrollably from serene calm to wild excitement, from pride to shame, and he was completely helpless to stop it. His face had frozen into a stone mask, and the only outward sign of the hideous internal turmoil he was undergoing were the shiny twin tracks of his tears as they leaked through his closed eyelids.

Sitting just in front of him, the First Lord was watching, and although his expression didn't betray his thoughts, he was profoundly concerned at the thought of what Julien was going through. When he had spoken to the six Masters earlier they had assured him that it would only take them a few seconds to find what they needed. Aïn had insisted that when he had himself made contact with the boy's mind the previous day, the first and most obvious thing about it, blazing like the sun, was the massive power of this apparently unaware Guide. But the process had now been running for more than five minutes, and as far as Aldegard could see the only thing they were accomplishing was the flow of tears down that frozen face. He made the only possible decision.

"Masters," he said, "that's enough. You need to stop torturing this child."

He spoke calmly and without raising his voice, but the chain of humans and Guides broke up straight away, while Julien, slumping forward in the chair, tried in vain to control the sobs that were racking his frame. As if awakening from a dream the Masters stared at the suffering boy. Finally Frenndhir found his voice.

"We had no idea it was so terrible for him," he said speaking on behalf of all of them. "We were engrossed in our search, and frustrated that we couldn't find anything. Julien, I swear we didn't know… we had no idea…"

"Honourable Masters," interrupted the First Lord, "You have done something to his child that the Law forbids us to do even to a criminal. I hope," and now his voice was becoming menacing, "that you haven't caused any irreparable damage, but in any case it's clear that you've made a serious mistake. The Major Circle of Noble Arts and the Central Council of Guides will have to investigate your conduct in due course. I don't think that what you have done can be easily forgiven. It isn't down to me to forgive or not to forgive, but in any case I don't think there's very much that you could say to defend your actions."

Nobody had anything to say in response. Aldegard went to the chair, where Julien was now curled up in a foetal position, picked him up effortlessly and carried him from the room. As they left the room behind them he felt the boy move a little in order to put his arms around Aldegard's neck. Despite his worry for the boy Aldegard smiled a little when he realised what he looked like: here he was, the Mirror of the Emperor, carrying a crying kid through the corridors – and with a face full of the kid's ridiculously long untidy red hair, too.

He hesitated briefly, wondering if he should take the boy to Lady Delia, but then decided that he would be better off with the people he saw as his friends. So he made his way to their kang, ignoring the startled looks on the faces of the people he passed.

"Ksantiri, can you look after your guest?"

The question was as unexpected as the sight of the First Lord in the doorway with a sobbing Julien in his arms.

"Of course we can, Noble Lord. But… what happened to him?"

"Apparently the Masters of the Major Arts lack self-control. And I didn't intervene quickly enough."

"Did they hurt him?"

"They didn't mean to, but yes, they did."

"Is it serious?"

"I don't know. I hope not, but he needs to be with his friends. I expect a Health Master could give him something to make him sleep, but I don't think that's what he really needs. Give him a bath – that should relax him a bit – and then put him to bed. It would probably be best if you and your First-G… I mean your brother, stayed with him until morning."

"Don't worry, Noble Lord, we won't go anywhere. But what's been done to him exactly?"

"They probed his mind to try to find out who he is and where he comes from. It seems your friend is no ordinary boy: Aïn says he's a Guide, and that he met a famous Master Guide who died about ten years ago. But the people who were examining him just now couldn't find any trace of any of that. Then they got carried away, and… well, this is the result. They're guilty of very serious professional misconduct. This sort of thing is expressly forbidden by the Laws of the R'hinz – they probed him far too quickly, far too deeply and for too ruthlessly…"

The tone of the First Lord's voice made it clear – far more obviously than the actual words – how extremely angry he was about what had happened. He made what had happened to Julien sound almost obscene, and he was clearly struggling to keep his emotions in check. He took a deep breath and carried on, a little more calmly, "I can't understand how Aïn, my own Master Guide, could have been so careless… anyhow, it's over. We'll have to find some other way of solving the mystery of this boy, because I can promise you that nobody is going to probe his mind again."

Julien looked a complete mess. He could barely stand, his eyes were swollen from crying and snot was dripping unchecked from his nose. Lord Aldegard left, and Niil and Ambar undressed their friend and led him to the large tub in the bathroom, settling down in it together.

***

After a few minutes Julien began to relax a little. He stopped crying and became aware of his surroundings once more.

"How do you feel?" Niil asked him.

"I've got a headache," said Julien with a grimace. "And I'm thirsty, too."

Ambar jumped out of the tub and, not caring that he was dripping all over the place, went to fetch a drink. The cool raal tasted heavenly and Julien swallowed two mugs of it in quick succession.

"Thanks, Ambar," he said. "Do you think you could find out if I'm allowed any of that pain-killing stuff they gave me before? It might work for my head as well as my ribs."

Ambar was already halfway out of the water, apparently ready to run naked into the corridor, when Niil stopped him.

"Wait!" he said. "Just call Tannder – pull the handle by the door."

Tannder appeared almost immediately and came back with the potion in no time.

"Honourable Julien," he said, "I can give you a massage if you like. It would help you to relax…"

Julien looked at Niil, who shrugged, and so Julien said, "Thanks, Tannder. I'd like that, if it isn't asking too much."

Apparently nothing was too much for Tannder if it contributed to his guests' well-being. Julien soon found himself, having been dried and anointed with perfumed oil, lying on his stomach and being wonderfully kneaded by an expert under the watchful eyes of his two friends who, sadly, had to content themselves with drying each other very thoroughly. Of course, the results of this meant that they had to find something to wear rather quickly in order to hide a certain stiffness that, while perfectly natural, was a little embarrassing, even here on a world that didn't worry too much about such things

By now Julien's mind was almost as numb as his body was relaxed, and he was at the borders of Dreamland, and so when Tannder asked him to turn over onto his back he obeyed without thinking about it, thus displaying to his audience a front side of his body which included a clear pointer that his body had become revitalised. As soon as he realised how exposed he was he blushed – well, anyone would in those circumstances – but at least he managed not to make things worse by trying to hide his condition behind his hands. It's a clear indication of how much Niil and Ambar liked him that neither of them said or did anything to suggest that they had noticed Julien's condition: not even so much as a giggle escaped their lips.

So Julien closed his eyes and was waiting for the massage to continue, when Tannder, ever the impeccable gentleman's gentleman, leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Would you like me to take care of your Honourable Penis for you?"

Julien had already decided that he would be happy to abide by local customs while he was in Aleth – 'When in Rome', once again. But this was definitely going too far. This was like a PE teacher at school suggesting that a quick wank would be the perfect way to warm up for gymnastics. He managed to restrain himself from getting up and running away; but his voice was a bit unsteady when he replied, "Er… no, thanks, Tannder. It'll go down in its own eventually."

Tannder was tactful enough not to insist, and instead resumed his extremely efficient ministrations to Julien's shoulders – and he was so efficient that Julien fell asleep in mid-massage and had to be carried to his bed.

Waking up between two friends who are caressing your most delicate bits is by no means the worst way to wake from a period of dreamless sleep. Indeed, Julien would have been perfectly happy to stay there and enjoy it, had the previous evening's raal not indicated that it was extremely keen to return to the ground from whence it came. So he lifted Ambar's hand away from his groin, rolled to the right and gave the surprised boy a quick kiss on the nose.

"Morning, Ambar," he said. "Sorry, but I need to go and pee."

He turned to Niil and added, "Morning to you, too. Sorry – I really have to go…"

He threw back the sheet and headed for the bathroom, only to discover that Ambar, a playful grin on his face, was following him.

"I need to go, too," said the younger boy. "You don't mind if I come with you, do you?"

By now Julien was getting used to this sort of familiarity, but he was a bit concerned about the state of his equipment, which was extremely hard and so not in the ideal condition for peeing. And he felt sure that if Ambar, who was in a similar condition, insisted on coming with him, there was little chance of its solidity diminishing in the slightest. All the same, he answered politely, "No, of course not. Be my guest."

The toilet area was the type where there is just a hole in the floor, and there was room for them to stand side by side in front of it. Julien tried as hard as he could to think of something – anything – other than the show Ambar was putting on for him, but it was far from simple, and it was clear that Ambar had no intention of making it easy for him. Carefully drawing his foreskin back – clearly he'd been taught the importance of good hygiene – he commented on his own difficulty, smiling mischievously as he did so.

"It's not easy, is it? Usually it softens up after I get out of bed, but for some reason it don't seem to want to this morning, look. Ah, I think we're getting somewhere…"

And indeed a short spurt of straw-coloured liquid squirted from his erection, overshot the hole and hit the wall beyond it.

"Oops!" he said. "Too high! But if I try to bend it, nothing comes out. Are you having the same problem?"

"Yes," said Julien. "Now I wonder why that is?"

Actually there was something seeping from the end of his penis, but it was only the clear, slick and tasteless (he'd tried it once or twice) liquid which he'd noticed himself producing when he became erect. It had been happening for a little while now, and while it was helpful, in that it meant he could rub himself without needing to spit on his hand, it was also a bit of a nuisance when it made a damp spot on his underwear. And once or twice it had even soaked through and marked his shorts, although so far he'd been lucky and nobody had noticed.

"Perhaps you could give me a hand?" suggested Ambar.

"Huh?!"

"Well, all the time it's as stiff as this I can't piss. Got any ideas as to what we could do about it?"

"I haven't the least idea what you mean!"

Niil's voice came through from the bedroom.

"Look, be nice and do what he wants," it said. "If you're lucky he'll leave you to pee in peace afterwards."

Julien reasoned that it would be the height of bad manners not to concede, the more so since he was actually quite keen to do it. So he grabbed the boy's organ, clearly determined to do whatever was necessary, only to discover that Ambar had his own idea as to exactly how this should be done.

"Not like that," he said, and he turned his back on Julien and reversed into him so that his back was pressed against Julien's stomach. Then he guided the older boy's hand to its target.

Julien thought that this felt incredible. It was completely practical – he could manipulate Ambar's erection as easily as he usually did his own – and it was also intensely erotic: his penis was squeezed against the small of Ambar's back, his testicles against the boy's buttocks, and with Ambar's frail shoulder-blades pressed against his chest, the close-cropped, slightly scented velvety hair just beneath his nose and his left hand caressing Ambar's soft stomach, it gave him an overwhelming feeling of closeness to the other boy. As Ambar leaned back against him he began to manipulate the younger boy's stiff penis, slowly sliding the thin, almost translucent, skin up and down, covering and revealing the dark-coloured tip and gradually speeding up as his own excitement grew. He was increasingly conscious of his own erection as it was rubbed sensuously between his stomach and Ambar's back, and it seemed to him that they were almost one being: he could sense the way Ambar's excitement was growing, and felt almost as if he was rubbing his own member.

Then Ambar's body went rigid and he gave a high-pitched squeal, and he remained frozen like that for a few seconds as Julien hugged him more tightly. Finally he relaxed with a sigh of contentment. But as Julien started to let him go he said, "No, stay where you are and keep hold of me – please?"

And as his penis softened he began to let loose a warm, golden flow, which Julien could feel as it passed through the little tube of flesh he was still holding. And it was that, rather than the violent jolt of a moment before, that pushed him over the edge into a shuddering orgasm of his own, so powerful that he felt his knees buckling, and it was all he could do not to crush the frail creature he was still holding in his hand.

"Phew," he said. "Now I reckon I'll be able to pee, too. Do you mind if I let go of you now?"

Ambar turned round, smiled at him and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks," he said. "And…"

"What?"

"Would you like me to hold yours for you?"

Julien was aware that it's normal to feel a bit down after an orgasm, but actually this time he didn't feel bad – and nor did he feel any of the shame that had usually followed, and spoiled, his pleasure. He didn't feel ready for an encore just yet, but all the same it was impossible to say 'no' to this delightful little sprite.

"If you want to," he said.

Clearly Ambar did want to. In fact, his enthusiasm for making pretty patterns and drawing spirals in the air with his companion's copious stream was so great that both of them ended up with wet feet, and far more of it ended up on the porcelain than in the actual hole.

One he had squeezed out the last drop, Julien sighed.

"Well, if you've quite finished, I think we could both do with a shower," he said.

"Hey, hold on a moment – you're not going to leave me like this, are you?"

Niil stood in the doorway, visibly having a similar plumbing problem to that which the other two had recently suffered, and clearly it would have been unkind to leave him in that predicament. This called for emergency treatment: twice as many hands, twice as many fingers and twice as many sensations… and in record time he was left panting by the magnitude of the shock that ran through him.

Ambar was once again accorded the privilege of watering the tiling, though this time Julien prudently stood back, keeping well out of range. Then they all took a rather necessary shower, before calling Tannder to find them a breakfast big enough to replace all their lost energy.

***

Izkya was torn between fury and terror: she had been literally cloistered away and forbidden to receive any guests other than the ladies of the First Lady's retinue and her best friend, Alikya of the Freyhags.

Can you imagine?" she complained. "I can't even go back to my own house! I can't see anyone – except you, of course, and thanks for coming. But, really, it's too much!"

"If I've got it right, someone sent ghorrs to kill you," said Alikya.

"That's what my father says."

"Well, clearly they couldn't have been after the Ksantiri – he's only a Third Son, after all."

"True. And they obviously couldn't have been after Julien, either, because he's a complete stranger and doesn't even come from the R'hinz."

"Yes, and that really is weird!"

"Whereas attacks on flybubbles and marauding ghorrs pop up every day?"

"That's not what I meant. Obviously I'd have been scared shi… scared to death if it had happened to me. But the idea of a mysterious stranger…"

"There's nothing all that special about him, apart from the fact that he wears his hair like a girl. Actually his hair is really nice – I know some girls who would kill to have hair like that."

"Aha! You've got a bit of a crush on him, have you?"

"Don't be stupid – he's far too young. He's no older than Niil! And he's a No-clan, and he's ill-mannered…"

"Really? I think it's a pity I can't get to meet him, because from the way you talk about him I'm sure I'd find him interesting. And then there's your cousin – you know, I rather like Niil…"

***

Lord Aldegard came to enquire after Julien's health as soon as he was able to find a moment to do so. And while he was there Julien, having first assured him that he felt perfectly well and that the Health Masters' potions seemed to be doing their job efficiently, raised a subject which had been on his mind for a while.

"First Lord," he began, "yesterday evening, after… well, when the Masters had finished with me… I mean, I wasn't exactly at my best, but I think I heard you say something about them having made a bad mistake, and that the Council, and the Order of Guides, would want to investigate… Does that mean they're going to get in trouble?"

"Most definitely! What they did was extremely serious, and I'm delighted to see that you seem to have survived it more or less intact, because you very easily might not have done."

"But I did – I'm not dead, and I feel fine now. So – please could you tell them that I'm not mad at them?"

"Well, if you really feel like that you can tell them so yourself tomorrow. But right now I'm afraid they're busy reporting to their respective Councils."

"But that's what I'm worried about: I don't think it would be right if they got into trouble because of me. After all, I gave them permission to do it, and to go on doing it. Perhaps I could tell the Councils that?"

"Julien, it's not your fault. They are all Masters, and that means that they're supposed to know what they're doing. And it's obvious that they made a very serious mistake. But if you really want me to I'll pass on your message to the Councils."

"Thank you. And…"

"Yes?"

"First Lord, I'd like to ask you a favour, if it isn't too much…"

"Go ahead. There's no harm in asking."

"Well… now that I'm feeling better, do you think I could go out for a bit of a walk with Niil and Ambar – and maybe," he added after a brief hesitation, "with your Noble Daughter Izkya, too?"

"I'm certainly not going to let Izkya leave the Tower until we find out who's trying to kill her. But as for the three of you – yes, I'll allow that, provided you take one of the Guards with you."

They thanked him, and he was just turning to go and make the arrangements when Ambar spoke.

"Excuse me," he said, timidly, "but do you think as you could let Askil be the guard what comes with us?"

Aldegard laughed. "The Noble Son Ambar shall have his wish granted," he said. "Actually, it's a good choice: Askil showed good judgement when he let you into the Tower instead of kicking you down the stairs for being an insolent little so-and-so!"

A few minutes later Tannder showed Askil into the room.

"Good morning, Noble Lords!" said the Guard. "And as for you, Ambar, please accept my congratulations on becoming a Noble Son, and I wish you every possible happiness in your new Noble Family."

Ambar seemed lost for words, merely mumbling something inaudible, blushing and nodding. So Niil answered for him.

"Honourable Guard, my brother and I thank you for your good wishes, and may the Powers of the R'hinz fulfil your every desire. And now please can we drop the High Speech? We'd like you to take us into town. Julien's keen to visit Aleth."

"That's why I'm here – I've been taken off the duty roster. So, where would you like to go, Your Honour?" he asked Julien.

"Somewhere I could get another bowl of sweetsnow would be nice."

"And we could have another look at Palace Square, too," suggested Niil. "Maybe this time you can try walking across it."

"Yes!" agreed Ambar, enthusiastically. "And we could go to the Central Market, too – there's heaps of stuff comes in there from all over the R'hinz. But I don't reckon we'll have time to see everything – it'll take us long enough just to get to town."

"Maybe not," said Niil. "That's one of the benefits of being a guard, isn't it, Askil?"

"True enough, Noble Lord: the First House's guards get to use Smooth Runners, and I'm fairly sure the First Lord won't mind us borrowing one. Actually he's already said that we can."

From a distance the Smooth Runner didn't look very big. Julien was intrigued: he'd been thinking that it might be some sort of flying carpet, or perhaps some sort of exotic motorbike, but he discovered that it was actually an animal. It looked more or less like a giant caterpillar with a leathery black hide, and the idea was to sit astride it and to hang on to the waist of the person in front of you.. The first passenger, in this case Askil, had a sort of bridle affair to keep him safely in the saddle. As they got closer Julien saw that the animal was a good three metres long, which meant that there was enough room for all of them.

Once they were safely aboard the guard leaned forward and whispered something or other, and the creature rose up on its many legs and started running along one of the paths that led through the park, and it was moving at a speed that an earthly caterpillar couldn't even attain if it had been fitted with a jet-pack. Julien clung on to Askil's waist as hard as he could, and Askil laughed, enjoying the reaction of the two newbies.

Ambar, whom Niil had considerately placed in front of him, started out by gripping Julien's body with an quite painful embrace, but soon he started to relax and enjoy the ride, whooping with excitement when the creature made a sharp turn that forced them to lean over, or when it slid down an unexpected slope so fast that for a moment it felt as if they had actually left the ground and were floating, free from the pull of gravity.

But all good things must come to an end, and eventually they reached the start of the city proper. They dismounted, and the Smooth Runner simply started grazing on the grass at the edge of the park.

They were at the end of the Great Promenade, the same street where Ambar had had his unfortunate encounter with the Warrior of Yrcadia. But now it was broad daylight and there was not even the least hint of danger: now there were children everywhere, along with innocent passers-by and street vendors. They headed straight for a seller of sweetsnow, where Ambar bought each of them a triple portion, happily telling the vendor: "It's on the Ksantiri account, Honourable!"

Soon they reached Palace Square, where the Emperor's mysterious dwelling was allegedly concealed. There weren't many people about: it was already very hot, and most people had been driven to find the shade of the trees in the avenues or the cool interior of the shops. The surface of the multicoloured pavement shone as if it had just been polished, and as you looked further it seemed to become a huge mirror reflecting a sky whose blueness seemed almost white in the heat shimmer. And, so far away that he wondered if they were even still in Aleth, Julien could see tiny buildings that indicated the far side of this gigantic open space.

"So do you still fancy trying it?" asked Niil.

"Sure. Coming?"

"Why not?"

"Can I come too?" asked Ambar.

"You'll have to," said Niil. "I can't leave you behind – you can't even wipe your own nose without my help!"

Ambar made a grotesque face at him and then turned to Askil.

"Are you coming too, Askil?" he asked.

"No, Noble Son, I'll just stay here and have a good laugh at you!"

Ambar and Niil each took one of Julien's hands and they stepped onto the first stone. Outside the ground was so hot that you could feel it through the soles of your sandals, but here it was strangely cool, and the stone reflected their image against a background of blue sky.

The next stone had a slightly different amber colour, and as they stepped onto it it made a noise, a faint crystalline sound that hung in the air for a few moments.

Ambar had a brief moment of uncertainty, but when he looked back he could see Askil still standing where they had left him, a smile on his face that would no doubt change to out-and-out laughter when they found themselves unintentionally going back the way they had come.

As they stepped onto the next stone they were greeted by a chorus of birdsong – it was like being caught in the centre of a whirlwind of chirping sparrows. Again, the sound faded after a few seconds. This time they all looked back, realising that they had probably gone as far as they could before the peculiar nature of he place kicked in and turned them round. Askil was still there, and he gave them an ironic wave of the hand.

The next stone was of a deep, lapis lazuli blue. This one made no sound at all, but the air seemed to quiver ahead of them the way it does above an overheated road, and you couldn't see anything but a blur beyond it. They looked back, but this time instead of Askil they saw only more heat-haze air.

"That's it," said Niil. "It's starting. I think the next step we take will see us outside again."

"Let's find out," said Julien, and they took another step forwards, still following their original direction…

A long time ago Xarax had gone to sleep.

Now something had woken him up.

That something was the presence of an intruder.

Somebody had got past the Impassable Defence. Soon that Somebody was going to die, a victim of the Numberless Traps. This had never happened before… and now Xarax could feel that the intruder was not alone, either.

Xarax was hungry. Xarax had not eaten since long, long ago. Xarax didn't eat just anything: he could not. But he could fast, and he could wait for a very long time.

And Xarax was loyal. His heart never forgot. Never.

Xarax had had a friend, and that friend had gone away. Perhaps he was dead. Xarax had been left to his despair.

Xarax had not eaten since that terrible day. Only his friend could give him the food he needed. But Xarax still remained. One day he would die of starvation and then the waiting would end at last, and he would be powerless to prevent it. But at least he would not have betrayed his friend by taking his own life in order to end his torment.

Xarax would die as he had lived: true to one only.

Xarax was a Haptir from Kretzlal.

When they moved onto the next stone they were greeted, not by Askil's laughter, but by the sight of the most beautiful structure in all the Nine Worlds. A few hundred metres ahead of them stood the Emperor's Palace. It looked exactly like the pictures that Niil had seen in his father's library: tall, with slender towers ascending to dizzying heights, all linked by a network of shining crystal footbridges that reflected the sun in dazzling flashes of pure light.

"We've got to go back! Now!!" yelled Niil, who seemed to be on the verge of panic.

"Why?" asked Julien. "Let's go on a bit. Wouldn't you like to see the Palace from a bit nearer?"

"You don't know what you're talking about! There are traps everywhere! We shouldn't have come this far, and now we really mustn't try to get any further!"

Niil looked really scared, so Julien agreed without further argument.

"All right," he said. "Let's go back, then."

But it was easier said than done. They could see a few unconcerned passers-by walking along about thirty paces away, and they could also see Askil, who did look concerned – in fact he was obviously very worried indeed, because it was clear that, while they could see him, he couldn't see them. And, given that he had just lost the guests entrusted to him by the First Lord himself, the anguish on his face was completely understandable. But every time they tried to walk towards him they were blocked by an invisible force that became completely impassible in less than one metre.

"We'll never make it," said Niil.

"Then let's try to reach the Palace," suggested Julien. "The Emperor is sure to help the sons of the First Lord of the Ksantiris."

"You're right, he is. But we won't get anywhere near the Palace. We'll be dead before we've gone fifty metres."

"How do you know? You said yourself that nobody ever gets more than a few steps onto the Square…"

"Everybody knows. And it's not just a vague rumour, either: it's written in the Great Book of Traditions. You're not saying that the Great Book is lying, are you?"

Julien could have said that where he came from you could find any number of books that were completely unreliable, as well as books that contradicted other books, but he didn't think this was the time or place for an argument. So instead he said, "No, of course not. But… what are we going to do, then? Should we wait for someone to come and rescue us?"

"I think it's the only thing we can do."

"But suppose nobody can get to us – or what if someone comes and then they can't get back either?"

Nobody spoke for a good three minutes, during which period they could see Askil getting more and more upset. Finally Ambar cleared his throat.

"I'm going to give it a go," he said.

Niil glared at him. "You'll do nothing of the sort!"

"But…"

"Ambar, you're my brother – my little brother, which means you have to do what I tell you. And if you so much as twitch without my permission I'll break your leg!"

His tone of voice made it quite clear that he really would go that far if it was the only way to prevent Ambar from putting himself in danger. But Ambar wasn't the sort to give in without a fight.

"Niil, someone has to do something! We can't expect Julien to, 'cos he don't even come from here – the Nine Worlds, I mean. And you're the Noble Son of a First Lord. Me, on the other hand, I'm just…"

"Ambar, you're the Noble Son of a First Lord too!" interrupted Niil. "And our father would never forgive me if I let my kid brother go somewhere dangerous instead of me. And…"

He lowered his voice a little. "And I don't want anything to happen to you either," he finished.

Ambar looked at him in surprise, but he didn't argue any more. It was left to Julien to reopen the debate.

"Ambar's right," he said. "We have to try to get out of this mess ourselves. I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure that we can."

The stone they were standing on was a shiny dark green colour. He looked around, examining the adjoining stones.

"I don't like the look of this one," he said, indicating a grey stone. "That one, on the other hand… I fancy giving that one a try."

And before Niil could stop him he stepped onto the pink stone he had indicated and promptly vanished from their sight.

"No!!" cried Niil. He almost jumped after him, but he caught himself just in time, realising that it would be stupid to give the trap a second victim. He took a deep breath to bring himself back under control and gripped Ambar's hand firmly.

"Whatever happens," he said, "don't let go of my hand!"

Too shocked to speak, Ambar just shook his head and squeezed Niil's hand tightly.

Niil was badly shaken: what had started out as a happy outing had ended in tragedy, and he was very much afraid that Julien's disappearance was only the start: he thought it entirely likely that both he and Ambar would die before much longer.

***

"Sorry if I scared you!"

Julien suddenly reappeared in front of them, and seeing him standing there, smiling rather sheepishly like a boy who has just broken his mother's favourite vase, Niil was torn between two conflicting emotions: on the one hand he was massively relieved to see his friend, whom he had already given up for dead, reappear in front of him, and on the other he was furious because of the scare he'd had. He couldn't decide whether to hug Julien or thump him. But eventually relief won the day and Niil laughed.

"You pillock!" he said. "You really scared us! Ambar almost started crying!"

Ambar was on the point of saying that he hadn't been the only one, but he managed to bite his tongue. He settled for giving Julien a wink and a smile instead.

"We can get through," Julien told them. "I don't think we can go back, but we will be able to go forwards, though it took me a little while to work that out. And it took me even longer to realise that you couldn't see me any more and thought I was dead. Sorry!"

A few seconds passed without anyone speaking.

"Shall we go, then?" he asked.

"All right," agreed Niil. We don't seem to have any alternative. You go and we'll follow you."

Julien hesitated. "I think maybe we ought to stay holding hands," he said.

Ambar really didn't want to let go of Niil's hand, and so he grabbed Julien with his other hand, keeping himself in the middle and so hopefully protected by the two older boys.

They stepped on to the pink stone. This time there were no sound effects, but they could see that they had moved: the Emperor's Palace was still sparkling ahead of them like a massive jewel.

Once again Julien took his time about examining the stones around the one they were standing on., and this time he settled for the fuchsia-coloured one directly in front of them, even though it was no different from the other stones adjoining theirs except for its colour.

"I think we want this one," he said.

His companions said nothing. Left to themselves they would have been completely unable to choose between the available stones, and they thought that they would almost certainly pick the wrong one, which – if the Great Book was to believed – would probably lead to an unpleasant death. They knew that there were risks in trusting Julien's judgement, too, but if he thought he could get them through… and it wasn't as if they could think of any alternative plan. So they stepped with him onto the stone ahead of them. Nothing nasty happened, but when they looked at the Palace it now seemed to be a considerable distance further away, and they were also looking at it from a completely different angle.

"Klirks!" exclaimed Niil, breaking the silence.

The others stared at him in confusion.

"The stones – they're klirks!" he explained. "All right, maybe they're not all klirks, but that last one certainly was. We've moved a lot further away from the Palace."

"I've never used a klirk," commented Ambar, slowly, "but… don't you need a Guide to make them work?"

"Julien is a Guide!" said Niil.

"Is that true, Julien?" asked Ambar.

"I don't know. People keep telling me that, but…"

Ambar stared at him, a mixture of respect and fear clearly readable in his dark eyes, and at the same time he pulled his hand out of Julien's. Julien was surprised, and indeed a little hurt.

"What's up, Ambar?" he said, looking at him. "Have I suddenly grown horns and a forked tail? Am I turning into a monster? And are you actually scared of me??"

"No, Noble Lord, but you know, back where I come from, on the quays and round there, they tell stories about Guides and Sorcerers and such…"

"Now you're calling me 'Noble Lord' again," Julien pointed out. "You can cut that nonsense out right away. I don't know what sort of camp-fire stories they tell on the quays, but I can promise you I haven't eaten anyone yet. Although if you carry on like that, maybe I'll make an exception in your case. Got it?"

Ambar said nothing, but he smiled and grabbed the Terrible Guide Julien's hand again.

"That's better," said Julien. "Anyway, Niil, I think you're right to say that anyone who tried this without a Guide wouldn't get very far."

"Yes, but even with a Guide, there must be some traps that will work! The Great Book of Traditions definitely says…"

"All right, I get it. Yes, we're probably surrounded by traps. I can even sort of sense some of them, which is how I decide which stone to move to next. I've got no idea how it works, or why, but there's definitely something telling me which way to go. Trust me, I'm not going to make a mistake."

"Well, let's pray to the Powers of the R'hinz you're right about that, because if it turns out you're wrong I doubt if we'll even get time to say 'I told you so'."

And with those cheery words they moved on to the next stone.

Xarax

Three! There were three of them, and despite the odds they were well on the way towards completing what should have been an impossible task. Of course the traps were there, and the slightest wrong move would lead to their destruction.

But these three weren't making any wrong moves. They'd already completed more than thirty moves from one stone to the next, and every time they had chosen the single stone that would allow them to continue.

Xarax could sleep no longer. Xarax had to wake up properly and stretch his stiff joints. Xarax had to prepare himself to spend the last of his strength in what would probably be his final battle.

Xarax was a Haptir from Kretzlal.

***

There were no more flagstones. Now they were on a lawn dotted with carefully tended bushes whose blue flowers gave off a pleasant fragrance. There was no wall or fence around it, but an elegant arch of translucent green stone appeared to mark the way into the Palace grounds.

"I don't think we've got any choice," Julien said. "I think we need to go in."

They moved cautiously forward, afraid that they might have overlooked some final trap, but they passed through the jade arch without incident. None of them had the least idea that anyone else doing so would have been sliced to pieces by the blades hidden in the delicate carving that they paused to admire on their way through.

The inner garden went all the way up to the wall of the Palace, which had huge gates set into it at intervals of a hundred metres or so. The gate they were walking towards stood open, its silvery metal panels pushed flat against the wall on either side of a rectangular opening that at first glance was nothing special… except that as they got closer they saw that the gates were decorated with carvings of strange animals which seemed to be moving. They seemed to be chasing each other across the whole surface of the shining panels, and yet when Julien plucked up the courage to try actually touching something that looked a bit like a rabbit he felt only the cold hardness of immobile metal. But actually the most surprising thing abut this gate wasn't the incredible artwork, and it was Ambar who put it into words.

"Don't you think it's weird that there aren't no guards? Not even one?"

"Weird, and scary," agreed Niil. "You'd think the Emperor would be better guarded than anyone else. This can't be normal."

They walked through the entrance into a long gallery, their sandals sliding across the stone floor. Tall windows on either side of the gallery offered a view of the sky.

Eventually the gallery led them into a vast round hall whose glass floor gave you the impression that you were walking on the surface of some deep sea – each footstep made a noise like the whispering of distant surf. The domed roof was a dizzying height above them, and it was pierced by a number of round windows that allowed the sunlight to stream in.

"I hope we get to the inhabited bit soon," commented Julien. "This Sleeping Beauty's Castle thing is getting creepy."

"Sleeping Beauty?" queried Niil.

"Forget it. Let's just carry on until we find someone. Even if we get nabbed by the guards it'll give us a chance to explain ourselves and prove we're not really intruders."

Xarax

Alarm bells were ringing in his head. The enemy had entered the Palace. He was crossing the Ocean Rotunda. Xarax stretched one last time before launching himself into the galleries as fast as he could.

Xarax knew this place better than anyone, better even than the Emperor himself. Xarax was going to hurl himself on the intruders so quickly that they would have no chance of reaching the door.

Xarax could perceive something else approaching, too, something which brought back bad memories. This was definitely a bad day.

Xarax knew he was going to die, and that was a good thing. But what was going on in the Palace now was bad, as bad as it gets. The Emperor certainly would not like it, were he ever to find out – no, the Emperor would not like it at all.

Xarax was moving as fast as he could, but the thing which was approaching, the thing which was even worse than the intruders, that thing was moving even faster than Xarax. That thing had already arrived. It was fourfold.

But Xarax rushed towards it faster than ever. Xarax was not afraid.

Xarax was a Haptir from Kretzlal.

The boys were only about twenty metres away from the exit to the hall when the four Warriors of Yrcadia suddenly materialised no more than a dozen paces away from them. At first Niil thought they were Palace Guards – and about time too, he thought – but a second look was all it took to tell him he was wrong. These men weren't wearing the Emperor's colours of purple and gold, and nor did their faces show the white Marks of the Palace: instead they had no Marks at all and they were wearing dark blue abbas. They were carrying weapons and were moving into position ready to attack, too – clearly they had to be assassins. And assassins inside the Palace could only have one target in mind: they had to be after the Emperor himself.

Niil was the son of a First Lord, and so his tutor was actually a Silent Warrior, and the Honourable Kanekto had done his best to teach his charge, not only the arts and science that a Noble Son had to know, but all the subtleties of hand-to-hand combat, as well as the ability to handle a wide range of weapons. Niil might have had no actual experience of genuine combat, but he was a long way from being a helpless little boy: he had received extensive training, and he was absolutely loyal to his Emperor.

It's never a good idea to underestimate your opponent, and in the case of the nearest Warrior it was absolutely fatal. He walked forward confidently towards the smallest of the boys, intending to decapitate him with a reverse stroke from his short sabre, and he walked straight into a vicious kick to the temple that sent him straight to the special hell reserved for murderers. His sabre acquired a new owner as Niil snatched it up, and the remaining assassins instantly reappraised their targets and came together to deal with them.

Niil knew perfectly well that he had no chance here, but he was a Ksantiri to the end: his ancestors had proved their courage through the ages, every one of them prepared to give his life for his Emperor whenever he might be called upon to do so, and Niil was determined to follow their example and defend his Emperor by keeping the assassins occupied, hopefully until the Palace Guard finally put in an appearance. He knew perfectly well that his chances of survival were zero but, determined to do his duty to the end and to keep the honour of his House intact, he stepped forward to meet his attackers.

At that moment there came a noise that suggested that a huge hornet was flying into the hall, and indeed a multicoloured… something… flew between the two groups, buzzing about as if it couldn't decide which group to attack first and then, so quickly that the eye could scarcely follow, it flew straight at Julien and slowed at the very last minute before colliding with him. And as it slowed everyone could see what it was.

"It's a haptir!" yelled Ambar in a terrified voice.

Niil's heart sank: as if they didn't have more than enough trouble on their hands in the shape of the three human assailants, now they also had to count this terrible creature among their enemies. It wasn't its size that made the haptir dangerous – actually it was fairly small – but a combination of its other attributes. It was fearsomely intelligent, at least as intelligent as most humans; it had a perception of time that allowed it to think and act at a phenomenal speed; it had a complete mastery of flight; and, worst of all, it was extremely venomous. Its reflexes were far faster than those of humans, and only a top-flight Warrior would have any chance at all of fending it off, and then only briefly. And because there is hardly any contact between humans and haptirs, no warrior would have any chance to train himself in order to fight them.

The haptir, all its claws extended, twisted its body in front of Julien's terrified face, even as Julien tried vainly to protect himself with his hands. The little monster's wings vibrated like those of a dragonfly as it opened its mouth to display two ranks of sharp teeth and a bright blue tongue.

Julien flailed his arms about, trying to beat the creature away from him, but he knew nothing at all about martial arts, and so his efforts were feeble and uncoordinated. The haptir observed him briefly and then effortlessly slipped past his pathetic attempts to defend himself, gripped his right shoulder firmly and wrapped his long tail around the boy's neck.

***

And so, finally, Xarax, the haptir from Kretzlal, was reunited with his long-lost friend.

For Julien time literally stood still: the people around him were as immobile as statues, and a voice was speaking clearly in his head.

Friend, it said. Xarax has found you again after all this time! Have you forgotten Xarax? And why do you allow these killers to threaten your companions?

The confusion in Julien's mind vanished and was replaced by a tremendous sense of deja-vu, as if he had met the creature addressing him in an incredibly distant past. He had never seen it before, but he nonetheless remembered it, and his memory was steadily growing stronger.

You have changed, but you are still the same, said the voice in his head. Xarax knew you as soon as he saw you. You have forgotten who you are. Xarax does not understand everything that has happened, but he will help you to remember. Trust Xarax.

A sort of slow-motion lightning flash burst into Julien's head, a light far too bright to look at, but inside his head – and then, a fraction of a second later, he could see the people around him once more and he knew what he had to do. More importantly, he also knew how to do it.

***

Ambar saw Julien, with the haptir still wrapped around his neck, lift his arm, and heard him cry out in a weird throaty voice, "Han Khalimai! To Ganniwey!"

An orange jet of flame shot from his hand and instantly vaporised the three assassins who were advancing on Niil before going on to blast a hole big enough for a horse in the wall of the hall.

In the silence that followed, broken only by the fall of a few stones from the shattered wall, Ambar and Niil remained motionless, hardly daring to twitch. Then they heard Julien speak again, but this time in his normal voice, even though he sounded exhausted.

"That's enough, Xarax," he said. "Give me a moment."

And they saw their friend gently stroke the creature that was strangling him.

Nothing moved – in fact it was so quiet that they noticed when the birds on the far side of the damaged wall started singing again. That was enough to get Niil moving. He went first to Ambar, checked to make sure that he was unhurt, and then took his hand and led him over to Julien, who looked as white as a sheet. He had his eyes closed and seemed completely unaware of what was happening around him, although he was still stroking the haptir.

"Julien!" said Niil. "Are you all right?"

Julien didn't answer, but the haptir turned and stared at Niil with its red eyes. It looked like a cross between a lizard and a dragonfly, and most people would have turned and fled on being stared at by something like that. But Niil was not most people. He squeezed Ambar's hand to reassure him, cleared his throat and spoke to Julien again.

"Julien?" he said again. "You're all right, are you? I mean, the haptir isn't hurting you, is it?"

This time Julien did answer him, though his voice sounded tired.

"This is Xarax," he said. "He's my friend, and he won't hurt you. Come closer."

Julien dropped to his knees, as if speaking those few words had taken the last of his strength.

"Julien! What's happening?" asked Niil.

"It's all right. Come close and stretch a hand out to Xarax, both of you."

They knew this was probably the most dangerous creature either of them had ever seen, apart from the ghorr, of course, but they both obediently held out their hands. Xarax made two swift movements and touched them both with his blue tongue, which enabled him to register their characteristics and classify them as two humans that he was now honour-bound to protect at any cost. And then Julien collapsed completely and, to his friends' surprise, seemed to fall straight into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The haptir uncoiled from around his neck and studied the two boys for several seconds, and then he leapt straight onto Ambar's shoulder. Ambar gave a little cry of shock as he felt the creature's claws on his shoulder and its scaly tail around his neck. But then he heard a calming voice in his head.

Xarax will not harm you, it said. Xarax needs you for a little while – Xarax's friend is too tired. Xarax also needs to sleep. Will you give Xarax a little of your strength? If not, Xarax will die and his friend will be sad.

"Of course I will! What do I have to do?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Niil. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, it's fine. Don't worry. I was just talking to Xarax."

Niil had the sense not to ask any more questions.

You do not have to do anything, said the voice. You will feel a bit tired. But Xarax will be careful. What is your name?

"I'm Ambar, from the Fruit… I mean, Fourth Son of the Ksantiris."

Well, then, Ambar, Fourth Son of the Ksantiris, know that Xarax, Haptir of Kretzlal, thanks you. Now he will sleep, and will trust you to protect him.

And immediately he closed his eyes and seemed to fall deeply asleep, just as Julien had done.

"He asked me to protect him!" said Ambar in amazement.

"You're a Ksantiri now, so it's your duty to protect him," said Niil. "On the other hand, the idea of a haptir actually asking you to protect him… I mean… sorry, I didn't mean it like that!"

"No, but you're right: he should have asked you to do it. You're the proper warrior, after all. I thought them thugs was going to kill me, but you… well…"

Ambar stopped speaking and looked at the body of the man Niil had killed.

"Well, I had to," said Niil. "Otherwise he'd have… but… well, it's the first time I've ever…"

Niil was looking at the ground, rather than at the dead man. Now that the fight was over and the adrenaline rush had passed his hands were starting to shake and he looked to be on the point of tears. He hated the idea that he had actually killed someone, even if the person he had killed was an assassin.

Ambar could see how upset he was, and so he gently touched his arm.

"You know, it was me that geezer was after, but you… All right, I know it isn't much, but I wanted to thank you, 'cos I didn't really get time to say thank you earlier. And they'd have killed Julien and all… I'm really proud of you, Niil."

Niil's emotions were about to overwhelm him, but before that happened a dozen people came rushing into the damaged hall. Most of them were wearing the purple and gold abbas and white Marks of the Palace Guard, but Askil and the First Lord were with them. All of them had weapons unsheathed and were ready to eviscerate anyone who might be threatening the boys' lives, but the way they skidded to a halt with dumbfounded expressions on their faces at the scene before them was so funny that Ambar broke out in a fit of the giggles, and he barely managed to disguise it as a cough. And the look on the face of the nearest guard when he saw the boy wearing a haptir as a scarf was enough to set him off again.

But Lord Aldegard had rather too much self-control to gape in amazement for more than a second or two. He evaluated the situation quickly.

"It would appear that we've missed the battle," he commented. He noticed Julien and knelt down beside him.

"Is he injured?" he asked.

"No, First Lord," Niil told him. "He's just sleeping. And, to anticipate your next question, the haptir round Ambar's neck is a friend who asked Ambar to protect him. I think the danger is over."

"What about this Yrcadian?" asked Aldegard. "What happened to him?"

Ambar got in before Niil could speak.

"First Lord," he said, "it was Niil what… there was four of them and he fought them on his own, and I reckoned we was done for. But then the haptir turned up. We thought it was attacking Julien, but instead it landed on him and then… Well… Julien shot out this massive fireball and the Yrcadians got burnt to ash – that's what made the hole in the wall over there. And then Xarax – this is him," he added, stroking the creature that was coiled around his neck, "he sort of jumped on me. I was dead scared. But he only needed me to give him some strength and then to protect him. And then you got here."

Ambar had gabbled his story out, wanting to get it told as quickly as possible, and as soon as he had finished he gave a massive yawn, and Askil only just got there in time to catch him as he too fell asleep.

"I trust you're not going to fall asleep on us too," Aldegard said to Niil.

"No, First Lord, I think I can make it through to my normal bedtime."

"It would appear that you've been working hard here."

"Not really," said Niil, indicating the hole in the wall. "That was Julien, and he took out the other three Yrcadians, too. I really didn't do very much at all."

"Well, perhaps we can talk about that later. Right now we need to get back to Bakhtar Tower."

"Oh! Aren't we going to meet the Emperor?"

Niil was visibly disappointed not to get even a glimpse of the person for whom he had just risked his life.

"You'll get to see him, but not right away. He can't receive us at the moment. But I'll be surprised if he doesn't want to thank you for your devotion to him before too long."

Niil was still too shaken up to be able to blush, but he said, "I'm not expecting the Emperor to thank me – not at all! I just hoped maybe I could get a little look at him, that's all."

"You will get to see him. Now, I'll take Julien and then we must go. Aïn is waiting for us at one of the Palace klirks. Don't worry, Askil will look after Ambar – and may I say what an excellent choice you seem to have made in your First-Greeted, and you were absolutely right to insist on making him a Ksantiri, too."

They left the Palace Guard to make a start at clearing up the mess, and Aldegard led them off into a maze of corridors whose hidden entrances and plain walls suggested that they were part of a secret network of short cuts known only to those who had intimate knowledge of the Palace.

Ambar slept until late afternoon, and when he woke up the first thing he saw was Askil, who was smiling at him.

"So you're back in the land of the living," Askil greeted him. "I'm really happy to see that you are undamaged, because I thought I'd lost you. It looks as if everything is fine now, although I'd feel a bit happier if that haptir wasn't wrapped around you quite so tightly."

Ambar was feeling good, and fully refreshed from a decent sleep.

"Better not say anything bad about Xarax," he said, smiling. "He can probably hear you. Anyway, you don't need to worry, 'cos he isn't going to do me no harm. It turns out he's a friend of Julien… which reminds me: how is Julien? Is he all right?"

"He seems to be all right, but right now he's asleep," said Askil.

Ambar stood up.

"Where is he?" he asked. "Do you reckon they'd let me visit him?"

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem," said Askil. "He's right there." And he pointed to the bed opposite Ambar's.

Ambar went and stood next to Julien's bed. Julien was lying on his side, facing Ambar, and so the younger boy could see that his usually pale skin looked even whiter than usual, and formed a striking contrast with his dark red hair. The freckles on either side of his nose were considerably more visible than usual, and his eyelids looked almost purple. It was immediately obvious that he was completely exhausted.

"And the Health Masters have just left him like that?" asked Ambar, sounding shocked.

"They've done all they could. If you think he looks bad now, you should have seen him when he first got here. They say they can't give him anything more to build up his strength at the moment. To be honest, I'm no expert, but I do know that it takes time for stuff like they gave him to work. It's a bit like eating: you need time to digest the food after you've eaten it."

"So he's sort of digesting his medicine?"

"Yes, I think so."

"What about Niil? Where is he?"

"The Noble Son Niil is taking part in the First Lord's Council meeting. He asked me if I could let him know when you woke up, so if you can manage without me for a bit…"

"Of course. Please go and tell him. And ask when he's coming back, and if I need to wait for him to get here before I eat something, 'cos I'm starving!"

"Ah. I think the Honourable Tannder might be able to help you out there."

Apparently Tannder had been somewhere within earshot, because he appeared almost immediately. He was holding a tray full of delicious, nourishing food.

"Noble Son," he said, "I thought perhaps a light snack might be in order for when you woke up. I hope you approve of the selection I have…"

"It's perfect," interrupted Ambar. "But… maybe I ought to wait for Niil and Julien?"

"I don't think that's necessary. It's important for you to get your strength back."

Tannder retired, offering a small bow as he went, leaving Ambar to deal with a tray full of food and a large tankard of iced raal.

***

A few moments later Askil came back.

"The Council is going to last a while yet," he reported, "but your Noble Brother says he should be free soon. He begs you not to eat all the food in the Tower before he gets here, but to save a bite or two for your starving brother. So far he's only been offered water. That's traditional during Council meetings."

"What about you, Askil? Fancy having a bite with me?"

"Better not. My captain would skin me alive if he caught me eating on duty!"

"Well, if you're not going to eat with me, can you at least tell me what happened after we disappeared in Palace Square?"

The guard's face darkened at the memory.

"When I saw you disappear I knew straight away that something was seriously wrong. For a moment or two I thought about following you, but then I decided that was a bad idea. So I did what we're supposed to do in an emergency: I ran to a particular house where the First Lord has a klirk back to the Tower. There's always a Guide on duty – they have a rota, day and night.

"I went back to the Tower to tell the First Lord what had happened. I thought he'd have me sent straight to Tandil for losing you, but instead he was good enough to let me come on the rescue mission. The Honourable Guide Aïn took us straight to the Palace, and once we got there the Palace Guards followed us without stopping to ask questions."

"The First Lord looked at a plan on the wall and then said 'They're in the Oceanic Rotunda' and he started running, but even though we ran as fast as we could we got there too late. And I still don't understand how Lord Niil could stand up against four adversaries like that – I know a bit about the Warriors of Yrcadia, and they're not exactly pushovers. And as for what Lord Julien did… well, I'd have said that was impossible for anyone except a Master Sorcerer, and even then… I think you have a very strange friend there, Master Ambar."

"I think Julien is even stranger than you think, Askil."

"What's this, Ambar? I hope you're not showing disrespect to the Terrible Lord Julien!"

Julien's voice sounded better than it had the last time Ambar had heard it. He still seemed to be some way below his best, but he did appear to be on the mend. Ambar, who had thought his friend to be deeply asleep, hurried to his bedside.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Fine. Well, I still feel a bit weak… and I'm starving."

"I can help you there – I've got everything you need. Come with me. There's loads, 'cos Askil won't eat with me."

"No, and now I ought to go and tell them that Lord Julien is awake," said the guard.

He left, and Julien pulled himself out of bed. His legs felt wobbly and he needed to lean on Ambar.

"I need a pee," he said. "Will you help me?"

After what had gone on that morning this was really a rhetorical question, but Ambar did seem to hesitate.

"What's up?" asked Julien. "All right, I can probably pee on my own, but I'd prefer not to fall over in the toilet. And whatever you might think, I'm still the same Julien. I don't think my penis has turned into a snake since this morning."

And it hadn't, but even so Ambar refrained from any naughtiness. He helped Julien to pee and then led him to the table, where he started to shovel food into his mouth as if his life depended on it.

After a few minutes stuffing his face he lifted his head, wiped his chin to get rid of the wonderful cold dip that accompanied the crispy fritters, frowned and pointed to the haptir, who was still sleeping peacefully, coiled around Ambar's neck.

"So Xarax chose you as his roost?" he asked.

"Xarax, Haptir from Kretzlal, honoured Ambar, Fourth Son of the Ksantiris, by asking for his protection and a little of his strength," replied Ambar proudly. Then he gave a sheepish little grin and added, "I just about fainted when he jumped on me! You'd already gone to sleep, but I swear that if Niil hadn't been holding my hand I'd have pissed myself. Can you imagine what is was like, having this monstrous thing flying into your face?"

"Strangely, yes, I can imagine it perfectly."

"Oh, yes, that's right, he played the same trick on you, didn't he? Actually that was even worse, 'cos we reckoned he was attacking you."

"Actually once you get to know him a bit he seems like a decent sort. Not pretty, I'll grant you, but decent all the same. Did he speak to you?"

"No, not really, just to ask permission to settle down on me. He was very tired. He fell asleep straight away, and then I did, too. What I don't get is, why didn't he choose Niil instead? Niil could have offered better protection, don't you think?"

"I don't know. Maybe he saw in you a massive nobility of soul, an unshakable courage and boundless devotion, and so he chose to put himself under the watchful protection of this Ambar who everyone thinks is just a little boy but who is really a magnificent warrior. Or possibly he thought about it for a moment and then came to the conclusion that Niil could look after himself, but if Xarax landed on him instead Niil would promptly go to sleep and so would be of no further use to anyone. He might have decided that it was better to choose the younger brother, who is both loyal and courageous, and take from him the energy he needed, leaving Niil to protect us all from danger. What do you reckon?"

"I reckon Xarax is at least as clever as you, 'cos he must have decided what you said second. But I don't care – now that I've got him round my neck I'm starting to like him, even if he is really dangerous."

"Yes, well… perhaps you could tell me what you mean by that? I feel a lot better now, but he and I didn't really get a chance to get acquainted with each other earlier."

"Well, he's a haptir. They live on Kretzlal, and you've already seen how fast they can move. Plus, they're poisonous. If you ever got bitten by one you'd fall down dead before you'd taken three steps. Some people say you only have to touch one to get poisoned."

That is completely untrue. Xarax does not need something like that to defend himself.

Ambar went pale when he heard the voice in his head, but then he recovered.

"He's awake!" he said. "He just spoke to me!"

"I can see that. His eyes are open and he's looking at me."

Tannder, who always seemed to be in earshot, appeared and began to approach them slowly. And now he didn't look like a servant any longer: if the boys had had Niil's ability to recognise things they would have known immediately that the way he carried himself proved him to be a practitioner of the Silent Art.

"Tannder," said Ambar in a serious voice, "Xarax wants you to stop moving and stay where you are."

Tannder froze.

Ambar listened for a few moments and then went on, "He asks you for the name of your Master and the nature of your all… allegiance? And he also says that if he doesn't like your answer, you will die. He recognises that he will probably die too, but he doesn't care. He's waiting for your answer."

Tannder gave a small smile, took a deep breath and said "Habderim of Aleth was my Master. My allegiance is to the Emperor alone."

"Xarax asks why he has never seen you before."

"My Master died during the Great Trouble. I have seen the Emperor, twice… My Master told me about you, Xarax. He knew you well and was honoured to be able to approach you without fear. The day he decided that I would rise to the rank of Master myself he gave me a secret word, telling me that it would be the key to your benevolence, or even your friendship."

"Xarax says that's all very well, but he's still waiting."

"My Master's exact words were these: If you ever cross paths with Xarax the haptir, ask him to touch your hand with his tongue…"

"Xarax says your paths are definitely crossing, so do what your Master told you and let's get it over with," said Ambar.

Tannder stepped close to Ambar and held out his left hand. Xarax opened his mouth, displaying his terrible pointed teeth in the process, and put his blue tongue on Tannder's extended fingers.

"Saptor," said Tannder, so quietly that nobody heard it except Xarax and Ambar. Xarax, who up to that point had given every indication of being poised to fight, relaxed visibly and coiled his tongue briefly around Tannder's index finger.

Honourable Master Tannder, Xarax acknowledges you as one of his own. Xarax shares your allegiance. You share Xarax's allegiance.

Honourable Xarax, you clearly know a lot more than I do. I hope that when the time is ripe you'll share it with me, so that I can help to mend what has been broken.

The haptir released his finger, breaking the mental contact, and Ambar spoke for him once more.

"Xarax says that will come in due course," he said. "He says he's glad you're here, and that you must go on watching over the ones that have been entrusted to you. Does that mean us?"

Tannder nodded. "Yes – you, Ambar, Niil, and… Julien."

Julien didn't miss that slight hesitation and he turned and stared at Tannder. He was on he point of asking him a question, but then he changed his mind and spoke to Ambar instead.

"Xarax doesn't look well," he said. "He seems to be losing his colour."

This was true – normally Xarax looked as colourful as a parrot, but now he was just a sort of washed-out grey.

"Xarax says it's not important," said Ambar. "He says that only his friend can feed him, but he can wait."

Julien spoke directly to Xarax.

"Your friend, the one who can feed you – that's me, isn't it?"

"He says yes, but it can still wait."

"Xarax," said Julien, "I still can't really remember you, but if you're my friend I don't want to stand here and watch you wasting away. Tell me what you want to eat and I'll get it for you."

"He says you don't realise what you're talking about and you don't understand the situation, and also that you're still too weak."

"Xarax, please let me make my own decisions. You came when we needed you, and I know that you're the one who fixed it so that I could… do what I did. Now I want to help you, because I can see that you're not well."

"He says all right, but you'll regret it. But he isn't strong enough to argue with a sentimental idiot like you any longer. He says watch out, he's going to jump on you."

And without opening his wings the haptir jumped from Ambar's shoulders onto Julien's.

Xarax is glad to be with his friend again. He likes the boy, but Xarax prefers his friend.

Thanks, Xarax. Now tell me what you need and I promise you'll get it.

My friend does not remember. He has forgotten the Pact. It would not be right for Xarax to force him to comply with something he has forgotten.

Xarax, I'm really starting to like you, but you're driving me round the bend. Just tell me what you want and let's get it sorted out!

All right. If this is really what his friend wants, Xarax will do it.

It's really what I want.

It's going to hurt. It's quite painful. You will have to trust Xarax. Are you certain that you still want to do it?

I still want to do it. I'm scared, but I trust you.

First you must let Xarax help you, because you have forgotten. You must collect the Yel… the energy around you.

Julien felt something click inside his head, and suddenly he saw that the air around him was full of swirling points of light, of every colour imaginable. Then, like iron filings near a magnet, they formed beams that rushed towards his chest. He was filled with an incredible excitement: his penis stiffened beneath his lai and he felt almost on the brink of orgasm. After a few seconds his vision returned to normal, but he felt as charged up as an electric battery.

Now Xarax must eat. You must say 'Xarax, take what I offer you.'

Xarax, take what I offer you, thought Julien, obediently.

This is going to hurt. Not for very long, but it will hurt. And you must be careful. When Xarax is feeding he cannot think clearly. If you do not stop him Xarax might kill you. Take a piece of fruit in your hand.

Julien picked up something that looked like a large apple.

When the garel falls from your hand you must say 'Enough, Xarax.' You might have to say it more than once. But then Xarax will stop.

Now Xarax must eat. Are you certain that you are willing?

Yes.

And as Tannder and Ambar watched in horror, Xarax sank his teeth into Julien's neck. Julien couldn't suppress a cry of pain: it felt as if several hornets had stung him at the same time, and during the brief moment it took for the haptir's saliva to neutralise its terrible poison he thought he could not withstand it and that his heart was going to stop… but then the pain subsided, first becoming less acute and then disappearing completely to be replaced with a different sensation: once he had fainted in the school's sick room, and he had felt his limbs going numb, as if they were turning into cotton wool. This was a similar sensation, only a lot more intense, and also a lot more unpleasant.

Neither Tannder nor Ambar dared to interfere. They stood and stared, both nauseated and yet fascinated, as the haptir literally gorged on Julien's blood. The boy was standing completely still, his eyes wide open, and clutching a garel fruit so tightly that it looked as if he was trying to crush it. A trickle of blood escaped the haptir's voraciousness and ran sluggishly down Julien's neck to the collar of his lai, where it began to form a slowly spreading stain.

Eventually Julien couldn't hold on to the fruit any longer, and despite his best effort to hang onto it it fell to the floor. His vision was blurred and he felt cold.

Xarax, enough, he thought.

Immediately the horrible sensation of being drained of all his strength came to a stop. Whatever he had said beforehand, Xarax had been careful not to let himself be carried away with his feasting and so had been able to obey Julien's first call for him to stop.

Xarax thanks you. It has been a very long time since he was fed. Now Xarax will dream a little. Later Xarax will tell you about the Pact.

Sleep, Xarax. I think I'll have plenty of time later to listen to your stories. Sweet dreams.

Julien had expected to emerge from this ordeal feeling exhausted, but to his surprise he found that he felt refreshed and rested. He was embarrassed to discover that he actually had both an erection and a desperate desire to do something about it – but then he reflected that this might not be the best time to ask Ambar to give him a hand…

***

Gradually he became aware of his surroundings once more, and he was amazed to see the horror on Ambar's face and, even more shocking, Tannder kneeling and weeping.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "I'm not dead!"

"But… the haptir – Xarax – he bit you!" said Ambar. "And then… then I think… he drank your blood!"

He sounded so shocked that he could barely string a sentence together.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what happened," said Julien. "But he had my permission to do it."

He turned to Tannder.

"And what's the matter with you?" he asked.

"My… My Lord, I…"

"Come on, Tannder, surely you're not going to fall apart like his. Have a drink of raal and pull yourself together, and then perhaps you can tell me what the problem is."

Tannder did as he was told, and when he had managed to get himself under control he started speaking again.

"My Lord…" he began.

"Oh, look, don't start all that again!" said Julien "Call me Julien the way everyone else does – please? Otherwise I won't realise it's me you're speaking to."

"My… I mean, Julien… I had already started to think this, but I couldn't see how it could be true. But now I am absolutely certain. Julien, you are no ordinary boy…"

"Well, thanks for the compliment, but it's hardly something to get all worked up about," said Julien.

"No, you don't understand," said Tannder. "You're not what you think you are. Julien, you are Yulmir, Emperor of the R'hinz. You are my Emperor."

"Well, I'm flattered," said Julien, "but I'm afraid you're wrong."

"My Lord," said Tannder, "hardly anyone knows this, but in the whole of the R'hinz there is only one haptir that is bound to a human in this way, and that's Xarax, the Emperor's haptir."

"What, this Xarax – the one around my neck?"

"Yes."

"Well, it looks as if Xarax has now got another friend apart from the Emperor, then."

"That's just not possible. If Xarax drank your blood it can only mean that you are the Emperor."

"Surely there's just one tiny flaw with that argument: have you forgotten that there's already an Emperor? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be very happy if he thought I was in competition with him."

"My Lord, there has been no Emperor for nearly thirteen cycles!"

Julien clearly heard Ambar gasp, but Tannder was still speaking.

"Nobody knows except for the Emperor's Mirrors and a handful of other trusted people," he said. "It's the best kept secret in the universe."

"Well, even if that is true, I can promise you there's nothing even remotely Imperial about me! My mother would fall about laughing if anyone were to suggest such a thing to her."

"My Lord," said Tannder, "There is only one person in the entire universe whose blood Xarax would drink, and that person is the Emperor of the R'hinz. You can ask him yourself when he wakes up. Everyone thought you had gone for good, but Xarax always claimed that you were still alive, just a very long way away."

This time Julien couldn't think of a good answer, and so a heavy silence fell. Eventually it was Tannder himself who broke it.

"My Lord…" he said.

"Yes?"

"May I go to tell First Lord Aldegard?"

"Do whatever you want, Tannder. You don't have to ask for my permission. Trust me when I tell you that I don't feel any more like an emperor now than I did last week, and I'll be very surprised if the First Lord doesn't agree with me."

"Well, since I have your leave, I'll go and tell him what I have seen."

And Tannder left the room, leaving Julien and Ambar looking at each other awkwardly.

"Well," said Julien, after a few moments, "what do you think of that?"

"My Lord…" began Ambar, hesitantly.

"Oh, now look, if you're going to start with all that 'My Lord' stuff again I'll yank your ears so far that you'll be able to tie them under your chin!"

Julien had expected Ambar to laugh, but instead he was alarmed to see his friend burst into tears, exactly like a child being told off by an adult. Clearly this situation was going to need some work.

"Come here," he said, and he picked up a napkin from the table and passed it to Ambar.

"Now blow your nose."

Ambar did that, noisily, and then Julien gathered him up onto his lap and put his arms around him.

"All right, listen to me,'" he said. "I'm absolutely sure that Tannder has got it wrong. But even if he's right, so what? I'm still the same person, and you don't have to be scared of me."

Ambar nodded, still sniffling.

"I don't know anything about this Yulmir character," Julien went on, "but if he's the sort of man who people are terrified to meet I certainly don't want to be him. Anyway, you're my friend, and so is Niil, and even if they do stick a crown on my head, I swear that's not going to change, all right?"

"I believe you, Julien," said Ambar. "Perhaps I'll get used to it in the end."

"You'll get all the time you need to get used to it. Anyway, I'll need to get used to it, too. It's weird: everyone dreams of being a king or a hero or something really special, but now that it looks as if it's happening to me I really wish it wasn't."

Ambar didn't reply, so Julien just kept his arms around him and breathed in the gentle scent of his cropped hair. Slowly Ambar began to relax, leaning back closer against the boy who was once again becoming just his friend. He even managed to laugh when he nestled back far enough for his bottom to come into contact with Julien's erection.

"Well," said Julien apologetically, "I'm feeling like myself again… do you think we've got time to do something about it?"

"I don't think so. I expect the others will be back soon – and you've still got Xarax round your neck, too."

"Xarax is asleep, and in any case I'm sure he won't mind. Still, perhaps you're right: perhaps I ought to try to act serious instead. It's a pity, though."

His hand slid down into Ambar's lap, and there it encountered a small hard projection. This came as no surprise at all to him. He held it briefly and then let go with a sigh.

"No, we're really going to have to be sensible about this," he said, and he eased Ambar away from his lap. But before he went back to his own chair the smaller boy surprised him by offering his cheek for a kiss.

***

In the event almost an hour went by before the First Lord came back, accompanied by Niil and Tannder, and the delay had given Julien time to realise the implications of his new situation.

"Julien," said the First Lord, "Tannder has told me what he saw. It's quite extraordinary, but I have to say that I think he's right: you really are the Emperor himself come back to us after an absence of far too long. Obviously there's a lot we still don't know, and it's clear that you have no memory at all of your former life, but we do have an idea of what might have happened to you. It might be as well if I tell you about it."

"Well, thank you, but I'm still sure that Tannder is wrong," said Julien.

"I'm almost certain he isn't. I recognise that this is extremely disturbing for you, but I really have no doubt that you are actually the one we'd given up all hope of ever seeing again. Look, I'll tell you what I know, and then you can make up your own mind."

Julien nodded. He thought it highly improbable that he was going to be convinced by anything Aldegard might tell him, but it was only polite to listen.

"Well, according to our reconstruction of what happened," began the First Lord, "a little over thirteen cycles ago the Emperor Yulmir activated one of the Palace klirks. Something happened, and he never reached his destination. At exactly that time the Master Guides warned the Emperor's Nine Mirrors that a violent disruption to the fabric of the universe had taken place, and when we tried to find the Emperor to warn him about it we found that he had completely disappeared.

"We called a meeting in the Palace of all the major authorities in the R'hinz, and while we were still discussing it – because by then it was clear that something exceedingly serious was happening – the Palace was stormed by assassins. We had to fight, and we lost a lot of good warriors that day. Eventually we defeated the attackers, but we decided that the Palace should be closed up except for one small, and very well guarded, hall which would only be used for meetings of the Emperor's Mirrors. Every klirk in the Palace has been deactivated by the Guides' Guild except for a few indispensable and well-guarded ones in order to ensure that nobody could get into the Palace…"

"I think you'll find they missed something," said Julien, "because I don't see how those four warriors who attacked us could have got in otherwise."

"We've got no idea how they managed to get into the Palace. No alarm was set off, which is why the Guard didn't know about it until we arrived. If someone has betrayed us, don't worry, we'll find him."

"Anyway, going back to your disappearance, we decided to keep it quiet so as not to cause panic and disorder."

"What, and nobody noticed?" asked Julien in disbelief.

"The Emperor rules through his Mirrors. There is one in each world. And even when he's here, hardly anyone ever meets him."

"Then what's the point of having an Emperor at all?"

"It's hard to explain that in a few words, but you could say that he guarantees the unity of the R'hinz."

"You mean, everyone agrees that he's the leader?"

"It's more complicated than that. The Emperor is the key that enables the transfer of all Gifts and Powers. Without him the forces that enable us to control our environment, all the special talents of the Guides, the Masters of the Major Arts, and others like them, would gradually be lost because it would no longer be possible to transfer them from one person to another."

"I don't think I quite understand that – I mean, your Emperor has been gone for ages, but the world looks to me as if it's still running completely smoothly."

"That is how it appears, I agree. But we've been lucky: none of the Grand Masters of the Major Guilds has died since the Emperor vanished. To give you an example: if the First Grand Master of the Guides were to die tomorrow, no new Guides could be created until a new First Grand Master had received the power to transmit the gift of the Guides from the Emperor. And if the Emperor wasn't here to give him that power, within a few dozen cycles there might not be any Guides left at all anywhere in the Nine Worlds. And without the Guides our civilisation would collapse."

"But… if I'm the Emperor, you're still stuffed! I don't have any power – in fact, I still don't even understand what you're talking about!"

"What matters," Aldegard told him, "isn't what you know, or what you can remember – it's what you are. Of course you can't remember how to transfer the Power of Healing, for example, but the ability to do so is within you. And that's what makes you so vital to us: in the entire universe, you're the only one who can do it."

There was a silence as Julien digested this, and slowly he realised the implications.

"Then…" he said, his voice shaking a little, "you… you're not going to let me go back home, are you?"

"It would certainly not be sensible to risk losing you again," agreed Aldegard.

"So I'm a prisoner now?"

"Julien, I didn't explain myself very well. Neither I nor anyone else has the power to force the Emperor of the R'hinz to do anything. If you ask for my advice I will do my best to tell you what I think you should do: it is my duty to give you whatever advice would best suit the well-being of the R'hinz. But if you decided to ignore my advice, nobody would ever even think of questioning your decision."

"So… does that mean that I am responsible for everything that happens in the Nine Worlds?"

"Not even the Emperor has enough power to be held responsible for everything that happens in the universe. All the same, many things depend on his judgement and his will. And so the real answer to your question is, yes, you are already responsible for the destiny of the Nine Worlds."

"But I don't want to be! I never asked to be!"

"Of course you didn't, but that's just the way things are, and there isn't anything we can do about it. Believe me, if there was any way to take this burden from you, we would have done it already."

"But it's not fair!"

"No, it isn't, and I'm truly sorry for you. But do you think that we find it fair? With the greatest respect, we would all feel a very great deal safer if the Emperor had come back to us as he was before he left, rather than as…"

The First Lord stopped speaking. What good would it do for him to tell Julien that he was just a stupid kid, without even the most basic knowledge needed for survival in a world that was completely alien to him? And why add to his unhappiness by pointing out that his arrival actually raised as many problems as it solved?

"Go ahead and say it," said Julien. "I know I'm just a kid, and I don't know the first thing about being an emperor. I know I'm not up to it, and I know that gives you a really nasty problem."

And that was true, thought Aldegard: the R'hinz was at the mercy of a child. And before too long that child, who was currently completely out of his depth, would start to realise that he had powers that would enable him to do whatever he wanted. Right now those powers were buried deep in his mind where he had no access to them, but that would not always be the case. Who could foresee what might happen when he became aware of what he could do? That was certainly worrying, and if you thought about it properly it was really quite terrifying. Nonetheless, he wanted to believe that this strange boy was actually a cause for hope rather than a threat.

"Julien," he said, "you're right: I am worried. But whatever you say, and no matter what you look like at the moment, you are still my Emperor, and my Emperor has never failed us through all the thousands of cycles of his reign."

"Thank you," said Julien. "I'm still not convinced I'm who you say I am, but I promise I'll do my best not to mess up."

"In any case, I beg you to let me offer you my protection, because you're clearly in danger. It's obvious now that it wasn't my daughter who was being targeted the other night. Clearly you have a powerful enemy out there who knows of your return, and he's prepared to do anything, no matter how foul, to kill you. Probably it's the same enemy who was responsible for what happened thirteen cycles ago. For the time being it would be best if you stayed right here in the Tower."

Julien sighed: here was more bad news. Now he had to hide from a bunch of thugs. Any hope he had of seeing his parents again soon, already substantially diminished by his new status, now dwindled away to next to nothing. And his parents must be looking everywhere for him and going mad with worry..

"All right," he said. "So what do you think I should do now?"

"You need to start getting used to your new situation," said the First Lord. "To start with you should call me 'Aldegard', not 'First Lord'. You're the Emperor, and nobody has precedence over you. As soon as it can be arranged you'll have to meet your Mirrors, but it'll probably take a few days to set that up."

"My Lor… I mean Aldegard – if there's nothing that needs doing urgently, I'd like to stay here tonight with Niil and Ambar. I'm going to need to talk to them about stuff… sort of like they were my family."

"I understand. And we also have to arrange for young Ambar to get his Marks transferred. Really it should have been done tonight. It only needs a Master of Traditions and three witnesses. But under the circumstances I think we can leave it for a few days."

"Actually I'd prefer us not to wait, if you don't mind," said Julien. "And can I be one of the witnesses?"

There was an awkward silence.

"What?" asked Julien. "Did I say something stupid?"

"No, but… it would give the impression that Ambar is linked to the Imperial House."

"What's wrong with that? You said yourself what a good kid Ambar is. And Xarax has told me the same thing, and I'm fairly sure he's a good judge of people. Remember Xarax chose to ask Ambar to protect him."

That is true, said Xarax inside his head. You are right to want to bind him to you.

So Xarax wasn't asleep! Julien wondered how long he had been listening in to their conversation. All the same, it was impossible to object to it, even though Julien realised that his strange companion would very soon know everything there was to know about him.

"I recognise young Ambar's bravery, but I can tell you that some people aren't going to like it. The very idea that a No-clan can be raised up to a level far above what they themselves could ever hope to achieve…"

"Never mind about 'certain people'. What do you think about it personally? I don't want to start off by making a serious faux pas."

"Well, I'd start out by feeling jealous of the honour you're doing him. I'd think that he isn't worthy and that you shouldn't honour him above the great Noble Houses. But then I'd think about it for a moment, and eventually I'd be happy that my Emperor cares more for what his heart tells him than for observing the proprieties. In other words, Julien, do whatever seems right to you, and if other people don't like it, that's just tough!"

"Great! Then can you set it up for this evening?"

"I'll make the arrangements. And now we should leave you to get washed."

"Thanks, Aldegard, but please let my friends stay with me. I really need them…"

Tannder had gone to start filling the bath for them, so for the moment the boys were alone. For a moment they looked at each other without speaking, and Julien sighed, realising that it might take a while before his companions dared to speak to him again.

"What?" he said. "Why are you staring at me like that? Have I grown horns or something?"

Niil managed to laugh.

"No, nothing like that," he said. "In fact you look absolutely normal, what with being covered in blood and having a haptir wrapped around your neck. I can't imagine why anyone would look at you twice."

"Actually," said Ambar, who had found his voice again, "he looks nice now – Xarax, I mean. He's very colourful. You're definitely going to turn heads. Everyone's gong to want one of those… Oh! Sorry!"

Xarax had opened his eyes and turned his red gaze on the cheeky boy, at the same time revealing his sharp, pointy teeth in a way that was anything but reassuring.

Xarax will leave his friend now, said the voice in Julien's head. The child Ambar should not be afraid. Xarax knows that he is not really laughing at him.

The haptir jumped from Julien's shoulders and went to lie down on a large, ornate wooden chest.

"Is he angry with me?" asked Ambar nervously.

"No, I think he can take a joke. I also think he doesn't like baths much, which is why he decided to get off me before I go and get under the shower."

"Lord Niil," said Tannder, appearing from the bathroom, "maybe you should have something to eat while Julien is getting ready for the ceremony. If it's going to take place as planned there isn't really any time to waste…"

Which was a tactful way of telling them that there wouldn't be time for the ablutions to degenerate into a mini-orgy.

"Would you like me to come and help you?" Tannder continued to Julien. "Or will Lord Ambar be able to scrub your back for you?"

"I don't think Ambar will mind giving me a hand. Thank you, Tannder."

"Then if you don't need me I'll go and organise the robes you'll need for the ceremony. I won't be long."

***

Niil sat down and started to eat hungrily while Julien and Ambar got undressed. Julien had no intention of doing anything other than getting himself clean – Tannder had been diplomatic in his comment about the lack of time, but it was nonetheless true that they really didn't have the time to linger over their bath. But Julien hadn't been prepared for the shock he got when Ambar pulled his white lai over his head.

As the garment was slowly pulled up it revealed a perfect, small, nicely-tanned body, one which just cried out to be stroked. But the emotion that Julien was experiencing as he watched was only peripherally sexual. For the first time in his life he was experiencing beauty. It was almost as if he had developed a third eye which until now had always been closed, but which had now finally opened, offering a direct route into his mind.

He had already seen Ambar naked, of course, and he'd enjoyed what he had seen, and been moved to join in a number of highly pleasurable games as a result. But until this moment he simply hadn't been aware of the boy's sheer BEAUTY. It was as if a veil of ignorance had been torn away, a veil which until now had prevented him from seeing what was truly wonderful and valuable in the world. Sure, he'd often said, 'Yes, that's nice' about things, but now he could see just how meaningless that was. And he'd certainly never looked at any of his friends and thought anything like this – not even 'he looks good', and certainly not 'Wow, he's beautiful!'.

For a few seconds, lost in the contemplation of this miracle, he was unable to move, but then he finally managed to pull himself together and finish getting undressed. He went and joined Ambar in the shower. He had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that spread to his genitals even though his penis remained soft – it was like the sort of dizziness he had sometimes experienced on a swing, or when walking along the edge of a cliff…

Ambar had no idea of the effect he was having – he simply grabbed a sponge and started to scrub Julien's back, as he had promised.

"Wow, your bruise has gone loads of interesting colours!" he observed.

He was right: the massive bruise was now positively rainbow-coloured, everything from an almost black purple to a rather unhealthy-looking greenish yellow.

"Does it hurt?" Ambar asked.

"Not unless you rub too hard. That stuff the Health Masters gave me is certainly working."

Julien let him get on with it without interfering. Of course, having someone else's hands roaming over his body did cause some side effects, the more so because Ambar was taking an almost obsessive care that no nook or cranny remained uncleaned. At one point his soapy fingers rested on Julien's anus, and for a ghastly moment Julien thought Ambar intended cleaning him internally too. But then the panic subsided and was replaced by a wholly unexpected feeling of pleasure. To think that being touched there could feel so good! A week previously Julien wouldn't have believed it for a second.

Ambar didn't stop there, either: he moved on between Julien's legs to take hold of his scrotum. He started to soap it up with a sort of gentle firmness, at the same time allowing his wrist to continue to massage Julien's anus. And when Ambar's other hand came around his body and took hold of his erection Julien almost climaxed on the spot. Somehow he held it back, taking a deep breath – now he realised just how perfectly the unsuspecting Yrcadian had been seduced before Ambar knocked him out.

"Play fair, Ambar!"

Niil had appeared at the door of the shower, naked and clearly in a very good mood.

"Be nice and let me work on his front," Niil went on.

He turned off the water, soaped Julien up thoroughly from head to toe and then, once he was satisfied with the result, he stood facing him and embraced him firmly, trying to keep their genitals pressed together. Of course Julien was extremely slippery, and that made the contact impossible to control: their stiff organs rolled against and away from each other, their tips pressing together for a second before sliding away… and then Ambar got back to work on their balls, stroking, kneading, and gently squeezing both boys' testicles at the same time.

It didn't last very long, but the eventual shared orgasm was extremely satisfactory to both parties, and it took a while before Niil recovered sufficiently to demonstrate on Ambar his expertise at masturbation.

Julien left them to it and went and sat in the tub, relaxing in a haze of contentment which was gradually sliding into a blissful torpor… and then Tannder returned to the kang. It was time to get out and dry off.

Niil and Ambar started getting dressed, putting on the red-trimmed grey lakhs of House Ksantiri, while Tannder handed Julien a garment covered in abstract patterns in gold and fuchsia.

"Do I really have to wear this?" queried Julien, unhappily.

"Yes. I's a semi-ceremonial lakh, and it's perfect for this evening's event."

"But it's gold and pink! I'll look… well…"

"Ah," said Tannder. "You feel that this garment… is ill-suited to your virility, perhaps?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You don't think these are boy's clothes. Am I right?"

"Well, yes. Where I come from only a girl would wear something like that!"

Tannder managed to hide a smile.

"Julien, the only person in the Nine Worlds who is allowed to wear these colours is the Emperor. That's you. There are many reasons for it, both symbolic and historical, but perhaps you'd rather than I postpone the explanations..?"

"Yes, Tannder, I would. By all means postpone them."

He took the garment and put it on, and then he went and stood in front of the mirror. His appearance was certainly flamboyant, and it appeared all the more so because his hair looked as if it had been dyed in order to clash in the most ghastly way imaginable with the outfit. He made a face, and that was enough to send Ambar off into a fit of the giggles. And as if things weren't bad enough, Tannder managed to add insult to injury.

"Um… I think we ought to cut your hair," he said.

"What! You want to shave my head?" cried Julien.

"Oh, I don't think we need to go that far. Ambar's hair is a nice length."

Ambar's hair was about five millimetres long, or call it about an eighth of an inch.

"What if I refuse?" asked Julien.

"Nothing will happen, although I expect the Master of Traditions will be… let's be polite and say 'surprised'."

Julien raised his eyes to the ceiling: this seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"Listen, Tannder," he said, "I'm going to need some time to get used to this, and right now I don't feel like having my head shaved, or wearing a party frock. What about if I wear the Bakhtars' blue robe? We could say I'm wearing it to honour my host, or something."

Tannder thought for a moment.

"We could get you a hatik like the one you wore…"

"Yes!" interrupted Julien. "I liked the style of that one. Thank you, Tannder."

The hatik arrived in record time, which said something about the efficiency of the Tower's servants. And this time when Julien looked at himself in the mirror, clad in the dark green tunic and black trousers, he liked what he saw: in fact he thought he looked like a prince in a fairy-tale.

Niil looked him up and down. It was clear that he still had some reservations about Julien's hair, but he was kind enough not to say so.

"Well, it definitely looks better on you than pink and gold," he commented.

"Very well," said Tannder. "And now it's time for Your Lordship to rejoin your host."

Tannder led them down to a circular room in the basement of the tower. It looked really ancient: the walls were of huge, rough blocks of granite and the floor was paved with large, irregular, well-worn slabs of limestone. Lighting was provided by a dozen torches set into black metal brackets all round the room. In the centre of the room was a large wooden tub full of what looked like water. There were no chairs.

Three people were waiting for them. On the First Lord's right was an old man in a black robe who just had to be the Master of Traditions, and on his other side was a man in his forties who was wearing a dark red lakh. This man was looking at them keenly.

"As Your Lordship has commanded," began the First Lord, "We are gathered here in order to accomplish the transfer of the Noble House Ksantiri's Marks to its newest member, the Noble Fourth Son Ambar. Your Lordship has expressed a wish to bear witness to this procedure, and the Noble Lord Ajmer,of the Bakhtars, my cousin and First Councillor, will also bear witness. With Your Lordship's leave, I myself will act as the third witness. And this is the Honourable Master of Traditions Hildemir, of the Hatreas, who will see that the rite is conducted in accordance with tradition."

Julien nodded as Tannder left the room. The Master of Traditions stepped forward and spoke to Ambar.

"Ambar of the Ksantiris," he said, "thou shalt now receive the Marks of thy Family. As the infant is submerged in its mother's womb, so shalt thou be submerged in the Primal Bath. Come hither."

Ambar walked, slightly nervously, towards the old man, who immediately removed the boy's lakh and signalled to him that he should also remove his underwear. Then he turned towards Julien.

"None in the Nine Worlds has precedence before Yulmir, Emperor of the R'hinz and Guarantor of Ultimate Harmony," he said. "It is therefore Your Lordship's privilege to immerse this child."

Julien stepped forward and, following the old man's directions, picked up Ambar in his arms and carried him to the tub. There were three low steps at one side, and these enabled him to lift Ambar over the edge and into the liquid, which on closer view was a sort of pale blue colour, and had the consistency of oil.

The Master spoke again.

"Fear thee not, child," he said. "Sink completely into the Primal Bath and remain submerged for as long as thou canst, then come and stand before me."

Soon a dripping Ambar was standing in front of Hildemir.

"Niil, Third Son of the Ksantiris, come hither and place thy finger on thy Noble Brother's forehead."

Nothing happened for a while, and then it became possible to see, in the flickering torchlight, a faint network of silver starting to spread out from the point that Niil was touching. Then the lines thickened and twisted, spreading across Ambar's skin to form the complex pattern of the Ksantiri Marks. After a few minutes the Master of Traditions took hold of Niil's wrist and lifted his hand away from the other boy's forehead, but the Marks went on growing and spreading until finally, a good half hour after the process had started, Ambar was fully equipped with the pattern of Marks that would remain on his body for the rest of his life.

Once again the old man spoke.

"As has been the case since time immemorial, the three witnesses must now ascertain that the Marks received are identical to the original configuration. Noble Lord Niil, I pray thee, put off thy garment."

Niil undressed and the two brothers stood side by side, wearing nothing but the silver net of their Marks.

Hildemir studied them for a few seconds and then said, "Let it be recorded in the Ksantiri Book of Acts that Ambar, Fourth Son to Ylavan; is entitled to all the rights and privileges of his House and is bound to comply with all the duties and pledges thereof."

The Master picked up the boys' clothing and returned it to them.

"The only garments needful to a Noble Son are his Marks. Wear them with honour, Ambar of the Ksantiris, and follow the example of thy Noble Brother Niil."

He indicated that the ceremony was over and that they could get dressed, but first Niil took a large, soft bath towel that the old man handed him and used it to remove the last traces of the Primal Bath from his brother. Then they got dressed, and they were about to leave the room when Aldegard stopped them.

"I have informed your Noble Father of your decision to adopt Ambar," he said to Niil. "He approved, of course. I should say that my message to him also expressed my agreement with your decision. Anyway, he has now written to me to say that he hopes to see his new son as soon as possible, and also that he was making arrangements for his education. So I think you need to get ready to go back to Dvârinn. It should be possible for a Guide to take you there in two or three days' time."

"So that's it, is it?" said Julien. "You're just going to leave me?"

The trip back to the kang had been silent and gloomy, in complete contrast to the happy atmosphere which should have prevailed after such a significant ceremony.

"What choice have we got?" asked Niil. "My father has issued an order, and just in case you didn't notice, First Lord Aldegard was pretty keen on us going, too."

"But why? And what's the big hurry? Surely he could have waited for a while, couldn't he?"

"I don't know, and I suspect that if I asked Lord Aldegard he wouldn't tell me."

Julien raised his voice.

"Tannder!" he called. "Could you come here, please?"

Tannder appeared immediately.

"First, Tannder," said Julien, "could you tell us how you manage to get here so quickly whenever we need you?"

"Oh, there's nothing strange about that. My kang is right next to yours, and there's a simple system set up that enables me to hear anything that is said in here. That's how security chiefs usually operate."

"You mean, you're constantly spying on us?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that."

"So how would you put it, then?"

"Well, I've been ordered by Lord Aldegard to protect you and your friends. That's why I listen in to everything that happens here, and if I need to I can also see what is going on anywhere in this kang."

"What, anywhere? Even the toilet?"

"Well, yes."

"So I'm not entitled to any privacy at all?"

"Well, I don't really count, so your privacy isn't actually compromised."

"That's easy for you to say!" exclaimed Julien. "You're not the one whose every word – and, apparently, every action – is being followed!"

"Your Lo… Julien, let me try to explain. You see, I've been through extensive education and training in order to prepare me for this sort of duty, and as a result I can hear whatever is said in this kang, but I forget it, completely and absolutely, immediately afterwards. But I am trained to recognise danger, which is why I came in when Xarax woke up, for example. But I can promise you that nothing I might hear and nothing I might see, no matter how private you might think it, is ever going to shock me. In fact I wouldn't even think for a moment of passing judgement on anything you might say or do. The sole reason for my vigilance is to make sure that nothing untoward ever happens to you."

"I'm sorry, Tannder, but I really can't think of you as being like the mirror on the bathroom wall. And in any case, don't you work for the First Lord? He's the one who assigned you to protect us, after all."

"I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear. Yes, the First Lord asked if I could watch over his guests, and I was perfectly happy to comply. But the First Lord is certainly not my master. As I told Xarax, my allegiance is to the Emperor alone. In fact, every Master of the Silent Warriors is the same: they may hire out their services, and they may even fight for one cause or another as seems right to them at the time. But they have all pledged obedience to the Emperor – which is to say you, Your Lordship."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

Tannder opened his mouth, but Julien held up his hand to stop him.

"And I'd be really grateful if you could tell me without using the High Speech," he added. "And I really mean it about calling me 'Julien', at least here in the kang."

"It means," said Tannder, "that my life is at your service, and that I will protect you and your friends to the best of my ability. It means that you can order me to do anything that you think is necessary. And it means that I will complete any mission you may give me to the absolute limit of my ability, or I will die in the attempt."

"That's a bit scary, Tannder. And what do I give you in exchange for all that?"

"You give me something that nobody else in the world can give: you are Yulmir, and you preserve the very existence of the R'hinz."

Julien thought about that for a moment, but still came to the conclusion that he really didn't want someone constantly spying on him, no matter how pure Tannder's motives might be. So he decided that this might be a good way to test the authority which, according to Tannder, was now his to wield.

"If I were to give you a direct order, Tannder," he asked, "would you obey it?"

"Of course!"

"Then I don't want you looking into my kang."

"But that's sure to make me less effective. I need to be able to…"

"Tannder! Was all that stuff you just told me about your allegiance to me just a bedtime story for little kids?"

"My Lord!"

"Then please listen: I want to be left alone in my kang. No ifs, no buts. Or am I really just a prisoner?"

"No, my Lord!"

"Well, at home – my real home – nobody watches over me all the time, and in fact if anyone did… well, it just wouldn't happen. All right, I suppose I can put up with you listening in if you really feel you have to, but I want your word that you're not going to try to see what's happening in here. All right?"

"But…"

"Look, either you can give me your word on that right now, or I'll be left with no choice but to consider that you were lying to me, the same way that people lie to little kids if they think it's in the kid's best interest. Believe me, I've already been through that sort of thing…"

"Then… very well. I swear to Your Lordship that I will not try to see what is happening in your kang."

"Thank you, Tannder. I trust you. However, if I were to call for help…"

"Don't worry, My Lord, I'm not stupid. If I think there's even the remotest danger I won't waste time trying to look first, I'll just come straight away."

"Excellent – I think we can agree with that way of working, then. Thank you. But actually I called you in here to ask your advice. First, have you any idea why Niil and Ambar have to leave so quickly?"

"I suspect that the First Lord and his Councillors would like to get rid of any possible… interference, shall we say?"

"I don't understand."

"Well, to be blunt, I think they would prefer you to be alone under their control, where you won't be distracted by anything. They want you to become the Emperor again as quickly as possible, and they don't want their plans to be constantly interrupted by – forgive me – a couple of kids getting in the way."

"I see. So what you're saying is, I'm the Emperor, but I can't actually do anything except what they tell me to. Is that right?"

"That's a rather harsh way of putting it, but in essence that is what they would like – for the good of the Nine Worlds, you understand."

"What do you mean, it's what they would like? Isn't that exactly what's going to happen?"

"No, Julien. You are the Emperor. I know you're not happy about it, but it does have its good points. For a start, you have the power to change certain things…"

"Such as?"

"Well, would you prefer to keep Lord Niil and Lord Ambar with you?"

"Of course I would! Well… if that's what they want, of course."

Niil and Ambar quickly made it very clear indeed that this was exactly what they wanted.

"So," Tannder went on, "it seems to me that, owing to the confused state of affairs we've all just been through, His Excellency Yulmir, Emperor of the R'hinz ka aun li Nügen has not yet had the opportunity to reward the Noble Son Niil, of the Ksantiris, for the bravery he displayed while defending his Emperor. So…"

But before Tannder could explain what he had in mind Niil stood up, placed his hand on his heart and declaimed, "My Lord! No Ksantiri would ever seek for any higher reward than that of having been able to serve his Emperor and defend the honour of his Family. I…"

"Oh, do shut up," interrupted Julien, as gently as he could. "We all know perfectly well that you weren't looking for a reward when you did what you did. Still, actually Tannder is right: I do feel a bit guilty that I haven't really thanked you yet…"

"But I didn't do it for you! I did it because I thought they were in the Palace to attack the Emp…"

He tailed off.

"You're right: that's exactly why they were there," said Julien. "And that's exactly what they were doing, too, even though you didn't realise at the time. And, be honest: if you'd thought it was only insignificant little Julien they were attacking, would you have just stood back and let them get on with it?"

Niil went red: he was obviously finding it hard to cope with having done something heroic.

"So," Julien went on, "Tannder was saying something about a reward, I think?"

"Well," said Tannder, "what I had in mind was not so much rewarding a piece of bravery as honouring a Noble Family by granting one of members the title of… what about Privy Councillor?"

"What's the benefit of that?" asked Julien.

"Niil's a Third Son, and consequently it's unlikely that he'll ever be able to do anything in life other than what his father and brothers tell him to. However, as Privy Councillor to the Emperor he could live however he wanted to. Of course he would still have a natural duty to his father and his Family, but otherwise he would serve you however you wanted him to."

"Does that mean that he'd be able to stay with me?"

"If that is what you want, then yes."

"Would you like that, Niil?"

"Of course I would!"

"All right," said Julien. "So what do I have to do for that to happen?"

"Your Lordship should lay his hand on the Noble Lord Niil's head and ask if he will accept the office of Privy Councillor. I can bear witness on behalf of First Lord Aldegard, and then he will see to it that the deed is registered. After that the Administration Office will deal with everything, including making sure that the revenues that go with the post are attributed to Niil."

Niil knelt down and Julien stood in front of him and put his hand on the kneeling boy's head.

"Niil, would you like to be my Privy Councillor?" he asked.

"Yes, please, Your Lordship!"

Neither of the boys really knew how this act would affect what happened to them in the future, but they were both very happy with the situation as it was. They looked at each other, not really knowing what to do next, and they were still doing that when Ambar yawned.

"He's right," said Julien. "I think we should all get some sleep. I'm certainly tired. Tannder, do you actually sleep at all?"

"Yes, Your… Julien. But I'm a very light sleeper, and in any case Xarax, over there on his box, is as good a guard as there is. And… I hope I haven't overstepped the mark here, but I've taken the liberty of putting a little book beside your bed. Normally a boy's parents would give him this book when they thought he was ready for it… in any case, I hope it will help you to understand our customs a little better."

"I don't like this, Niil," said Julien.

"What don't you like?"

"Any of this. I don't like the way things are going."

"What do you mean?"

"You heard Tannder, didn't you? Well, I think he's right: to all intents and purposes I'm a prisoner, and if I let them they'll turn me into some sort of performing monkey."

"Oh, come on! I mean, I've got no idea what a 'monkey' might be, but surely they can't turn you into a pet?"

"What, you think the people in charge of this world are just going to start doing whatever I tell them to?"

"But… you're the Emperor!"

"So they tell me. Personally, I'm not so sure."

"But even Tannder thinks so!"

"Tannder is a nice person, and he certainly thinks he's telling the truth. And I'm sure I can depend on him to protect me. But Tannder isn't exactly the boss around here, is he?"

"No – that's you."

"I'm sure that's what they want me to think," said Julien. "But they still see me as a kid, and they'll treat me like one. They'll bow a lot and call me 'Your Lordship' but they'll tell me what to do and I won't even be allowed to say what I think about it. That's pretty much what Tannder just told me, isn't it?"

"Come on, Julien, you're exaggerating. The First Lord has treated you really well, and…"

"Niil, Aldegard is very polite, very considerate and everything a good host should be, but if you think he's going to let me do anything except what he wants me to, you're fooling yourself."

"But I know him. He's absolutely loyal to the Emperor."

"Well, first, you only think you know him, and really you're just going on what your father has told you. Second, I'm sure you're right about him being loyal to the Emperor, but the problem with that is, he doesn't really think I am the Emperor. He thinks I might become the Emperor, but right now he sees me as a little kid who he's going to have to educate – just like your father thinks that Ambar could become a proper Ksantiri with a proper education. And third, there's one thing he's never going to let me do, and that's go back home."

Niil looked upset. "You want to leave us?" he asked.

"Niil, my parents must be tearing their hair out. They'll be thinking I've run away, or that I've been kidnapped, or even that I'm dead! And obviously I miss them too. Obviously I'd go home, if only I could! Yes, I'd really miss you, and Ambar too, but… Ideally I'd like to be able to go and let them know I'm fine and then come back here. But that's never going to happen."

"Why not? Surely the Guides can find a way to get you back – after all, you managed to get here all by yourself!"

"It's not going to happen because Aldegard and his colleagues won't allow it. I still don't really understand what's happening, but it's clear that they need me, and so they're not going to let me go."

"What are we going to do, then?"

"Right now I think we should go to bed. Ambar's out on his feet and I'm pretty knackered too. You don't mind sharing the bed, I hope?"

"Of course not!"

"And can I, too?" Ambar might have been tired, but he wasn't so tired as to let an opening like that go past.

"If you promise not to snore," said Julien.

"I never snore!"

"Well, perhaps not. Then you'd better go and have a pee before you get into bed. You don't want to wet the bed, do you?"

"I never wet the bed, either!" said Ambar, indignantly.

For a moment Ambar looked shocked that anyone could accuse him of such a dreadful thing – of course he was tired, and his sense of humour was not to the fore. But then he realised that Julien was simply winding him up.

"On the other hand," said Ambar with a mischievous grin, "it's been such a long time since I did last wet the bed that perhaps I should try it again tonight, just to remember what it's like."

"Not a chance!" said Julien. "You're not getting into my bed unless you go and have a pee first!"

"Well, I would, but I'm scared of the dark. Will you come and hold my hand?"

This lovely impression of a scared four-year-old didn't really go with the positively dirty grin he was also displaying.

"I know exactly what you're after, and it isn't your hand you want me to hold!" said Julien. "We really don't have time for that."

"We don't have time to pee?"

"All, right, all right, I'll come with you, then."

"You'd better help me take off my lakh. I'd hate to splash it!"

As Julien did this he got a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he realised that Ambar's Marks, which shone like silver in the soft light of the kang, made him look even more beautiful than he had been before.

"They look nice, don't they?" said Ambar. "And look, I've got one that curls all the way up to the end of my willy, just like Niil!"

Julien had indeed noticed this while playing with Niil in the shower earlier.

"Yes, it's fascinating," he said. "So, do you want to pee or not?"

"Are you sure you don't want a closer look?

For a moment Julien held back, thinking about Tannder and whether he was spying on them. But then he realised that he had to choose whether to trust Tannder or not: either he was a loyal servant who would keep his word, or he was a nasty sort whose word wasn't to be trusted, in which case Julien was in for a difficult future. But he remembered Tannder's honest face and decided that he could trust him – and in any case, he more or less had to, if he wasn't going to spend every waking moment feeling like a lab rat.

"Come on, have a look!" Ambar encouraged him.

How could he resist an invitation like that? Julien dropped to his knees, and Ambar thrust the relevant part of his anatomy under Julien's nose. Suddenly Ambar didn't sound a bit tired.

"Look," he went on, "the Mark covers the skin but doesn't go underneath."

He slipped his newly-decorated foreskin down to reveal the shiny red tip beneath it, which indeed was unMarked. And Julien suddenly found himself wondering what this interesting little item tasted like. It was disturbing: how could he possibly contemplate doing something like that?

"Oh, look, now it's gone all hard. That's your fault! Anyway, you'd better do something about it, 'cos I won't be able to pee like this!"

Apparently the same bizarre thought had now crossed Ambar's mind, because he pushed his hips forward, bringing the object of Julien's contemplation so close that he was obliged to squint in order to be able to keep looking at it. And he found himself even more determined to taste it, despite his upbringing: yes, he supposed that it would be pretty disgusting to put another boy's knob in his mouth… but the boy was Ambar, and Ambar was the most beautiful being in the world. Ambar was beautiful and lovable, and therefore every single part of Ambar was beautiful and lovable too.

It actually only took him a fraction of a second to make a decision, and so he was scarcely aware of thinking it through: he simply moved forward until he was close enough, first to plant a tentative kiss on the tip, and then, encouraged by Ambar pressing against him, to allow it into his mouth.

Immediately he lost his inhibitions: far from finding this disgusting, he actually thought that it felt really good. Even the very faint salty hint of Ambar's last visit to the bathroom a couple of hours previously somehow tasted good. He felt that he was sharing a deeply intimate connection, and he liked it, and within a few seconds he had begun to explore what was in his mouth with enthusiasm, feeling that his tongue could almost see the smallest details, until finally his nose reached the little hollow just above the base of the penis and he was able to breathe in Ambar's scent, which was fresh and thrilling and somehow a distillation of the boy's unique essence.

The penis seemed almost to have been made to fit perfectly into his mouth, and it joined the two of them together perfectly and excitingly. Exciting, because Julien was amazed to discover that by caressing Ambar he was himself becoming excited: the pleasure he was giving was somehow being reflected onto him. And he was delighted to discover that making another boy feel good seemed even better to him than being made to feel good himself.

Julien was aware that the Devil makes work for idle hands to do, and so, rather than keep his hands idle, he followed the path of Virtue by using them to stroke and fondle Ambar's small testicles in their warm, soft bag. And although he had never done this before he seemed to have picked up the technique perfectly, because very quickly his young partner lost control and thrust against Julien's head, his small member pulsing on Julien's tongue.

Ambar was both grateful and very polite: even before he had got his breath back properly, and while his stiff penis was still in his friend's mouth, he whispered "Thank you."

Julien was equally polite and well brought up, and so he allowed – with some reluctance – the small item on which he had been concentrating to slip out of his mouth, and then said "You're welcome."

Niil promptly burst out laughing.

"Now that Ambar has got what he wanted," he said, "maybe this would be a good time to make him have his pee, before he gets any more bright ideas."

Julien stood up. He'd already changed his clothes and so now he was only wearing a gossamer-thin white lai – and without underwear, at that. His erection was therefore completely unmissable, especially since it had also left a damp stain on the material, demonstrating just how excited he had been.

Niil laughed again. "And once Ambar's been to water the porcelain," he went on, "maybe I'd better help you with your own little problem."

Ambar went and watered the porcelain, although he still asked Julien to hold it for him while he did so. It was actually a pleasant-smelling water, probably because he'd been eating something that affects the smell of the eater's water, rather like asparagus does on Earth. But in this case it smelled sweet, like a flower.

However, afterwards Niil didn't get a chance to demonstrate his technique to Julien: instead it was Ambar, no doubt driven by a sense of duty and obligation, who insisted on introducing Julien to the delights of being on the receiving end of oral sex. Julien lay on the bed and, had he not been overwhelmed by the sensations he was experiencing, he might have felt almost humiliated by Ambar's complete mastery of the process: the boy apparently knew the position of every nerve ending, and he played them like a real expert. Indeed, if Julien had still been capable of coherent thought he might have wondered just where and how this apparently innocent little sprite had gained such knowledge. But he was in no condition to speculate. He did make a feeble attempt to stroke Niil's erection – Niil was sitting right next to him – but he quickly gave up on that in favour of concentrating on what Ambar was doing to him instead.

And eventually, after a particularly overwhelming orgasm, he fell fast asleep, leaving Ambar performing an enthusiastic encore on his brother.

When he had fallen asleep he had been too tired to think about going for a pee first, and it was the need to do that that woke him up in the middle of the night. He got up, extricating himself from his sleeping partners' arms and legs, and once he'd done what he needed to and had returned to the bed he got a visit from Xarax. The haptir wasn't exactly a soft and cuddly teddy bear, but when he pressed his head against Julien's cheek it wasn't a cuddle that he was after. Instead he'd chosen this opportunity to offer some important information that Julien needed to know.

A long time ago, Xarax's people made a pact with the humans, he began. They agreed that humans could wander freely around approximately one-third of the world of Kretzlal, but they had to promise not to interfere in the haptirs' affairs. Indeed, there was to be no contact between the two species. Men need the plants that grow on Kretzlal, but haptirs have no need of men. If no agreement was reached, the humans could cause great harm to the haptirs and could drive them out of Kretzlal, but the haptirs would certainly kill a lot of people and make life very difficult for the rest.

And so the pact was agreed, and when it was concluded my people presented the Emperor Yulmir with an egg, and from that egg was hatched Xhork, the first of the Emperor's haptirs. Normally when a haptir hatches he is surrounded by his whole Clan and is immediately offered all different kinds of food, and so he becomes accustomed to that diversity, and it helps to shape the view of the world and his place in it that forms during the first days of his life.

But things are different for the Emperor's haptir: when he hatches he is alone with the Emperor, and the only food he gets is a few drops of the Emperor's blood, enriched with Yel, the omnipresent energy. And so a bond is formed. To the haptir, the Emperor is both his father and his mother, and he can only feed on the Emperor's enriched blood. To the Emperor, the haptir becomes almost an extension of himself, and indeed the haptir holds the key to several of his powers.

This is how things have been now for more than seven thousand cycles, and it remains the guarantee of the Covenant between our two species. Later Xarax will tell you more, but for now, that is enough.

But you should also know, young Julien, that Xarax has known you for far longer than you have had this body. Not every haptir of the Emperor has been happy with the role chosen for him, and some decided to… live a shorter life rather than go on with it. But Xarax has loved you since he first opened his eyes upon the world. And Xarax believes that, even though you have no memory of it, you love Xarax too.

The next morning Julien was visibly not in a very good mood, so much so that Ambar didn't even think about dragging him into the bathroom for some fun in the shower, and breakfast took place in what would certainly not have been called a party atmosphere.

Julien turned to Tannder, whom he had invited to share their breakfast, and asked, "So Lord Aldegard will be coming here this morning?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Do you know what he wants?"

"Not exactly. I think he'd like to start organising a training schedule for you that will help you to get to grips with the essentials of the Emperor's position. And…"

He was interrupted by the low chime that indicated that a visitor was about to enter the kang.

Lord Aldegard was alone. He greeted Julien with a slight bow as the boy got up to welcome him.

"Good morning, Aldegard," said Julien. "Thank you for coming. But I'm sure you're a busy man – couldn't we have come to you instead?"

"Well, of course you could, My Lord, but it's probably safer if you don't move about too much while there's still a threat to your safety."

"What, even here in the Tower? I thought…"

"Obviously, My Lord, the Tower is as safe a place as we can find for you, but even so it doesn't do any harm to take precautions."

"I see. So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I believe that there are a number of decisions to be taken, and I have come to discuss them with Your Lordship…"

"Please, Aldegard," interrupted Julien, "don't start all that again. Forget the protocol and cut out all the titles while we're on our own."

"Yes, My Lord. So, first I would like to congratulate Niil on his accession to your privy council. I should also remind him that this promotion also emancipates him and has the effect of making him legally an adult, with all the duties and privileges that entails. From now on he should be addressed as 'Noble Lord', rather than 'Noble Son'."

Niil bowed with all the dignity of a new adult but sensibly kept his mouth shut.

"Second, we need to talk about the Noble Son Ambar, of the Ksantiris."

Ambar, who was trying to act as if he was invisible, went pale: it's not usually a good thing when grown-ups start talking about you, and especially not when the grown-ups are particularly powerful.

"As a Noble Son," Aldegard went on, "it is essential that he starts to receive an education suitable to his rank as soon as it can possibly be arranged. It would therefore be best if he were to travel immediately to Dvârinn to be placed under a tutor chosen for him by Lord Ylavan."

Ambar realised that his worst fears had come true, and a lot faster than he had expected. He felt his whole universe shake, and he was unable to hide his dismay.

"I've arranged for a Guide to take him there tomorrow," continued Aldegard, "and…"

"Excuse me," interrupted Julien, "but I think we should discuss it a little first."

"Yes, My Lord?"

Aldegard was a shrewd diplomat, but he found it hard completely to hide his irritation at this challenge to his authority. But he recognised that he had at least to listen.

"You see," Julien explained, "I owe Ambar. I'm only sitting here eating this breakfast because of his bravery. I did my best to honour his brother by making him my councillor – although if I'm honest I'd have to admit that I'm thinking as much of myself as of him by keeping him with me. And apparently, to judge from what you told me yourself, I also honoured House Ksantiri by witnessing Ambar's Transfer of the Marks ceremony. Well, now I'd like to show my gratitude to him in a rather more personal way. With your permission, of course."

It was obvious that Aldegard wasn't happy about this, but he could hardly refuse to listen to Julien's proposal.

"It's pretty obvious that Ambar doesn't want to go to Dvârinn," said Julien. "At least, not like this, by being dragged away from the brother he's only just found – or even from me, his friend. Not to mention Xarax," he added, indicating the haptir, who was apparently coiled up asleep on his box. "Xarax respects Ambar a lot, and I think Xarax knows what he's talking about.

"And finally, there's me. I need to hang onto my friends. I'm probably never going to be able to go back home, and so the least you can do is to let my friends stay here with me, unless it's absolutely essential to do otherwise. So, Aldegard, I'm asking you: can they both stay here?"

The First Lord knew when he was beaten. He didn't even try to argue.

"You're right, My Lord," he said. "I tend to spend so long looking at the bigger picture of what is right for the Nine Worlds that I'm sometimes blind to the needs of individuals. We can appoint a tutor here for the Noble Son Ambar, or we could even designate him an Emperor's Pupil – there is precedent for that. If we did that he would be dependent on you alone, other than maintaining his family duties, of course. Just like Niil, in fact."

Julien looked at Ambar.

"Is that all right with you, Ambar?" he asked.

Ambar just nodded – he wasn't sure that he could trust his voice.

"And with you, Niil?"

"Thank you, My Lord, for both of us," said Niil. "I think I could get used to having him around…"

"Good," said Julien. "Then we just need to find him a tutor. Perhaps Tannder could look into that – I'm sure you've got plenty of other stuff to worry about, Aldegard."

"Indeed, My Lord," said Aldegard. "But perhaps I can offer you a solution that will be helpful to everyone. The Honourable Tannder, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, is no mere butler. He's fully qualified to act as tutor to a Noble Son. If he accepts the job – and if you agree, of course – we wouldn't have to introduce an outsider to your immediate entourage. You already know that you can trust Tannder. He could be formally attached to your House as Tutor to the Emperor's Pupil."

"What do you think, Tannder?" asked Julien.

"My Lord, it's a great honour. I'd be happy to accept."

"Good," said Aldegard. "Next, we need to start getting you reacquainted with your world. I've taken the liberty of arranging an interview for you this afternoon with Master Subadar. He's Grand Master of the Circle of Major Arts, and so he's by far the best qualified person to offer instruction in those subjects. I've also asked the Central College of Master Guides to select an instructor to work with you in order to discover what you can do in that field. Perhaps the Guide could come and visit you tomorrow."

"I'd be happy to go and see Master Subadar," replied Julien. "But if I'm going to work with a Guide, I'd prefer it to be Master Aïn."

"Ah. That could be difficult: Master Aïn is under investigation for his part in the rather unfortunate experience you went though. He could well find himself sanctioned…"

"I've already told you I don't bear anyone any grudge about that. More important, I trust Aïn. Please tell the Circle of Guides that I'm sorry, but in spite of the great respect I have for them I'm not prepared to work with any other Guide."

"But… My Lord!" exclaimed Aldegard. "You can't impose your will on the College of Guides like that!"

"I'm not trying to impose my will on anyone. I'm just saying that I'm happy to work with Aïn. If they don't want Aïn to work with me, that's their problem. And please be sure to tell them that I would be extremely unhappy if something that was my fault – and please emphasise that it was my fault! – resulted in some Honourable Guides, who did nothing except try to help me find a way back to my own world, getting punished for it. And the same thing goes for the humans who worked with them, too."

"I'll pass on your comments, My Lord. We still need to talk about arranging a meeting with your Mirrors, and about moving you to some new accommodation, but there's no hurry for that. With your leave, My Lord, I will leave you now."

"Of course, Aldegard. Like I said, I'm sure you're very busy, and I certainly don't want to hold you up…"

"All right, Tannder – how did I do?" asked Julien, once Aldegard had left.

"Rather well, I thought. You got what you wanted without annoying the First Lord too much."

"Yes – and if I understood correctly, you're now properly a part of my House, aren't you?"

"Yes, My Lord. However, there are disadvantages to that, too: I won't be able to take part in the First Lord's Council any longer, and maybe it would have been useful if you could have kept an ear open there. I rather suspect that the First Lord saw this as a good opportunity to get rid of someone who wasn't exclusively loyal to him."

"Well, at least you won't have to worry about divided loyalties, will you? After all, now you're completely on my side… at least, I hope so."

"Of course, My Lord."

"Good. And I've just thought of something else, too: if you're going to be Ambar's tutor, maybe you can teach me at the same time."

"Well, I hadn't really expected to do that, but if you think you'll find it useful I'll be honoured to help."

Ambar had been wandering around the kang, and suddenly he exclaimed "Oh – it's a copy of the Delights! And it's a really nice copy, and all – I've never seen one like this!"

Julien looked at Tannder, who smiled.

"It's the book I mentioned last night,"' he explained. "I brought it thinking that it might teach you something interesting about our customs. Not all our books are as boring as the Official Court Protocol Guidelines, after all. But, look, I'd better go, too. I've got stuff to do…"

Julien stared at him: something weird was obviously going on, because he'd never seen Tannder in a hurry to leave before. But he still managed to send him on his way with a smile.

"Thank you, Tannder," he said. "I hope you'll be able to come and eat with us at midday?"

"Certainly, My Lord."

***

Once Tannder had gone Niil grabbed Ambar by the hand and towed him in front of Julien.

"Look, Julien," began Niil, "I… I just want to say… I mean, just now, with the First Lord… well, I can't really thank you for…"

"Don't worry," said Julien. "Now everything should be fine. And, like I said to him, I was really thinking of myself. That's true, you know."

Ambar had been too badly shaken to keep control of his emotions. He pulled free from Niil and threw himself into Julien's arms, and Julien barely managed to catch him before Ambar was clinging to him, his legs around Julien's waist and his arms around his neck. Julien could feel his eyes watering, Niil's vision was blurred and Ambar was sobbing. At first glance you wouldn't have realised how happy they were…

It took Ambar a good five minutes to get himself back under control. Julien would have been perfectly happy to go on cuddling him for a lot longer, but he didn't really have any excuse to do so, and so reluctantly he put him back down. There was a short, rather awkward, silence.

"Hey, Ambar," said Niil, "you said you'd found a copy of the Delights. Can you go and get it? We really ought to show it to Julien."

Ambar ran to a corner of the room and came back carrying a rectangular box decorated with an intricate floral pattern and inscribed with an inscription in gold that Julien, to his surprise, found that he could read without difficulty: whoever had taught him to understand and speak tünnkeh had done a very thorough job.

"The Precious Garland of Delights," he said, reading the title aloud just for the pleasure of being able to do so. "That's a weird name for a book – it is a book, you said?"

"It's a very old book," said Niil. "It's almost as old as the Great Book of Traditions."

"Have you read it?" Julien asked him.

"Of course I have! So has Ambar. Every boy has read this book."

"Every boy? Don't girls read it too?"

"No, they've got The Secret Garden of Enchanted Flowers."

"Oh. And have you read that one?"

"Of course not – that one's for girls!"

Julien opened the box. Inside was a long strip of paper folded like an accordion, each fold being a single page. Each page held a beautifully-executed, full colour illustration, together with some lines of rather poetic-sounding prose. You could tell at first glance that this was a valuable copy, hand-written and illustrated by an artist of considerable talent. But what took his breath away was the nature of the illustrations. He was absolutely sure that his parents would never have given him a present like this!

The first illustration depicted a pond on which multicoloured aquatic birds were swimming. On the bank beside the pond was a little boy of maybe five or six years old, completely naked, examining his erect penis, whose foreskin he had retracted. The text accompanying this picture explained in florid prose that if 'the little boy's fountain' became hard like this, it could be used for something other than watering the flowers. And indeed, the first such alternative use was described clearly and then explained more or less stroke by stroke in the images on the next five pages. Any reader who previously knew nothing about masturbation would have had his ignorance on the subject well and truly dissipated by the time he had read that far.

This fascinating treatise then continued by describing adjoining parts of the body and the pleasures that could be obtained by manipulating them, while at the same time advising the reader to take care not to try inserting anything into his rear entrance that might be dirty or which could cause damage. Instead the author made a number of helpful suggestions about which fruits and vegetables, according to the season of the year, had a form and texture that made them rather more suitable (and less dangerous) for such activities.

The book moved on. Soon the boy was sharing his toys and his exploration with one, and then two, companions. Some of the illustrations even demonstrated what the result of a little imagination could be on a gathering of four or even five naughty boys looking for excitement.

Julien found himself blushing, but he managed to keep leafing forward to the end of the book. The boy's age and development changed slowly as the book went on, anding with a mature adolescent who was by this stage ready to share his exploration with readers of the Secret Garden. In reaching that stage the boy had been given every opportunity to become familiar with both his own developing body and an eye-watering range of activities to try with it – activities of which Julien could never have dreamed, even in his wildest fantasies.

"Are you saying that your parents would give you something like this!?" he asked Niil.

"Like this? Certainly not – this is a really special copy, far better than the one I got. I'd guess that this one comes from the Imperial library. But, yes, every boy gets a copy of this sooner or later. Don't you have anything like it where you come from?"

"God, no!"

"Then… how do you manage?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, who teaches you how to use your sang neh?"

"What!? Nobody!"

"Are you telling me that people don't know how it works?!"

"No! Well, yes – I mean, grown-ups – parents – know this stuff. And I suppose older kids do too, once they're about sixteen or so…"

"You mean, you don't do anything until you're sixteen!?!"

"Um…"

"Surely you've used it, though, haven't you?"

By now Julien's ears were bright red and he was wondering if he was going to have to come over all Imperial and order them to talk about something else.. But Niil looked so shocked that he felt that he had to answer honestly.

"Look," he said, "at home we don't talk about this stuff. At all. Ever. And especially not with our parents, or with any other adults, either. People say it's wrong to even think about stuff like that. The priests say that it's a sin even to touch yourself there except when you need to pee, and that if you get in to bad habits, like playing with it, you'll burn in hell. I don't actually go to church because my parents don't approve of it, but almost all of my friends do."

Both Niil and Ambar were shocked. Ambar took his unfortunate friend's hand and asked, with a mixture of compassion and disbelief, "You mean that when you done it with us, it was the first time ever?"

"No… well, yes. I'd done it on my own before, but never with someone else."

"But that's horrible!" cried Ambar. "I could never live in a place like that!"

His expression at the thought of having to give up sex was so shocked that Julien laughed.

"I'm sure you couldn't!" he said. "You never stop thinking about it at all! I reckon you could recite the entire Delights from memory!"

"No, I couldn't! At least, not all of it… but I don't mind helping you – I'll be happy to teach you what I know!"

"I'm sure you will. In the shower, I suppose?"

"Certainly not! What sort of boy do you think I am? I'll teach you properly, in a bed."

"Pity. I was just thinking I could do with a shower. Oh, well, I don't suppose Niil will mind rubbing my back for me."

"Hah!" commented Ambar. "It's not just your back you want rubbing. Look at your front!"

He pointed to the front of Julien's lai, which was not hanging down in the way it was supposed to.

Julien sighed. He thought that this was an excellent garment for this semi-tropical climate, since it was so light and comfortable. But it clearly wasn't the sort of thing you should wear when reading something like the Delights, or even just when being around Ambar, who seemed to generate naughty thoughts even without trying to, because it was far too flimsy. He decided, sadly, that if he was going to go on wearing it he would have to put on some underwear, too.

"Well, I suppose you're right," he said. "But it'll have to wait: Tannder is coming back for lunch, remember?"

"Ah, but I'm sure he gave you the Delights for you to use it," Ambar pointed out. "And if you don't get some good ideas out of it he'll be really disappointed."

"I don't need to read the Delights to get ideas," said Julien. "I don't need anything at all as long as you're here. Besides, if I do get any ideas, it'll be none of Tannder's business. And, look, could you please stop sitting like that, with your legs crossed? Or if you have to, at least pull your lai down to your knees, instead of sitting there with your equipment on display."

"What equipment? Oh, that, do you mean? Sorry – I didn't realise you could see it. Anyway, in our culture it's normal to look at people's faces…"

"Ambar," reproved Niil, trying not to laugh too much, "stop tormenting Julien. Carry on that way and he'll start thinking that's all you ever think about…"

The door chime announced the arrival of their meal and put an end to their jokes. Two rather soldierly-looking butlers set the table while the boys went and washed their hands, and Tannder, with his usual impeccable timing, appeared the moment they were ready to sit down.

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