of golden hair had been sired by a fat old islander pirate, Jeschonyk would eat his own tunic.
* * *
"So what do you think, damnation? Speak up, Ion!"
The half shout from one of the Councillors in the chamber broke Jeschonyk's little reverie. He looked up and saw that the shouter was one of Tomsien's allies.
Slowly, with great dignity, Triumvir Ion Jeschonyk, former Speaker Emeritus of the Confederacy of Vanbert and without question its most prestigious and respected living statesman, rose to his feet and uttered the finest lie of his life.
"Nothing to fear, my fellow Councillors! The balance of power remains intact, does it not?" He gave the man who had shouted at him a stately nod. "Despite the size of the great force Demansk has assembled—which, I remind you all, has even now set forth to rid us once and for all of the predations of piracy—Triumvir Tomsien still retains a larger force in his southern provinces. And what could possibly threaten that army?"
He sat down amidst scattered applause and a collective sigh of relief so loud it could have almost lifted the great rotunda of the chamber. And, while the Council proceeded to its next round of squabbles, went back to his contemplations on bastardy.
* * *
A week later, by sea, the same news came to Marange.
"That's
* * *
"So what do you think, damnation? Speak up, Ion!"
The half shout from one of the Councillors in the chamber broke Jeschonyk's little reverie. He looked up and saw that the shouter was one of Tomsien's allies.
Slowly, with great dignity, Triumvir Ion Jeschonyk, former Speaker Emeritus of the Confederacy of Vanbert and without question its most prestigious and respected living statesman, rose to his feet and uttered the finest lie of his life.
"Nothing to fear, my fellow Councillors! The balance of power remains intact, does it not?" He gave the man who had shouted at him a stately nod. "Despite the size of the great force Demansk has assembled—which, I remind you all, has even now set forth to rid us once and for all of the predations of piracy—Triumvir Tomsien still retains a larger force in his southern provinces. And what could possibly threaten that army?"
He sat down amidst scattered applause and a collective sigh of relief so loud it could have almost lifted the great rotunda of the chamber. And, while the Council proceeded to its next round of squabbles, went back to his contemplations on bastardy.
* * *
A week later, by sea, the same news came to Marange.
"That's