LITMIR.BIZ

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the stronger boys picked up traces of him quite easily in the Bowl of Seeing. We were actually looking for him again when we came across you. That is why we set out to meet you with such speed."

      "For which I thank you," I said.

      "Not at all. It was a pleasure to be of some small service. To continue with the necromancer, my mindsearch of the leader of the wreckers lead me to believe that he has been using the victims of wrecks to prolong his own life. It is a type of necromancy I have often seen. A mage who has been law-abiding most of his life is tempted into the lower levels of necromancy by a fear of death. Such men are never very powerful or they would not need to draw on demon power to gain what they seek."

      "You make it sound easy and common," I exclaimed, surprised by his calm. "On the Peninsula nothing could be more difficult. The whole of the country side is constantly watched for signs of necromancy. This is not so in Aramaya, is it?"

      "No, though I wish it was. It would please me to have no work. But though the Emperor commands all his subjects’ loyalty, the nobles are yet very jealous of their freedoms. Except for a few days ride around Akieva and a couple of the other big cities, there is no systematic watch for necromancy in Aramaya. Communities fend for themselves. Fortunately they often do so quite well. And then we Demon-hunters do what we can informally. For instance, the fact that I always bring my young mages down here in summer has been enough to discourage necromancy in these parts for many years."

      "I would have thought the freedom to commit necromancy was not one worth respecting," I said, shocked at the shortsightedness of it all.

      The Prince looked startled.

      "I beg your pardon. I have been rude," I said realizing that no one likes to hear criticism of their countrymen.

      Prince Nikoli inclined his head. "Not at all. It is I who should beg your pardon for my ill-bred surprise. If you will pardon my saying so, it is simply that you speak your mind more openly than I am used to."

      "I must beg your pardon again, Prince. I have yet to accustom myself to the Aramayan way," I said

      "It was not a criticism, merely an observation. And I beg you will not change your manner. It seems a remarkably sensible way of going along. I shall try it myself if you do not think you will be offended. As for necromancy, I entirely agree with you. It is a vile, vile practice, but sadly the hatred of it is not as strong among most Aramayans as they say it is among the Peninsula folk."

      I was surprised, though shocked might have been a better word, to think this might be true so close to the intellectual centre of magery. The Prince must have read my face for he said,

      "Yes you will think it very decadent and perhaps it is, but you see things are seldom black and white to an Aramayan. In general many Aramayans or at least those of our class would ask first what is the quality of the lives being sacrificed to necromancy and why?"

      "Quality of lives?" I echoed. "What on earth do you mean?"

      "Many would find the sacrifice of animals quite acceptable to necromancy. Such a point can be logically defended. We kill animals to eat them, such people would say. What is wrong with sacrificing them to demons to fuel small useful spells? More sinisterly there are others who would regard the lives of foreign barbarians as perfectly legitimate fuel for the pursuit of greater power. Or the lives of criminals who must be killed anyway. There are even those who regard their peasants as no better than animals."

      "But to fuel a necromantic spell beings are usually tortured to death. What do such people say to that?"

      He sighed. "I can imagine all kinds of excuses that might be made, but I will begin to find myself defending the practice if I keep on in this vein and I have no wish to do so. I am only trying to explain what must seem to you a shocking tolerance. You must understand what lies at the root of it. While my countrymen fear powerful rulers, paradoxically they also admire powerful men. And necromancy is about power. Any Aramayan will tell you that a powerful emperor brings effective and orderly rule and that is to be desired. The method of rule is regarded as secondary. To perform evil acts for a good end is seen a perfectly acceptable. Perhaps you can see how this might reflect on how people regard necromancy."

      "I can," I said briefly. Many people who knew nothing of necromancy asked if it could not be used to do good things. But the power was always tainted by the cunning demons it was bought from. They could read the thoughts of the humans they colluded with and manipulated necromancers on to worse and worse crimes. It was just such happenings that had led my ancestors to migrate to the peninsula. Such attitudes to necromancy might conceivably benefit those at the top of a society, but those further down had little to gain.

      "Unfortunately in such an atmosphere necromancy is very hard to completely root out," continued the Prince. "I am glad to say that the last three Emperors have been enemies of the secret colleges of necromancy and the Demon Hunters have flourished. But there have been times when the Demon Hunters have been discouraged, starved of funds and denied any legal power. The secret colleges have found footholds even in the highest families. Even the imperial family. There have been times when only the prohibition against an Emperor being a mage has prevented us from being actually ruled by a necromancer."

      He turned and smiled at me.

      "I must tell you how grateful we Demon Hunters are for your work Lady Dion. The Rosinsky report on your activities is set reading for young mages. Inspiring reading. When the report of your cleansing of Ruinac was first published here in Aramaya, recruits to the Demon Hunters increased five fold. And your discovery of just how deceptive demons can be has made the secret colleges of necromancy look like a pack of gullible fools. This can only be a bad thing for them."

      I inclined my head politely though I actually felt very embarrassed. Rosinsky had come to Ruinac to interview me on behalf of the Emperor of Aramaya. He was looking to be impressed and had gone away and written things that made me seem like a visionary hero.

      Shad had said it was a very fair report and he'd chided me for not giving myself enough credit, but I knew better. I had always had very ambivalent feelings about the title of Demonslayer. What most people did not know was that it was a series of acts of foolishness that lead my confrontation with the demon Bedazzer. Even in my later dealings with Smazor and the other demons, I had made mistakes and only really escaped through luck.

      "It’s a very flattering report," I said.

      "I am sure not," said the Prince politely. We were back to politeness, a state of being I could see that the Prince was more comfortable with.

      Dawn had broken now, a chill grey dawn that was echoed in the chill grey seas below us. Birds began to call, both out over the sea and in the tussocky grass we rode through. Strange to think that only the previous morning I had been out on that sea thinking of Shad. Shortly after dawn we turned inland and rode along a rocky trail through heath and prickly gorse bushes.

      After a while of riding through some low hillocks, the Prince called a halt. He sent a couple of the boys off on foot and came riding back to us.

      "I've sent the boys to reconnoiter. If things are as straightforward as I hope, I suggest that we divide into two groups. You and I shall go carefully in at the front of the house and try to catch the necromancer unawares. Count Alexi and the boys will stay at the back wall and capture anyone who tries to escape."

      I doubted that the boys would be happy with this rather pallid role in things, but it was by far the safest plan for them. Prince Nikoli and I would bear the brunt of any fighting.

      It would have been useful for us to do some magic together in order to see how we harmonized, but it would have given our presence away to any vigilant mage so we talked more of tactics and power. The Prince asked me if I wished to take the lead, but my experience was more with fighting demons than human opponents so I suggested that he should lead the attack and I should defend. I discovered now that Aramayan mages had a far greater awareness of the extent of their own powers than Peninsula mages. On the Peninsula competition between mages was frowned upon. Only your teacher knew the full extent of your abilities.

      Here in Aramaya, the Imperial court and the White Colleges held trials

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