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Indeed, I see this time as one of great precariousness. It is our duty to tread carefully so as to prevent utter chaos.”
    “It is a time to walk carefully, or a time to act decisively. Glasyin, you have seen many of these moments in your life as a leader. You must know when it is time to act.”
    “I would first hear your proposal. Grand rhetoric is useful for stirring to action, but carefully planned deeds direct the unformed into a useful shape.”
    “What makes you think that I have a proposal?” she said.
    “It would be a pity,” I replied, “if this were simply idle talk. Indeed, if this were simply idle talk, it might be construed as treason.”
    She studied my face carefully. “Thank you for your words and your time, General. I hope to speak to you again soon.”
    “I hope to understand your position on the subject more deeply,” I said, and sketched a bow. When I straightened, she had moved into the crowd in the shadows under the high, vaulted ceiling.
    So. It was a plot, then, a plot aimed at the very heart of the Empire. And clearly they had the tacit support of at least two High Houses, or were making an effort to appear as if they did. By approaching me, they had as much as said that they thought my duty to the Empire was greater than my loyalty to the king—and they clearly thought that I was the sort of man who would agree to that.
    I resolved to give the matter some thought and to appear in the company of the courtiers until the conspirators made the next move. I told no one of my suspicions. I could not show my hand until I knew where I stood. In truth, I was greatly troubled. Was the Empire’s claim on me greater than my friendship with the king? I could not answer that question. It nagged at me.
    These questions were put to me the next night, as I passed quietly along the fringes of the Autumnal Ball, held under the balmy moonlight in the winter-tinted breeze. It was likely to be one of the last good nights of the summer before the fall storms hit. Torches flickered in the gardens, and a calmer yellow light flowed over the king and queen on their dais, pouring from the Archmagus’s glass globe. Revelry and merriment in the throng, plotting and whispers among the dark, assignations and threats, promises and betrayals—all the usual despicable entertainment of the court. I, of course, stuck to the shadows, fending off requests to dance with a slight smile and a gesture toward my leg: I had bandaged it earlier in the night to provide myself with an excuse to keep from dancing, and I was careful to favor it visibly.
    This caution, however, was not enough to protect me from the worst injury I have received in all my time in the Imperial armies. Worse still, this injury came from one of my most trusted friends.
    As I chatted amiably with Captain Hargrave, one of the king’s pages found me and bade me follow her. She led me to the king’s pavilion, and I entered. He sat alone, stretched out on a comfortable couch, his once-muscled frame now given way to fat. A glass of wine sat near to hand, and the remains of his dinner lay strewn on the small table in front of him. I bowed deeply; though we had been friends for decades, he was still my king.
    “Your Majesty.”
    “Forgive me if I don’t get up,” he said. “Please, have a seat, have a seat.”
    I took a small chair, facing him. He swallowed some wine and began to tear my heart to pieces.
    “We have had many years together, have we not, Glasyin? I remember best the times before the coronation. Fewer cares then, eh? Still all the interminable business of learning to be king and leading the country and so forth, but—bah. I dwell too much in the past these days, and it worries me. And that’s what I wanted to speak to you about.”
    “I’m afraid I don’t follow you.”
    “My faculties are slipping, General. My mind is not what it once was. Nor, I should add, is my body. I’ve lost much of my grace with my lack of activity.” He