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Updated: June 10, 2025
"When and where can my friends consult yours?" "Lord Virzal of Verkan," the paratimer bowed back. "Your friends can negotiate with mine here and now. I am represented by these Gentlemen-Assassins." "I won't submit my friends to the indignity of negotiating with them," Marnark retorted. "I insist that you be represented by persons of your own quality and mine." "Oh, you do?" Olirzon broke in.
"As the challenged party, you have the choice of weapons; your opponents, then, have the right to name the conditions under which they are to be used." Marnark of Bashad raised another outcry over that. The assault upon him by the Lord Virzal of Verkan was deliberately provocative, and therefore tantamount to a challenge; he, himself, had the right to name the weapons. Klarnood upheld him.
"What force have they, and why did they turn against us?" "Lord Virzal!" Dirzed objected, scandalized. "You have no right to ask Sarnax to betray confidences!" Sarnax spat against the door. "In the face of Jirzyn of Starpha!" he said. "And in the face of his zortan mother, and of his father, whoever he was! Dirzed, do not talk foolishly; one does not speak of betraying betrayers."
Parenthetically, all Akor-Neb family-names are prepositional; family-names were originally place names. I believe that ancient Akor-Neb marital relations were too complicated to permit exact establishment of paternity. And all Akor-Neb men's personal names have -irz- or -arn- inserted in the middle, and women's names end in -itra- or -ona. You could call yourself Virzal of Verkan, for instance.
Verkan Vall thumbed on his safety and stood motionless, while the servants advanced, took Sirzob's body by the heels, and dragged it over beside Marnark's. "All right; Honorable Yirzol, you're next," Verkan Vall called out. "The Lord Virzal has fired one shot," one of the opposing seconds objected, "and Honorable Yirzol has a full magazine. The Lord Virzal should put in another magazine."
"If I may intrude," Klarnood put in smoothly, "may I suggest that as the Lord Virzal is represented by his Assassins, yours can represent all three of you at the same time. I will gladly offer my own good offices as impartial supervisor." Verkan Vall turned and bowed as to royalty. "An honor, Assassin-President: I am sure no one could act in that capacity more satisfactorily."
"That's a pretty blunt question, Lord Virzal," he said. "I wish I knew a little more about you. When you and your Assassins started inquiring about the Lady Dallona, I tried to check up on you. I found out that you had come to Darsh from Ghamma on a ship of the family of Zorda, accompanied by Brarnend of Zorda himself. And that's all I could find out.
"Well, what's wrong with that?" Verkan Vall demanded. "You knew that when you slandered the Lady Dallona in their hearing." "The Lord Virzal of Verkan is correct," Klarnood ruled. "And the offenses for which you have challenged him were also committed in public. By all means, let's discuss the arrangements now." He turned to Verkan Vall.
You must do your best, Lord Virzal; you don't want your supporters to lose money." He said it quite seriously, as though the outcome were otherwise a matter of indifference to Verkan Vall.
A hand caught his wrist as he reached for the small pistol under his arm. The pressure on his face eased. "It's all right, Lord Virzal," a voice came to him. "Assassins' Truce!" He nodded stupidly and repeated the words. "Assassins' Truce; I won't shoot. What happened?" Then he sat up and looked around. Prince Jirzyn's bedchamber was full of Assassins.
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