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.Under the banner of Prince Duncan of the Offshore Islands, men and women of good will from around the earth rallied to the cause of good, aiding and supportingArdneh.And under the banner of the evil Emperor, John Ominor, all men and women who loved evil rallied from all the lands of the earth to-' ""Sir?""Yes, what?""There's one more thing in there I don't understand, sir.Did you say this John Ominor was an emperor?""Hm, hah, yes.Listening now, are you? Yes.The Emperor in those days-we are speaking now, remember, of a time roughly two thousand years in the past, at the end of what is calledArdneh's Change, and when the great battle was fought out between Orcus and Ardneh, and both of them perished-at that time, I say, no man was called emperor unless he was a real power in the world.Perhaps even its greatest power.It might be possible to trace a very interesting connection from that to the figure of mockery and fun, which today"Sir?""Yes?""If you don't mind, sir.Did you say just a moment ago that Ardneh perished?"Sir Andrew nodded slowly."You are listening.But I don't want to get into all that now.The main thrust of this passage, what you should try to grasp today.but just let me finish reading it.Where was I? Ha.'In all the Changed world, onlyArdneh himself-'and so forth, we had that.Hah.'In most dreadful combat the two strove together.And Orcus spake toArdneh, saying-'Ah, drat, why must we be interrupted?"The prisoner frowned thoughtfully at this, before he realized at just what point the text had been broken off.SirAndrew had been perturbed by certain new sounds in the middle distance, sounds steadily drawing near.A shuffling of feet, a sequential banging open of doors, announced the approach of other human beings.Presently, at the highest observable turn of the nearby ascending stair, there appeared the bowed legs of an ancient jailer, legs cut off at the knees by a stone arch.The jailer came on down the stairs, until his full figure was in view; in one arm, quivering with age, he held aloft a torch (which surely had been of more use Page 65ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlon the dark stair above than it was here) to light the way for the person following him, a woman-no, a lady, thought the prisoner.She was garbed in Sir Andrew's colors of orange and black, and she brought with her an indefinable but almost palpable sense of the presence of magical power.She must have been a great beauty not long hence, and was attractive still, not less so for the touch of gray in her black hair, the hint of a line or two appearing at certain angles of her face.As soon as this lady had become fully visible at the top of the stairs, she paused in her tent."Sir Andrew," she called, in a voice as rich and lovely as her visual appearance, "I would like a little of your time, immediately.A matter of importance has come up:Grunting faintly, Sir Andrew rose from his stool, turning as he did so to address the visitor."It's really important, Yoldi?"he grumbled.And, a moment later, answered his own question."Well, of course, it must be." He had long ago impressed upon everyone in the castle his dislike of being interrupted when he was at his favorite work of uplifting prisoners.Sir Andrew went to the stair, and took the torch from the hand of the aged jailer, making a shooing motion at the man to signify that he was dismissed.Then, holding the flame high with one arm, bearing his precious book under the other, the knight escorted his favorite enchantress back up the stairs, to where they might be able to hold a private conference.Once they had climbed round the first turn, Dame Yoldi glanced meaningfully at the old book."Were you obtaining a good result?" she asked."Oh, I think perhaps a good beginning.Yes, I know you're convinced that my reading to them does no good.But don't you see, it means they have at least some exposure to goodness in their lives.To the history, if you like, of goodness in the world.""I doubt that they appreciate it much."There were windows ahead now, tall narrow slits in the outer wall where it curved around a landing, and Sir Andrew doused his torch in a sandbucket kept nearby.Trudging on to where the windows let in light, he shook his head to deny the validity of Dame Yoldi's comment."It's really dreadful, you know, listening to their stories.I think many of them are unaware that such a thing as virtue can exist.Take the poor lad who's down there now, he's a good example.He has been telling me how he was raised by demonworshippers.""And you believed him?" Good Dame Yoldi sounded vexed, both by the probability that the true answer to her question would be yes, and the near certainty that she was never going to hear it from Sir Andrew.The knight, stumping on ahead, did not seem to hear her now.He paused when he reached the first narrow window, set where the stair made its first above-ground turn.Through the aperture it was possible to look out past the stone flank of the south guard-tower, and see something of the small permanent village that huddled just in front of the castle, and a slice of the great common green beyond.On that sward, where woolbeasts grazed most of the year, the annual fair had been for the past day or so taking shape."I should have ordered him some better food, perhaps.Some gruel at least, maybe a little meat." Sir Andrew was obviously musing aloud about his prisoner, but his distracted tone made it equally obvious that his thoughts were ready to stray elsewhere."Crops were so poor this year, all round the edge of the Swamp, that I didn't know if we'd have much of a fair at all.But there it is.It appears to be turning out all right."Dame Yoldi joined him at the window, though it was so narrow that two people had trouble looking out at once."Your granaries have taken a lot of the shock out of poor years, ever since you built them.If only we don't have two bad years in a row.""That could be disastrous, yes.Is that what you wanted to see me about?Another village delegation? Is it crops, dragons, or both?"Page 66ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"It's a delegation.But not from any of the villages this time."Sir Andrew turned from the window."What then?""They've come from the Duke, and I've already cast a sortilege, and the omens are not particularly good for you today.I thought you'd like to know that before you meet these people.""And meet them I must, I suppose.Yoldi, in matters of magic, as in so much else, your efforts are constantly appreciated." Sir Andrew leaned toward his enchantress and kissed her gently on the forehead."All right, I am warned
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