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It was still too early to take him--Norian had already sent mindspeech to Ry and Tory Too many others were involved in this--so a good look at the High Com their ih his coood thing Ry is disguised--Arvil would recognize Erland’s son in a heartbeat," Norian nize hi on a personal level What would he do to Mandil?"

"Soreed

"On another note, where do you think all his usual thugs and bodyguards are?" Norian asked as they watched the High Coh rows of drakus seed

"Most likely back at Crown City--perhaps the High Commander doesn’t feel comfortable around them and ordered them to stay behind"

"Or those wizards are on Arvil’s payroll, and the High Cos"

"More than likely that’s the case," Lendill agreed "Have you ever seen so much drakus seed in your life?"

"My friend, we’ve only seen s this drug is so severe I am astounded at the breadth of this endeavor" Norian shook his head over what he saw through Ry’s vid feed

"The seed is close to harvest," Alvis was kneeling, e looked wonderful--I’d never had anything like that before The Prince was dressed in gold silk and he and Alvis were talking--albeit quietly, since the High Co to a problees At least that had been their excuse

The Prince was unaware of Arvil’s presence until I infor errands One of those errands had taken me to the military station, to Station Conize lad, but it still made me curious I’d seen Dane and Dory in the distance while onothers patch the hole in the station wall and ignoring ht have been nice to talk to thehtened the contact certainly wasn’t a good idea

"Re, I would very much like to take my midday meal on the patio," the Prince waved an arm "Invite my wives" I nodded and he and Alvis were deep in quiet discussion when I went out the door of his suite to inform the kitchen staff

"You wish to visit the summer house in the mountains, do you not?" The Prince looked at each of his three wives later over a meal of spiced meat wrapped in flat bread with fresh fruit on the side At first, they looked at one another in confusion, before turning back to their husband "Yes, husband, that is indeed e desire," the oldest dipped her head obediently to the Prince

"Well, it is early, but I suppose I ently Two of the kitchen staff stood nearby, and I think the entire charade was for their benefit I had no way to tell whothe Prince’s actions "And since it is such a fine day, why not gather your things and leave this afternoon? You keep telling me you wish to stop at Hedil to buy silks"

"That is indeed ish," the youngest was giving the Prince a heart- smile

"Then that is what you shall have Alvis will see that you have plenty of ood in Hedil if you leave soon"

I helped load their things into the Prince’s coach later--the vehicle was solar powered and all three wives had guards, several attendants and two drivers to take them on their way The Prince waved fondly at the Alvis and me inside with hi to speak within his cells See that he is brought to h and flopped onto a chair laden with silk cushions inside his suite The fabrics and rugs that furnished it would have fetched a fortune on any Alliance world--all of it had been handmade from the finest materials Mandil could supply, and in beautiful colors Mandil created some of the best natural dyes I’d ever seen