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allure for him. And now, even beyond death still more was being asked of him.
     
    "It's not my place to complain about this," the Herald continued. "Nor is it proper for me to offer much in the way of advice to any senior member of a House competing for the Throne. And yet… It'd please me very much if Marcus were to continue supporting the shutting off of these machines. It's time to let the old man go in peace."
     
    I nodded. "Yes. Of course. But I'm sure there are… Complications."
     
    He sighed. "How can anything be simple, with two dozen rival Houses contesting every single decision?" Then he laid his hand on my shoulder. "I should tell you… At the very end he called for James. And Stephen. So that he could tell them how much he loved them."
     
    I nodded, a tear leaking out at long last. "Of course. They're his grandsons."
     
    He nodded. "Last of all, he called for you."
     
    That was far, far too much. First came the tears, next my shoulders were shaking, and then I was weeping aloud in long, moist gouts. "I loved him so much!" I heard myself wail. "He was so good to us all!" Then Nestor and the Herald helped me out into a small anteroom where I was able to compose myself.
     
    "Your letters were the light of his life, towards the end," the Herald explained once I was at least halfway put back together. "He always liked you—after the first time you met, he said that he thought you had a lot in common with each other." He shook his head. "We all laughed, of course, you being a Rabbit and he the king. But he grew angry, and we saw that he really meant it."
     
    "It's not polite to distinguish one Herald from another," I said slowly. "But it's almost over now and you're about to get your name back." I looked away. "It was you that helped me back at the Academy. And at my trial. Personally, I mean. Wasn't it?"
     
    He smiled. "I'll admit that your nose doesn't deceive you. Which in turn leaves me free to tell you that both assignments were a pleasure. Part of my job all of these years has been to keep as up to date as possible on you and your progress, and report to His Majesty whenever anything significant happened. A Herald is supposed to like the same things and people as his sovereign, so that we can think and act as one." He smiled. "I fear that along the way I've become almost as attached to you as he was. Please forgive me if I'm being too familiar. The circumstances are… unique."
     
    I smiled back. "It's a bit awkward, I'll admit." Then I tilted my head to one side. "What is your real name, anyway?"
     
    "Martijn," he replied. "Sir Martijn Tjin, at your service. We're a minor sub-branch of the House of Vorsage. Please, keep this strictly private. Technically my telling you before the His Majesty's legal death is a violation of my sacred oath. But the oath in question was sworn to him personally, and I'm so certain under the circumstances that he wouldn't mind that, well… Please, keep it to yourself."
     
    I smiled back. "Of course. Thank you, Martijn."  Then I licked my nose and groomed my face-fur back into some semblance of proper shape. "And now, I suppose I ought to be heading upstairs to the Parliamentary Room." 
     
     
     

7
     
    I didn't arrive on the floor of the Hall of Nobles until almost ten in the morning, but it didn't take long for me to realize I hadn't missed much. It was understandable, I suppose, that the session was halted in order that all the Houses might make long-winded speeches congratulating me on Richard 's exploits and my subsequent 'daring' escape, and that everyone cheered and clapped for the broom-pennant. It made for good news-footage, and I was sufficiently experienced at being a celebrity myself by now to understand why it all was necessary. I could also see why they had to waste another half-hour granting me the special privilege of sitting with the Marcus delegation despite my lack of title—rather pointedly, no one even mentioned that I was a Rabbit, which was