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enough to have secured his place of power within the treacherous and ever shifting landscape of Rhonas Imperial politics but he was also Master of House Shurian. He was, in addition, a member of the most elite of all elven Orders, the Modalis.
    The Modalis was, so far as its public face was concerned, a largely philanthropic organization with impressive public holdings north of the Old Keep of the Iblisi and well situated inside Tsujen’s Wall east of the Mnera Gate. Nearly everyone in the city knew that there was far more to it than that, but it was a pleasant fiction that all the Rhonas elves found advantageous to maintain as the truth even without the encouragement of the Iblisi. The true center of the Modalis lay in the rather unpretentious and otherwise unmarked building just behind Sjei on the eastern side of the Paz Rhambutai northeast of “The Ministries” and situated nearly equidistant from every other Order, Forum, Guild, and Ministry that struggled for dominance in the Imperial City. It was known simply as “Majority House” which was something of an irony considering the elite and exclusive nature of its occasional occupants.
    Sjei, after considerable deliberation, picked out an apple from the cart and paid the groveling Fifth Estate market vendor with carefully and precisely measured coins. He then turned, holding the apple gingerly in his left hand as he looked across the square to the building occupying his thoughts.
    He smiled slightly, baring a minimum of his teeth. He felt a kinship with Majority House. It, too, was unassuming in the extreme if one might be forgiven for describing mediocrity in imperative terms. The subatria was narrow and high, appearing to be almost hidden behind flanks of vertical shops and market stalls in the plaza. That those shops were either owned or controlled by the Modalis was an open secret, and the height of the walls and location of the shops were a part of a carefully orchestrated design for its defense and safekeeping. The avatria floating above it was small and unassuming, dwarfed in comparison to the monumental extravagances of the surrounding houses, each of which vied for supremacy of ostentation. That was also to Sjei’s liking: the idea of hiding in plain sight appealed to him.
    Sjei lifted the apple and sank his teeth into its crisp flesh, pulling it away with a satisfying snapping sound. The plaza was filled with elves moving in the labyrinthine spaces between the stalls of the market. A cross section of the Empire was well represented there: First Estate Imperators anxious to get through the crowds and on with their business in The Ministries; Second Estate masters and mistresses of the Aether simply taking from rather than bargaining with the Fourth Estate vendors who were dependent upon their magic to maintain the yield of their client Fifth Estate farms; Third Estate noblewomen on their shopping expeditions with their slaves and guardians in tow . . . all these moved through the plaza with their eyes casting about or staring at their feet. Not one of them gave so much as a casual glance upward toward the unassuming building that held their fate within its common-looking walls.
    Sjei tore another large bite from the apple, his grin allowing some of the juice to run down the side of his chin. He was more than a member of the Modalis; he was the Sinechai , the Quartermaster whose charge was to conduct the meetings of the Modalis. Some had more rank and some had more seniority in the House Forum, but he alone controlled the agenda of those meetings, steering the discussion in the direction he felt necessary. It was a power that required finesse and a subtle touch. It also was a power that was best used sparingly, tactically, and emphatically.
    Today, he knew, was a day when all his skills would be required. Playing the Modalis council members was a dangerous game with stakes deadly high, swift, and permanent. Still, one didn’t begin with