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.For a moment he glimpsed the Meld of Daneep, still sitting by the King in the midst of some long explanation about the battle.They were moving the salt cellars around."Hail, young Thru Gillo," said Utnapishtim, coming up and putting a hand upon Thru's shoulder.""Utnapishtim," said Thru with a small bow."So you have encountered the sour rage of the old nobility here?"Nothing escaped those wise old eyes."Yes, Utnapishtim.Not for the first time.""They will never stop harking back to that time.They cling to their wound and thereby water the seeds of their unhappiness.""There's something very unreasonable about it.""There is greed at the root of it.Some people are born with a hunger for more than they really need in life.Some people do not get enough love from mother and father and acquire this same hunger.If it is not controlled, it can be very damaging.The greed of nations and cities is a similar thing, and its evil effects are recorded in the histories of the ancient times."Graedon tugged on Thru's arm again."Come into the light."He had placed a chair beside a large floor lamp.Thru sat in the chair, and Graedon pulled out a magnifying glass and carefully inspected the back of Thru's head.He palpated the skull and asked Thru to add up some numbers and subtract others.Then he had Thru look close into a candle held up by Utnapishtim while Graedon examined his eyes with a magnifying glass.After a couple of minutes he was done and put away his magnifying glass."No serious harm has been done.We have been fortunate.It would have been a sad thing to lose you, young Thru Gillo.""Indeed," said Utnapishtim.As mysterious as ever, thought Thru as the Assenzi bid him farewell and left the chamber.He went across to join the other officers.Seeing him approach, some of the Sulmese officers turned their backs or walked away.Downcast, Thru joined Briohj of Dronned, a colonel in the Royal Military Staff, and Colonel Ibbert of the newly formed Fourteenth Regiment."Afraid the Southerners don't like to see the Assenzi.""So, guilt by association, eh?" Thru took a goblet of wine and sipped it."You've run into it a thousand times, I bet.I know I have," said Ibbert, who'd been training his unit for several months."The Sulmese think they were robbed of something very important to them.But when you find out what you think they were robbed of, you just feel glad that it happened.They wanted to make themselves the rulers of the Land.""It's troubling to hear them speak like that," said Thru."What did the old ones want?" said Briohj."Wanted to be sure my head wasn't completely broken.""It is an honor to be of such concern to them."Thru looked over to the Sulmese officers, who were now grouped together, ignoring the Northerners." 'Tis an honor, but I wish they'd not done that in front of these Sulmo mots.It won't help in our dealings with them."CHAPTER THIRTEENThe news flashed to the Shasht fleet first from the incoming frigate Viper as she hurried into the bay."More ships! More ships have come from Shasht!"Admiral Heuze stumbled up onto the deck, eyes bleary, his stump itching and burning, as it often did first thing in the morning.He read the distant signal flags in an instant and felt a cold stab of fear in his heart.Another fleet? So soon? Damn! Who commanded the newcomers?"Signal!" he snapped."How many ships?"The signal boy hurriedly sent up a dozen fresh flags.The suspense was agonizing.Furious calculations spun through Heuze's head.When the fleet had left Shasht, there had been no mention of any reinforcements.That didn't mean that the Emperor wouldn't include them; Aeswiren had long ago learned how to rule by keeping his secrets.Filek Biswas appeared on the upper deck, blinking away sleep."Ah, Filek, good morning.We have reinforcements it seems."Heuze was gratified by the shock and dismay that flashed over Biswas's face.Biswas knew he depended on the admiral for his very survival."What do you mean, Admiral?""See Viper over there? Captain Pukh reports sighting ships about to join us.""More ships from Shasht?""Of course, where else would you expect them from?""I see." Biswas clearly was worried about this development.You're not the only one, thought the admiral.Heuze noticed message flags flickering on the mizzen mast of Sword and brought his telescope up to his eye."Eight ships!"A reinforcement, but not necessarily a threat to his position.Heuze felt immediate reassurance.He commanded the larger force; that gave him a strong position.Some hours later when the eight vessels entered the harbor, guided in by Viper, Heuze knew much more and was already planning for the upcoming political struggle
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