I definitely knew about slap-dash. Father’s tower was a perfect example of it. The sheer size of the house was intimidating, and I hoped that Killane’s family would be large enough to staff it. Killane and I made some decisions about furniture, draperies, carpets and other niceties, and then I returned to Vo Wacune to keep an eye on things.

By the summer of 2331, the lake-shore house was complete, and I began to divide my time between my town house in Vo Wacune and my country house on Lake Erat. Traveling back and forth between them was not as tedious for me as it would have been had I not had certain advantages.

There were still tensions in Arendia, of course, but I managed to smooth them over, so things stayed quiet.

Then in the late summer of 2333 father came by Vo Wacune for a visit. He seemed quite startled by what he perceived to be the opulence of my town house. ‘What’s all this?’ he asked me after Killane’s sister Rana had shown him into my library. I’m not entirely sure how he’d gotten past Rana. Father’s always been a little careless about his appearance, and Rana had opinions about things like that.

‘I’m moving up in the world, father,’ I told him.

‘So I see.’ He flopped down in a chair beside my library table. ‘Have you found a gold-mine somewhere? This place looks moderately luxurious, and I don’t think you had all that much money in your pocket when you came here about twenty years ago.’

‘The Dukes of Arendia saw fit to reward me for dismantling Ctuchik’s schemes back then. They put me on a yearly pension – maybe in hopes that I’d retire from politics. I tried to turn it down, but they insisted. The money kept piling up until Asrana – you remember her, don’t you?’

‘Oh, yes,’ he replied, ‘the devious little Asturian lady.’

That was Asrana, all right. Anyway, she suggested that I might spend some of the money on my own house, and this is the one I chose. Do you like it?’

He shrugged. ‘It’s liveable, I suppose. You were following the Master’s orders, though, Pol. Taking that money was just a bit on the tacky side.’

The Master told me to keep peace in Arendia, father, and that means getting along with the dukes. I took their money to avoid offending them. The stipend’s been discontinued, though.’

‘Good. But how are you maintaining this palace?’

‘My estates are quite extensive, Old Wolf. They earn enough to get me by.’

‘Your estates?’ That seemed to startle him.

They lie to the north of the River Camaar. If you think this house is opulent, you should see my manor house. I hope you’re not too disappointed in me, father. I haven’t ascended the throne of a unified Arendia – yet – but you do have the distinct honor to be addressing her Grace, the Duchess of Erat.’

‘How did you manage that?’

I told him about the abduction and subsequent rescue of little Kathandrion and about my elevation to my current rank.

‘You didn’t do anything permanent to the Asturian duke, did you, Pol?’ he asked, looking quite concerned. Father’s rather casually killed a lot of people in his time, but for some reason he’s forbidden me to follow his example. Consistency’s never been one of his strong points.

I told him about Nerasin’s stomach problems, and he burst out laughing. ‘Brilliant, Pol!’ he congratulated me. ‘You ended the Arendish civil wars with a bellyache!’

‘For the time being, anyway. Go get cleaned up, father. We have a party to go to this evening.’

‘A party?’

‘A grand ball, actually. Duke Alleran loves music and dancing, but I rather expect that you’ll be the absolute center of attention.’

‘Foolishness!’ he snorted.

‘No, father – politics. I’ve got Arendia in the palm of my hand right now, but just to be on the safe side, I’d like for everybody to know that I’ve got you in a sheath strapped to my hip if I really need you. Be regal, father, and intimidating. Make them believe that you can uproot mountains if you want to. I want them all to see just how sharp your edge is and how much damage I can do with you if I decide to whip you out of the sheath and start flailing around with you.’

‘Are you trying to say that I’m your champion?’ he demanded.

‘You’ll always be my champion, father. Now, go take a bath, trim your beard and put on a white robe. Don’t embarrass me in public.’

My father’s a performer. I think I’ve said that before. Give him a little bit of stage-direction and a fairly detailed characterization to work with and he’ll turn in a truly masterful performance. He grumbled a bit at first – just as he had before that speech he’d given at Vo Astur – but the lure of sheer melodrama began to exert its pull on him, and by the time we left for Alleran’s palace, he’d completely immersed himself in the role of ‘Belgarath the Destroyer’. Candor compels me to point out the fact that he overplayed his role outrageously that evening, but he was performing for Arends, after all. Arends aren’t the world’s greatest drama critics, so overacting doesn’t seem to bother them.

Got you again, didn’t I, Old Wolf?

The years plodded sedately along after father’s visit. Little disputes flared up from time to time, but we were able to smooth them over during the annual meetings of the Arendish Council. My periodic excursions as a roving fire-brigade became less and less frequent as the Arends gradually became accustomed to the idea of peace. My vassals began to grudgingly admit that they were actually doing better now than they had back during ‘the good old days’ of serfdom, and money began to replace the barter economy which had previously prevailed. I had a few difficulties with Tolnedran merchants in some of the towns in my realm, but they largely evaporated after I standardized weights and measures and amended the criminal code to include fairly stiff fines for unrestrained creativity in the definition of pounds and inches. At first the local Tolnedrans didn’t think I was serious, so for a few years my revenue from the fines actually exceeded that which my estates brought in. The money was surplus anyway, so I put it to use building schools from one end of my duchy to the other. I didn’t quite manage universal literacy, but I was moving up on it. Then, in furtherance of a long-standing hobby of mine, I established a college of practical medicine in Sulturn. My goal was a healthy, prosperous, well-educated population, and I was purposefully marching in that direction, dragging everybody in my realm behind me.