She was generally referred to as the Lady, and her eyes were green; not as the eyes of humans are green, but emerald green from edge to edge. It was said to be her favourite colour.

'Ah,' said Fate again. 'And what game will it be?'

She sat down opposite him. The watching gods looked sidelong at one another. This looked interesting. These two were ancient enemies.

'How about...' she paused,'... Mighty Empires?'

'Oh, I hate that one,' said Offler, breaking the sudden silence. 'Everyone dief at the end.'

'Yes,' said Fate, 'I believe they do.' He nodded at the Lady, and in much the same voice as professional gamblers say 'Aces high?' said, 'The Fall of Great Houses? Destinies of Nations Hanging by a Thread?'

'Certainly,' she said.

'Oh, good.' Fate waved a hand across the board. The Discworld appeared.

'And where shall we play?' he said.

'The Counterweight Continent,' said the Lady. Where five noble families have fought one another Jor centuries.'

'Really? Which families are these?' said Io. He had little involvement with individual humans. He generally looked after thunder and lightning, so from his point of view the only purpose of humanity was to get wet or, in occasional cases, charred.

'The Hongs, the Sungs, the Tangs, the McSweeneys and the Fangs.'

'Them? I didn't know they were noble,' said Io.

'They're all very rich and have had millions of people butchered or tortured to death merely for reasons of expediency and pride,' said the Lady.

The watching gods nodded solemnly. That was certainly noble behaviour. That was exactly what they would have done.