He nodded. "None of that matters today, m'lords," he said tightly, looking from Edmund to Duke Halmon. "What we must discuss today is of far greater-or at least far more immediate-import."

Scoffs burst from several of the nobles, but Halmon's eyes narrowed in thought. "And what, pray tell, could possibly qualify as more-"

"Lies," Tovin interjected without allowing the question to continue. "Broken promises. Murder. Treason. Real treason!" he added, scowling at those who had hurled that word at the Guildmasters mere moments before. "Treachery that threatens us all, Guild and House alike."

It was sufficient to quiet the jeers of disbelief, though more than one noble wore an expression of doubt that was nearly as loud.

"All right," Halmon said, following a quick glance toward Edmund and Anneth, both of whom nodded with greater or lesser reluctance. "We'll hear you out, at the least. Speak."

With obvious relief, Tovin turned toward Brilliss, who moved to stand beside him. A deep breath, perhaps to steady her own nerves…

And the room echoed, not with her own slightly nasal tone, but with a shriek from the hallway, a scream of such despair as to bring a sudden chill to the chamber, making even the most irreligious among them contemplate the inevitable fate of his or her own soul.

More screams followed, in more than one voice. The rasping of steel on leather echoed through the hall, weapons leaping free and ready to taste blood, but it was not quite sufficient to drown out the sound of cold bodies striking the colder stone floor.

Edmund, who had stood beside the great Nathaniel Espa while leading the troops of Lutrinthus into battle-who had been present during the near destruction of Mecepheum at the hands of the crazed warlord Audriss-was the first to recover his senses. "Back! Everyone, back away from the door! Halmon! Tovin! Get that table up against it!" It wasn't much of a barricade, but it was what they had. More important, it got the wide-eyed, gape-mouthed aristocrats moving.