“Thank you, Sergei,” Audric said. He hacked again, covering his mouth with a fisted hand. “You could have come half a turn of the glass earlier, though, and saved me the whole ordeal.”

Sergei grinned. “And face the wrath of Maister ci’Blaylock? Not likely.” He paused a moment, and the lines of his face went serious around the metal nose. “I would have been here earlier to hear your examination, Kraljiki, but I’ve just received a message from a contact in Firenzcia. There’s news, and I thought you should hear it before the Council: Hirzg Jan of Firenzcia is on his deathbed. He’s not expected to live out the week. It may be that he’s dead already-the message was days old.”

“So A’Hirzg Fynn will become the new Hirzg? Or will Allesandra fight her brother’s ascension?”

Sergei’s grin returned momentarily. “Ah, so you do pay attention to my briefings. Good. That’s far more important than Maister ci’Blaylock’s lessons.” He shook his head. “I doubt Allesandra will protest. She doesn’t have enough backing from the ca’-and-cu’ of Firenzcia to contest Hirzg Jan’s will.”

“Which of the two would we prefer?”

“Our own preference would be Allesandra, Kraljiki-after the decade and more she spent here waiting for Hirzg Jan to ransom her, we know her far better. Archigos Ana always had a good relationship with her, and Allesandra is far more sympathetic to the Holdings. If she became Hirzgin… well, maybe there would be some hope of reconciliation between the Holdings and the Coalition. There might even be a faint possibility that we could return things to the way they were in your great-matarh’s time, with you on the Sun Throne under a reunited Holdings. But with Fynn as Hirzg…” Again, Sergei shook his head. “He is his vatarh’s son, just as bellicose and stubborn. If he’s Hirzg, we’ll have to watch our eastern border closely-which will mean less resources we can spare for the war in the Hellins, unfortunately.”