d by
pleading their side of any dispute that could be settled only by Jaltor,
head of the State.

Rivalry between noblemen was strong and usually bitter, although none of
this ever appeared on the surface. A nobleman whose influence and power
showed signs of weakening found his territory subjected to raids, his
followers won away from him by threats and promises. With the loss of
influence and power his wealth would dwindle, his guards and warriors
would desert to other noblemen, until at last Jaltor must step in and
elevate some favorite of his own, or some friend of another noble, into
the victim's place.

Against a side wall of the teeming throne room, on this particular
afternoon, stood Vokal, nobleman of Ammad. On his smooth, finely
featured face was his accustomed air of dreamy disinterest in his
surrounds, his soft gray hair was carefully arranged to point up its
natural wave, his slender shapely arms were carelessly folded across the
chest of his plain white tunic. There was no purple edging on that tunic
now; in the palace of Jaltor only the king himself could display that
color.

Beneath that serene exterior, however, was no serenity. Vokal was badly
worried. Eleven suns had passed since the day word of Heglar's attempt
to kill Jaltor had electrified all Ammad. Guards had hustled the old man
roughly from the throne room--and from that moment on no one heard of
him again.

But he should have been heard of! Four slaves of slaves--the lowest
human element in Ammad--should have dragged his traitorous old body
through Ammad's streets to be spat upon and reviled by loyal citizens.

And Garlud--what of Garlud? No one had seen him either since that day.
Not that his absence caused much speculation--almost none in fact. It
was not unusual for Ammad's noblemen to absent themselves from the city
for days, even moons, on end. A hunting trip, a visit to friends in
other of Ammad's cities--any of several explanations would have
accounted for his disappearance.

* * * * *

The true reason should have been his involvement in Heglar's plot to do
away with Jaltor. But only Vokal of all Ammad's thousands could know
that--and he had no business knowing it. Garlud's affairs were going on
smoothly in his absence, in charge of the captain of his guards. By this
time, if Vokal's plans had not miscarried, the silvery haired nobleman
should have been summoned by Jaltor, told of Garlud's perfidy,