The Wizard of Anharitte Read Free Page B

triumph on. her lips. The tension that had held the cluttered market in a long hiatus drained slowly away and the noisy chatter of bargaining returned. Ren, who had been silent to this moment, moved to the director’s elbow.
    ‘I told you I didn’t advise it,’ he said critically.
    ‘You were right, Tito,’ Magno Vestevaal told him. ‘I should have listened to you more carefully. Mark that round to the credit of the Imaiz . If that’s a sample of his tactics we’ll be needing more than moral support from the Free Trade Council.’
    “Then you’re satisfied with my assessment of the situation?’
    ‘Send word to have the shuttle readied for blast-off as soon as I reach it. I’ll be calling an emergency session of the council and asking for their backing with all the facilities we need. With the evidence I shall give them I doubt there will even be a debate. In the meantime, you’re in charge here. You have my authority to draw whatever Company funds you need. Stop the Imaiz , neutralize his policy or just plain kill him—I don’t mind which. But if he turns many more slaves like Zinder loose in Anharitte, we’re surely going to have another democracy on our hands. And what will become of Free Trade then?’

THREE
    To understand the function of the societies in Anharitte it was necessary to view them against the background of the uneasy truce local feudalism maintained, The burgeoning space technology barely thrust outside the city’s limits. Almost alone among the institutions of Anharitte, the societies had been forced to adapt to the twin pressures and now formed a precarious link at once joining and keeping separate the rival ways of life.
    Historically the societies had been clans of skilled mercenary soldiers who offered their services to any who found it beneficial to use hired arms rather than maintain their own forces. In either attacking or defensive roles, the clans had played a great part in the early formation of the ‘kingdoms’ from which the great Houses of Roget had emerged after the adoption of central government.
    With the coming of less turbulent times the societies had found new exercise for their warlike crafts. When the thriving communities had outgrown the protection offered by the great castles on the three hills, the merchants outside the citadels had become exposed to attacks by Tyrene pirates who came up the broad Aprillo river. Many merchants had then found it expedient to use the armed services of the societies to protect their homes and warehouses. From this had evolved the contract system whereby a merchant engaged a society for protection but paid for the service only as and when it was required. This function, too, sharpened the efficiency of the societies themselves, because the best protection contracts went to the clans with the proven ability to preserve the life and wealth of their patrons.
    As piracy became a less profitable profession, the idea of contract protection remained. Always adaptable, the societies were swift to monitor the change and quick to evolve new services to offer. Slave control in the expanding estates was an obvious extension. The passing of two disastrous plagues brought about the introduction of society hospitals. Frequent fires in the huddled wooden buildings caused the initiation of society fire services. Thus the outworld concept of insurance found a more personal and practical analogue in Anharitte.
    Yet the warrior function of the societies was not forgotten. A man with the price might still arrange for the skilled disposal of his rival or the waging of a feud with an enemy. While the taking of life in Anharitte was not necessarily a crime, disturbance of the peace of the city was an offense. The societies learned to conduct their affairs with great discretion under the grim and scowling eyes of a prefecture which neither approved nor disapproved of what they did—provided the quiet life of the city was maintained.
    The coming of the