Chapter seventeen
In the embassyYou cannot expect an emperor to know the name of every soldier in his army, an empress the name of every voswod in her aerial forces. Some of them are canny enough, like Napoleon, to have themselves briefed before a parade so that they can talk to a soldier and use his name in a familiar way. This builds the legend.
Well, by Vox, I knew a large, a very large number of people on Kregen, and once I’d met them I’d normally remember names and faces.
This one-armed ex-soldier, beaming away, his purple face an enormous smile, I did not know.
I would not prevaricate. So — I ruined one legend.
I said, “Lahal and Lahal. Your name?”
He looked not one whit disappointed, and, to be truthful, he’d have been a fool had he been.
“Llando the Ob-handed, majister, that
