'such potential exists in every gift, and in its giving, first son.'

'the bargain made between myself and you,' anomander said, 'involved the payment of coin for your services-'

'not precisely,' the azathanai replied. 'you have paid for the protection and transport of this hearthstone, and its extraction from the jhelarkan quarry. your coin has purchased wagons, draught animals, and the necessary escort across the bareth solitude. for my talents, i take no coin.'

anomander was frowning. 'forgive me, high mason, but i surely paid for much more than what you have described.'

'the jhelarkan quarries are contested, lord. lives were lost in the procurement of this stone. aggrieved families required compensation.'

'this... distresses me,' anomander replied, and now sparo could see the warrior's taut fury.

'the stone selected is unequalled in its capacity to contain and, indeed, sustain the sorcery i invest in it. if you wished a lesser gift, then you should not have made an approach to me. there are many highly skilled masons among the azathanai, any one of whom could have served you well in the making of this gift. yet you sought the finest worker of stone, to reflect the measure of your fealty to your brother and his pending union.' the high mason shrugged. 'i have done as you requested. this hearthstone is without equal in the realm of the tiste.'

'and now you stand before us,' said anomander, 'demanding my blood-vow.'

'i do not,' the high mason replied, crossing his thickly muscled arms. 'the stone demands. the words carved upon its face demand. the honour you wish to do to your brother demands.'

andarist made to speak, dismay heavy on his features, but a quick shake of his brother's head stilled him. anomander said, 'i have only your claim that the glyphs you have carved upon it - for the understanding of andarist and enesdia alone - do indeed avow love, fidelity and fecundity. and yet you ask of me, here and now, to give by blood and vow my binding to those secret words. words that shall remain for ever unknown to me.'

'i do,' the high mason replied. 'on this, you have nothing but your faith. in my integrity, and, of course, in your own.'

another moment, when it seemed nothing in the world could move, could break the stillness, and then anomander drew a dagger from his belt and slid the edge across the palm of his left hand. blood trickled down, dripped on to the ground. 'upon the hearthstone?' he asked.

but the high mason shook his head. 'unnecessary, first son of mother dark.'

the hearthstone slowly settled into its bed of earth.

sparo drew a sudden breath, almost sagged as the world righted itself once more. looking at his lord, he saw andarist, pale and shaken, possibly even frightened.

neither brother had expected a moment so fraught, so heady with portent. something had left them both, like a child in flight, and anomander's eyes were grave and older than they had been, as they held, steady as stone itself, upon the face of the azathanai high mason. 'then it is done?'

'it is done,' the azathanai replied.

anomander's voice sharpened, 'then i must voice this unexpected concern, for i have placed my faith in the integrity of an azathanai whom i know solely by reputation - his talent in the shaping of stone, and the power he is said to possess. in the matter of faith, lord, you have gone too far.'

the azathanai's eyes thinned, and he slowly straightened. 'what do you now ask of me, first son?'

'binding of blood and vow,' anomander replied. 'be worthy of my faith. this and this alone.'

'my blood you already have,' the azathanai replied, gesturing towards the hearthstone. 'as for my vow... what you ask of me is without precedent. tiste affairs are no concern of mine, nor am i about to avow allegiance to a noble of wise kharkanas, when it seems that such an avowal might well engulf me in bloodshed.'

'there is peace in the tiste realm,' anomander answered, 'and so it shall remain.' after a moment, when it was clear that the azathanai would not relent, he added, 'my faith in you shall not command your allegiance, high mason. in your vow there shall be no demand for bloodshed in my name.'

andarist turned to his brother. 'anomander, please. this is not necessary-'

'this high mason has won from the first son of mother dark a blood-vow, brother. does he imagine that a thing of little value? if there is no coin in this exchange, then is it not my right to demand the same of him in return?'