

But Prester john gave the boy the Ancientmost Pearl before his death. "True All you are saying is indeed quite true. The humans of the Venetian Empire are perfect savages, are they not?"

"It's not just their youth that worries me. "I find I'm in agreement," said the lady of the undines, the words escaping her green lips in a fountain of bubbles. They have their place, of course." Two ribbons of smoke snaked out from the lord of the djinn's wide nostrils. And their new rulers were young and unaware of what was being whispered about them. These lords and ladies would never have done such a thing when Prester John was on the throne. The FOUR HIGH NOBLES OF ABATON gathered in secret.
