Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

That is my affair, as your Rho. Who did you promise?"
    Rule had considered what to say on this score already. He'd hew to the words of his promise, but give his father some meat to chew on. Cullen wouldn't mind. "I can't in honor give you the name, but he's Nokolai, and you already possess the information he gave me, if not the conclusions he drew from that information."
    "Do I, now?" The bushy eyebrows drew down, but in thought, not anger.
    One of the tactics Rule had learned from his father was when to shift the subject. "Benedict is angry with me."
    Isen brushed that aside. "That's a matter between brothers, not clan business. How can you be both Rho to Leidolf and Lu Nuncio to Nokolai?"
    With great difficulty. "If we speak of status, I'd suggest some default settings. When I'm at Nokolai Clanhome, I'm your Lu Nuncio. When I'm away from it, I'm Leidolf Rho."
    "You assume you will remain my Lu Nuncio?"
    For the first time Rule smiled - small and wry, perhaps, but a genuine smile. "I assume only that your decision will not be based on anger or affection, but on what you think best for Nokolai. You asked how I could be both. That's what I answered."
    "True, true - though that's a tiny dab of an answer, compared to the size of the problem. Do you see any advantage to Nokolai in having my heir be Rho to another clan?"
    "Certainly. Leidolf won't be trying to kill you anymore."
    Isen chuckled. "A refreshing change, yes, and one I'll appreciate. But I think that with you as Rho, Leidolf will stop its assassination attempts whether you remain my heir or not. What else?"
    Rule stepped out on shaky ground then, but he stepped surely. Hesitation, doubt - both were reasonable, but revealing them was seldom useful. "No lupus has held two mantles in over three thousand years. Our oldest enemy has been stirring. Times are changing. I believe this is our Lady's will. That it's part of her plan to defeat the one we do not name."
    This time Isen's surprise was unmistakably real. Both eyebrows shot up - then descended in a scowl. "You think you're privy to the Lady's plans now?"
    "I'm guessing, of course. If the Lady has spoken to any of the Rhejes, they haven't told us. But it's a guess based on my gut, on... " Rule hesitated, then did his best to put words to what didn't fit into words. "The mantles I carry are pleased by the situation. They... help. They make it easy for me to separate my roles."
    "Hmm." For a long moment Isen didn't say anything. Then he asked, "And can you carry both full mantles? If I dropped dead right now, could you assume Nokolai's complete mantle?"
    "If I thought I couldn't, I'd ask you to remove the Nokolai portion from me immediately. I will not risk the clan."
    "A good answer, but a simple 'yes' would have been even better."
    "A simple 'yes' would mean I was confusing fact with opinion."
    "Your opinion."
    "Yes. It's based on unique experience, however. Assuming the full Leidolf mantle was... " He paused to fit words around what he meant as best as possible. "Simple. Not easy, no, but much simpler than when I was first forced to carry portions of two mantles. There's... room now. They're both already here. I've no reason to think assuming the full Nokolai mantle would be beyond me."
    Isen nodded slowly. "Very well. I trust your judgment. I'll make no definite decision yet, but for the time being you will remain my Lu Nuncio. We will use the protocol you suggested, but the parameters must be different. On this side of the country, you are my Lu Nuncio. On Leidolf's side, you are their Rho."
    "No."
    This time only one eyebrow shot up. "No?"
    "If you and I meet on the street and I submit to you, the other clans won't see your Lu Nuncio submitting. They'll see Leidolf's Rho submitting. I can't agree to that."
    "Who am I speaking to now - my Lu Nuncio, or Leidolf's Rho?"
    "Both. The other clans are uneasy about what they see as Nokolai's growing power. We don't want to feed that."
    A grin broke out on Isen's face, folding up the creases in the way they were meant to go. "You're good," he said happily. "You're damned good. I've done well with you. Yes, I agree, with some stipulations to be worked out - but that discussion will take place between the Leidolf Rho and the Nokolai Rho." His eyes twinkled. "You can put me in touch with him later. Right now I want to embrace my son."
    Isen was a world-class hugger. However much he held himself apart when he was being Rho to Rule's Lu Nuncio, when he dropped that role