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By Root 198 0

it all. How he would squander it! Such a grand terror would he bring back to the earth; such a munificence of fear! In ecstasy, almost blindly, did the Emperor Yyrkoon enter the tower. He hesitated at the great doors of the throne room. He signed for the doors to be opened and as they opened he deliberately took in the scene tiny bit by tiny bit. The walls, the banners, the trophies, the galleries, all were his. The throne room was empty now, but soon he would fill it with colour and celebration and true, Melnibonéan entertainments. It had been too long since blood had sweetened the air of this hall. Now he let his eyes linger upon the steps leading up to the Ruby Throne itself, but, before he looked at the throne, he heard Dyvim Tvar gasp behind him and his gaze went suddenly to the Ruby Throne and his jaw slackened at what he saw. His eyes widened in incredulity.

‘An illusion!’

‘An apparition,’ said Dyvim Tvar with some satisfaction.

‘Heresy!’ cried the Emperor Yyrkoon, staggering forward, finger pointing at the robed and cowled figure which sat so still upon the Ruby Throne. ‘Mine! Mine!’

The figure made no reply.

‘Mine! Begone! The throne belongs to Yyrkoon. Yyrkoon is emperor now! What are you? Why would you thwart me thus?’

The cowl fell back and a bone-white face was revealed, surrounded by flowing, milk-white hair. Crimson eyes looked coolly down at the shrieking, stumbling thing which came towards them.

‘You are dead, Elric! I know that you are dead!’

The apparition made no reply, but a thin smile touched the white lips.

‘You could not have survived. You drowned. You cannot come back. Pyaray owns your soul!’

‘There are others who rule in the sea,’ said the figure on the Ruby Throne. ‘Why did you slay me, cousin?’

Yyrkoon’s guile had deserted him, making way for terror and confusion. ‘Because it is my right to rule! Because you were not strong enough, nor cruel enough, nor humorous enough...’

‘Is this not a good joke, cousin?’

‘Begone! Begone! Begone! I shall not be ousted by a spectre! A dead emperor cannot rule Melniboné!’

‘We shall see,’ said Elric, signing to Dyvim Tvar and his soldiers.

3

A Traditional Justice

* * *

‘NOW INDEED I shall rule as you would have had me rule, cousin.’ Elric watched as Dyvim Tvar’s soldiers surrounded the would-be usurper and seized his arms, relieving him of his weapons.

Yyrkoon panted like a captured wolf. He glared around him as if hoping to find support from the assembled warriors, but they stared back at him either neutrally or with open contempt.

‘And you, Prince Yyrkoon, will be the first to benefit from this new rule of mine. Are you pleased?’

Yyrkoon lowered his head. He was trembling now. Elric laughed, ‘Speak up, cousin.’

‘May Arioch and all the Dukes of Hell torment you for eternity,’ growled Yyrkoon. He flung back his head, his wild eyes rolling, his lips curling: ‘Arioch! Arioch! Curse this feeble albino! Arioch! Destroy him or see Melniboné fall!’

Elric continued to laugh. ‘Arioch does not hear you. Chaos is weak upon the earth now. It needs a greater sorcery than yours to bring the Chaos Lords back to aid you as they aided our ancestors. And now, Yyrkoon, tell me—where is the Lady Cymoril?’

But Yyrkoon had lapsed, again, into a sullen silence.

‘She is at her own tower, my emperor,’ said Magum Colim.

‘A creature of Yyrkoon’s took her there,’ said Dyvim Tvar. ‘The captain of Cymoril’s own guard, he slew a warrior who tried to defend his mistress against Yyrkoon. It could be that Princess Cymoril is in danger, my lord.’

‘Then go quickly to the tower. Take a force of men. Bring both Cymoril and the captain of her guard to me.’

‘And Yyrkoon, my lord?’ asked Dyvim Tvar.

‘Let him remain here until his sister returns.’

Dyvim Tvar bowed and, selecting a body of warriors, left the throne room. All noticed that Dyvim Tvar’s step was lighter and his expression less grim than when he had first approached the throne room at Prince Yyrkoon’s back.

Yyrkoon straightened his head and looked about the court. For a moment he seemed like a pathetic