"You don't look like a hard-hearted chap. As a matter of fact, I would say, offhand, that you had a kind face." "Well, thank you, but--" "I do wish you'd stop shilly-shallying and name the day. By the way, have you anything on for tomorrow?" "I didn't have anything special planned--" "Splendid! Suppose you come over to the Palace around one o'clock or so. We can have a bite of lunch and discuss the matter together. After all, I think you'll agree that I have been a reasonably good Ruler and so I have the right to die with dignity." He looked pleadingly at Gervase. "Oh, absolutely," the young man said in haste. "No question of it. I think it's a very good idea to have a chat about it first. Awkward to--dispose of someone you haven't met previously." The dictator gave him a wan smile. "Thank you, Mr. Schnee. I hope you'll find your successor as cooperative as yourself." The screen darkened. "Hmmm," Gervase mused. He took a lavender cheroot, forgetting he still held the lime one. "I wonder whether he wants me to make an appointment so he'll have a band of counter-assassins ready to kill me, saving him the expense of a stand-by guard. He is noted for his thriftiness, you know. Perhaps I just shouldn't show up at all." "He wouldn't dream of doing anything of the sort," Florea said austerely. "Overlord Kipp knows what is due to his position. He has a sense of duty and responsibility which, unfortunately, seems to be lacking in his successor ... if you'll excuse my speaking frankly," he added in haste. "I am, of course, considerably older than you and so I feel--" "It's quite all right," Gervase reassured him. "You may speak freely." "Furthermore," Florea continued, "if he had you killed, the people would probably give him a painful and lingering death for attempting to interfere with the course of destiny.... There, I hear them now!" And they could indeed hear the sound of voices raised in song--so many and so loud that they penetrated the soundproofing of the walls. "The _polloi_ are coming to hail their new Leader," Florea beamed. "Well, I'm not going to do it!" Gervase declared. "They can't make me kill him and take over and that's flat. I'm not the administrative type--never have been." * * * * * Florea took a cheroot of his own out of a platinum portable. "In that case, the people probably will kill _you_ for attempting to interfere with fate." "But I wouldn't have done anything!" Gervase protested. "There are sins of omission as well as commission. Come now, it's true a Ruler's life expectancy isn't very long--at least it hasn't been for the last few reigns--but it's longer than yours will be if you refuse to fulfill your destiny." "I wouldn't make a fit Ruler," Gervase said desperately. "Consider my origins. I wouldn't tell this to anyone but you--I'm illegitimate. I don't even know who my father is."