Feet of Clay (Discworld 19)

'Indeed. Ah-ha. Suffer-Not-Injustice Vimes. Your ancestor. Old Stoneface, indeed, as he was called. Commander of the City Watch in 1688. And a regicide. He murdered the last king of Ankh-Morpork, as every schoolboy knows.'

'Executed!'

The shoulders shrugged. 'Nevertheless, the family crest was, as we say in heraldry, Excretus Est Ex Altitudine, That is to say, Depositatum De Latrina. Destroyed. Banned. Made incapable of resurrection. Lands confiscated, house pulled down, page torn out of history. Ah-ha. You know, Commander, it is interesting that so many of, ah-ha, Old Stoneface's descendants' - the inverted commas dropped neatly around the nickname like an old lady carefully picking up something nasty in a pair of tongs - 'have been officers of the Watch. I believe, Commander, that you too have acquired the nickname. Ah-ha. Ah-ha. I have wondered whether there is some inherited urge to expunge the infamy. Ah-ha.'

Vimes gritted his teeth. 'Are you telling me I can't have a coat of arms?'

This is so. Ah-ha.'

'Because my ancestor killed a - ' He paused. 'No, it wasn't even execution,' he said. 'You execute a human being. You slaughter an animal.'

'He was the king,' said Dragon mildly.

'Oh, yes. And it turned out that down in the dungeons he had machines for - '

'Commander,' said the vampire, holding up his hands, 'I feel you do not understand me. Whatever else he was, he was the king. You see, a crown is not like a Watchman's helmet, ah-ha. Even when you take it off, it's still on the head.'

'Stoneface took it off all right!'

'But the king did not even get a trial.'

'No willing judge could be found,' said Vimes.

'Except you... that is, your ancestor...'

'Well? Someone had to do it. Some monsters should not walk under the living sky.'

Dragon found the page he had been looking for and turned the book around. This was his escutcheon,' he said.

Vimes looked down at the familiar sign of the morpork owl perched on an ankh. It was atop a shield divided into four quarters, with a symbol in each quarter.

'What's this crown with a dagger through it?'

'Oh, a traditional symbol, ah-ha. Indicates his role as defender of the crown.'

'Really? And the bunch of rods with an axe in it?' He pointed.

'A fasces. Symbolizes that he is... was an officer of the law. And the axe was an interesting harbinger of things to come, yes? But axes, I'm afraid, solve nothing.'

Vimes stared at the third quarter. It contained a painting of what seemed to be a marble bust.

'Symbolizing his nickname, Old Stoneface ,' said Dragon helpfully. 'He asked that some reference be made. Sometimes heraldry is nothing more than the art of punning.'

'And this last one? A bunch of grapes? Bit of a boozer, was he?' said Vimes sourly.

'No. Ah-ha. Word play. Vimes = Vines.'

'Ah. The art of bad punning,' said Vimes. 'I bet that had you people rolling on the floor.'

Dragon shut the book and sighed. There is seldom a reward for those who do what must be done. Alas, such is precedent, and I am powerless.' The old voice brightened up. 'But, still ... I was extremely pleased, Commander, to hear of your marriage to Lady Sybil. An excellent lineage. One of the most noble families in the city, ah-ha. The Ramkins, the Selachiis, the Venturis, the Nobbses, of course...'

That's it, is it?' said Vimes. 'I just go now?'

'I seldom get visitors,' said Dragon. 'Generally people are seen by the Heralds, but I thought you should get a proper explanation. Ah-ha. We're so busy now. Once we dealt with real heraldry. But this, they tell me, is the Century of the Fruitbat. Now it seems that, as soon as a man opens his second meat-pie shop, he feels impelled to consider himself a gentleman.' He waved a thin white hand at three coats of arms pinned in a row on a board. 'The butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker,' he sneered, but genteelly. 'Well, the candlemaker, in point of fact. Nothing will do but that we burrow through the records and prove them acceptably armigerous...'

Vimes glanced at the three shields. 'Haven't I seen that one before?' he said.

'Ah. Mr Arthur Carry the candlemaker,' said Dragon. 'Suddenly business is booming and he feels he must be a gentleman. A shield bisected by a bend sinister d'une meche en metal gris - that is to say, a steel grey shield indicating his personal determination and zeal (how zealous, ah-ha, these businessmen are!) bisected by a wick. Upper half, a chandelle in a fenetre avec rideaux houlant (a candle lighting a window with a warm glow, ah-ha), lower half two chandeliers illumine (indicating the wretched man sells candles to rich and poor alike). Fortunately his father was a harbourmaster, which fact allowed us to stretch ourselves a little with a crest of a lampe au poisson (fish-shaped lamp), indicating both this and his son's current profession. The motto I left in the common modern tongue and is Art Brought Forth the Candle . I'm sorry, ah-ha, it was naughty but I couldn't resist it.'