I dont think I can do that, Sarabian said in a troubled tone. Oh, I know Ive blustered and made threats a few times, but I couldnt actually order someone killed.
Thats up to you, but youll lose if you dont, and that means that theyll kill you. She considered it. Theyll probably kill you anyway, she added, but at least youll die for something important. Knowing that theyre going to kill you in the end might help you make some unpleasant decisions at the outset. Once you get past your first couple of killings, it grows easier. I speak from a certain amount of experience on the subject, since almost exactly the same thing happened to me. Primate Annias completely controlled my government when I came to the throne, and I had to try to take my power back from him.
Youre the one whos been talking so freely about killing, Ehlana. Why didnt you kill Annias?
She laughed a brittle, chilling little laugh.
It wasnt because I didnt want to, believe me, but I was too weak. Annias had very carefully stripped the crown of all its authority. I had some help from Lord Vanion and his Pandion Knights, but Annias had control of the army and the church soldiers. I killed a few of his underlings, but I couldnt get to him. He knew I was trying, though, and thats why he poisoned me. Annias was really a very good politician. He knew exactly when the time for killing had arrived.
You sound almost as if you admired him.
I hated him, but he was very good.
Well, I havent killed anybody yet, so I can still step back from this.
Youre wrong there. Youve already drawn your dagger, so youre going to have to use it. You crushed that uprising, and youve imprisoned the Minister of the Interior. Thats the same thing as a declaration of war, you know.
You did those things, he accused her.
Yes, but I was acting on your behalf, so its the same thingat least in the eyes of your enemies. Youre in a great deal of danger now, you know. Youve let your government know that youre going to seize back the power you let slip away. If you dont start killing peopleand very, very soonyou probably wont live out the month. Youd be dead already if it werent for the fact that youve taken refuge in this castle.
Youre starting to frighten me, Ehlana.
God knows Ive been trying. Like it or not, Sarabian, youre committed now. She looked around. The sun was sinking into the cloud-bank building up over the mountains lying to the west, and its ruddy glow was reflecting from the mother-of-pearl domes of Matherion. Look at your city, Sarabian, she told him, and contemplate the reality of politics. Before youre done, that red splashed all over the domes wont just be the reflection of the sunset.
Thats blunt enough, he said, his jaw taking on an unfamiliar set. All right, how many people do I have to kill in order to ensure my own safety?
You dont have that many knives, my friend. Even if you butcher everybody in Matherion, youll still be in danger. You might as well accept the fact that youre going to be in danger for the rest of your life. She smiled at him. Actually, its kind of excitingonce you get used to it.
Well, sir, yer Queenship, Caalador drawled, its all purty much th way we wuz a-thankin it wuz. Thet thar Krager feller, he wuz a-tellin ol Sporhawk th ak-chool truth. Men Stragen, we bin a-twistin the arms an a-settin fahr t the feet o them fellers oz wuz picked up durin the coop... He stopped. Would your Majesty be too disappointed if I spoke like a human being for a while? That dialects starting to dislocate my jaw.
Well, sir, yer Queenship, Caalador drawled, its all purty much th way we wuz a-thankin it wuz. Thet thar Krager feller, he wuz a-tellin ol Sporhawk th ak-chool truth. Men Stragen, we bin a-twistin the arms an a-settin fahr t the feet o them fellers oz wuz picked up durin the coop... He stopped. Would your Majesty be too disappointed if I spoke like a human being for a while? That dialects starting to dislocate my jaw.
Not to mention the violence its doing to the mother tongue, Stragen murmured.
The three of them had gathered together in a small, blue-draped room adjoining the royal apartment later that same evening. Ehlana and Stragen were still dressed for dinner, she in crimson velvet and he in white satin. Caalador wore the sober brown of a businessman. The room had been carefully checked several times to be sure that no hidden listening posts lurked behind the walls, and Mirtai grimly stood watch outside the door.
With the exception of Interior Minister Kolata, we didnt scoop up anybody of any significance, Caalador continued, and none of our other prisoners really knows very much. Im afraid we dont have much choice, your Majesty. Were going to have to go to work on Kolata if we want anything useful.
Ehlana shook her head. You wont get anything out of him either, Caalador. Hell be killed as soon as he opens his mouth.
We dont know that for certain, my Queen, Stragen disagreed. Its entirely possible that our subterfuge has worked, you know. I really dont believe that the other side knows that hes a prisoner here. His policemen are still getting their orders from him.
Hes too valuable to risk, she said. Once hes been torn to pieces, hell be very hard to put back together again.
If thats the way you want it, your Majesty, Caalador shrugged. Anyway, its growing increasingly obvious that this uprising was a pure hoax. Its only purpose was to compel us to reveal our strength. What concerns me the most is the fact that Krager and his friends obviously knew that we were using the criminals of Matherion as our eyes and ears. Im sorry, Stragen, but its the truth.
It was such a good idea, Stragen sighed.
It was all right at first, but the trouble with it was that Kragers seen it before. Talen told me that your friend Platime used to have whole crowds of beggars, whores and pick-pockets following Krager around. The best idea in the world wears a little thin if you over-use it.
Stragen rose to his feet muttering curses, and began to pace up and down in the small room with his white satin doublet gleaming in the candlelight.
It looks as if Ive failed you, my Queen, he admitted. I let a good idea run away with me. You couldnt really trust my judgement after a blunder like that, so Ill make arrangements to go back to Emsat.
Oh, dont be an ass, Stragen, she told him. And do sit down. I cant think while youre clumping around the room like that.
She shore knows how t put a feller in his place, dont she, Stragen? Caalador laughed.
Ehlana sat tapping one finger thoughtfully against her chin. First of all, lets keep this in the family. Sarabians already getting a bit wild-eyed. Politically, hes an infant. Im trying to raise him as quickly as I can, but I can only move him just so fast. She made a sour face. I have to stop every so often to burp him.
Now thats a picture for you, Caalador grinned. Whats he choking on, your Majesty?
Murder, primarily, she shrugged. He doesnt seem to have the stomach for it.
Caalador blinked. Not many do.
Politicians cant afford that kind of delicacy. All right, if Krager and his friends know about our spy network, it wont be long until they try something in the way of penetration, will it?
Youre quick, he said admiringly.
Quick people live longer. Start thinking, gentlemen. Weve got an exploitable situation here, and it wont last for very long. How can we use it to our greatest advantage?
We might be able to identify real conspirators instead of dupes, your Majesty, Stragen mused. If they do try penetration, theyre going to have to subvert some of our people. Lets say that we start passing out assorted fairy-talesthis story to some pick-pocket, another to some beggar or whore. Then we sit back to see which of those fraudulent schemes the other side attempts to counter. That will identify the turncoats in our own ranks, and we can squeeze useful names out of them.
Surely we can get something a little better than that, she fretted.
Well work on it, your Majesty, Caalador promised. if its all right with you, Id like to follow up on something else as well. We know that Kragers been busy here in Matherion, but we dont know how much information about our methods hes passed on to his friends in other kingdoms. We might as well get what use we can out of our makeshift intelligence service before it becomes totally useless. Ill pass the word to the criminals down in Arjuna. Id like to find out one way or the other if that silly scholar at the university has blundered across the real truth or if hes just weaving a theory out of moonbeams. I think we might all find a complete biography of the fellow known as Scarpa really fascinating reading. If nothing else, whether or not our spies in Arjuna succeed will tell us how much Krager really knows about the scope of our operations. If he thinks its only localized, our apparatus hasnt been too severely compromised.
Go after the others as well, Ehlana told him. See what you can find out about Baron Parok, Rebal and Sabre. Lets try to attach names to Rebal and Sabre at the very least.
Well do er gist th way yet Majesty commands.
Id be happiern a pig in mud iffn ywould, Caalador, she replied.
Caalador collapsed in helpless laughter.
Its probably the change in the weather, your Majesty, Alcan said. Its definitely getting chillier at night, and the days arent nearly as warm as they were just a few weeks ago.
She grew up in Cimmura, Alcan, Ehlana disagreed, and the weather changes there much more markedly than it does here in Matherion.
Its a different part of the world though, my Queen, Baroness Melidere pointed out. Were right on the sea-coast for one thing. That could be whats causing the problem. Sometimes children react more strongly to things like that than adults.
Youre both making too much out of it, Mirtai told them. All she needs is a tonic. Shes not really sick, shes just moping around.
But she sleeps all the time, Ehlana fretted. She even falls asleep when shes playing.
Shes probably growing, the giantess shrugged. I used to do the same sort of thing when I was a little girl. Growing is very hard work, I guess.
The object of their discussions lay drowsing on a divan near the window with Rollo loosely clasped in her arms. Rollo had survived two generations of intense affection. He had been dragged about by one hind leg. He had been laid upon, crammed into tight places and ignored at times for weeks on end. A shift in his stuffing had given him a slightly worried expression. Queen Ehlana viewed that as a bad sign. Rollo had never looked worried when he had been her toy.