22
“And, dread king, by the time we had realized the enemy’s plan, General Feradac had come to the same conclusion,” Terilon declared in front of the council. “We must not wait for a second battle in the field, with the enemy organized. We must strike now. In fact, we should have harassed their retreat, destroying them as they ran. Or at least we should have kept our forces on the field, though pulled back a bit, in preparation for a surprise attack. But, of course, we could not disobey your highness’ direct order. I wonder why you gave the order to pull back into the city in the first place, though. Is it not unusual for the king to issue such a command while unaware of the situation in the field?”
“Not when the capital itself is at stake, Lord Jaksen. Though the king does not have to explain himself, perhaps it would be fair to remind you that you yourself suggested not pursuing the enemy retreat. Since the report from the field was that our own force was in tatters, it seemed prudent not to encourage the enemy to immediately regroup. Do you deny that, in that situation, we would have been crushed?”
Terilon knew the king had a point. “No, your highness. You are, of course, correct.”
Gesturing expansively, the king said, “there, then. Let us reinforce ourselves and take the necessary steps to bolster our position before the next battle. If it will be, as you say, more vicious because the enemy was holding back this time, then all the more reason for us to take our time to build up. That is all, Lord Jaksen.”
Back in the private quarters, Terilon was rampaging, beside himself with fury at the impossibility of the situation. “The peasant army is being controlled by Quenari. The king is probably being controlled by Quenari. Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t invite him back with guarantees that his position will not be revoked, on condition that he quits all of this.”
“Because he wants more than just to be back,” Bathis suggested.
“I’d be ready to nominate him for godhood if he could end this mess.”
Tayron hesitated, but said, “all I need to do is to find a good trick to play. But I need someone to play it on. Anni, any idea who’s actually doing the water drugging, or where Quenari is?”
“No on Quenari. On the poisoner, it’s almost certainly the servant who hands the water to the king. Everyone who comes in contact with the water before him is vouched for by a nobleman we trust. The servant was introduced into the palace by a nobleman who had allied with Quenari and Damial in the war. That’s as good a sign as any, I think.”
“But he’s not the mage that’s controlling the king?”
“No. He’s definitely not magical. I’ve had people keeping an eye on him in the chamber. If he was using magic, there would be some sign of effort – but there was nothing like what Havelin described.”
Tayron nodded – he hadn’t expected more. “I’ll look into the servant. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do, but I’ll look for the chance.”
“Are you sure, Tayron?” Terilon asked. “You have a fairly high profile now. People will recognize you.”
“I might be able to use that to my advantage.”
Terilon knew that he had, for the most part, lost the right to command Tayron, especially since he had less of an idea what to do than the knight did. “I suppose. You’d better get started now.”
“Should I go with you?” Anni asked.
Tayron indicated the negative. “You look for information your way, and I’ll look my way. There’re some places you can’t go that they can’t keep me out of. At least, they’d have to give me a reason to keep me out.”
Careful to show that she didn’t resent this, Anni said, “I guessed as much. Good luck.”
Tayron left with a hundred different emotions firing off, and he tried desperately to focus. His mind wandered to all the people tugging at his strings – Anni, both Jaksens, Quenari, the king, Yunas, and a hundred thousand peasants waiting outside. There was a servant in play now, and a mysterious rogue mage. It was this last that he had to keep his mind on – the dangerous unknown. The known quantities, no matter how volatile or how personal, could wait. Even the war had to remain on hold as far as he was concerned. And he didn’t want the king’s crown. He had benefited from tragic events enough already.
His plan was to ask questions near the king’s quarters, and hope to bump into the suspect. The academy had taught him a number of interrogation techniques. Times were tough, and Tayron had no patience for half measures, so he’d risk the anger he might invoke for prying into a servant so close to the king if it meant getting some answers. He also wanted to arrange an audience with the king, a private one, in the hope that the monarch would be free of the drug’s influence and able to listen to some suggestions.
His visibility among the higher ranks gave him sway over palace denizens he met, and they answered his questions as honestly as possible for politicians. They knew nothing. Maybe if they had some information, they would have been more hesitant, but the complete blankness was clear by the ready way they provided their answers. The more you wanted to rise in the ranks, the more blind you had to be about the policies and situations that might upset you, until you made it onto the council, where you either allowed yourself to finally vent your opinion or you had long forgotten how to have one.
And for all his inquiry, he couldn’t find the culprit servant whose seemingly innocuous face was now seared in his mind. He couldn’t even find someone who had held a conversation with the man. They said that he kept to himself, and were quick to point out that most palace workers did. Again, if there was so much as a hint that the people he questioned knew more, he would have hauled them before Terilon, if only because they might tip off Quenari.
Walking through the hall of the king’s private wing, he knew that it was time to end this mess. He passed by the smaller dining hall, where the king supped with guests without the entire court in attendance, and noticed the doors were open. Simply stopping in front of the door and poking his nose in would seem too suspicious, so he passed right by without looking in, and halted on the wall beyond the door, listening for the voices inside.
The king’s voice rang clear in an official and declarative tone. “And by this happy union, you can ensure that the Lord’s forces will come in on our side and crush the peasants?”
A lady’s voice, smooth and pleasantly pitched but slightly strained, replied, “in exchange for the dropping of charges and a welcome reintroduction into the court, as we have discussed.”
“Well, barring any other circumstances, and providing the lord fulfills his promise, you can consider it done.”
“What circumstances, high king? We can’t have open conditions like that.”
“Another case of treason, as defined by the laws of the land.”
“Done. And when will you announce our engagement?”
“After the battle. I think your lord should be present for it.”
There was a moment of hesitation, then the lady’s voice said, “very well.”
Tayron had heard enough. Soon the dining hall would empty, and he’d have to rush to leave, missing his chance to see who was in attendance at this meeting when the high councilor had not been invited. He had likely suspicions, but he needed to be certain. Striding past the door again, he looked in for a split second without stopping. His mind registered a snapshot of the hall, and he spent most of the way back to Terilon examining it. First looking at the lady, who had been seated at the king’s side like a queen, he found that she had the expected face and figure. It was the gluttonous face and robust figure of Damial’s sister. But she had keener eyes than her brother, with intelligence equal to Lord Quenari. Even more important was the man standing at her side – Karitan, the knight-bodyguard of Lord Damial while that claimant to the throne had still been alive. Those two figures were enough, but Tayron took careful note of the other noble persons in attendance, and the fact that the water bearer had not been present.
“Time to move,” Tayron said immediately upon arrival. Seeing Havelin on the couch as well, he added, “good. You’re here. I think we’ll need your services.”
“I took care of some quick research and checked the cards to see what would soon be happening, and saw something interesting was about to happen here, so I came.”
Havelin’s prediction secured the attention of the group for Tayron, so the knight described what he heard and saw, careful to let them draw their own conclusions. Once they had fleshed out all the necessary ones, Tayron waited for the inevitable question. Terilon asked it, as was his right by rank.
“So, what do we do?”
Tayron smiled and, bowing triumphantly, said, “I have a plan.”