‘Aye, my lord,’ said Marl, doubt still in his voice. ‘However, you yourself have just spoken of his qualities. There have been many assassination attempts. None of them have succeeded. He is sharp and canny, and he has the Harvester.’
‘The Harvester is a middle-aged farmer, Marl, with an eye for the dramatic. I met him once. He is a large man, and a tough one. But were it not for the fact that he beheads his victims with a shortened hand scythe he would be no more than another hired assassin. That is one of the Moidart’s skills. He makes people believe that he -and to a lesser extent the Harvester – has almost mystic qualities. They do not. The Moidart understands that fear is essential to control the masses. Therefore he finds devious ways to feed that fear. I do not suggest that you underestimate either man. However, they are but men. Kill the Moidart – and the Harvester if he interferes. Then we can wipe out the son with impunity.’
‘The will of the Orb be done,’ whispered Marl.
‘Even so,’ agreed Winter Kay. ‘Now, once the Moidart is dead, you will go to the Finance and instruct him to lead his army into the north. Stay with him, Marl. See that Eldacre is held for the cause.’
‘You may rely on me, my lord.’
‘I do, Marl. Though I am displeased with your failure to kill the demonic child. Did I not instruct you to find suitable assassins?’
‘You did, my lord. My researches showed that the Cochlands were such men. I apologize for my failure in this matter.’
‘Your methods were flawed. Tostig should have been the first choice. You chose Draig Cochland because he had been thrashed by Kaelin Ring. You believed this would make him an enemy of Ring and his family.’
‘Yes, lord. It was an error.’
‘One such error can be forgiven, Marl. We often learn by making mistakes. This is why I have given you this new task. Do it well, and you will be restored into my good graces.’
After the two men had gone Winter Kay sat quietly in the meeting hall, staring up at the corpse of Lord Person. He had always known the man was weak and cowardly, which is why he had never allowed him to join the Redeemers. An order destined to change the world needed to be strong. Yet Person had proved useful. He had been rich, influential, and a close friend of the king and his family. Winter Kay had never enjoyed the king’s friendship and had needed Person to draw him into the inner circle. Now he virtually commanded the king’s armies, and his power was close to total.
‘The will of the Orb be done.’
The words of Marl Coper echoed in Winter Kay’s mind. Even now, after all these years, he found them disturbing. He had coined the phrase in this very room just over six years previously, to focus the minds of his Redeemers on the source of their power. He had not thought of it as a literal truth, merely as a device. As the years passed he had begun to wonder, and to worry over it.
The skull possessed great power, but – he had tried to convince himself – it was not sentient. Yet when he held it in his hands, and the dreams began, he found his mind focusing as never before. As if, without the Orb, his normal understanding of the world was that of a bird in a cage in a single room of a small house. With the skull in his hands he became an eagle, soaring high above the earth, seeing all. It was then that his plans were formed. It was then that he understood.
The skull did not speak to him. Rather he would see shapes and colours, outlines and structures, each pointing out areas of danger or success. In some ways it felt like the child’s game his father used to set for him and his brother, Gayan, on feast days. Father would hide objects and clues around the huge gardens, and the boys would hunt them down, finally arriving at their reward. The method was the same now. While holding the skull Winter Kay could see some problems almost before they arose.