we’d better face up to the probability of an armed insurrection directed at
the imperial compound. Our enemy seems to be growing impatient.’
‘Or fearful,’ Oscagne added. ‘The presence of Church Knights – and Prince
Sparhawk – here in Matherion poses some kind of threat. His campaign of
random terror, civil disturbance and incipient insurrection in the subject
kingdoms was working fairly well, but it appears that something’s come up
that makes that process too slow. He has to shiRe at the centre of imperial
authority now. ‘
‘And directly at me, I gather,’ Emperor Sarabian added. That’s
unthinkable, your Majesty,’ Oscagne objected. ‘in all the history of the
empire, no one ever directly confronted the emperor.’
‘Please, Oscagne,’ Sarabian said, ‘don’t treat me like an idiot. Any
number of my predecessors have met with ‘accidents’ or fallen fatally ill
under peculiar circumstances. Inconvenient emperors have been removed.’
‘But never right out in the open, your Majesty. That’s terribly impolite.’
Sarabian laughed. ‘i’m sure that the three government -”haters who threw
my great-great-grandfather from the top of the highest tower in the
compound were all ‘exquisitely courteous about it, Oscagne. We’re going to
have an armed mob in’ the streets then, all enthusiastically howling for my
blood?’
‘I wouldn’t discount the possibility, your majesty.’ Vanion conceded. ‘I
hate this.’ Ulath said sourly. ‘Hate what?’ Kalten asked him. ‘isn’t it
obvious? We’ve got an Elene castle here. It might not be quite as good as
one that Bevier would have designed, but it’s still the strongest building
in Matherion. We’ve got three days until the streets are going to be filled
with armed civilians. We don’t have much choice. We have to pull back
inside these walls _ fort up until the Atans can restore order. I detest
sieges.’
‘i’m sure we won’t have to go that far, Sir Ulath,’ Oscagne protested. ‘As
soon as I heard about that message Master Caalador unearthed, I sent word
to Norkan in Atana. There are ten thousand Atans massed twenty leagues from
here. The conspirators aren’t going to move until after dark on the
appointed day. I can have the streets awash with seven-foot tall Atans
before noon of that same day. The attempted coup will fail before it ever
gets started.’
‘And miss the chance to round them all up?’ Ulath said. ‘Very poor
military thinking, your Excellency. We’ve got a defensible castle here.
Bevier could hold this place for two years at least.’
‘Five,’ Bevier corrected. ‘There’s a well inside the walls. That adds
three years.’ ) ‘Even betterr,’ Ulath said. ‘We work on our fortifications
here very quietly, and mostly at night. We bring in barrels of pitch and
naphtha. Bevier builds siege engines. Then just before the sun goes down,
we move the entire government and the Atan garrison Inside the castle. The
mob will storm the imperial compound and rage through the halls of all
those impressive buildings here in the grounds. They won’t encounter any
resistence – until they come here. They’ll try to storm our walls, and
they’D be over-confident because nobody will have tried to fight them in
any of the other buildings. They won’t really be expecting a hail-storm of
large boulders or sheets of boiling pitch dumped in their faces. Add to
that the fact that their crossbows won’t work cause Khalad’s been breaking
the triggers in that Dacite warehouse for the last two nights, and you’ve
got a large group of people with a serious problem. They’ll miL around out
there in confusion and chant, and then, probably about midnight, the Atans
will enter the city, come to the imperial compound and grind the whole lot
of them right into the ground.’
‘yes!’ Engessa exclaimed enthusiastically. ‘It’s a brilliant plan, Sir
Ulath,’ Sarabian told the big Thalesian. ‘Why are you so dissatisfied with
it?’
‘Because I don’t like sieges, your Majesty.’
‘Ulath,’ Tynian said wincing slightly as he shifted his broken shoulder,
‘don’t you think it’s time that you aban’doned this pose? You’re as quick
to suggest forting up as any of the rest of us when the situation calls for
it.’
‘Thalesians are supposed to hate sieges, Tynian. It’s a part of our
national character. We’re supposed to be impetuous, impatient and more
inclined toward brute force than toward well-considered endurance.’
‘SIr Ulath,’ Bevier said, smiling slightly, ‘King Wargun’s father endured
a siege at Heid that lasted for seventeen years. He emerged from it none
the worse for wear. ‘ yes, but he didn’t enjoy it, Bevier. That’s my
point.’
‘I think we’re overlooking an opportunity, my friends,’ Kring noted. ‘The
mob’s going to come to the imperial compound here, right?’
‘if we’ve guessed their intentions correctly, yes. ‘ Tynian agreed.
‘Some of them are going to be all afire with political furver – but
not really very many, I don’t think. Most of them are going to be more
interested in looting the various palaces.’
Sarabian’s face blanched. ‘Hell and night!’ he swore. ‘I
hadn’t even thought of that!’
‘Don’t be too concerned, friend Emperor,’ the Domi told him. ‘Whether it’s
politics or greed that brings them, they’ll almost all come into the
grounds. The walls around the compound are high and the gates very
imposing. Why don’t we let them come in – but then make sure they don’t
leave? I can hide men near the gate-house. After the mob’s in the grounds,
we’ll close the gates. That should keep them all more or less on hand to
greet the Atans when they arrive. The loot will ‘ bring them in, and the
gates will keep them in. They’ll loot, right enough, but loot isn’t really
yours until you’ve escaped with it. We’ll catch them all this way, and we
won’t have to dig any of them out of rabbit-holes later.’
‘That’s got real possibilities, you know that, Kring?’ Kalten said
admiringly. ‘i’d have expected no less of him,’ Mirtai said. ‘He is a
brilliant warrior, after all – and my betrothed.’ Kring beamed. ‘One last
touch perhaps,’ Stragen added. ‘I think we all have a burning curiosity
about certain things, and we’ve compiled this list of the names of people
who might have answers to some of our most urgent questions. Battles are
chancy, and sometimes valuable people get killed. I think there are some
out there in Matherion who should be removed to safety before the fighting
starts.’
‘Good idea, Milord Stragen,’ Sarabian agreed. ‘I’ll send out some
detachments on the morning of the big day to round up those we’d like to
keep alive.’
‘Ah – perhaps that might not be the best way to go at it, your Majesty. Why
not let Caalador attend to it? As a group, policemen tend to be obvious
when they arrest people – uniforms, chains, marching in step – that sort of
thing. Professional murderers are much more unobtrusive. You don’t have to
put chains on a man when you arrest him. A dagger-point held discreetly to
his side is just as effective, I’ve found.’ Sarabian gave him a shrewd
look. ‘You’re speaking from experience, I’ gather?’ he speculated. ‘Murder
is a crime, your Majesty,’ Stragen pointed out, ‘and as a leader of
criminals,. I should have some experience in all branches of the field.
Professionalism, you understand. ‘
CHAPTER 28
‘It was definitely Scarpa, Sparhawk,’ Caalador assured the big Pandion.
‘We didn’t have to rely entirely on the drawing. One of the local whores
is from Arjuna, and she’s had business-dealings with him in the past. She
positively identified him.’ The two of them were standing atop the castle
wall where they could speak privately. ‘That seems to be everybody but
Baron Parok of Daconia then,’ Sparhawk noted. ‘We’ve seen Krager, Gerrich,
Rebal of Edam, this Scarpa from Arjuna, and Elron from Astel.’
‘I thought the conspirator from Astel was called Sabre,’ Caalador said.
Sparhawk silently cursed his careless tongue. ‘Sabre keeps his face
hidden,’ he said. ‘Elron’s a sympathizer more than that, probably.’
Caalador nodded. ‘I’ve known some Astels,’ he agreed, ‘anB some Dacites,
too. I wouldn’t be positive that Baron Parok’s not lurking in the shadows
somewhere. They’re definitely all gathering here in Matherion.’ He looked
thoughtfully out over the gleaming nacreous battlements at the fosse below.
‘is that ditch down there going to be all that much a barrier?’ he asked.
‘The sides are so gently sloped that there’s lawn growing on them.’
‘It gets more inconvenient when it’s filled with sharpened stakes,’
Sparhawk replied. ‘We’ll do that at the last minute. Has there been any
influx of strangers into Matherion? All those assorted patriots have large
followings. A mob gathered off the streets is one thing. but a horde drawn
from most of Tamuli would be something else entirely.’
‘We haven’t seen any unusual number of strangers here in town,’ Caalador
said, ‘and there aren’t any large gatherings out in the countryside – at
least not within five leagues in any direction.’
‘They could be holding in place farther on out,’ Sparhawk said. ‘if I had