Pondia Subat.’
“I know that, Gashon.’
“I just wanted to be sure, that’s all. Are you with me so far?
‘Get to the point, Gashon. I don’t have all day.’
‘Did you have an appointment with the headsman? All right,
then. The Elenes are religious fanatics who feel that they’re
called on by the Lord to convert everybody in the world to their
absurd faith. For all I know, they also want to convert snakes,
spiders and fish. Dolmant’s their religious leader, and they’d
probably try to subdue glaciers and tides if he told them to. So,
we’ve got a religious leader who has an uncertain grasp on
power in his own Church, and he has hordes of fanatic followers
at his disposal. He can either use those followers to crush his
opponents at home, or he can hurl them against a foreign power
on some trumped-up excuse that will inflame the commons and
stifle objections to his rule. Isn’t it a coincidence that at precisely
that time we have this “state visit” by a silly female – a female
Foreign Minister Oscagne assures us is the Queen of Elenia. I
hope the fact that we only have Oscagne’s word for that hasn’t
escaped you. This so-called queen is obviously more accustomed
to doing business in bed than she is on a throne. She clearly
wrestled not only that silly ass Alberen of Astel into submission
but probably Androl of the Atans as well. We can only speculate
about her adventures among the Peloi and the Styrics at Sarsos.
Then, once she reached Matherion, she lured Emperor Sarabian
to her bedchamber before the first day was out – you did know
that Sarabian and Oscagne crept across the compound to that
imitation Elene castle on the first night she was here, didn’t
you?’
Subat started to object.
Yes, I know Gashon cut him off, ‘that brings us to Oscagne.
I’d say that the evidence strongly suggests that Oscagne has
gone over to the Elenes – either for personal gain or because
he’s fallen under the spell of that blonde Elene strumpet. She
had plenty of time to work on him while he was in Chyrellos,
you know.’
“It’s all speculation, Gashon,’ Subat said, although his voice
lacked conviction.
‘Of course it is, Subat,’ Gashon replied with heavy sarcasm.
‘What would be the fastest way to get to Matherion from
Chyrellos?’
‘By ship, naturally.’
‘Then why did the strumpet of Cimmura choose to come overland?
Was it to look at scenery, or to grapple her way across the
continent? The girl’s got stamina, I’ll give her that.’
‘What about this recent coup-attempt, Gashon? The government
would have fallen if the Elenes hadn’t been here.’
‘Ah yes, the famous coup. Isn’t it astounding that a group of
Elenes, who didn’t even speak the Tamul language when they
arrived, were able to unearth this dire plot in about six weeks?
when the agents of the Ministry of the Interior, who’ve only
been in Matherion for all of their lives, hadn’t come across a
single clue about it? The Elenes crushed an imaginary coup,
Subat, and now they’ve used it as an excuse to imprison the
Emperor in that cursed fortress of theirs – not only the Emperor,
but Interior Minister Kolata as well, and Kolata’s the one man
in government who has the resources to free our ruler. I’ve
talked with Teovin, Director of the Secret Police, and he assures
me that no one from the ministry has been permitted to speak
with Kolata privately since his incarceration. Our colleague is
obviously a prisoner, and the orders he’s issuing to the Interior
Ministry are just as obviously coming from the Elenes. Then, if
that weren’t bad enough, they’ve sent the so-called churchman,
Emban, back to Chyrellos to lead the Church Knights back here
to “deal with the crisis.” We have all the resources of Interior
and whole armies of Atans at our disposal, Subat. Why do we
need the Church Knights? What possible reason is there to bring
the most ruthless force in the entire world to Tamuli? Would
the word “invasion” startle you? That’s all that the famous coup
really was, you realize – an excuse for the Elene Church to invade
Tamuli, and quite obviously it’s been with the Emperor’s full
cooperation. ‘
‘Why would the Emperor conspire with the Elenes to topple
his own government?’
“I can think of any number of reasons. Maybe this so-called
queen threatened to deny him her favors. Most probably,
though, she’s been spinning fairy-tales for him, telling him about
the joys of absolute power. That’s a common fiction in Eosia.
Elene rulers like to pretend that they’re the ones who make all
the decisions in their kingdoms rather than permitting the
government to do it for them. We both know how ridiculous
that idea is. A king – or in our case, the Emperor – only has one
function. He’s a symbol of government, nothing more. He serves
as a focus for the love and loyalty of the people. The imperial
government’s been engaged in a selective-breeding program for
the past thousand years. The Emperor’s Tamul wife – the one
who produces the heir to the throne – is always selected for her
stupidity. We don’t need intelligent emperors, only docile ones.
Somehow Sarabian slipped past us. If you’d ever really taken
the trouble to pay attention to him, you’d have discovered that
he’s frighteningly intelligent. Kolata blundered there. Sarabian
should have been killed long before he ascended the throne.
Our revered Emperor’s beginning to hunger for real power, I’m
afraid. Normally, we could deal with that, but we can’t get at
him to kill him as long as he’s inside that blasted fortress.’
‘You weave a convincing story, Gashon,’ the Prime Minister
conceded with a troubled frown. “I knew it was a blunder to
invite that Sparhawk savage to come to Matherion.’
‘We all did, Subat, and you’ll recall who it was who overrode
all our objections.’
‘Oscagne,’ Subat spat.
‘Precisely. Is it beginning to fit together for you now?’
‘Did you devise all of this by yourself, Gashon? It’s a little
elaborate for a man who spends all his time counting pennies.’
‘Actually, it was Teovin, the Director of the Secret Police, who
brought it to my attention. He provided me with a great deal of
very concrete evidence. I’ve summarized it for you here. Interior
has spies everywhere, you know. Nothing happens in the
Empire that doesn’t generate a report for those famous files
of theirs. Now, Pondia Subat, what does our esteemed Prime
Minister propose to do about the fact that our Emperor’s being
held prisoner – willingly or unwillingly – not a hundred paces
from where we sit? You’re the titular head of government, Subat.
You’re the one who has to make these decisions. Oh, and while
you’re at it, you might want to give some thought to how we’re
going to prevent the Church Knights from sweeping across the
continent, marching into Matherion and forcing everyone to
bow down to their ridiculous God – and butchering the entire
government in the process.’
‘They’re trying to stall, your Majesties,’ Stragen reported. ‘When
supper-time comes, they escort us to the door push us outside,
and lock the door behind us. The building stays locked for the
rest of the night – although there are always plenty of lights
moving around in there after dark. When we go back the next
morning, everything’s been rearranged. The files migrate from
room to room like ducks in the autumn. I wouldn’t actually
swear to it, but I think they move walls as well. We found a
room just this morning that I don’t really think was there last
night.’
‘I’ll send in Engessa’s Atans,’ Sarabian said darkly. ‘We’ll
chase everybody out and then tear the building apart brick by
brick.’
‘No,’ Ehlana said, shaking her head. ‘if we make an overt
move against the Ministry of the Interior, every policeman in
the Empire will scurry down a rabbit-hole.’ She pursed her lips.
‘Let’s start to do inconvenient things to the other ministries as
well. Don’t make it obvious that we’re concentrating all of our
attention on the Ministry of the Interior.’
‘How can you possibly make things any worse than they
already are, your Majesty?’ Oscagne asked in a broken voice.
‘You’ve disrupted centuries of work as it is.’
‘Can anyone think of anything?’ Sarabian asked, looking
around.
‘May I speak, your Majesty?’ Alcan asked in a small, timidsounding
voice.
‘Of course, dear,’ Ehlana smiled.
“I hope you’ll all forgive my presumption,’ Alcan apologized.
“I can’t even read, so I don’t really know what files are, but
aren’t we sort of letting on that we’re rearranging them?’
‘That’s what we’re telling everybody,’ Mirtai replied.
‘As I said, I can’t read, but I do know a bit about rearranging
cupboards and such things. This is a little like that, isn’t it?’
‘Close enough,’ Stragen replied