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. I’m sorry, Stragen,
but it’s the truth.’
“It was such a good idea,’ Stragen sighed.
“It was all right at first, but the trouble with it was that Krager’s
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 I’ve failed you, my
Queen,’ he admitted. “I let a good idea run away with me. You
couldn’t really trust my judgement after a blunder like that, so
I’ll make arrangements to go back to Emsat.’
‘Oh, don’t be an ass, Stragen,’ she told him. ‘And do sit down.
I can’t think while you’re clumping around the room like that.’
‘She shore knows how t’ put a feller in his place, don’t she,
Stragen?’ Caalador laughed.
Ehlana sat tapping one finger thoughtfully against her chin.
‘First of all, let’s keep this in the family. Sarabian’s already getting
a bit wild-eyed. Politically, he’s an infant. I’m 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 that’s a picture for you,’ Caalador grinned. ‘What’s he
choking on, your Majesty?’
‘Murder, primarily,’ she shrugged. ‘He doesn’t seem to have
the stomach for it.’
Caalador blinked. ‘Not many do.’
‘Politicians can’t afford that kind of delicacy. All right, if
Krager and his friends know about our spy network, it won’t
be long until they try something in the way of penetration, will
it?’
‘You’re quick,’ he said admiringly.
“Quick people live longer. Start thinking, gentlemen. We’ve
got an exploitable situation here, and it won’t 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,
they’re going to have to subvert some of our people. Let’s say
that we start passing out assorted fairy-tales – this 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.
‘We’ll work on it, your Majesty,’ Caalador promised. ‘if it’s
all right with you, I’d like to follow up on something else as
well. We know that Krager’s been busy here in Matherion, but
we don’t know how much information about our methods he’s
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. I’ll pass the word to the criminals
down in Arjuna. I’d like to find out one way or the other
if that silly scholar at the university has blundered across the
real truth or if he’s 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 it’s only localized, our apparatus hasn’t 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. Let’s try to
attach names to Rebal and Sabre at the very least.’
‘We’ll do ‘er gist th’ way yet Majesty commands.’
‘i’d be happier’n a pig in mud iffn y’would, Caalador,’ she
replied.
Caalador collapsed in helpless laughter.
“It’s probably the change in the weather, your Majesty,’ Alcan
said. “It’s definitely getting chillier at night, and the days aren’t
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.’
“It’s a different part of the world though, my Queen,’ Baroness
Melidere pointed out. ‘We’re right on the sea-coast for one thing.
That could be what’s causing the problem. Sometimes children
react more strongly to things like that than adults.’
‘You’re both making too much out of it,’ Mirtai told them. ‘All
she needs is a tonic. She’s not really sick, she’s just moping
around.’
‘But she sleeps all the time,’ Ehlana fretted. ‘She even falls
asleep when she’s playing.’
‘She’s 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. Mmrr, on the
other hand, seemed quite content. An owner who didn’t move
around very much suited Mmrr right down to the ground. When
Princess Danae was dozing, she was not dreaming up ridiculous
things to do to her cat. Mmrr secretly felt that any day that did
not involve being dressed up in dolls’ clothing was a good day.
She lay on her little mistress’s hip with her front paws sedately
folded under her chest, her eyes closed and a soft, contented
purr coming from her throat. So long as nothing disturbed her
naps, Mmrr was perfectly at peace with the world.
The Royal Princess Danae dozed, her mind far more involved
with the conversation Flute was holding with Sparhawk and his
friends on the Isle of Tega than with her mother’s concern over
her health here in Matherion. Danae yawned and nestled down
with toy and with cat and drifted off to sleep.
‘Dearest,’ the letter began. ‘We’ve reached Tega, and we’ll be
going out into the countryside for a while to see what’s afoot.
I’ll be out of touch for a bit, so I thought it might be a good
idea to let you know that we’ve arrived safely. Don’t be too concerned
if you don’t hear from me for quite some time. I’m not
entirely sure how long we’ll be submerged in the population
here.
‘The others are growing impatient to get started. There’s no
real point to this letter – except to tell you that I love you – but
that’s probably the most important point of all, isn’t it? Kiss
Danae for me.
‘All my love, Sparhawk.’
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ Ehlana murmured, lowering the note from
her husband. They were all sitting in the blue-draped sitting
room in the queen’s apartments, and the arrival of Caalador
with Sparhawk’s letter had interrupted a serious discussion
about what they were going to do about the Interior Ministry.
Caalador, dressed again in sober brown and carrying a grotesque
porcelain figurine from twelfth-century Arjuna, was
frowning. “I think you might want to remind the people at the
gates of the compound that they’re supposed to let me in, your
Majesty. I had a bit of an argument again.’
‘What’s this?’ Emperor Sarabian asked.
‘Master Calador’s serving as my “procurer of antiquities,”‘
Ehlana explained. “It gives him an excuse to come and go without
interference. I’ve gathered a whole roomful of assorted bric-abrac
since I’ve arrived here.’
‘That brings us right back to the issue we were discussing
before you got here, Caalador,’ Stragen said. Stragen wore black
today, and Ehlana privately felt that the color didn’t really suit
him. He rose and began to pace up and down, a habit the Queen
of Elenia found irritating. ‘The Interior Ministry’s beginning to
flex its muscles for some reason. We’re sitting on the Minister
himself, so this onset of surliness is probably coming from some
underling. ‘
‘interior has always liked to throw its weight around,’
Oscagne told them. The Foreign Minister was wearing westernstyle
clothes again, and he looked distinctly uncomfortable in
them.
“I think that reinforces the point I was trying to make earlier,
Ehlana,’ Sarabian said. ‘Are you sure we shouldn’t dissolve the
Interior Ministry right now?’
‘Absolutely,’ Ehlana replied. ‘We’ve got Kolata buttoned up
inside the castle here, and we’ve given the world a perfectly