be too dangerous.’
‘And what are you going to do if it turns out that the Deacon can
really perform magic, Kamion? You won’t be able to help Daran
very much if Elthek turns you into a toad, you know.’
‘That’s absurd, Pol. Nobody can do that.’
‘Don’t be too sure, Kamion. I probably could – if I set my mind
to it. If Elthek does have talent in that area, I’m the only one on the
Isle who can counter it. I’m coming along, Kamion, so don’t argue
with me about it.’
The soldiers who were to take the Cult into custody were all
carefully selected, and for reasons of security they were not told
what their mission was going to be. Kamion dispatched them into
the mountains in squads with instructions to stay out of sight. The
Cultists started drifting into the city in the waning days of summer,
and then began drifting out again after a few days as Elthek sent
them up the gorge to make preparations for the celebration. The
whole affair took on an almost comic aspect with groups of armed
men creeping around in the forests assiduously avoiding each other.
I spent a great deal of my time in feathers during those two weeks,
flying from tree to tree as I kept an eye on the Cultists to make
certain that there weren’t any last-minute changes of plan.
Our plan was really quite simple. We decided to secrete a fair
number of highly respected nobles and commons in the woods on
the steep sides of the gorge to observe Elthek’s ceremony, and then,
when we had enough damning evidence – and when the Cultists
were too drunk to stand – we’d send in the soldiers to round them
all up. It wasn’t until the day preceding the autumnal equinox that
Kamion and I quite firmly told Daran that he wouldn’t be going
along. ‘You’ll be sitting in judgment, your Highness,’ Kamion told
him. ‘You’ll lose all appearance of impartiality if you lead the attack.’
‘But -‘ Daran started to protest.
‘No buts, dear,’ I said. ‘If you were actually the king, it might be
different, but you’re only your father’s regent, so you have to be a
little careful. It’s your father’s throne you’re defending, not your
own.’
‘It will be.’
‘There’s a lot of difference between “will be” and “is”, Daran.
you have to give the appearance of impartiality in this situation. You
can spend tomorrow evening sitting in front of a mirror practicing
expressions of shock and outrage. Then, when Anrak, Kamion and
I drag the Cultists before you and present the case against them, no
one can accuse you of having been in on our scheme from the very
start. Appearances are very important in situations like this.’
‘Your Highness might want to keep in mind the fact that
witchcraft’s a capital offense,’ Kamion pointed out. ‘In actuality, you could
burn the lot of them at the stake.’
,Could I really do that, Aunt Pol?’ Daran asked me.
‘Don’t get carried away, dear. Sentencing them to exile’s really
an act of mercy, you realize.’
‘Part of the idea here is to build your reputation, your Highness,’
Kamion explained.
,i don’t think it’s very fair,’ Daran sulked.
‘No, your Highness, it’s not. It’s politics, and politics aren’t meant
to be fair. Oh, incidentally, after the trial, it might not be a bad idea
for you to agonize over your final judgment for a week or so.’
Daran stared at him blankly.
‘It’ll give me some time to spread word of the charges and our
proof all over the Isle – public relations, you understand.’
‘I know what I’m going to do to them, Brand.’
‘Of course you do, dear,’ I told him. ‘Just don’t do it so quickly.
Give Elthek and his cohorts some time to worry before you pass
judgment on them.’
‘Where am I going to keep them while I pretend to be making
up my mind?’
‘Elthek’s got a fairly extensive dungeon under the temple of Belar,
your Highness,’ Kamion suggested without even cracking a smile.
‘As long as it’s there anyway -‘
Daran burst out laughing at that point.
And then the day arrived, dawning murky with the threat of
incipient rain. ‘Wonderful,’ Anrak said sourly, looking out the
window of our blue-draped conference room as morning stained
the sky over the Isle. ‘I hate crawling around in the woods when
it’s raining.’
‘You won’t melt,’ I assured him. ‘If you’d like, you could bring a
cake of soap along tonight. I think it’s almost time for your annual
bath.’
‘I think you did me a big favor that day back in the Vale when
You turned down my marriage proposal, Pol,’ he replied.
‘What’s this?’ Daran asked.
‘I was young and foolish at the time, Daran,’ Anrak explained.
‘Some men just aren’t meant to get married.’
That gave me something to think about. Daran would be
twenty-three years old on his next birthday, and I didn’t really want him
to grow too accustomed to bachelorhood.
It rained off and on all that day, a filmy, misty kind of rain that
wreathed the towers of the Citadel and obscured the city and the
harbor. The sky cleared in the late afternoon, though, and we were
treated to one of those glorious sunsets that almost make living in
rainy country worthwhile.
No, I didn’t have anything to do with it. You know how my father
feels about tampering with the weather.
The nobles and commons who joined us that evening to serve as
witnesses were all men of impeccable character and good reputation.
They were not, despite Anrak’s objections, coached or prompted in
any way. Indeed, they were not even advised in advance that they
were going to spend an entertaining evening out in the still-dripping
forest. Kamion, acting in his official capacity as Rivan Warder,
simply sent men out to round them all up as the sun went down.
Most of them were at supper when they were summoned to the
Citadel, and there was a bit of grumbling about that.
‘What’s this all about, Kamion?’ a white-bearded old earl
demanded when we all gathered in the stables. The earl’s name was
Jarok, a fairly common Alorn name.
‘I want you all to see something, my Lord Jarok,’ Kamion replied.
‘What are we supposed to look at?’ Jarok was obviously not
happy. He was an old man with a young wife, and he’d had other
plans for the evening, I guess.
‘I’m not at liberty to discuss it, my Lord,’ Kamion told him. ‘All
you and the others need to know is that you’re going to witness a
crime being committed this evening. The criminals will be taken
into custody and they’ll be tried later for their crime. You gentlemen
will perform your civic duty and testify at that trial.’
‘Belar’s teeth, Kamion!’ the grouchy old jarok swore, ‘just hang
the rogues and have done with it.’
‘We aren’t talking about a simple burglary or an incidental
murder, my Lord. This is a wide-ranging conspiracy that threatens the
security of the throne and the entire kingdom. We want to stamp
it out, so we’ll need an iron-clad case to take before the Prince
Regent.’
That bad?’ Jarok blinked. ‘It’s really bad enough to take before
daran himself instead of a magistrate?’
‘Probably even worse, my Lord. If possible, I’d take the matter to
Riva himself.’
,What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go!’
I love the way Alorns can change direction in the blink of an eye,
don’t You?
The ride up the gorge which adjoined the one where the Cult was
meeting wasn’t very pleasant. The moon and stars were out, but
the woods were absolutely soaked by the day’s rain, and we were
all wet to the skin by the time we reached the narrow pass that
connected the two deep valleys. Things got worse at that point. We
all dismounted and started wading up the hill through the sodden
undergrowth.
The Cultists’ bonfire down at the bottom of the gorge was clearly
visible when we reached the crest, but it became less so as we crept
down through the trees.
‘I haven’t had this much fun in years, Pol,’ Anrak whispered to
me as we struggled down the steep hill.
‘Did you plan to ever grow up, Anrak?’ I asked him rather tartly
as I tried to unsnag the hem of my dress from a thorny bush.
‘Not if I can help it, dear Lady.’ His grin was infectious, and I
had to stifle a laugh.
The clearing which surrounded the Cult’s bonfire was quite large.
‘Spread out, gentlemen,’ Kamion’s instructions were passed around
in whispers. ‘Let’s try to see everything that happens out there.’
The nobles and merchants and craftsmen comprising our group of
witnesses obediently fanned out, moving as silently as possible and
all crouched low to avoid being seen. Then we all sank down onto