of extravagant speech from thee?’
‘You’re doing fine already, Mandorin,’ I told him in ordinary
language. ‘You don’t need any lessons. To work, then. In both
Wacune and Asturia, there were men who seemed to be Tolnedran,
but were not. They proposed to Kathandrion and separately to
Oldoran an alliance with Ran Vordue, dangling the undisputed crown
Of Arendia before their eyes as a prize for acceptance. Doth this
perchance resonate in any way within thy recent memory?’
I didn’t really need to ask, since his face had gone pale and his
eyes were very wide.
‘It has a familiar ring to it, I gather?’
‘Indeed, my Lady. A similar proposal hath been broached to our
own Duke Corrolin.’
‘I’d rather thought it might have been. Art thou, perchance, within
the circle of Duke Corrolin’s immediate advisors?’
‘I do sit on the Privy Council,’ he admitted, ‘and I must confess
that I was sore-tempted by this fortuitous offer of alliance with the
mighty Tolnedran empire.’
‘I think I’ll need some details, Baron Mandorin. Before I can unseat
an opponent, I need to know which horse he’s riding.’
He pondered that, evidently reassessing certain events which had
recently taken place in Vo Mimbre. ‘Some months ago a Tolnedran
diplomat did, in fact, arrive in the golden city with a proposal ‘
which he assured Duke Corrolin did come directly from the Imperial
throne. His credentials did appear immaculate.’
‘Did the Tolnedran ambassador to the court at Vo Mimbre
recognize him, my Lord?’
‘The current ambassador from Tol Honeth had fallen ill a month
perhaps ‘ere Kadon, the emissary in question, did enter the gates
of Vo Mimbre. The illness is obscure, and it doth baffle the finest
physicians in all of Mimbre. I do fear me that his Excellency’s days
are numbered.’
‘Most convenient, my Lord. Coincidence, though rampant in this
troubled world, doth sometimes require some small nudge from
human agency to flower.’
‘Poison?’ he gasped, catching my meaning.
‘Quite possibly, my lord. I fear me that certain Nyissan
compounds are entering the politics of the other western kingdoms.
Prithee, expound unto me the details of the proposal carried to Vo
Mimbre by the emissary Kadon.’
‘It doth bear a characteristic Tolnedran stamp, my Lady Polgara,
for ‘certes, as all the world doth know, the Tolnedran mind is a
masterpiece of complexity and devious motivation. In short, though
it doth wound me sorely to offend thy delicate sensibilities by such
brutal brevity, I shall speak unto thee in unadorned terms.’
‘I’d appreciate that, Lord Mandorin.’
Aren’t you proud of me? I didn’t once scream at him while he was
exploring the outer limits of his vocabulary.
‘As thou art well aware, having but recently come from the northern
duchies, great antagonism did exist between Duke Kathandrion of
Wacune and the now deposed Duke Oldoran of Asturia, and the
Wacites do poise themselves on the Asturian border, bent on nothing
less than the obliteration of their cousins to the west. Kadon
suggested to our beloved Duke Corrolin that this contention in the
north might prove to be an opportunity too golden to be permitted
to escape, and he offered the aid of the legions in grasping this
prize.’
‘How, my lord? What exactly were the legions supposed to do?’
‘granted safe passage by his Grace Corrolin, forty legions are to
march north and poise themselves in northern-most Mimbre. When
Duke Kathandrion’s forces do march into Asturia and encircle Vo
Astur, the legions will move to fortify the border between Wacune
and Asturia. E’en as the legions march, the forces of Duke Corrolin
will cross over into the foothills of Ulgoland, move north, and take
up positions along Wacune’s eastern frontier. When Kathandrion’s
forces begin their assault on Vo Astur, the Mimbrate army will
invade Wacune from the east. By virtue of the legions lining the
border between the two northern duchies, Kathandrion will be
unable to rush home to defend his homeland. Vo Wacune will fall,
and Kathandrion and Oldoran are to be permitted to fight a war of
mutual extinction in the forests of Asturia. Then, when but few
tattered remnants of the armies of Wacune and Asturia do remain,
Duke Corrolin, with the aid of the legions, is to sweep both
Kathandrion and Oldoran into the dust-bin of history, and all of Arendia
will swear fealty to Corrolin, and he will become our undisputed
king.’ Mandorin, caught up in spite of himself, delivered this last
in ringing tones of exaltation.
‘And you and your duke actually believed this absurdity?’ I asked,
hoping to dash some cold water into the face of this enthusiast.
‘I am well-versed in the arts of war, Lady Polgara,’ he said in
slightly injured tones. ‘I found no fault nor flaw in this strategy.’
I sighed. ‘Oh dear,’ I murmured, covering my eyes theatrically
with one hand. ‘Lord Mandorin,’ I said to him, ‘think for a moment.
Northern Arendia is one vast forest. Kathandrion and Oldoran
would not meet Corrolin or the legions – in pitched battle. They
would simply melt into the trees. Northern Arends are born with
longbows in their hands. The armored knights of Mimbre and the
stately ranks of the Tolnedran legions would melt like snow in the
spring in sudden rain-squalls of yard-long arrows. There’s a man
named Lammer in Vo Astur who can thread a needle with an arrow
at two hundred paces. Neither the Mimbrates nor the legions would
ever have seen the men who killed them. Armor is decorative, but
it won’t stop an arrow.’
‘A most unseemly way to make war,’ he complained.
‘There’s nothing seemly nor polite about war, Baron,’ I told him.
‘Is it polite to pour boiling pitch on visitors? Is it seemly to bash
people’s heads in with maces? Is it courteous to run a twenty-foot
lance through the body of someone who disagrees with you? But
we can discuss courtesy in all its divine intricacies later. Ran Vordue
is a Tolnedran. He will not do anything without getting paid for it.
To put it in its bluntest terms, what’s in it for him?’
The baron’s face grew troubled. ‘I would die ere offending thee
my Lady,’ he said, ‘but the attachment of thy father to the Alorns
is widely known, and thine own sojourn on the Isle of the Winds
is legendary. The alliance which Ran Vordue hath proposed is but
an initial step in his grand design, the intent of which is the
destruction of the alorns.’
‘And that idea seemed like a good one to Corrolin?’ I asked
incredulously. ‘Doth his Grace perchance have an extra hole in his
head? It seemeth me that his brains are leaking out. The Alorns, as
all the world doth know, have their faults, but no sane man chooses
to make war upon them. Hath this supposed Tolnedran, Kadon,
seen fit to advise the Privy Council in Vo Mimbre of a grand strategy
whereby Arendia and Tolnedra can hope to survive a confrontation
with those howling savages of the far north?’
His face went a trifle stiff. ‘We are Arends, my Lady,’ he told me
a bit coldly, ‘and are not without our own skills – and our own
bravery. Moreover, the Tolnedran legions are the most
highly-trained soldiers in all the world.’
‘I am not disparaging thy bravery nor thy skill at arms, my Lord,
but an average alorn doth stand some seven feet tall and is given
a sword to play with whilst still in his cradle. Moreover, by ties of
blood and religion, the Alorns think and move as one. Though
Tolnedra might wish it otherwise, Aloria doth still exist, stretc
from Car og Nadrak to the Isle of the Winds. An attack upon Aloria
is, it seemeth me, tantamount to suicide.’ I probably went a bit
too far there. Arends do have their pride, after all. ‘I’m sorry,
Mandorin,’ I apologized. ‘The rashness of the proposal startled me, that’s
all.’ I considered the situation. ‘Prithee, my Lord,’ I said, ‘did his
Grace actually contemplate this action with nothing more than the
unsupported declarations of Kadon to guide him?’
‘Nay, my Lady. Simple observation lent weight to Kadon’s
proposal. I do assure thee that Tolnedran legions are even now massing
on the southern bank of the River Arend, doubtless preparing for
the long march to the point at which the boundaries of the three
duchies do converge. Moreover, a Tolnedran general hath also come
to Vo Mimbre to confer with the commanders of our forces.’
That truly troubled me. If Ctuchik were also subverting Tolnedra,
I had a real problem on my hands. ‘We can discuss this further as
we travel the road to Vo Mimbre, my Lord,’ I told Mandorin. ‘It
doth appear that what transpires in the golden city hath far greater
complexity than what I encountered to the north.’ I paused again.
,I think that it might not be wise for my name to start echoing
through the halls of the ducal palace upon our arrival. I suppose