‘I’ll make preparations then, Sir Knight,’ Kring promised.
‘We’ll take salt together and talk of affairs.’
‘indeed we will, my friend,’ Sparhawk promised.
Tynian followed Kring back down the corridor and Sparhawk and Kalten took Krager back into Nashan’s study.
‘Very well, Krager,’ Patriarch Dolmant said quite firmly.
“We’ll agree to your terms – provided that you’ll agree to confinement in a monastery until it’s safe to release you.’
‘Of course, Your Grace,’ Krager agreed quickly. “I need some rest anyway. Martel’s had me running back and forth across the continent for over a year now. What would you like to hear first?’
“How did this connection between Otha and the Primate of Cimmura begin?’
Krager leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs and swirling his wine glass thoughtfully. ‘As I understand it, it all started shortly after the old Patriarch of Cimmura fell ill and Annias took over his responsibilities in the cathedral there. Up until then, the Primate’s goal appeared to have been largely political. He wanted to marry his doxy off to her brother so that he’d be able to run the kingdom of Elenia. After he got a taste of the kind of power the Church could put into a man’s hands, however, his horizons began to expand. Annias is a realist, and he’s fully aware of the fact that he’s not universally loved.’
‘That may be the understatement of the century,’
Komier muttered.
‘You’ve noticed that, My Lord,’ Krager said dryly.
“Even Martel despises him, and I can’t for the life of me understand how Arrisa can bring herself to crawl into the same bed with him. Anyway, Annias knew that he was going to need help in reaching the Archprelate’s throne. Martel got wind of what he had in mind, and he disguised himself and slipped into Cimmura to talk with him. I’m not sure exactly how, but at some time in the past, Martel had made contact with Otha. He wouldn’t ever really talk about it, but I sort of gather that it was in some way connected with his being expelled from the Pandion order. ‘
Sparhawk and Vanion exchanged a look. ‘It was,’
Vanion said. ‘Go on.’
‘Annias rejected the notion at first, but Martel can be very convincing when he wants to be, and finally the Primate agreed to at least open negotiations. They found a disreputable Styric who was outcast from his band, and they had a long talk with him. He agreed to act as their emissary to Otha, and in due time, a bargain was struck.’
‘And what was this bargain?’ King Dregos of Arcium asked.
‘I’ll get to that in a bit, Your Majesty,’ Krager promised.
“If I jump around’ in this, I might forget details. ‘ He paused and looked around. “I hope you’re all taking note of how cooperative I’m being here. Otha sent some of his people to Elenia to provide assistance to Annias. A great deal of that assistance was in the form of gold. Otha’s got tons of it.’
‘What?’ Ehlana exclaimed. “I thought Annias had poisoned my father and me primarily to get his hands on the Elenian treasury in order to finance his drive for the Archprelacy. ‘
‘I’m not trying to be offensive, Your Majesty,’ Krager said, ‘but the Elenian treasury couldn’t have begun to cover the kind of expenses Annias was incurring. His control of it, however, concealed the real source of his funding. Embezzlement is one thing, but consorting with Otha is quite something else. You and your father were actually poisoned for no other reason than to hide the fact that Annias had an unlimited supply of Otha’s gold. Things went on more or less according to plan. Otha provided money and some occasional Styric magic to help Annias obtain his interim goals. Everything was going along fairly well until Sparhawk came back from Rendor. You’re a very disruptive sort of fellow, Sparhawk.’
“Thank you,’ Sparhawk replied.
‘I’m sure you know most of the rest of the details, My Lords,’ Krager continued. “Ultimately, we all wound up here in Chyrellos, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Now, getting back to your question, King Dregos. Otha bargains very hard and he asked a great price from Annias for his aid.’
‘What did Annias have to give him?’ Patriarch Bergsten, the huge Thalesian Churchman, asked.
‘His soul, Your Grace,’ Krager replied with a shudder.
‘Otha insisted that Annias convert to the worship of Azash before he’d provide any magic or any money. Martel witnessed the ceremony, and he told me about it. That was one of my duties, incidentally. Martel gets lonesome from time to time, and he needs somebody to talk to. Martel’s not particularly squeamish, but even he was sickened by the rites that celebrated Annias’s conversion.’
‘Did Martel convert too?’ Sparhawk asked intently.
“I sort of doubt it, Sparhawk. Martel doesn’t really have any religious convictions. He believes in politics, power and money, not Gods.’
“Which one of them is really in charge?’ Sephrenia asked. ‘Which one is the leader and which the follower?’
‘Annias thinks he’s the one who’s giving the orders, but frankly, I rather doubt it. All of his contacts with Otha are through Martel, but Martel makes contacts of his own that Annias doesn’t know about. I can’t swear to it, but I think there’s a separate arrangement between Martel and Otha.
it’s the sort of thing Martel would do.’
.,. There’s something more behind all of this, isn’t there?’
‘Patriarch Emban asked shrewdly. ‘Otha – and Azash weren’t really very likely to expend all that money and .energy just for the sake of the badly tarnished soul of the Primate of Cimmura, were they?’
.Of course not, Your Grace,’ Krager agreed. ‘The plan, of course, was to attempt to get what they wanted by following the plan Annias and Martel had already laid out. If the Primate of Cimmura had managed to bribe his way into the Archprelacy, he’d have been able to achieve everything they all wanted without resorting to war, and wars are sometimes chancy. ‘
“And what are the thing’s they wanted?’ King Obler asked.
“Annias is obsessed with becoming Archprelate. Martel’s willing to let him have that. It’s’ not going to mean anything anyway, if this all goes according to plan.
What Martel wants is power, wealth and legitimacy.
Otha wants domination of the entire Eosian continent, and, of course, Azash wants the Bhelliom – and the souls of everyone in the whole world. Annias will live forever or very close to it – and he was going to spend the next several centuries using his power as Archprelate to gradually bring the Elenes over to the worship of Azash. ‘
“That’s monstrous!’ Ortzel exclaimed.
‘Moderately so, yes, Your Grace,’ Krager agreed.
‘Martel will get an imperial crown with only slightly less power than Otha’s. He’ll rule all of western Eosia.
Then you’ll have the four of them – Otha and Martel as emperors, Annias as high priest of the Church and Azash as God. Then they’ll be able to turn their attention to the Rendors and to the Tamul empire in Daresia.’
“How did they propose to get Bhelliom for Azash?
Sparhawk asked bleakly.
‘Subterfuge, deceit, outright purchase or main force, if necessary. Listen to me, Sparhawk.’ Krager’s face was suddenly deadly serious. “Martel’s led you to believe that he’ll go north a little way and then turn towards eastern Lamorkand to join with Otha. He’s going to Otha, all right, but Otha’s not in Lamorkand. His generals are much better at fighting wars than he is. He’s still in his capital in the city of Zemoch itself. That’s where Martel and Annias are going, and they want you to follow them.’
He paused. ‘I was told to tell you that, of course,’ he admitted. “Martel wants you to follow him to Zemoch and to bring Bhelliom with you. They’re all afraid of you for some reason, and I don’t think it’s just because you’ve managed to find Bhelliom. Martel doesn’t want to face you directly, and that’s not really like him. They want you to go to Zemoch so that Azash can deal with you.’ Krager’s face twisted in sudden anguish and horror.
‘Don’t go, Sparhawk,’ he pleaded. ‘For God’s sake, don’t go. If ~Azash takes Bhelliom away from you, the world is doomed.’
The vast nave of the Basilica was filled to overflowing very early the following morning. The citizens of Chyrellos had begun timidly returning to what was left of their homes almost as soon as King Wargun’s army had rounded up the last of Martel’s mercenaries. The people of the Holy City were probably no more pious than other Elenes, but Patriarch Emban made a gesture of pure humanitarianism.
He let word be spread through the city that the Church storehouses would be opened to the populace immediately after the thanks~giving services were concluded. Since there was no food to be had anywhere else in Chyrellos, the citizens responded. Emban reasoned that a congregation numbering in the thousands would impress upon his fellow Patriarchs the gravity of the situation and encourage them to take their duties seriously. Besides, Emban did feel a .certain compassion for the truly hungry. His own bulk made him peculiarly sensitive to the pangs of hunger.