Endgames

by L. E. Modesitt Jr

  “With your hand, Your Grace … I could draft one for you.”

  “Wyllum’s almost finished with his duties for Alucar. So it won’t be a problem. Now … the response from Thealyt D’Moeryn?”

  Aevidyr handed over the sealed missive.

  Charyn studied the envelope for a moment. “I don’t think we’ve had a courier yet today.”

  “It must have come in late on Samedi, then, after midday,” said Aevidyr pleasantly. “It was waiting for me.”

  “Well … it’s not as though either of us could have done anything on Samedi.” Charyn managed to slit the envelope left-handed and withdrew the letter. He read through the very pleasant but formal acceptance, then nodded. “You can draft a response to this one for my signature.” He handed the letter back.

  “I could do both.”

  “I need to be very careful about what I reply to Rikkard D’Niasaen, don’t you think?”

  “There was that line about equal weight under law…”

  “Exactly.”

  Once Aevidyr had left, Charyn wondered whether Aevidyr had delayed giving Thealyt D’Moeryn’s response to him deliberately or whether Aevidyr had just left the Chateau early on Samedi. But why would he want to delay it over a Solayi? Then again, are you seeing more than is there? Charyn had his doubts, but he also knew that too many of his forebears had seen plots when there were none. But Father didn’t see the most obvious one of all. Your problem is that too much is obvious.

  While he waited for Wyllum, Charyn returned to reading petitions and replies. He was more than thankful to stop doing that, although he’d have to finish them later, when Wyllum arrived just after the chimes rang the ten glasses of noon.

  “Minister Alucar says he doesn’t need me anymore. All the duplicate tariff lists are done, sir.”

  “That’s excellent. I need to dictate a letter to you. Once it’s completed, sealed, and sent, we’ll be heading down to the archives on the lower level. You’ve seen them, haven’t you?”

  “Norstan showed me where they were, but we barely looked into them.”

  “This time, you’re going to get much better acquainted with them.” And so am I.

  “Have you looked into them often, sir?”

  “I spent quite a bit of time perusing them last autumn. There’s more there than most people realize. They can tell you a great deal if you know what to look for. Now … get your pen and inkwell. This letter will be to Rikkard D’Niasaen, regional governor of Telaryn.”

  “He’s accepted the post, sir?”

  “He has, and I’m hopeful that he’ll be far better than his predecessor.” But then, that was a rather low bar, given how much Voralch had stolen from the old palace and the regional accounts.

  Drafting and redrafting the letter took longer than Charyn had anticipated, and it was almost two quints past the first glass of the afternoon when Charyn and Wyllum left the study.

  Charyn turned to Sturdyn. “Wyllum and I will be searching for some records in the archives this afternoon, and we’re not to be disturbed unless the matter is absolutely urgent.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “I suspect it will take much of the afternoon.”

  Less than half a quint later, Charyn unlocked the door to the archives. From his previous searches of the archives, the ones dealing with the early history of Solidar in the times of the first Rex Regis, Charyn had a general idea of which parts of the long storeroom held what, separated as they were by ministry, but not anything close to what file chest held exactly what, since each minister had apparently had a slightly different way of filing papers no longer deemed immediately relevant.

  “We’re looking for records from the Finance Ministry, not really old ones, but those going back eight to ten years, particularly papers dealing with adjustments to the tariffs of High Holders. You’re to start at that end and look into each chest. Don’t change the order of papers, but look at the dates. If the dates are well before 390 A.L., just close the chest and move on. If any of the dates are from 390 A.L. or later pull that chest out and then move on to the next chest.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Charyn moved to the other end of the row, where he opened the first file chest. Dust puffed up in a cloud. He sneezed several times before he could begin to see the papers stacked inside. Then he leafed through them, discovering that the dates varied, from roughly 229 A.L. to 238 A.L. He was tempted to read more closely, to see if he could find any references to Pyetryl D’Ecrivain, but decided anything like that could wait, especially given the number of file chests.

  The next chest also opened with a cloud of dust, although there was no dust on top of the chests, suggesting that Norstan had someone dusting the outsides of the chests, but not what was within, and that was the way it should be. The dates were ten years earlier than those in the first chest.

  Almost a glass passed before Wyllum called out, “Your Grace … this chest has papers in it from 388 A.L.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Charyn finished a quick look at papers dating from around 267 A.L., then closed that chest and moved to where Wyllum stood.

  “This chest, sir.”

  “Good. You keep looking. There should be at least one other chest with records near those dates. I’m going to see if there are any of the records or papers I need in this chest.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Charyn began to look through the records carefully, a sheet at a time. He half-hoped that Aevidyr had slipped the tariff records for the “exempted” properties into the archival files, rather than destroying them, but doubted that was the case, which was why he’d likely need to also go through the more recent records from the Ministry of Administration.

  Slowly, he plowed through the documents, pulling out several that held Salucar’s name and dealt with reassessments of older properties, but found nothing of direct use, not exactly a surprise since papers with dates of 397 A.L. and a few years later were more likely to show such evidence.

  Another quint passed before Wyllum found a chest of records for the year 394 A.L. The first thing Charyn noticed was that there was less dust in that chest. Part of that might have been because the records placed there had to be less than ten years old, and possibly might only have been shifted to the archives in the last few years. The second thing he noticed was that the papers were precisely in date order. Meaning that their placement in the archives dated from when the very orderly Alucar became Finance Minister.

  While there was absolutely nothing in that chest bearing on any of the individuals with properties illegally “exempted” from tariffs or for properties owned by Aevidyr, Charyn did remove a number of documents for his use.

  “Might I ask what we’re looking for, Your Grace?”

  “You know you had to copy tariff records so that the clerks could go out and check to see if all the factorages were on the tariff rolls? Well, Minister Alucar has a similar effort ongoing with High Holders. There’s a possibility that some of them aren’t paying tariffs on certain properties. It’s not likely that there will be records that got overlooked here, but it is possible, and those are what I’m looking for.” Among other things. “Some of those properties may have once been owned by someone else and then never recorded when they changed hands, but the reduction in tariffs owed by the previous owner might be.” Charyn knew those records would also exist in the records of the regional governors—except for the lands in Bovaria, since all of those records were in the Chateau—but he doubted he had the time to have those searched out, or if the regional governors in Tilbor and Antiago, Antiago especially, would be inclined to find them.

  Over the next glass, Charyn and Wyllum found two more chests, and the results were the same … and Charyn added more documents to his short stack. There was also not a single scrap of paper in the archives covering the last fifteen years dealing with any properties belonging to Ghaermyn, Laastyn, or Aevidyr. That meant the only records were the incomplete ones in Alucar’s current files.<
br />
  “Now we need to find some records from the Administration section…”

  What Charyn really wanted there wasn’t so much records but records containing Aevidyr’s signature, and those would likely be on reports, rather than letters, since the copies of outgoing letters wouldn’t be signed, but only sealed, with the notation that the original was signed.

  In less than a glass, Charyn had what he hoped would be sufficient … if he could work out the details … and obtain some additional information from Alucar.

  By the time the two trudged back up to the study, brushing dust off their garments, and with Charyn still occasionally sneezing, it was past fifth glass.

  As he and Wyllum neared the study, Bhayrn appeared.

  “Sturdyn said you were in the archives. Whatever for?”

  “Trying to track down…” Charyn paused, then said, “… some missing lands, and some that aren’t paying tariffs.”

  “Did you have any luck in the dust and dirt?” Bhayrn offered an amused smile.

  “Some … but not enough.” Charyn looked down at the stack of papers that Wyllum held. “Not yet.” He sneezed. He could have held it, but he didn’t want to say more. “I think I need to wash up a bit so I don’t keep sneezing. We can talk later.” He fumbled out a cloth and covered his nose and mouth for a moment. “You can go, Wyllum. Just leave those on the desk.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll leave you to clean up,” said Bhayrn. “I won’t be here for dinner.”

  “Laamyst or Gherard?”

  “Neither. Amascarl. We’ve been out of touch. That’s something I need to remedy.” Bhayrn smiled again, warmly, then turned and walked toward the grand staircase.

  Charyn managed to keep a pleasant expression on his face, even as he wondered what—or who—had changed Bhayrn’s apparent attitude over the past few days. And why now? As he began to walk toward his apartments to clean up before dinner, he was afraid that he knew the answer to the last question.

  59

  The first thing Charyn did upon reaching his study on Mardi, after greeting Moencriff and Wyllum, was to read the newssheets, beginning with Veritum.

  Late on Vendrei, Veritum discovered that in addition to proclaiming martial law and bringing in army units to stop the violence and burning of manufactorages, Rex Charyn had also proclaimed in law a requirement that all large factorages and manufactorages pay workers two coppers a day for no more than nine glasses of work. The law took effect yesterday, on nine Feuillyt, much to the consternation of the Factors’ Council of Solidar …

  Although copies of the law were sent to the Factors’ Council and the High Council it took the Rex sending copies to the newssheets for this to become public knowledge. The Rex did this. He might have done more, but the Factors’ Council did nothing …

  The story in Tableta surprised Charyn, since it was as close to being fair to him as he’d ever read, and he wondered just how vicious the next one would be for the newssheet to compensate.

  The Rex’s failure to circulate widely his proclamation of a two-copper workday, and his belated dispatch to the newssheets, was only exceeded in lack of competence by the efforts of the Factors’ Council to ignore totally the new law, even though they were notified immediately. Because the Rex issued the law on such short notice, factors elsewhere in Solidar will have to pay back wages once the word of the law reaches them …

  At least, and at last, our beloved Rex has shown some faint interest in bettering the lot of the hardworking men of Solidar … we are not holding our breath until the next time he does … nor do we doubt that this was the most he dared do, given the violent opposition of not only much of the Factors’ Council, but also that of some of the High Council …

  They did get that right, if not for the reasons they think. He glanced down the newssheet to another story, one about the True Believers protesting in front of the Anomen D’Rex, and his eyes centered on a few lines:

  … the protestors claim that the Rex’s law is a step in the right direction, but that the Rex must do more than merely pass a law and replace his own corrupt chorister … protestors claimed that they did not protest Chorister Faheel, but that they surrounded the Anomen D’Rex … said they will keep showing up at the anomen until the Rex comes to meet with them … and that if he does not … then he does not deserve to be Rex … An army company rode up and the True Believers all fled before the troopers could get close enough to apprehend any of them.

  For a time, Charyn considered the article, wondering if he’d missed something entirely. Obviously, the True Believers had timed their protest early enough that the army troopers were not out in force.

  Finally, he set down the newssheet.

  “Veritum was mostly fair, wasn’t it?” asked Wyllum.

  “They were right. I should have sent copies to both newsletters when the others went out. I should have known that Eshmael would sit on the two-copper wage law.” Charyn shook his head. Times had changed and were continuing to do so, as evidenced by his having even to consider the newssheets or that factors would try to ignore a proclaimed law. “But we did what we could.” He picked up the newssheet again.

  He almost missed the story in the bottom left-hand corner.

  Some months ago, a Factor Suyrien D’Chaeryll purchased the ironworks south of L’Excelsis, as well as the rifleworks within the ironworks. It has come to our attention that until a year ago, no one had ever heard of Suyrien D’Chaeryll, until he purchased a membership in the Commodity Exchange with a considerable stock of golds. It has also come to our attention that the D’Chaeryll lands were held by one Charyn D’Lorien. Presumably, that would suggest that our beloved Rex purchased ironworks for some purpose of his own that he does not wish known …

  “Frig…” Charyn murmured as he set down the newssheet.

  “I saw the story about the ironworks, sir. I didn’t tell anyone.” Wyllum’s voice was hesitant. “No one. Not a soul.”

  “I know. I know who did, and it wasn’t you.” The only real question was whether Bhayrn or one of Laastyn’s sons had been the ones to tell the newssheet. Charyn took a deep breath. “Now we need to get back to the dull routine of making changes to several of Sanafryt’s replies to petitions.”

  A glass or so later, when Charyn had finished dictating his changes and Wyllum was busy rewriting several of the responses, Charyn turned his attention back to the documents he’d pulled from the archives. He didn’t get very far in trying to assemble them into something that would work for his purposes before an army courier delivered another report from Marshal Vaelln, one which Charyn read immediately.

  The latest developments were much like the last. The shipyard in Tilbor had launched another ship, this one a first-rate ship of the line, one that would be battle-ready by the end of Feuillyt. Three Jariolan rated warships had been destroyed off the Jariolan coast with no Solidaran vessels lost, but another Solidaran merchanter had been lost to Jariolan privateers in the waters off Otelyrn.

  Progress … but not enough to satisfy Chaeltar and the factors … But then, it sometimes seemed like nothing was enough to satisfy some of them.

  Vaelln also reported that while the army patrols had stopped a number of men breaking the curfew, there had only been one incident involving actual lawbreakers. In that instance, they had been forced to shoot, wounding two men and killing two others. The four had been found to carry several crude gunpowder bombs and jugs of oil.

  Which means some of the workers are still angry and unsatisfied or that someone wanted to use the anger against factors as a cover for something else.

  He placed that report with the others and turned to Wyllum. “When you’re finished with those letters, and we’ve signed and sealed them, you can return them to Minister Sanafryt. After that, if you’d go tell Minister Alucar that I’d like to see him, and then make yourself useful to Lady Chelia. Oh … one more thing. Would you tell Guard Captain Maertyl or Undercaptain Faelln that I need to talk to Chorister
Faheel this afternoon.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  Two quints later, Wyllum departed, and Charyn sat behind the desk, the fingers of his left hand fingering the two-shot pistol in its concealed holster, still thinking about how all the pieces didn’t quite fit together … unless … But why … why would he … how could he think … and how could any High Holder believe …

  Charyn shook his head.

  Shortly thereafter, Alucar entered the study.

  “Have you found out any more about Laastyn’s timberlands near Asseroiles … and in Tilbor?”

  Alucar inclined his head. “By careful reading of the records, I did find that there is a hunting lodge near Asseroiles, set on five hundred hectares, but there is no current mention of the timberlands. I did discover the previous owner, the grandsire of the present High Holder Paellyt. Working backwards from the tariffs Paellyt paid, Laastyn has to own close to four thousand hectares. Paellyt did report the sale to Laastyn and there is a deed for forty-five hundred hectares. But the only reason those are in the records was because Paellyt paid fewer tariffs, and I had sent an inquiry. He sent copies of the bill of sale and the deed he delivered to Laastyn. This was just after I became Finance Minister, and I should have then cross-checked against Laastyn, but I failed to do so. Part of that was because so many papers had accumulated in the year that there was no Finance Minister, and part because the ministry was short two clerks because Aevidyr felt that the positions should be filled by the next minister. As a result,” Alucar’s voice turned ironic, “the four thousand hectares of timberlands aren’t on the tariff records, and I’m as much at fault as anyone.”

  “And the Talyon estate?”

  “There is no record of it in the tariff rolls. And so far, I cannot find any documentation of what might be a corresponding reduction in tariffs of another High Holder, or substantial small holder.”