by DAVID B. COE
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” he admitted, taking a seat near his father’s bed.
The duke was sitting up, leaning back against a pair of pillows. He looked no worse than he had when Marston first arrived in Thorald, but he looked no better either. His face was still pallid, his cheeks still gaunt, as if the skin hung lifelessly on his cheekbones.
“Surely you’ve given some thought as to what you’d put in such a message.”
The thane grinned. “I didn’t expect you to change your mind. Composing a message seemed unnecessary.”
His father didn’t return the smile. “I’m not certain that I have changed my mind. But I do agree that we have to warn them. Perhaps if a message were worded properly I would feel better about telling the other houses what’s happened.”
“What would you think of speaking with them in person.”
“What?”
“Though I believe that we have to inform the others, I do share your concerns about revealing Enid’s betrayal. Not so much to the dukes, but if such a message were to fall into the wrong hands—Qirsi hands—it might prove quite harmful to the House of Thorald, indeed, all of Eibithar. If instead we invite the dukes here, where we can discuss this conflict with them, we might be able to accomplish far more than would a simple message.”
Tobbar narrowed his eyes. “Go on.”
“Right now, the other houses are lining up behind Javan and Aindreas, choosing sides as if in anticipation of civil war. Even if we remain neutral, there’s a chance that either Curgh or Kentigern will eventually decide that he has the advantage, that war is preferable to peace. I want to isolate them. If we can convince the other houses that the conspiracy is behind all of this, and that neither Javan nor Aindreas is at fault, perhaps we can stop them from taking sides. It may not keep Curgh and Kentigern from going to war again, but it may keep their war from spreading throughout the land.”
Tobbar regarded him silently for several moments, until Marston began to wonder if he had somehow angered the duke. “You thought of all this on your own?” the older man asked at last.
“Yes.”
His father gave a small laugh and shook his head. “Your grandfather would be very proud. Many nobles go an entire lifetime without mastering the finer points of statecraft. And here you are, younger than I was when I became thane, and you’re already a better duke than I’ve ever been.”
“That’s not true, Father. I merely—”
“It’s all right. I’m pleased.” He rubbed his hands together, as if chilled. “Send your messages. Invite the dukes here. With the snows falling, I doubt many of them will make the journey, but we can address that when the time comes.”
Marston stood, unable to keep the smile from his face. “Yes, Father.”
“We can’t expect the king to make the journey, nor should we even presume to ask him. So you should send a separate message to him, telling him just what’s happened. Give that message to our best horseman, and send eight guards with him.”
“It will be done, my lord,” Marston said, bowing to the duke.
Tobbar frowned. “Don’t call me that.”
Returning to his quarters, Marston sat at the small table by the hearth and began writing his missives. Confronted now with the task, he found that the words did not come nearly as easily as he had hoped they would. He wished to tell the dukes enough to convey his sense of urgency, without revealing so much that he risked the reputation of his father and their house. In the end, he decided it was better to be too vague than too specific.
My dear dukes,
I write to you at the request of the duke of Thorald. Information has come to us recently that sheds new light on the tragedies that occurred in Kentigern during the growing turns. As the conflict between Curgh and Kentigern still threatens to sunder our kingdom, we wish to discuss these tidings with you as soon as possible.
To that end, Tobbar, duke of Thorald, invites you to be his guest in Thorald Castle at your earliest convenience.
May Ean guard you and guide you safely to our gates.
Marston, thane of Shanstead
Marston dispatched the messengers later that day and spent the rest of the waxing waiting impatiently for the other houses to reply. He should have known better than to expect to hear from any of them quickly. Even Eardley Castle, which was closest to Thorald, stood twenty-five leagues to the east. Pushing his mount to its limits, the messenger sent to the coast of the Narrows would have to ride three days in each direction. Still, only a few mornings after his conversation with the duke, Marston was already pacing the battlements of the castle, watching for Thorald’s riders to return.
It was not until the ninth day of the waxing, just before the ringing of the twilight bells, that the first rider returned. As it happened, the first reply came not from Eardley, but from Galdasten, the nearest of the major houses.
Seeing the rider approach, Marston bolted down the stairs of the nearest tower and across all three of the castle wards, so that he might meet the man by the west gate.
The messenger looked haggard, his face an angry shade of red from the cold and wind.
Dismounting, he could barely stand without the help of two guards. Marston should have given him a chance to rest and eat and warm himself by a fire, but his impatience overmastered all other considerations.
“Well?” he demanded, approaching the man.
The rider shook his head. “The duke of Galdasten instructed me to tell you he has no interest in being a guest of Thorald’s duke. He said as well that he doubted Thorald had any more information than Galdasten, and he had heard nothing to change his mind about Lord Tavis’s guilt.”
Marston closed his eyes briefly, cursing himself for not saying more in his message.
“That’s all?” he asked, looking at the man again. “He wrote no reply?”
The rider gave a thin smile. “He didn’t even allow me into his castle, my lord. He kept me waiting at the gate, and sent his Qirsi to convey his response.”
The thane wiped a hand over his face, shaking his head. “Very well,” he said. He glanced at the nearer of the two guards. “Get him some food and some hot tea. Make certain he’s made comfortable.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The rider bowed to him. “Thank you, my lord.”
The three men walked slowly toward the kitchen tower, leaving Marston alone by the gate to struggle with his rage and frustration.
Domnall’s answer came the following morning. Shamus, the duke there, showed Thorald’s messenger far more courtesy than had the duke of Galdasten, but his answer was no different.
“The nobles of Domnall have the highest regard for the duke of Thorald,” he wrote in his reply. “But we have little doubt that Lord Tavis of Curgh killed Lady Brienne, and if there is to be war between those two houses, we cannot in good conscience offer Aindreas of Kentigern anything less than our full support.”
Sitting with his father a short time after the messenger’s return, Marston could not mask his bitterness. “It’s almost as if they want a civil war,” he said. “Don’t they understand what it would do to the kingdom?”
“Shamus might not have thought it through so carefully,” the duke said from his bed. “But I have no doubt that Renald knows precisely what he’s doing and where it might lead.”
“You think Galdasten wants war?”
“I believe he wants to see Kearney driven from the throne, and if war comes, undermining the Rules of Ascension, all the better.”
“So he covets the crown.”
Tobbar gave a grim smile. “Would that surprise you? The lords of Galdasten have been removed from the Order of Ascension for eight years now, and their exclusion will continue for four generations, all because a madman brought the pestilence to their castle. It’s true that we have no claim to the throne until your sons reach Fating age, and even then, Glyndwr will retain the crown. Kearney is a young man, and he has a son. But at some point Glyndwr’s line will
fail, and when it does, the crown will revert to Thorald. Galdasten must wait decades longer, and still, Renald has no guarantee that his grandson’s grandson will rule.
“The other houses have always resented Thorald’s supremacy in the Order of Ascension, Galdasten most of all, perhaps because it ranks second only to our house. Such resentments have lain at the root of nearly every civil war fought in Eibithar’s history. And though hostility to the rules can’t be said to have caused this one, if it comes to war, they will fuel its fury. No doubt Renald sees this as an opportunity to end our supremacy, and Aindreas may feel the same way.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Marston said. “But doesn’t that mean that we should cast our lot with Kearney and Javan? So long as we uphold the Rules of Ascension, we preserve our status as the kingdom’s preeminent house.”
“That may be so. But none of us benefits from a civil war. As long as our neutrality continues to keep the peace we shouldn’t take sides.”
Later that day, the riders sent to Eardley and Labruinn returned bearing the first hopeful word Marston had received. Neither Elam, the duke of Eardley, nor Caius, Labruinn’s duke, wrote a formal reply, but both men told their messengers that they would be riding to Thorald in the next few days.
Even more surprising, two days after hearing from the minor houses, Marston received word from Javan of Curgh. He was leaving immediately for Thorald, riding with his first minister and a small company of soldiers. Barring a storm, he hoped to reach the castle before the Night of Two Moons.
“Don’t go thinking you’ve saved the land just yet,” Tobbar warned, no doubt sensing how much Curgh’s reply had pleased Marston.
“He’s riding more than fifty leagues to come here, Father. That must mean something.”
“It only means that Javan is as desperate for allies as Aindreas. And don’t forget, Curgh has every reason in the world to blame the Qirsi for all that’s befallen Eibithar in the last half year. He may agree with everything you say, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a friend.”
Marston knew his father was right, but he couldn’t help thinking that if a few other dukes chose to come as well, these discussions might actually do some good.
Unfortunately, Javan’s was the last response he received for several days. And when the riders finally returned from the other houses, they bore discouraging news. Lathrop of Tremain didn’t care to brave the snows for such a long journey, nor did the dukes of Sussyn and Rennach. Or so they said. Marston couldn’t help but wonder if they had other reasons for staying away. Aindreas, as Marston had expected, refused to hear Thorald’s messenger at all. The king offered to receive Marston anytime he wished to ride to the City of Kings, but he would not be coming either. The thane had expected this as well; Eibithar’s king could hardly be expected to ride to Thorald at his request, or even Tobbar’s.
Perhaps he should have been pleased that any of the dukes had agreed to come—certainly his father thought so—but as Marston awaited the arrival of Caius and Elam, he felt his bitterness returning.
Eardley and Labruinn reached Thorald’s gates the same morning, arriving within an hour of one another. Shortly after, a single rider approached the castle from the west, wearing the brown and gold of Curgh. It was one of Javan’s soldiers, and as he strode across the castle ward to where Marston stood, the thane feared that he had brought word that Javan would not be coming after all. Instead he announced that the duke of Curgh’s company was but two days’ ride from Thorald, and would reach the castle the first day of the waning.
“You invited Curgh?” Elam asked, upon hearing this news in Thorald Castle’s great hall.
“We invited every duke in the land,” Tobbar answered, “and the king as well. Most have declined our invitation, but we would have welcomed all with equal warmth.”
“If we’re to discuss this conflict between Curgh and Kentigern, it would be best if Javan and Aindreas were elsewhere. Clearly, the duke of Kentigern understands this. It’s unfortunate that Javan does not, and it surprises me that you don’t either, Tobbar.” The duke of Eardley glanced briefly at Marston, his lip curling. “Perhaps you’ve placed too much faith in your son’s youthful judgment.”
Elam was one of Eibithar’s older dukes, a tall man, with silver hair, square features, and dark green eyes. He had grown heavy with the years, but he still looked more like a king than the lord of a minor house. He and the elder Filib had been friends, but after the duke of Thorald’s death, and the murder of Filib the Younger, Elam had done little to cultivate a friendship with Tobbar. Marston believed it was because Thorald no longer wielded as much power within the kingdom. His father chose to be more generous, attributing Elam’s distance to his grief for Filib. Still, Marston found it very easy to dislike the man.
Tobbar smiled, though clearly it took an effort. “I believe, Lord Eardley, that any attempt to end this crisis must include both Javan and Aindreas. I view Curgh’s response to my invitation as the appropriate one. As long as Lord Kentigern keeps himself apart from the rest of us, he places the kingdom at risk.”
“I had thought Thorald was neutral in this matter, my lord duke.”
“We are,” Tobbar said. “But we’re no less concerned for our impartiality.”
With Javan expected to reach the castle within two days, Tobbar thought it best to delay their discussions until the duke’s arrival. He instructed his servants and guards to make Caius and Elam as comfortable as possible, but steadfastly resisted Eardley’s attempts to wring from him the information mentioned in Marston’s message.
As promised, Javan and his company reached the castle gates just after the ringing of the midday bells on the first day of the waning. Travel-stained, and obviously weary, the duke nevertheless declined Marston’s offer of rest and a meal.
“I’ve come a long way, Lord Shanstead,” he said, following the thane through the castle wards to Tobbar’s chambers. “And with all that’s happening in Eibithar just now, I don’t want to be away from my home for long.”
Marston remembered Javan as a dour man, though formidable. The years hadn’t changed him much, though his hair was more grey now than brown, and his face was deeply lined. He still carried himself with grace, straight-backed and lean, like a swordsman.
“I understand, my Lord Curgh. My father awaits you.”
“Have others come?”
“Only Eardley and Labruinn.”
Javan raised an eyebrow. “I’d have thought that Renald would make the journey, and Shamus as well.”
“I had hoped they would, my lord,” Marston said, staring at the path before them.
“They remain committed to Aindreas.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The duke nodded. His Qirsi walked just a stride or two behind them, and Javan glanced back at the man now. “It seems Hagan was right.”
“He seemed quite certain of himself, my lord,” the Qirsi said.
“He usually does.”
The minister grinned. He was taller than the duke and slightly built, like so many of the sorcerer race. He wore his white hair tied back, making his face appear narrow and long. Unlike most Qirsi, he had a beard and mustache, though they were so pale as to be barely visible. His eyes, however, gleamed in the bright sun, as yellow as Uulranni gold.
They made their way to Tobbar’s presence chamber, finding the door open and the dukes of Eardley and Labruinn already seated by the hearth. Marston’s father sat across from the other dukes. Away from his bed, dressed in soldier’s garb, he looked better than he had in several days. Still Marston could only imagine how he appeared to Javan, who hadn’t seen the duke in many turns.
“My Lord Duke,” Tobbar said, climbing stiffly to his feet as Javan entered the room. “Be welcome in my home.”
Marston noticed that the other dukes also stood, though Elam’s mouth twisted sourly.
Javan crossed to Tobbar and embraced him gently. “My Lord Thorald, you honor me with your offer of hospitality.”
“I would have liked to greet you at the gate,” Tobbar said, releasing him and sitting once more. “But I don’t climb the towers as well as I used to.”
“Your son did me the honor, and acquitted himself nobly.”
Marston bowed. “My lord is too kind.”
Javan turned to Caius and Elam. “My Lord Dukes,” he said. “I’m pleased to see you both.”
“And I to see you, my Lord Curgh,” Labruinn answered, stepping forward to embrace Javan in turn.
Elam remained where he was. “Curgh” was all he said, adding a small bow, almost as an afterthought.
Javan gave a thin smile, but said nothing to the man. After a moment, he faced Tobbar again. “Forgive my haste, my Lord Duke, but as I’ve already told your son, I’m loath to be far from Curgh for very long. I was hoping that we could begin immediately to speak of whatever tidings led you to issue your kind invitation.”
“That suits me as well, Tobbar,” Eardley said. “Caius and I have waited long enough. Javan’s here now. Let’s get on with it.”
Tobbar nodded. “Very well.” Turning his gaze to Marston, he asked, “How do you wish to proceed? This was your idea.”
The thane took a long breath, feeling far less sure of himself than he had at the beginning of the turn, when he wrote the messages.
“Xiv?” he said, facing his minister.
“Of course, my lord.” The Qirsi stepped to center of the room and made himself smile. “If the other ministers would follow me, we can speak of these matters on our own while our lords talk among themselves.”
“Is that necessary?” Labruinn’s first minister asked.
“It’s all right, Ottah,” Elam said. “Go with the other ministers. I’ll be fine.”
“As you wish, my lord.” The minister didn’t sound pleased, but he followed Xiv and the others from the chamber, closing the door as he left.
Elam eyed Tobbar briefly before turning to Marston. “Now, what’s this about, Shanstead?”
“Won’t you sit, my lord?” He glanced at the other dukes. “The rest of you as well. Make yourselves comfortable.”