Snudge, sitting motionless in the darkened room.
“The two princes were close as lads,” the duke recalled. “Young Con always the cleverest, knowing what he wanted and often not scrupling at how he got it.”
“I’ll say! That damned wine…”
“Aye. But that ploy might have been my own fault. I refused to detain any nobles who opposed the invasion.”
“And now it’s on, for better or worse, and maybe compromised already. Bloody hell.”
“Well, we still have the option of turning back at Breakneck Pass,” the duke said. “I daresay the witch Ullanoth will keep a close magical eye on events in Didion over the next five weeks. She’ll know if we’re expected by the foe, and give us warning.”
“If it suits her,” the earl marshal said cynically. He fell silent as the prince returned.
“I told them to bring the covered body to the gatehouse armory,” Conrig said. “Let’s fetch Lord Skellhaven and have a look at it.”
==========
I’ve never clapped eyes on the wanker in my life,“ said the seagoing viscount.
Look at him. Just another underdeck swabbie.“ He bent forward suddenly and spread open the body’s blood-stiffened shirt, where a yellow gleam had shone momentarily in the torchlight. ”Booger me! What kind of lackey wears a heavy golden neckchain like this?“
Vanguard and Beorbrook exchanged glances. If Skellhaven did know the identity of the spy, would he have called attention to the betraying chain?
The viscount unfastened the gold from around the corpse’s neck and held it closer to the armory’s sputtering wall torch. “I’ll tell you something about this bauble, Your Grace. It’s Mossbelly-made. Nobody else uses twisted-wire links like these, and the thing’s worth a pretty penny.”
Conrig said, “My lord, did anything unusual take place before you set out to Castle Vanguard, or on the journey?”
“Hmm. We had a problem at one inn a day’s journey from here. A dozen or so of the lads got royal gut-aches after eating rabbit pies that’d turned. They moped and moaned and browned the hedgerows all the next day riding into Castle Vanguard. Some of ‘em still feel a mite seedy.”
Conrig addressed the duke and earl marshal. “My brother Stergos has told me that when a man is ill, he is more susceptible to the spells of a magicker. Perhaps this fellow”—he tapped a dead shoulder—“did away with one of your retainers and took on his identity.”
“It’s possible,” said Skellhaven. “Those few who weren’t sick were in a rare kerfuffle for doing all the extra work and might not have noticed a clever stranger. I sure as hell didn’t.”
“We’d like to believe that.” Conrig’s face was carefully neutral.
The nautical lord’s eyes blazed. “Huh! So you think I might be in league with Didion, do you, Your Grace? Well, you’re wrong! I hate the whoresons and their fancy ships that sail rings around our own while the Diddlies raid our coastal settlements and rape our women. And now that the Wolf’s Breath’s laid the scum low, I say let’s drag ‘em kicking and screaming into the Sovereignty! Civilize Didion once and for all. If you don’t trust me to join your invasion, so be it. But you’ll be losing the services of some of the best fighters in the north country.”
The prince said, “Ride with our force, Hartrig Skellhaven, and welcome.”
The viscount gave a curt nod. “Can I keep the gold chain?”
==========
Conrig and Snudge returned to the darkened library just as the nightwatch called the midnight hour. The great room had grown cold and the fire burned low. Moonlight shone through one of the long windows. The three Heart Companions were snoring among the stacks and the armigers had disappeared upstairs. “Go to your own bed now, Snudge,” whispered the prince. “I’ll disrobe by myself. You’ve done well this day and I won’t forget it. You’re looking rather ill. If you think you might suffer bad dreams over the killing,
“The two princes were close as lads,” the duke recalled. “Young Con always the cleverest, knowing what he wanted and often not scrupling at how he got it.”
“I’ll say! That damned wine…”
“Aye. But that ploy might have been my own fault. I refused to detain any nobles who opposed the invasion.”
“And now it’s on, for better or worse, and maybe compromised already. Bloody hell.”
“Well, we still have the option of turning back at Breakneck Pass,” the duke said. “I daresay the witch Ullanoth will keep a close magical eye on events in Didion over the next five weeks. She’ll know if we’re expected by the foe, and give us warning.”
“If it suits her,” the earl marshal said cynically. He fell silent as the prince returned.
“I told them to bring the covered body to the gatehouse armory,” Conrig said. “Let’s fetch Lord Skellhaven and have a look at it.”
==========
I’ve never clapped eyes on the wanker in my life,“ said the seagoing viscount.
Look at him. Just another underdeck swabbie.“ He bent forward suddenly and spread open the body’s blood-stiffened shirt, where a yellow gleam had shone momentarily in the torchlight. ”Booger me! What kind of lackey wears a heavy golden neckchain like this?“
Vanguard and Beorbrook exchanged glances. If Skellhaven did know the identity of the spy, would he have called attention to the betraying chain?
The viscount unfastened the gold from around the corpse’s neck and held it closer to the armory’s sputtering wall torch. “I’ll tell you something about this bauble, Your Grace. It’s Mossbelly-made. Nobody else uses twisted-wire links like these, and the thing’s worth a pretty penny.”
Conrig said, “My lord, did anything unusual take place before you set out to Castle Vanguard, or on the journey?”
“Hmm. We had a problem at one inn a day’s journey from here. A dozen or so of the lads got royal gut-aches after eating rabbit pies that’d turned. They moped and moaned and browned the hedgerows all the next day riding into Castle Vanguard. Some of ‘em still feel a mite seedy.”
Conrig addressed the duke and earl marshal. “My brother Stergos has told me that when a man is ill, he is more susceptible to the spells of a magicker. Perhaps this fellow”—he tapped a dead shoulder—“did away with one of your retainers and took on his identity.”
“It’s possible,” said Skellhaven. “Those few who weren’t sick were in a rare kerfuffle for doing all the extra work and might not have noticed a clever stranger. I sure as hell didn’t.”
“We’d like to believe that.” Conrig’s face was carefully neutral.
The nautical lord’s eyes blazed. “Huh! So you think I might be in league with Didion, do you, Your Grace? Well, you’re wrong! I hate the whoresons and their fancy ships that sail rings around our own while the Diddlies raid our coastal settlements and rape our women. And now that the Wolf’s Breath’s laid the scum low, I say let’s drag ‘em kicking and screaming into the Sovereignty! Civilize Didion once and for all. If you don’t trust me to join your invasion, so be it. But you’ll be losing the services of some of the best fighters in the north country.”
The prince said, “Ride with our force, Hartrig Skellhaven, and welcome.”
The viscount gave a curt nod. “Can I keep the gold chain?”
==========
Conrig and Snudge returned to the darkened library just as the nightwatch called the midnight hour. The great room had grown cold and the fire burned low. Moonlight shone through one of the long windows. The three Heart Companions were snoring among the stacks and the armigers had disappeared upstairs. “Go to your own bed now, Snudge,” whispered the prince. “I’ll disrobe by myself. You’ve done well this day and I won’t forget it. You’re looking rather ill. If you think you might suffer bad dreams over the killing,
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