Forne noted that his duke said ‘you have been outplayed’, indicating that Regin Falco would take none of the blame himself. “Outplayed, yes, Sire. Completely? No. Kallron thinks he has secured five votes in favor of Ariana, but he has not,” he said with a tight smile.
“Eh? I counted five. Unless you have some plan to split one away, in our favor.”
“Whatever deals Kallron made in secret to secure five votes, I am sure it is far too late for us to intervene now,” Forne announced. Particularly since everyone knew of the recent financial setbacks suffered by the Falco family, and knew Regin Falco had severely limited options for inducing another province to vote with him. “No, Sire, it is too late for the political strategies of which you are a master,” he continued without pausing for the flattery to sink in. “Kallron has used the law in his favor; we will now use the law to strike back. Sire, Duke Yarron is Ariana’s uncle. His wife is sister to the late king. The Yarrons are related to Ariana by blood. Therefore, according to the law, he must abstain from voting on her candidacy.”
For the first time that morning, Regin Falco saw a glimmer of hope. He took a deep breath and stared his advisor straight in the eye. “There is no question of this? You are certain?”
“Yes, my lord. Either Gustov Kallron does not know the law as well as I do, or he hopes that my own knowledge is deficient. I suspect the latter; Kallron has underestimated us in the past.” Forne said ‘my own knowledge’ to remind his duke that Regin Falco relied on Niles Forne to know the subtleties of the law. And he said ‘underestimated us’ to allow his duke to take credit, for the many times Niles Forne had given the Falco family an advantage in the great game of power between the royal families of Tarador.
“Ariana is effectively blocked from the regency, then?” Duke Falco asked anxiously. Until he was certain, he did not dare to allow himself to hope.
“Most assuredly, Sire. In order to secure a fifth vote, she will need to come to you, or to Duchess Rochambeau.”
“Ha!” Regin snorted. “Rochambeau would never vote in favor of that brat,” he referred to the crown princess, “taking power one minute before her sixteenth birthday. Very well, Forne,” he looked his advisor in the eye as an unsubtle way of letting Niles Forne know that his life still hung in the balance. “I will put forward Leese Trehayme as candidate for the regency.”
“Yes, Sire, certainly. That was clever of you to bring the man to Burwyck, and now to Linden. However, there is another possibility that I believe you should consider.”
“Oh?” Regin raised an eyebrow, only half listening. His mind was busy scheming how to get the worthless Leese Trehayme installed as Regent, and how to control the unpredictable man once he took power.
“Kallron has been quite bold in his plans. I wonder, Your Grace, if we should be equally bold in this unique opportunity.” Niles Forne explained his plan.
And Regin Falco found himself listening with rapt attention.
CHAPTER TEN
“Can he DO that?” Ariana shouted as she fairly ran into Kallron’s office.
“Shhhh,” the man cautioned, and gestured for the princess to close the door behind her.
Ariana waved her guard and servant to wait outside, and flung the door closed. That was rude, she thought, ashamed. She would apologize to them later. “Uncle Kallron, can he do that?”
“I assume you mean, can Regin Falco block Duke Yarron from voting on your behalf?” He nodded sadly. “Yes, yes he can. Falco is correct about the law; I was hoping that he would not know about that rather particular, obscure statute. I certainly was not going to mention it. The Falcos must have a very skilled legal expert; I suspect Niles Forne.” When he was chancellor of the realm, Kallron had often had to contend with the crafty advisor to the Falcos. Forne’s presence in Linden was supposedly to guide the development of the Falco heir, but he also acted as the duke’s personal agent and spy in the castle. “Damn that man,” Kallron said bitterly, “he has caused us no end of trouble in the past.”
Ariana flopped into a chair, and reminded herself not to sulk. She could indulge in a lengthy fit of sulking later, if she had time. Being the crown princess not only meant she was not supposed to act like a spoiled little girl, it also meant she rarely had time to herself. “What can we do, then?”
“Your Highness, at the moment, I truly do not know. Because Yarron is a blood relative to you, he can’t simply renounce familial ties. He would have to resign as duke, and none of his brothers or sisters could replace him; for they are also your blood relatives. This puts Yarron in an impossible position. As much as he may care for you, Yarron will not give up his ancestral seat; no duke or duchess would.”
Ariana understood, she could not have brought herself to ask Duke Yarron to resign for her anyway. “Then there are only six potential votes on the Regency Council, and we have four. Is that not enough?”
“No,” Kallron said sourly. “The law requires five votes, regardless of the total number of votes available. Before you ask, the law can be changed only with five votes, and the approval of a sovereign.”
“Argh!” Ariana ground her teeth in great frustration. “This is impossible! Chief Advisor, advise me. What can we do?”
Kallron was at a loss for advice. “Make a deal with Duchess Rochambeau for the fifth vote, or, somehow, deal with the Falcos.”
“I will never agree to any arrangement with the Falcos,” Ariana spat the distasteful words out.
“Your Highness, we are in a very difficult and dangerous position,” Kallron warned. “The nation is in a difficult and dangerous position. The Council has declared no faith in your mother; she still officially has the title of Regent, but no real power. Tarador is leaderless, in a time of war. The enemy will not fail to take advantage of our weakness. Whatever you do, whatever we do, it must be done quickly. I am afraid, Highness, that you must begin to consider alternative candidates for the regency.”
“Who?” She gasped.
“I do not know as yet, I will think on it. We are faced with the same problem that put your mother in the regency; the seven provinces cannot agree on a candidate. Your mother has the regency only because the Council could not agree on any other candidate, and they thought she could be controlled. Of the four votes you now have, you can count on Bargann only if you take the regency; your deal with Bargann will not hold with someone else as Regent. And I do not think that Duke Magnico, or even Duke Yarron, can be assured of voting for someone else you put forward as a candidate. Support for you as Regent is very much personal to yourself; it would not necessarily transfer to another person you nominate.”
“Oh, why is this so complicated? I am only trying to do the right thing for Tarador! Why must I fight my own people, in order to defeat our common enemy?”
“It is complicated, young lady, because-”
“Uncle Kallron!” She huffed. “I know why it is complicated. I was not looking for an explanation.” Sometimes, she felt like screaming. Perhaps she should visit the old caverns deep under the palace, where food and water were stored in case the castle suffered a siege. Down there, in private, she could scream away her frustrations. Perhaps later, if she had time.
“Would it help if I got you a sweetcake, patted your head and told you that everything will be all right?” He asked with a gentle smile.
“Uncle, that worked when I was six,” she recalled the dark years shortly after her father died. The harried royal chancellor would find time to read stories to the young princess, to rub her back until she fell asleep, and to simply listen when she needed to cry. “Is there anything you can think of, that would get Duchess Rochambeau’s vote?”
“Nothing that comes to mind at the moment, no.” In some ways, the Rochambeaus hated the Trehaymes even more than the Falcos did. The enmity between the two families went back even further than the intense rivalry between the Falcos and the Trehaymes. “I shall think on that, Your Highness, as well as drawing up a list of candidates for the regency. Tarador
must have a leader, soon. Highness, I must caution you, we are not the only people considering candidates for the regency. I am sure Regin Falco has a list of his own candidates.”
“His candidates were rejected last time,” Ariana remarked haughtily. “Which is why my mother became Regent.”
“Yes, but this time, I fear that Falco has been more clever. Instead of candidates who are more or less openly beholden to the Falcos, he may be playing a more subtle hand. There have been rumors, credible rumors, that your father’s brother Leese has been seen in Burwyck, as a guest of the Falcos.” Kallron knew the rumors to be true, for he had spies within the capital city of Burwyck.
“Uncle Leese?” Ariana was incredulous. “He is-” She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. Leese Trehayme was a very close relative, even the crown princess had to be careful about speaking ill of the man.
“He is a drunkard, and worse, yes,” Kallron finished her thought. “He is also a Trehayme, and your late father’s brother. Many on the Council will think him a good compromise candidate, for the short time until you become queen.”
“He would be worse than my mother!” Ariana gasped.
“Possibly,” Kallron admitted. “I fear the Council will think of their own interests first, and the immediate need to fill the regency, over what is best for Tarador in the long run. Highness, I did warn you that once we started down this road, once the Council declared no confidence in your mother, that we may lose control of the process.”
Regin Falco was enraged again that evening, when he invited Leese Trehayme to dine with him. Having Leese at the Falco table for dinner was an informal way of announcing the man’s presence in Linden, and his almost forced alliance with the Falco family. Leese had been kept isolated while in Burwyck, and he had been practically smuggled into the Falco family estate in Linden. Regin was certain that once his invited guests saw Leese sitting at the table with the Falcos, word would soon spread throughout Linden and up to the royal palace.
So Regin was enraged that, despite his express orders to his servants and their best effort to enforce their lord’s commands, the man had somehow found alcohol during the afternoon. The servants reported that Leese had been sober and quietly reading when he took his mid-day meal, then he had said he was taking a nap, to be fresh for dinner. When he did not rise in time to bathe and dress for dinner, and did not respond to servants frantically pounding on his locked door, guards had broken down the door to find him sleeping on the floor, drunk.
All of Regin’s plans for dinner were dashed. “Damn that man!” The Duke of Burwyck shouted as he burst into Niles Forne’s apartment in the Falco estate. Regin strode across the room to the cabinet where he knew Forne kept his best wine, poured himself a large goblet, then set it down in disgust. Drinking too much is what ruined Leese Trehayme’s life, and no Falco was going to be that weak. For a moment, Regin considered smashing the goblet to the floor, but then he considered that it was his wine, and the fine rug on the floor also belonged to him. “Damn! Blast!” He satisfied himself with an angry tirade.
“He is a Trehayme, Sire,” Forne said gently, saying what he knew his duke wished to hear. “And he is a true brother to our late king. The king lacked self-control and he was impulsive; that is why he married unwisely, and why he died. Leese’s weakness manifested itself in a passion for drink, and stronger substances.”
“That is another reason why the Trehaymes should never hold the throne!” Regin slapped his palm on a table. “Forne, what am I to do? I cannot bring Leese to dinner drunk as he is. And to wait until the Council meeting tomorrow to announce his presence, would not allow time for the other Council members to become accustomed to the idea of him becoming Regent. Damn the man! I need him to be seen at dinner, sober, calm and rational. I need him to be seen as a responsible adult, to dispel the rumors about his, other activities. I need people to leave here tonight and spread the word that Leese Trehayme is ready to lead our nation.”
“It shall be so, Your Grace,” Niles Forne announced confidently.
“How? Do not jest with me, Forne. There is barely two hours before dinner time! If needs be, Leese could arrive only in time for coffee and dessert, but-”
“He will be ready in time for dinner to commence, Sire. Not much before dinner, perhaps, but he will be ready by the time you are ready to enter the hall, with Leese by your side.”
Regin Falco was not pleased, thinking his advisor toyed with him. “You propose magic, Forne?”
“Exactly, sire. Years ago, I acquired several doses of a magical potion that wonderfully restores sobriety and sensibility to a person affected by alcohol. It is embarrassing to admit, I sought it for myself, in case I overindulged, and needed to quickly regain my full faculties.” Forne rose from the chair and walked over a cabinet, where he removed a heavy, dusty box. “Leese Trehayme will be sober at dinner, Sire. I cannot guarantee the man will be charming or in any way impressive, but he will be sober.” He would also, Forne did not add, suffer a terrible headache about four hours after the dinner concluded. For that, and to assure Leese slept well and was refreshed for the Council meeting the next day, Forne had another potion.
There was no magic that could make Leese Trehayme a good choice as leader of Tarador. The man need only be a figurehead, with Regin Falco as the true power. And behind Regin, providing crucial guidance, would be the ever diligent, indispensable Niles Forne.
“Is there any potion in that box that will make Leese a capable leader?” Regin asked with dry humor.
“No, Sire. I am afraid that would take a miracle, not mere magic. No matter, Leese only needs to be considered by the Council to be a better choice than the Lady Carlana, and that is no great feat.”
Koren crouched by a large willow tree that leaned out over the river, near where the fisherman had told him to wait. The man and his boat were dirty and stank of fish; the man more so than his boat. But he had asked no questions, only looked greedily at the coins Koren had offered. Certainly, Koren Bladewell would not be the first person that fisherman had smuggled across the river.
As he waited, Koren studied the far shore. Torchlights illuminated a Royal Army patrol, and a boat manned by the Royal Army had passed by close to the far shore, looking for boats trying to land unseen. Koren was not concerned; the river shore was long and the Royal Army could not cover all of it, their patrols were only to discourage the foolish. He did not care where he landed, so if his original destination was near soldiers, he would go further down the river. The fisherman surely wished to avoid trouble with Tarador, and would steer away from being seen. It would be a longer row back up the river for the man, and Koren would offer him a few more copper coins to keep his end of the bargain.
It seemed odd to Koren that he had to sneak into his home country, and it saddened him. He was hunted, as far as he knew the Royal Army still had orders to capture or kill him; and some soldiers might think it easier and less trouble to kill than to capture.
There was a creaking sound, and faint splash. With clouds blocking out the moonlight, Koren’s keen eyes had to use the dim light of torches on the far shore. The sounds he heard were a boat being rowed up the river toward him; the creaking and splashing of oars. The boat was hugging the shore, making its way toward where a creek ran down into the river; the spot where the fisherman had instructed Koren to wait. As the boat drew even with the creek, and turned toward the shore, Koren crept out from behind the tree and carefully picked his way through the bushes down to the creek.
Koren did not need Paedris to give him magical fighting skills or wizard senses to protect himself that night; the man behind him smelled as much of fish guts as the fisherman did, and his wheezing breath was loud. Rather than feeling fear, Koren smiled to himself in the dark; he had expected trouble, and now he knew it was nothing he couldn’t handle. He stood still and raised his left arm to wave at the incoming boat, while his right hand held a dagger.
He felt rather than heard the man behind him, and
when he felt the man lunge forward to stab him in the back, Koren ducked to the side and let the man stumble and fall forward. Then as the man sprawled in the dirt and scrambled to get up, Koren pounced onto the man’s back with both knees, knocking the breath out of him. The man grunted in pain and lay flat; he became still when he felt Koren’s dagger at his neck. “Thought you would find easy prey this night?” Koren hissed into the man’s ear. Keeping the tip of his dagger at the man’s neck, he took his knife, then patted his jacket and removed a leather purse. Shaking it next to the thief’s ear, he whispered “I will be taking this, and you may count yourself lucky tonight.”
Having prepared for betrayal, Koren had a leather cord in a pocket; he tied the man’s hands behind his back, then gagged him with a rag tied around the thief’s head. Looking up, he saw the boat was almost at the shore, and the fisherman called out in a harsh whisper. “Neelan! You got him?”
“Aye,” Koren grunted to mask his voice, and rose slowly, jingling the purse he’d taken off the thief. “He was a rich one, too.” He fit an arrow to the bowstring, and as the boat glided into the creek, he let fly an arrow to thump into the bottom of the boat right between the fisherman’s feet. “If you move without my saying so, the next one goes into your heart.”
Sneed held up both hands. “I heard you, I heard you. You were robbed? There are ruffians around here, a man needs to be careful-”
“You need to be careful,” Koren spat. “Save your lies. Get out of the boat, slowly.”
“I’ll need my hands to get out, or I’ll fall,” Sneed protested.
“Then fall. Keep your hands up. And you’d best think about this; I have no reason to keep you alive. It would be easier for me to put an arrow in your gut, and be done with you.”
“Take pity on an old man,” Sneed pleaded as he struggled to get out of the boat while his hands were in the air. In truth, he had been working small fishing boats on the river since he was a little boy, and he could have gotten out of or into the boat on one foot, blindfolded.
Transcendent (Ascendant Book 2) Page 17
