by Hilari Bell
How could he save Weasel? How could he do anything, if they simply ignored his orders? If they all behaved as if he’d never given any orders? And they were doubtless doing it at Justice Holis’ command. When he turned twenty-two, he’d have Holis hanged as well!
But for now he was powerless. He’d have to slink back into the palace and pretend… that he hadn’t been serious? That he really was the incompetent joke everyone thought he was?
He couldn’t even saddle his own horse! How could he expect to save Weasel when…
Weasel and Arisa had walked almost half the length of Deorthas last fall, when Weasel had rescued Justice Holis. At least Edoran could walk.
And in the eyes of the common folk of Deorthas he was the prince. If he could find the Falcon himself, if he could be there when the negotiations for her surrender took place… Holis couldn’t ignore orders that Edoran gave in public without undermining his own authority, because his authority rested on Edoran’s.
He’d watched Pettibone playing that game long enough to know the rules. And if Holis was strong enough to stand up to him in public, Edoran would make it crystal clear to every shareholder who was part of those negotiations that if Weasel died they would die too, on the day of his twenty-second birthday. They’d have to believe that he meant it, because it was true.
The trick would be to find the Falcon, to make contact with her, without getting captured himself. If she had Edoran in her hands, she’d have no reason to care about Weasel’s fate—and he wasn’t crazy enough to want another homicidal regent, either. But that was a problem for the future.
In order to negotiate with the Falcon, or to have any influence when someone else did, Edoran had to be there, physically on the spot. Ready to convince people that he would one day have the power, and the will, to hang them if they let him down.
It was good that they hadn’t brought his horses. If he’d tried to ride out the gates, the guards might have stopped him. As it was… Weasel himself had shown both Arisa and Edoran the places where you could climb over the palace wall. It felt right to use them.
Prince Edoran picked up his satchel and walked across the lawns, into the trees of the park.
