Though larger than Lakebird’s, the cabin on Curlew was still uncomfortably cramped. Risha found herself squeezed on a bench between Fenn and Lillet, with Nolan and Olli sitting opposite. Muir leant against the wall while Croft, newly returned, was perched halfway up the steps where he might keep a casual watch.
Olli set his elbows on the table, fingers interlocked. ‘The rumours are confirmed: Donnel took Westlaw’s city, and holds it. He has Goltoy’s wife, daughters-in-law and grandchildren as hostages.’
‘But not his sons?’
‘That’s not certain. And we have a more immediate concern before us.’ He paused. The silence in the cabin was stretched taut as a drum skin. ‘Goltoy has called an emergency session of the Sitting.’
Muir’s eyes narrowed. ‘The Sitting is little more than a farce.’
‘I don’t argue with that,’ Olli said, ‘but birds have been sent nonetheless. They’ll sit in Caledon in ten days’ time.’
‘For what purpose?’ Risha asked.
Nolan answered. ‘It can only be to move against Donnel.’
Muir shifted stiffly. ‘A year ago Goltoy tried to have Donnel ousted for usurping Fratton’s sovereign rights. Twice before he has tried on grounds of contempt.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Risha said. ‘How can Donnel be ousted?’
‘The agreement that binds the five duchies allows that aggression by one duchy against another must be answered in a full session of the Sitting,’ Olli said. ‘If the accused party fails to offer evidence to justify their actions or fails to attend—’ he glanced sidelong at Muir — ‘there is provision for them to be expelled.’
‘How could such an accusation apply to the aid Donnel gave to Fratton?’
‘It could not,’ Muir said. ‘Goltoy was needling Donnel.’
Olli ignored him. ‘Without Fratton’s support the move failed. However, Goltoy’s bid to add a sixth seat to the Sitting was successful. Elion’s vote will change the balance of power.’
‘Without a unanimous vote, the amendment isn’t valid,’ Muir countered.
‘Donnel cannot simply ignore the Sitting and assume that in his absence it is powerless,’ Olli said sharply. ‘In the event of a split decision, the sixth seat will be a problem. While Donnel chooses not to attend, it gives the balance of votes to Goltoy.’
‘Even without Elion’s seat, the situation has changed. Unless Donnel attends, Goltoy will have a majority,’ Fenn said.
‘Donnel hasn’t attended the Sitting since Goltoy placed his puppets in Caledon and Fratton and the duchies refused to move against him,’ Muir said coldly. ‘He will not give up his hold in the north to do so now.’
Risha’s gaze shifted from one face to another. ‘If the vote went against LeMarc, what then?’
‘If Donnel is deemed in breach of the Accord, it would allow Goltoy legitimate right of reprisal.’ Olli paused. ‘LeMarc would burn.’
Anger flared in Risha’s chest. ‘LeMarc has already burned, and at Goltoy’s instigation! Do you forget that two years ago Somoran’s soldiers raided the north and Westlaw’s navy besieged the citadel? How can Goltoy not be answerable for those crimes, yet Donnel be accountable for taking revenge?’
‘Donnel did not place the matter before the Sitting. If he had—’
‘If he had, the votes of Goltoy’s puppets would have counted against him. He would have lost.’ Muir’s tone was clipped.
‘And he may yet. The vote will be held. Caledon will side with Westlaw, and Havre—’
‘Who holds Havre’s vote?’
Fenn’s hand closed over Risha’s clenched fist. ‘You do, Arishara — though your right, as Havre’s heir, has yet to be invoked.’
‘And would require ratification by a majority of the Council,’ Olli added. ‘Normally a formality. Goltoy doubtless intends forcing Lyse to cede your vote to Vormer, or to cast it as he decrees.’
Risha’s anger hardened. ‘Goltoy and Vormer will not make easy bedfellows.’
No one disagreed. She looked around the small cabin. Muir’s arms were folded tight across his chest. Nolan looked thoughtful. ‘Who will cast the vote for the new seat?’
‘The scholars were requested to elect a member from among their number. Their candidate will be formally instated if they gain the support of a majority of the Sitting.’
Muir stood up. ‘It is academic. The Sitting has no power.’
‘The Sitting is designed to keep the peace,’ Olli said. ‘It was established for that purpose by Arishara’s great-grandsire, the Steward of Elgard.’
‘And yet it will bring about the opposite.’ A vision of flames and blood flickered in Risha’s head.
Olli’s smile was tight. ‘The steward could not foresee every eventuality. The expulsion clause aims to protect each duchy’s sovereignty in the event of a rogue leader.’
‘Donnel is not—’
Risha raised a hand. ‘Wait, Muir. Let me understand. Olli is saying that unless Donnel attends, he will be deposed. But would his heir not then have the right to take up the seat?’
‘If a majority of the Council supported it. In that event the duchy is protected against immediate reprisals.’
‘You think he’ll use Lyse to gain control of LeMarc as well as Havre?’ Nolan asked.
‘He might intend to try, but there is another option,’ Risha said. She looked at Muir. ‘You’re sure Donnel won’t attend?’
He nodded.
‘And Goltoy will have the support to depose my father.’
‘With or without the scholar’s seat,’ Nolan said.
‘His bid for control will still fail.’
‘How so?’ Muir asked, eyes narrowed.
‘I will attend and claim Donnel’s place.’
There was a moment of stillness. Nolan was first to raise objections. ‘If we had an army to back you — but we do not.’
‘That aside,’ Olli said, ‘you can only claim LeMarc’s vote once your father is deposed. You would have to denounce him.’
‘Risha, the risk is too great,’ Fenn joined the debate. ‘You would be placing yourself in Goltoy’s hands. It would be impossible to keep you safe once he knows you’re in Caledon.’
‘What of Lyse?’ Muir’s question was the first to cause her pause.
She met his cool gaze. ‘We would insist on her release.’
‘It would not happen.’
‘Why not?’
‘Goltoy is not a man given to concessions. And you would be placing him in a position where he would have nothing left to lose.’
He meant that it would cost Lyse’s life. She felt queasy. Muir had not taken his eyes from her face. He was right, and she knew it. ‘I need some air.’
Fenn stood to let her past.
The smell of the town hung in the air: sanded timber and resin from the shed on the jetty, fish pickling in barrels, the hot summer smell of tomatoes drying on racks. Everyday smells. She pressed a hand to her chest to hold her heart steady.
‘Risha.’
Muir had followed her. She spun to face him, anger sparking. ‘Are you so eager to make me say it? Do you think I don’t understand the risk?’
‘That’s not what I—’
‘I do not intend to let Goltoy and my father launch the whole of the five duchies into war, Muir. Not if we can stop it.’ Her voice dropped low. ‘And every life it costs will be a wound I carry all my life.’
His hands twitched at his sides.
‘I’m going ashore.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No.’ She swung her leg over the rail and leapt the narrow gap to the jetty. She was halfway along it when feet thudded behind her. She spun around. It was Croft.
‘Quite fancy a walk myself,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry, lass, I’ll keep my distance.’
At the end of the first row of houses an orchard scrambled up the hill. Risha walked into the dappled calm of the trees. Blue borage bobbed around her knees, the plants’ spiny stems catching in the fibres of her skirt.
Somewhere in the town a dog yapped.
A honeybee, drunk on nectar, settled on her hand. She brushed at it ineffectually and it sank its sting into her flesh. The pain brought her back to herself. She flicked the stinger out with a nail as the bee curled into a ball to die. Risha stared at it dispassionately. Individual deaths weighed little against the overall good. It was a lesson she couldn’t seem to learn.
She looked up. The branches above her head were thick with pears the size of duck eggs, the sky beyond cerulean blue.
Muir was right: Donnel’s vengeance would not be held in check. His promise to avenge Cattra would be kept. But, no less than her father, Risha had made promises that she, too, planned to honour.
Of words and chance
‘We could get in,’ Lillet said. ‘Getting out would be more difficult.’
‘There might be ways.’ Olli tapped a fingertip on the tabletop. ‘Quilec spends more time indulging his own pleasures than attending to the affairs of the duchy. The mood against him will at least ensure that we can arrange some kind of confusion to cover your retreat.’
‘Which will assist once we’re out of the palace,’ Fenn said. ‘But Quilec is not our greatest danger within it.’
Nolan blew out a slow breath. ‘Goltoy is unlikely to have a large force. All the men he can spare have been sent north so that Osser can try to take back Westlaw’s city.’
Muir scowled. ‘Or so you assume. The men Goltoy pulled out of Leighton might as easily have marched east. He could be massing his army outside Caledon even now.’
‘Olli’s network would know of it,’ Risha said.
Muir tilted his head back and gazed upward, as if the roof of the small cabin had much to recommend it.
Risha glanced at his tired face and stood up. ‘We should eat, and perhaps clear our heads before we plan our campaign. Thanks to Olli we at least have a little time.’
She moved to Muir’s side as they walked down the jetty. Lillet was indulging her father’s charade, her arm tucked through Nolan’s.
‘I’m sorry I lost my temper earlier, Muir. I know none of it is your fault. And I am truly grateful for the aid you have rendered me.’ Her words sounded stiff and formal. She wished she had properly thought through what she wanted to say. ‘Muir? Are we friends?’
He gave a brief, harsh snort. ‘As you wish it, my lady.’
She stopped. ‘By which I know you’re cross with me. Why?’
His jaw worked as if he held words in his mouth he didn’t wish to release. ‘I’m not cross, Arishara,’ he said at last. ‘I’m afraid.’
The others had moved on down the jetty.
‘You are overly fond of walking into the hands of your enemies, and I would rather it was otherwise. But if you insist on it, know that I will die at your side.’
‘Muir!’ The thought of his death rose like a stone in her chest.
He sighed. ‘Enough, Risha. I’ll stand by you whatever you choose. You don’t wish for my counsel, but you have my sword.’
He strode away from her along the jetty. She followed slowly, knowing that what she planned to ask of him would prove harder than what he had offered, and regretting already that she would ask it anyway.
At dawn they gathered on the jetty. Muir’s face was tight as he bid Risha farewell. ‘My lady.’
She forced a smile. ‘Go safely, Muir.’ Setting her hands lightly on his shoulders, she brushed a kiss across his cheek.
Abruptly he swung away.
Nolan stood ready to untie Curlew’s line. Muir paused at his side. ‘Keep her safe,’ he said.
‘I’ll do that.’
Then Muir was aboard and Olli poling them away from the jetty, the gap of water widening like a yawning mouth.
Lillet readied Egret to follow.
‘I’ll see you in Caledon in a week,’ she said, her eyes drifting from Fenn and Risha to Nolan. ‘Take care.’
‘And you the same,’ he said, with a stiff smile.
It was only after both boats had reached open water that Risha confided the next stage of her plan to Fenn.
The woman crossed her arms. ‘It would take five days. We can spare the time, I daresay, though I doubt Muir would have thought it wise. Perhaps that’s why you’re only mentioning it now?’
‘Muir would cocoon me in duck down! I am not so fragile as he thinks.’
‘It’s no bad thing to have a man longing to keep you safe, Arishara.’
‘I can’t afford to be safe.’
Fenn sighed. ‘And that’s true too. Aye, all right. You’ll be wanting Nolan and Croft to ride with us?’
Risha nodded.
Fenn looked resigned. ‘Sooner we start, sooner we’ll be back.’
They rode east through rolling hill country, the purple shadowed ridges of the Othgard Mountains rising on their flank.
‘This land should provide better than it seems to,’ Croft said, when they stopped for the night.
The abandoned farmstead he had chosen lay halfway up the hillside in a valley that offered an abundance of grass but few sheep. The slates of the roof were mostly fallen. Not trusting those that remained, they camped in the lee of the only outer wall that stood solid.
‘There would have been a vegetable plot here, barn there,’ Fenn said, pointing out the outlines of the walls. ‘A valley like this might have supported several families.’
‘And still could,’ Risha said. ‘Somoran’s blight still lies heavy on the duchy. I wonder whether Margetta knows how things stand beyond FrattonSeat’s walls.’
‘Or has any notion of what she might do about it,’ Croft added. ‘She’s not had much experience in her few years to help with that. But she has a good head on her shoulders, I’d say.’
‘She does. I was lucky to have Cantrel to help me learn.’ Which made her wonder who might best offer the support the girl needed. Muir, she knew, would say she was organising again.
They arrived at Othbridge late in the evening of the second day. It was nearly three years since she had been here and the place held stark memories, her recollection of riding across the bridge to save Muir’s life now edged with the surreal quality of a dream.
At the northern end of the narrow bridge a guardsman barred their way. ‘State your business.’
Risha peered toward him. ‘Bayer?’
‘Lady Arishara! I’ll be pickled!’ He shook his shaggy head. ‘The news we’ve been hearing makes less sense than a sow’s arse — if you’ll pardon my phrasing, my lady. We weren’t quite ready to believe you were taken by Goltoy, but seeing you here: that’s made my month, that has. You’ll be stopping, I’d hazard.’
Indigo shadows had begun to seep across the hills and shade the mountains into night. He winched open the gate. ‘You’ll find Kern in the watchtower. He’ll sort you out for lodgings.’
‘Captain Kern’s here?’
‘Arrived a week ago. Keeping the borders tight, what with all the goings-on.’
He waved them over the bridge, the hooves of their horses ringing on the stone paving as they crossed into LeMarc.
They found Kern at his meal, his chair tumbling backwards as he sprang up. ‘Sargath’s teeth! Beg pardon, my lady. How do you come to be here? Are you on your way south?’
She shook her head. ‘It’s a long story, Kern. Might we sit while I tell it?’
‘Of course. And eat as well, I daresay?’
He set about organising food while Risha sank wearily into a chair. Her lungs still felt tight when she was tired, and her lower back had begun to ache. Perhaps when this was done she would sit in the watchtower for a week doing nothing but listen to the roar of the river in the gorge below. But first: with a sigh Risha began to consider how she might best lay out her request.
‘I can let you have eight men immediately, and I’ll see what I can do about the rest,’ Kern said, once she’d outlined her proposal. ‘Cantrel despatched reinforcements north as soon as he received notice of the Sitting. He’s no fool, and Goltoy’s intent
ions are not hard to guess.’
‘It won’t leave the citadel short of defenders?’ Risha asked.
He followed her thoughts easily. ‘I doubt Goltoy would try the same trick twice, not after you defeated him so effectively, and as we hear it he has his hands full at home. Apart from which, stationing a couple of units here puts us five days closer to wherever we’re needed.’ He paused. ‘How did Margetta seem when you saw her? My wife was worried that she’d not received a reply to her last letter.’
Lisbet had always been thoughtful. ‘It hasn’t been easy for her,’ Risha said. ‘There have been too many betrayals. But she’ll find her strength when she needs it, as she did during the siege.’ Risha prayed the claim would prove true.
‘Lisbet said it was too soon to send her home, but if we hadn’t there’d have been other problems.’ He paused, his face hardening. ‘The sooner your father deals with that stoat in the north the better.’
Risha changed the subject, asking after his daughters. His news made her feel she’d been gone from the citadel years rather than months. ‘Has the warmer weather eased Cantrel’s pains?’
‘Some. If he were a few years younger he’d have ridden north himself, but as things are, it would tax him too much.’
The old seneschal had been both mentor and friend — and as much grandfather as either. ‘I hope to see him again soon.’
‘Well. He’s not growing any younger, my lady.’
In a little over a week the Sitting would convene and the die would be cast. She would visit the citadel after — if all went well. If there was not too much yet left to chance.
That night she lay awake, her mind chewing over all the things that might go wrong, and the price they must pay if she had not made the right decisions.
The following day dawned bright but a cool wind rose as they rode west, scattered rain catching them before they stopped for the night. The next dawn brought them the first chill of autumn and the taste of frost in the air.
They rode easily, to spare the horses, and camped the second night in an empty barn.
Kern’s men left them the next morning to take the road north, Nolan riding with them. Croft, Fenn and Risha pressed west.
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