Orkid sighed heavily. “Yes, your Majesty, I believe so.” He cast his gaze down and his fingers fidgeted.
“There is more?”
“The agent reports there are rumors among many in Kolbee that Lynan has been seen in Haxus.”
“That isn’t possible. He escaped Rendle. Prado told us so himself.”
“That doesn’t mean Rendle—or some other captain—did not capture him subsequently, or that Lynan did not go to Salokan of his own accord.”
Areava felt unsteady. She grasped the back of a chair then sat down. “No. I won’t believe it. Not even of Lynan.”
“He killed Berayma, your Majesty. Fleeing to Haxus is a small treason beside that.”
Areava did not reply. Her skin had paled to the color of ash and her hands rested in her lap like dead weights.
“There is more,” Orkid said, his voice straining.
“Go on,” Areava said shortly.
“Some of the rumors insist that Lynan has been made commander-in-chief of the Haxus army to march south into Grenda Lear.”
Again, Areava did not reply.
“If true, there can be no greater proof of his guilt,” Orkid continued. “And there is nothing Lynan could do that would more alienate the people of Grenda Lear.”
“He would lead an army against his own people?” Areava asked, but Orkid knew the question was not directed toward him. “He would take arms against his own country?” Her skin now darkened with anger. She stood up suddenly, her hands bunched into fists. Her ice-blue eyes seemed to glimmer.
“How long ago was your agent in Kolbee?”
“About three weeks, your Majesty.”
“Three weeks!”
“He returned as soon as he could, but he had to be careful getting back to the ship in the Oino delta.”
“And how long would it take the Kolbee garrison to reach the border with Hume?”
“About the same amount of time, as long as it was not stopping to recruit new members or pick up extra units on the way.”
Areava started striding up and down the chambers, her fists still bunched and kept behind her back. “It is too late for them to attack. It will be winter in a month.”
“I agree, your Majesty, but King Salokan—or Prince Lynan—is well in place to launch an attack as soon as the spring thaw starts.”
“Then we must mobilize now and send regiments north.”
“The first snows will have come by the time they are ready to leave the south.”
“I don’t care. They have to march north. Our defenses must be ready by the time winter is over.”
“You’ll need to increase taxes, your Majesty. Our treasury is healthy, but will not withstand the expenses of war for very long.”
“Call my council immediately. They will support me.”
“As will all Grenda Lear,” Orkid said.
She looked at him grimly. “I hope you are right, Chancellor, for all our sakes.”
Somehow, despite his fogged mind, Olio had found the old library tower. He made his way to the top, carefully ascending each step with exaggerated caution. He stood in the middle of the chamber and turned in a circle, looking at all the old books unread by anyone for hundreds of years because no one could understand the writing.
All this knowledge waiting for someone to unlock the secret, he thought. What magic do they hold?
The question wearied him, and he slumped to the floor, careful not to smash the flagon of expensive red wine he was holding. He took a good swallow from it and grinned to himself.
I bet Edaytor and the theurgia would hate the idea that there’s power here they know nothing about and cannot use. What a joke.
Morning light crept in from the tower’s single window. He looked up and saw that the shutters were slightly ajar.
Lynan liked it here, he remembered. He was probably the last person to look out that window.
Olio stood up unsteadily and opened the shutters wide. He could see only part of the city, but in the distance he recognized the coastline of Lurisia and the distant mountain-tops in Aman. And westward were the Oceans of Grass. Somewhere out there was his brother. God, Lynan, are you still alive?
He collapsed to the floor again, overcome by sudden grief.
I wish you were here, Lynan. I wish you were home.
The tears came unexpectedly, and he scolded himself for blubbering. He tried to hold back, but he could not stop crying.
After a while, exhausted, he lay down on the cold stone floor, hugging the flagon close to his chest. Sleep came quickly, and he dreamed that his younger brother was sitting with him in the chamber, watching over him.
The council received Orkid’s news with silence. No one knew what to say. Areava let them think a while on what it meant for the kingdom, and then asked Marshal Lief about the state of readiness of Grenda Lear’s armies.
“On your command last summer I mobilized a few regiments, mainly cavalry, to bolster our border units in Hume. They are there now.”
“Will they be enough to thwart a full invasion from Haxus?”
“No, your Majesty. Nowhere near enough. They can deal with any minor border incursions, but if they encounter anything stronger than a couple of enemy divisions, they’ll be scattered. I never really believed Haxus would actually go to war without some border raids to test our strength.”
“Nor did I,” Areava said bitterly. “Chancellor Orkid, what are our estimates of Haxus’ strength?”
“Twenty thousand infantry, at least five thousand cavalry. That’s their regulars. We don’t know how many militia they can call up.”
Marshal Lief said, “Your Majesty, in the last war they had a similar-sized army, but not the logistical support to send them too deep into our territory.”
“That was fifteen years ago,” Orkid said dismissively. “We don’t know how good their logistics are now. Besides, if they move quickly enough and capture Daavis, they would have the supply base they need to move on to Chandra, and from there onto Kendra itself.”
“How long would it take to mobilize our entire army, Marshal?”‘ Areava asked.
“Three months at least. We don’t have the equipment and weapons in our armories to field an army much larger than twenty thousand ourselves, although over time, as our weapon smiths, cloth makers and granaries went to a war footing, we could double or even triple that. But contingents would have to come from Lurisia and Storia and Aman, and that will take time as well. And if the bulk of our troops are in Hume to stop an invasion, we’ll need the fleet’s help to keep the army fed and clothed; we’ll also need the navy to move much of our southern forces north.”
“Which raises another problem,” Admiral Setchmar added. “Most of our fleet is laid up. It’s too expensive to maintain all our transports and warships during peacetime. It will take us at least two months to get them ready and crew them all. Even if they were ready sooner, it would be foolish to risk sailing a fleet against winter’s storms; we could lose everything.”
“How many troops can you have on the border with Haxus by the end of winter?”
“Twenty thousand,” the marshal said despondently. “Maybe. Including the regiments that are already there.”
“You’re not including the heavy cavalry, Marshal?” Galen Amptra asked in an arrogant voice.
Lief blushed. “I would not presume ...”
Galen waved him silent and turned to Areava. “Your Majesty, the cavalry from the Twenty Houses can be riding north in a week. That’s three thousand of the best soldiers on the continent.”
Yes, and risk the Twenty Houses taking control of my army in the north, Areava thought. She hesitated.