Rod had been making frantic shushing motions. Tuan turned a gimlet eye on him. “Indeed, Lord Warlock.” His voice was smooth as velvet. “Why wouldst thou not wish him to speak of such things?”
“For that they are highly confusing, for one.” Catharine knit her brows, but the look she bent on Rod was baleful. “Still, mine husband’s point’s well taken. For whom dost thou labor, Lord Warlock?”
“For my wife and child, before anyone else,” Rod sighed, “but since I want freedom and justice for them, and you two are their best chance for that condition—why, I work for you.”
“Or in accord with us,” Tuan amended. “But hast thou other affiliations, Lord Warlock?”
“Well, there is a certain collaborative effort that…”
“…that doth give him information vital to the continuance of Your Majesties’ reign.” Brom glanced up at them guiltily. “I ha’ known of it almost since he came among us.”
Some of the tension began to ease out of Tuan, but Catharine looked more indignant than ever. “Even thou, my trusted Brom! Wherefore didst thou not tell this to me?”
“For reason that thou hadst no need to know it,” Brom said simply, “and because I felt it to be Lord Gallowglass’s secret. If he thought thou shouldst know it, he would tell thee—for, mistake not, his first loyalty is here.”
Catharine seemed a bit mollified, and Tuan was actually smiling—but with a glittering eye. “We must speak more of this anon, Lord Warlock.”
But not just now. Rod breathed a shuddering sigh and cast a quick look of gratitude toward Brom. The dwarf nodded imperceptibly.
“Our cause of worry is before us.” Tuan turned back to Yorick. “It would seem, Master Yorick, that thou dost know more than thou shouldst.”
Yorick stared. “You mean some of this was classified?”
Rod gave him a laser glare, but Tuan just said, “Where didst thou learn of events yet to come?”
“Oh, from the Eagle.” Yorick smiled, relieved. “He’s been there.”
The room was very still for a moment.
Then Tuan said carefully, “Dost thou say this Eagle hath gone bodily to the future?‘’
Yorick nodded.
“Who’s he work for?” Rod rapped out.
“Himself.” Yorick spread his hands. “Makes a nice profit out of it, too.”
Rod relaxed. Political fanatics would fight to the death, but businessmen would always see reason—provided you showed them that they could make a better profit doing things your way.
But Tuan shook his head. “Thou wouldst have us believe the Eagle brought all thy people here and taught them to farm enough to support themselves. Where’s the profit in that?”
“Well,” Yorick hedged, “he does undertake the occasional humanitarian project…”
“Also, for certain assignments you boys probably make unbeatable agents,” Rod said drily.
Yorick had the grace to blush.
“Or is it,” rumbled Brom, “that he doth fight the future-folk who backed Mughorck? Would thy people not be a part of that fight?”
Yorick became very still. Then he eyed Rod and jerked his head toward Brom. “Where’d you get him?”
“You don’t want to know,” Rod said quickly. “But we do. How were you Neanderthals a weapon in the big fight?”
Yorick sighed and gave in. “Okay. It’s a little more complicated than what I said before. The bad guys gathered us together to use us as a tool to establish a very early dictatorship that wouldn’t quit. You’ll understand, milord, that we’re a bit of a paranoid culture.”
“Can’t imagine why,” Rod said drily.
“What is this ‘paranoid’?” Tuan frowned. “And what matters it to government?”
“It means you feel as though everyone’s picking on you.” Yorick explained, “so you tend to pick on them first, to make sure they can’t get you. Governments like that are very good at repression.”
Catharine blanched, and Tuan turned to Rod. “Is there truth in what he doth say?”
“Too much,” Rod said with a woeful smile, “and anyone with witch-power tends to be repressed. Now you know why I’m on your side, my liege.”
“Indeed I do.” Tuan turned back to face Yorick. “And I find myself much less concerned about thine other associations.”
But Rod was watching Catharine closely out of the corner of his eye. Was she realizing that she’d been on the road to becoming a tyrant when she’d reigned alone? Mostly over-compensating for insecurity, of course—but by the time she’d gained enough experience to be sure of herself, she’d have had too many people who hated her; she’d have had to stay a tyrant.
But Tuan was talking to Yorick again. “Why doth thine Eagle fight these autocrats?”
“Bad for trade,” Yorick said promptly. “Dictatorships tend to establish very arbitrary rules about who can do business with whom, and their rules result in either very high tariffs or exorbitant graft. But a government that emphasizes freedom pretty much has to let business be free, too.”
“Pretty much.” Rod underscored the qualifier.
Yorick shrugged. “Freedom’s an unstable condition, my lord. There’ll always be men trying to destroy it by establishing their own dictatorships. Businessmen are human too.”
Rod felt that the issue deserved a bit more debate, but the little matter of the invasion was getting lost in the shuffle. “We were kind of thinking about that whispering campaign you mentioned. Mind explaining how you could work it without getting caught? And don’t try to tell me you guys all look alike to each other.”
“Wouldn’t think of it.” Yorick waved away the suggestion. “By this time, see, I’m pretty sure there’ll be a lot of people who’re fed up with Mughorck. In fact, I even expect a few refugees from his version of justice. If you can smuggle me back to the mainland, into the jungle south of the village, I think I can make contact with quite a few of ‘em. Some of them will have friends who’ll be glad to forget any chance meetings they might have out in the forest gathering fruit, and the rumor you want circulated can get passed into the village when the friend comes back.”
Tuan nodded. “It should march. But couldst thou not have done this better an thou hadst remained in thine own country?”
Yorick shook his head. “Mughorck’s gorillas were hot on my trail. By now, he should have other problems on his hands; he won’t have forgotten about me and my men, but we won’t be high-priority any more. Besides, there might even be enough refugees in the forest so that he’s not willing to risk any of his few really loyal squads on a clean-out mission; the odds might be too great that they wouldn’t come back.”
The King nodded slowly. “I hope, for thy sake, that thou hast it aright.”
“Then, too,” Yorick said, “there’s the little matter that, if I’d stayed, there’d have been no message to pass. Frankly, I needed allies.”
“Thou hast them, an thou’rt a true man,” Tuan said firmly. Catharine, however, looked much less certain.
Yorick noted it. “Of course I’m true. After all, if I betrayed you and you caught me, I expect you’d think of a gallows that I’d be the perfect decoration for.”
“Nay, i’ truth,” Tuan protested, “I’d have to build one anew especially for thee, to maintain harmony of style.”
“I’m flattered.” Yorick grinned. “I’ll tell you straightaway, though, I don’t deserve to be hanged in a golden chain. Silver, maybe…”
“Wherefore? Dost thou fear leprechauns?”
Tuan and Yorick, Rod decided, were getting along entirely too well. “There’s the little matter of the rumor he’s supposed to circulate,” he reminded Tuan.
Yorick shrugged. “That you and your army have really come just to oust Mughorck, isn’t it? Not to wipe out the local citizenry?”
“Thou hast it aright.”
“But you do understand,” Yorick pointed out, “that they’ll have to fight until they know Mughorck’s been taken, don’t you? I mean, if they switched to your side and he won, it could be very embarrassing for them—not to mention their wives and children.”