Harding was no fool; he knew this also. And though he had been no friend of my father or my brother, and was no friend of mine, the hatred between his family and Blaine’s went back much further. Nor could I see him joining a rebel who had put arms into the hands of barbarians. He might be treacherous but he loved the city.
The fact that he had not committed himself so far, but kept his troop at that great house of his which was not much smaller than the palace, meant only, I guessed, that he relished the importance of his position. All must see that we waited for him. But he would not put things off too long in case, from impatience, I attacked without him. We could win without his help and that would make him as little as the other made him great.
He came in fact at the hour I expected, and was shown into the hall where I sat with the loyal Captains. He greeted me as a Captain should greet his Prince, the bow brief but unstinted. I said:
“Welcome, Captain! We are glad to have you at our conference. Your counsel will serve us well.”
He said: “This is a bad business, sire.”
“It is. But can soon be ended.”
“Soon maybe, but bitterly. The hatred will not die when the heads of five Captains of Winchester are spiked above the palace gate. The feuds which start today will last for generations.”
I said: “This may be so. But we did not start them. What would you have me do?”
“It is said that you were to pronounce banishment on Edmund.”
“He refused a command I gave him. Do I not have the right?”
Harding nodded. “You have it. And banishment is better than bloodshed. It might serve better for others, also.”
“I am willing to give them exile instead of death. You can take that message to them, if you wish.”
“There is a better way. If such a message is sent all must accept or all refuse. They will refuse it therefore. But if we call them to a Captains’ conclave, under flag of truce, there is a chance to win them over one by one.”
He spoke persuasively, and I saw one or two of our company nod their heads. They were loyal but none was eager for the slaughter of old comrades, in many cases kinfolk. I was not eager for it myself. If it could be settled without bloodshed so much the better. And even if Charles and Edmund and Blaine proved obdurate, Turner and Stuart might not.
I said: “Will they come to such a conclave at the palace, do you think? I will not go to them.”
Harding said: “There is my house. It lies between.”
• • •
We sat in the great hall of Harding’s house, at his council table. It was more magnificent than anything I had in the palace: very long, oval in shape, made of oak that generations of polymuf servants had polished to a dark bloom.
I was at the head, with Greene on my right and the other loyal Captains near. Blaine and his rebels, including Edmund, took the other end of the table. Harding sat in the space between.
We had our swords but were bound in honor not to use them. I did not fear treachery. In any case we outnumbered them and had men within call.
I spoke first and briefly. They were in rebellion against their Prince. It was an act which by law and ancient custom deserved death. This must follow once we had crushed them, and our power to do so was plain.
I offered them their lives, not from weakness but from desire to avoid the spilling of blood. If they surrendered, their men would suffer no penalty. They themselves could take with them into exile whatever movable goods they wished.
Blaine answered me. In Winchester men accepted the rule of Princes but not of tyrants. A Prince might command anything of his Captains but only while his commands served the general welfare. It had not been so in this case. A form of exile had been trumped up against one who had done no wrong, and when it had rightly been rejected banishment had been pronounced. This was tyranny, and it was the duty of citizens to oppose it.
He spoke with his usual bluster. We were all accustomed to it and I did not think anyone was much impressed. In the light of the oil lamps that hung from the ceiling I thought I saw unease in the small eyes, deep set in the fat face.
They would make an offer, he said, in answer to mine. They did not seek bloodshed, either, but peace. If I rescinded the edict of banishment on Edmund and the order of arrest on the lady Blodwen, and restored Charles’s troop to him, and promised full amnesty to all, they would come out of the citadel and return to their homes.
It was absurd, of course. After such a confrontation as this there could be no trust. There would be two armies prowling the city, armed and ready to fight at the first provocation. Nor would it be long in coming. And having given way, what authority could I command then? I gave him a blunt refusal, without argument or explanation.
Other Captains spoke. They spoke in accordance with their places at the table, and their temperaments. Some blew hotter and some colder, but the deadlock did not break. Then, when all had had their say, Harding rose to his feet.
I had been waiting for this. His family’s nobility was as ancient as Blaine’s. He himself had not only served the city well but, unlike fat Blaine, had a reputation for wisdom and sound thinking. When my father was killed it had been Harding who had rallied the Captains. If Peter had not retaken the city there was little doubt he would have been proclaimed Prince. His voice on our side counted for more than all the others put together.
And there was something else. I had spoken to him privately on the way here. Edmund and Charles must go, and Blaine with them, but I had told him that if he asked for pardon for Stuart and Turner I would grant it. They could keep their troops, and even their places in my council. If he put it to them as a duty to the city I was sure they would accept. In this way we would split Blaine’s forces; and he himself, seeing his situation as hopeless, would probably choose banishment rather than certain death. Harding had listened to me, and nodded.
Now he spoke quietly. He spoke of the city, and of the men who had served it through many generations. He did not pick out the deeds of his own family: he did not need to. He spoke of old battles. Victories had united the men of Winchester, but defeats scarcely less. Triumph and disaster had been met together, enjoyed or endured together.
He had their ear. I watched Stuart and Turner, and saw how they were affected. He was leading them with cunning. They would be his men even before he asked for their pardon and I granted it.
But he was in no hurry. He spoke of the increase, in recent years, in the city’s power and prosperity. This had happened under the rule of the Perrys. Although not of ancient nobility this family had served the city welclass="underline" Prince Luke—he bowed slightly to me—not least. When one thought of the city, of its great past and greater future, what did it matter where a girl, even the daughter of a king, bestowed her affections? The Wilsh were a faraway people, and no concern of ours.
I saw Stuart thump the table, and thought: we have them!
Harding paused before he spoke again. He said:
“That is the credit balance. There are also debits to consider. Power and prosperity have grown, but so have discord and intrigue. There has been treachery and plotting and murder, more than was ever known before. And so we come to this moment, with the Captains in arms against each other, the city divided.
“I have said that the affections of a girl do not matter, and that is true. But it involves the Prince, and the Prince involves us all. Can the Prince pardon those who, for any reason, have taken sword against him? And if he does, will not the city fall into new dissension, having a Prince whom none respect?”