* * *
The Grand Duke did suffer his apoplectic episode when he heard that a common adventurer from the Empire’s nethermost frontier had been made a prince.
A common adventurer was now, for the length of his life, one of the most important men in the Grail Empire. That was no longer a mocking, malicious, sad rumor. The Ege chit had announced it herself and was downright gleeful about the distress it caused her Council Advisory.
The Grand Duke did not yet understand that the Council had been disbanded, to be reconstituted with people selected by the new Empress.
Hilandle noted an especially oversize member of the Commander’s lifeguard regarding him intently. The Grand Duke thought he seemed familiar. His frown deepened when he noted that the man had no right hand.
Hilandle chose that moment to lose control.
* * *
There were scores of invisible people in that ballroom, bringing beer and wine and foodstuffs, clearing away and cleaning up. They went unnoticed but were neither deaf nor blind, nor were they immune to the influence of the Shining Ones.
By celebration’s end Helspeth would become beloved of the common folk. She had defied the wicked old men whom even her father had dared not alienate. Her favor carried the new Lord Arnmigal along.
No one saw that at the moment. Nor was it obvious that Helspeth could defy the old men more easily because they were so much older today. Hilandle and fon Tyre had used themselves up trying to rage through Firaldia like youngsters still in their forties.
None of the dismissed Councilors had the fire in their bellies anymore. They preferred to get their ways by banging their swords on their shields. But an Empress with Ferris Renfrow, Algres Drear, Katrin’s uncles, and Piper Hecht behind her was not likely to be intimidated.
* * *
“This is Lady Hourli,” Hecht said. “She’s my new intelligence chief.”
Eight people had crowded into Helspeth’s refurbished palace quiet room. The smells of fresh plaster and fresher paint lingered. With Hecht and Hourli were the Empress and Lady Hilda, Ferris Renfrow, Algres Drear, and, to their consternation, Grand Duke Hilandle and Lord Admiral fon Tyre.
“Intelligence chief?” Helspeth demanded. “A woman?” Hourli was harvesting a crop of admiring looks from the older men.
Six people chuckled. Hourli did not. “Said the female emperor.”
Hecht said, “She found Anselin. And Titus wants to try other things.”
Renfrow said, “I can vouch for the lady’s competence.”
“Ferris? You know her?”
“A distant relative.” Not strictly true. “She’s brought some family members in to help the Commander. All women, except for her twin brother.”
Hecht added, “And they’re helping out of conviction, not for pay.”
Helspeth did one of those things that would startle people throughout her reign. She dismissed the matter. “All right. Your department, your problem. Talk to me about Anselin.”
Hecht glanced at Hourli. The Instrumentality deferred with a nod. He then glanced at Lady Hilda, who, this time, was not busy with coffee. War in Dreanger had interrupted the smuggling chain. Daedel winked.
“Anselin wanted to see Hypraxium on his way home.” Which was common knowledge, now. “He visited the great buildings and was a guest of the Emperor, who suggested he take an overland route home in order to avoid interception by Navayan or Plataduran warships. Anselin took that advice.”
But once Anselin departed Hypraxium, accompanied by one knight, two squires, a serjent, and a gaggle of servants, including a personal confessor, he had tumbled off the edge of the earth.
“Anselin’s party was too big to go unnoticed but too small to fight.”
“He’s dead?” Helspeth blurted. “Murdered by bandits?”
“No. A false guide took him along a wrong road, into Hovacol. King Stain has him. He plans to auction him off. Stain has been behaving strangely for several years. His enemies claim that he is possessed.”
The Grand Duke opened his mouth for the first time. “How could she possibly know all that?”
“Lady Hourli has unique resources.”
Ferris Renfrow said, “She does.”
“But…”
The Empress interjected, “We’ve been told, gently, that how the sausages get made is none of our business. Be content with the meat on the table.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Hecht said. Then, because Helspeth hated being called that if only because it had pleased her sister, he said, “Sorry. I meant Majesty. And it’s true. Every profession has trade secrets.”
“Do get on with it. Tell us what you plan, Lord Arnmigal.” Rubbing it in.
Lady Hilda winked again. Hecht pushed that distraction aside. “I mean to take Anselin away from Stain. I need your permission.”
“Do you? You must be exceeding confident that permission will be forthcoming. Buhle Smolens and Rivademar Vircondelet, with two hundred fifty men and twenty light falcons, left early this morning.”
That caught Hecht off guard. “Yes. I try to keep the men sharp with field exercises.”
Helspeth stared for several seconds. “A good idea, I don’t doubt. The sword’s edge should be kept polished. Stay a moment when the others leave.” Perhaps a sop to the old men, him facing a dressing down. “I want to hear how much this perfect edge is going to cost.”
“As you wish.”
“Always. Proceed with your plot. Although, I’m thinking, had you dealt with Stain when Katrin asked, this situation might not have arisen.”
Unfair, and even the old men saw that.
“This opportunity would not have befallen us.”
It would have been a different world. The Righteous would not have taken the Krulik and Sneigon works before hearing about King Jaime. The Righteous would not have had the falcons that had made the difference at the Shades. Katrin would be alive and a prisoner of the Church. Serenity would still be Patriarch.
Helspeth stepped back. “You’re right. Anselin would have ridden in here. We’d be trying to get Anne of Menand to bully Serenity into trading him for my sister.”
Said sourly. Helspeth was in a contrarian mood. Hecht glanced at Lady Hilda, seeking a clue. He got another wink.
What the hell was Daedel up to?
“Hilda?” Helspeth said. “You have something to contribute?”
“The Archbishop keeps complaining about something being wrong with the churches.”
Helspeth said, “Since none of these barbarians are inclined to take a cue and ask, what does that mean?”
“I’m not sure. The Archbishop has trouble making himself clear when he’s excited. I think he means that the churches no longer have a holy feel.”
Still no commentary. It was not clear what Hilda meant, either. Lady Hourli, though, looked uncomfortable.
Lady Hilda grumbled, “I’m saying what the Archbishop said. Maybe he meant the churches aren’t blessed anymore. Maybe he meant that God isn’t there anymore.”
Hilda was disappointed by the numb response, obviously. Hecht suspected that she had hoped that someone could clarify Brion’s complaint.
* * *
“No more snow jobs,” Helspeth told Hecht when they were alone.
“Including having Hilandle and fon Tyre in so the old guard doesn’t get its noses out of joint?”
“I can make that exception.”
“What is this with Lady Hilda? She was flirting. Are you testing me?”
Helspeth raised an eyebrow but did not explain. “The Grand Duke of Eathered and Arnmigal is free to do whatever he considers to be in the interest of his Empress, even to rescuing the King of Arnhand. But the Empress would appreciate knowing what Lord Arnmigal intends before it becomes a public issue.”
“Understood. But it’s hard to keep you up to the minute.”
“Really? When you have friends who pop into my bedroom in the middle of the night? Who know intimate details of things happening right now in a kingdom hundreds of miles away?”