XII. March 771
The days dragged by, or did they fly? After two more months of a snowy mountain winter, Countess Vivian was sitting in the dining room of Nikolad, in her tall chair, trying as casually as possible to nurse her new daughter while her friends and ministers came and went. The passersby almost all made faces at tiny little Susan, while trying to ignore the Countess of Clane's exposed breast. Susan ignored them all, except for the breast.
Eventually Susan fell asleep and Vivian buttoned her dress back up, with Jen's help. "Ah, Jen," she said, "you grow ever more indispensable."
Jen smiled and said, "You look like you could use some tea, my lady."
"I could."
Jen hurried out to the kitchen, and by the time she was back, Angeline and Jack had joined Vivian and Susan. Jack crawled around, climbed up knees and made funny noises. The three women sat around and talked adult talk to each other, with intermittent baby talk for the babies. The afternoon rays grew flatter, and then clouds smothered them in grey, and presently snow began to fall. It was 30 March, and nothing had happened in two weeks that was worthy of the notice of an outsider. Vivian did not recall that three years ago tomorrow she had ridden with her army out of Vonnis, bound for Bazir.
A messenger came in, breathless and a little scared, and gave Vivian a piece of news, which she accepted with a resigned look. He went on his way with her thanks. It was thus for the rest of the early evening: riders came to Nikolad out of the swirling snow to see the Countess. One was Sir Rogier de Clatu, who came in with the interior minister Purcell Colmack and found Vivian nursing again and Angeline spooning oatmeal into Jack while the maids went about the castle lighting candles and torches. There was already a fire in the fireplace.
"My lady," said Sir Rogier, "if you like, I can come back later."
"No, no," said Vivian, "the Countess must conduct her business, regardless of personal commitments. What's the news in Hvanar?"
Sir Rogier sat down, looking uncomfortable, and Purcell sat two chairs away to stare out into the blizzard. After a minute, Sir Rogier said, "Maybe we should give our report to you in a more confidential setting."
"Angeline's quite trustworthy, you know. And Jack and Susan aren't going to blab." He still looked uncomfortable. "Well, if you like, I'm not in a mood for more news either. I have some of my own, but I think I don't want to think about it right now. It upsets Susan."
"Does it? She'll get used to bad news eventually. How is the next Countess, anyway?"
"She's wonderful," replied Vivian. "She's beautiful. She's also quite hungry. It must be so nice, to have nothing else to worry about. Well, what else is going on around the world?"
"Oh, the Duke of Farlain is recommitting his forces to his southern wars, although he still has plenty of troops in Vonnis and Angren. And the Avars must be getting ready to have another go at Shadewind. They chewed a little off the top last summer, and perhaps they'll take some more bites this year. You know they like to fight in March."
"Yes, I know that," replied Vivian. "Funny they're not fighting us anymore." Jen returned from the kitchen with a pitcher of red ale and three glasses, which she filled and gave to Vivian, Angeline and Sir Rogier. "Get one for yourself, Jen," said Vivian. "You've worked hard all day."
"Yes, my lady," said Jen. She returned to the kitchen. When she came back, the three aristocrats were cooing at Susan, who had just unfastened herself. Jen buttoned Vivian's dress back up, something she had only done about four dozen times in two weeks. Just then Susan, who had inherited her mother's eyes, caught the Minister of State and held him. Watching Sir Rogier make faces at the baby, Vivian could not help think of how an adult Susan might manipulate the poor old gentleman.
"So why 'Susan'?" asked Angeline.
"It seemed like a nice name."
The four sat and sipped their ale as the shadows gathered and the snow accumulated, and they did not know a pair of horses had ridden in until the messenger, leaving his escort behind to stable the steeds, strode into the dining room. He stopped at the door and took in the scene: the Countess Vivian sitting in the tall chair, Jen on her left, Sir Rogier on her right and Angeline and Jack across from her, all five of them gazing in rapture on little Susan. The messenger was also enraptured: he had been in love with Susan since he had first laid eyes on her, which in fact he had done even before Vivian had (in the waking world). He walked over to stand by the Countess's chair. "My lady," he said.
Vivian looked up at him and nearly melted away. "Willd," she said, reaching a hand up to his cheek to bring his head down to her. They kissed as passionately as was practical while Jen, Sir Rogier and Angeline concentrated on the baby.
"How was your ride?" asked Vivian.
"I'm home," said Willd. "so it can't have been that bad."
"She's smiling at you," said Angeline.
"She sure is," he replied.
"So," said Vivian, "shall we hear your report? Or are you incapable of intelligent activity while Susan's staring at you?"
"I'm incapable," he replied.
Vivian leaned over and hugged his torso. "You're all right, though."
"I am," he said. "And you are too."
"Oh, I couldn't be better." Jen took the baby and cooed at her while the Countess exchanged a long and dramatic kiss with her errand-rider. The others rolled their eyes.
"Is it going to be like this all evening?" asked Sir Rogier.
"I plan on it being," said Vivian.
"Didn't Francis come with you?" Angeline demanded. "I thought he'd be right behind."
"I was," said Francis, entering, "but while I was giving instructions about the horses, another two riders showed up and I was delayed."
"I'm back, everybody," called Ellean. Martin of Auzel was behind her. They hardly seemed to merit any notice at all: most of the people in the room seemed to be kissing or cooing at babies.
"I think," said Sir Rogier to Ellean, "that your story, like mine, will have to wait till later in the evening."
Greetings and public displays of affection lasted until dinner, and after dinner the Lady Mirabel and the Countess went over some minor business, and it was late in the evening when Ellean, Angeline, Sir Rogier, Purcell Colmack, Willd, Weaver and Jen were seated again around Countess Vivian's tall chair in the dining room. Jack Rain was sleeping in a basket full of blankets on the table, while Susan dozed in her mother's arms. Ellean started in again: "So, Countess, I see you've been busy since I left. And you've lost weight. What did you decide to name her, anyway?"
"Susan," said Vivian. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"Yes, of course," said Ellean. "When did it happen? How did it go?"
"The eighteenth of March," said Vivian. "Miranda said it would be sooner, but Susan was happy where she was, I guess. How much do you want to know?"
"All the gory details," said Ellean.
"If I may," said Sir Rogier, "I've already heard as much as I care to about the gory details, and I would rather enjoy to hear about young Lady Rain's adventures in Avigon."
"At least tell us how it went," said Ellean. "The usual. Birth weight, what time of day she was born, how long it took and so on."
"Seven pounds and a bit," said Vivian, "and the first hour of the morning, and fourteen hours, I think it was. Miranda did the honors."
"Is it the time of the tale-telling?" asked Miranda the Brewer, looking in from the kitchen. "I see we have new arrivals."
"I see that too," said Ellean. "Why don't you join us? And bring another pitcher."
Miranda grinned, wiped her hands on a towel and disappeared, only to come back in, carrying two more pitchers of her red ale and a mug for herself. She found a place beside Angeline and across from Sir Rogier. "Where were we?" she asked. "I think it was just before sunset when the Countess's water broke."
"And did it really take fourteen hours?" asked Ellean. "So what did you do all that time?"
"Well, I lay there," said Vivian, "and nothing much seemed to be happening, and I actually slept a little, and then, um, the pain came back, because I was, what's the term?"
"Dilating," said Miranda. "It took quite some time for her to dilate sufficiently. The common term is stretching."
"And Miranda was so helpful," said Vivian. "She kept reminding me to do things like 'Bear down' and 'Push' and so on. Things I never would have thought to do on my own. I don't think I remembered to pay her any compliments on the night of 17 March."
"No, my lady," said Miranda, "I don't think you did. I've learned not to expect much in the way of sweet talk."
"And Willd was wonderful," said Vivian, "of course. Though I didn't pay him any compliments either."
"What did he do?" asked Ellean.
"He just held my hand, and he told me sweet things, and he put up with my tart comebacks," said Vivian. "Just his usual duties."
"Oh, that's so sweet," said Angeline. "Francis held my hand too, until the midwife chased him out with a knife."
"Yes, it was sweet," said Vivian, "but by the wee hours of the morning, I was getting pretty testy. He said something like, 'Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?' and I just snapped at him. 'Yeah, and I wish you'd shut up about it,' I think I said, but maybe there were a few other words in there too. I was a mite grouchy. I just wanted it to be over."
"I couldn't tell her that the worst was yet to come," said Miranda. "But our Countess is nothing if not brave, and in the first light of dawn, she delivered to us a healthy heiress. I went off to my bed, and when I got back, everyone was asleep. Willd was curled up right next to mother and child, in his clothes still."
"And Suzy's been growing ever since. And that's my tale." Vivian looked from Ellean to Willd to Sir Rogier and back, and asked, "All right, Ellean, would you like to tell your story next?"
"Sure," said Ellean. "I won't say it was as painful as that, but it had its moments." She took a long swig of coppery ale. "We left Nikolad on, let's see, something like the thirtieth of January. The Imperial Diet convenes on the fifteenth of February of any year divisible by three. It's hard to believe it's been three years since you attended the Imperial Diet, the first time I ever got to talk to an actual Countess."
"And the first time I got to go to a Diet," said Vivian. "What a thrill."
"Well, Angeline and I came within about a hundred miles of that one, so I was proud to make it all the way there this time."
"I was happy not to," said Vivian. "I think I enjoyed myself more giving birth."
"Well," said Ellean, "I'm happy not to have enough information to compare the two. I sort of have to apologize for my partner not being here: he's no doubt gone to bed. He can carouse with the best of them, but he falls asleep early."
"I'm sure you'll do fine on your own," said Sir Rogier.
"So. Anyway. We started off eastward to get to the Lavan River road. Of course, we had to find a safe way to go through Farlain territory, but we figured most of the danger would be when we crossed frontiers. Anyway, we thought of just going south from here, but for one thing, the mountains aren't nice when it's snowy, and for another, Farlain's giving Amari problems too, from what we heard, though the Duke of Amari at least can still live in his castle in Syrud."
"Give them time, and Farlain will displace him too," said Vivian. "It's fine by me. The Duke of Amari is no prize either."
"I'll say," said Ellean. "There aren't too many prizes among the Sovereign Lords, uh, especially when our Countess isn't in the room. But that comes later. We rode to Dubkarin fine, but there we stayed for several days just trying to stay warm--you remember the cold spell in early February? Anyway, Thane Horst thought it was pretty funny that we were going to the Diet. 'Countess Vivian must think you're both expendable,' he'd say, and we'd just sort of smile, but he gave us supplies and good advice as well as encouraging us to drink freely of his wine. Now there's a guy who knows how to treat scouts.
"He said, 'Cross into Intror by the farm-tracks in the hills, just keep bearing east until you come to the Lavan River Highway.' It still took us two days to get to Passaya. We left Dubkarin when we thought it was warming up, but it was still cold. But there wasn't anything we could do about it. We camped that night in the lee of a boulder. At least it was dry."
"Is Martin good and warm, like Francis?" asked Angeline.
"Oh, he's very warm."
"Anyway," Sir Rogier prompted.
"Anyway, we got to Passaya about sunset, and it was cold and the snow was blowing around and my feet were still cold from the day before. And now we had to find a place to stay. Fortunately, people didn't know us, and of course no one was outside because it was so cold, but we couldn't get them to take us at the inn. Scared of strangers. 'Now what?' I said. 'Now we beg,' he said. So we begged. And the fifteenth house we asked at was so kind as to let us use their barn for a silver coin."
"Not one with me on it, I hope," said Vivian.
"No, your dad. We were sensitive about that."
"Were there soldiers about?"
"Yeah, at the inn. Not that we would have looked especially suspicious. It's just that no one is supposed to be on that road unless they're on the Duke's business. I guess Passaya's been a source of trouble."
"They like the Countess there," said Sir Rogier.
"Yes, well," said Ellean, "no one was stepping out of line in Passaya when we were there. We didn't go shouting that we were the Countess's people, either, of course. To them, we were just travelers without permission, and possibly trouble. At least our shilling bought us breakfast. We left the next morning and we were in Delyan by that evening. Now that's a strange place these days. The Duke has his flag flying all over the place, and the Thane's men wear blue horse insignia now. Shops have to have little blue and white ribbons in their windows. But there's money, which we didn't see in Passaya. Even money with your face on it, but lots of Maladars. And once we got into town, people were friendly."
"You had trouble getting into town?"
"We would've, but for Marty. I mean, I wouldn't have gotten through the Farlain men at the gate without speaking my mind. They asked us what we were doing on the road, where we were from, what our business was, and Marty just said, 'Yeah, man, my lady here and me, we're just going into town to do some shopping, man,' and on and on about his uncle with the bad leg, and acted real dumb, which he's real good at, and they let us be. We got in, and we found room at the inn this time. Lots of room at the inn."
"And it used to be such a busy place for trade," said Vivian.
"Well, only the Farlain army's been going up and down that road of late. A lot of them going down, too, so they told us at the inn. Not that we pried or anything. Even without soldiers around, we were not among friends in the common room. Delyan is Thane Karlan's hometown, and his hall is right downtown, and they like him fine there. But still people are disturbed by change, and there's been plenty of that, and people can't help talking about change even if they're not supposed to.
"We got out of town the next morning. We'd been told we couldn't cross into Farlain without permission, which is strange, since I thought the whole point was that Intror was supposed to be part of Farlain. Anyway, we figured we might as well not bother asking for permission, so we snuck across. It was warmer, and the snow started to melt, and it was at least a foot deep, so there was plenty of fog. Whenever we heard hoofbeats, we just pulled off the road and stood in the mud until they went by. And it was always Farlain riders."
"Did you get a sense of their troop movements?" asked Francis Weaver.
"Sure," said Ellean. "Like you get a sense of how big the forest is by looking at a tree. I guess we saw a company of horsemen once, but it was mostly errand-riders."
"Were any of them as cute as Willd?" asked Vivian.
"I assume not, but we didn't get a good look at them, because we didn't let them get a good look at us. Honestly, you guys, it's my story. Anyway, we were in Sand Point Inn that night."
"Is their wine still as good as it was?" asked Sir Rogier.
"We didn't get to find out. We found, shall I say, less comfortable quarters this time. They threw Marty and me into a jail cell."
"They did? Why?" Vivian's first inclination was to file a diplomatic protest.
"We were obviously from Clane," said Ellean, "and we were 'unable to give a good account of ourselves'. Maybe someone actually recognized me: Angeline and I were down there before, you remember. We stayed at Sand Point Inn."
"Yes," said Vivian, "but you were thirteen then, and, take my word for it, you didn't look like you do now."
"Well, thank you! Anyway, it wasn't like we were armed or anything. I mean, I had my hunting bow and a knife, and Marty had a knife too, but that hardly counts. Still, they took our horses and what passed for our weapons and tossed us in the slammer. It was a little room with a tiny window that didn't have glass or a shutter, so it was freezing in there, and there weren't any blankets or a bed or anything, and they fed us, sort of, but there was no washing up or changing clothes--for five days."
"Five days!" cried Angeline. "With Martin of Auzel! How did you manage?"
"He's warm," said Ellean.
"But in a cell!" Vivian protested. "You didn't--you didn't, did you?"
Ellean rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? Not there."
"Didn't what?" asked Sir Rogier.
"Anyway," said Vivian. "You made the best of it."
"Yes, and that was none too good. In the middle of the night, the last night, it was so cold we just huddled together in the corner and shivered in our dirty clothes. I think we both stank by that time--I'd caught cold, so I didn't smell a thing. Then the next morning, right about dawn, they came and got us. I thought we were going to have our heads chopped off, I really did: don't they usually execute people at dawn? But no. They released us. They gave us our horses and our pouches of money (less an involuntary gratuity) and sent us off. No apology, no explanation.
"So we rode south, and I was checking my neck all day to make sure it hadn't been chopped. But the weather finally started to get warm. There's a village about twenty miles north of Calway where we actually saw smiling faces. It was near dusk, and the old farmers heading for the tavern waved at us. So we stopped, and what do you know? A gold coin with your picture on it got us nice accommodations and a hot meal, and another hot meal in the morning. And a bath. Boy, didn't that feel good. It was so strange--it seemed like years had passed between the night shivering in the jail cell and the next night kicking the covers off the bed because it was so hot." She leaned close to Vivian and added, "Thank the Sun they hadn't taken my little pouch of that powder."
"I'll second that," said Angeline.
"Did anyone ask you what your business was?" asked Sir Rogier.
"Well, no, but they obviously wanted to hear our 'story', so Marty obliged. The way he told it, we were newlyweds from Intror headed for Calway to buy stuff for our new house."
"O ho," said Angeline, "do I hear wedding bells in Ellean's future?"
"You need your ears checked," said Ellean. "I like him fine, but I'm never getting married."
"I believe her," said Vivian. "Who'd put up with her for life?"
"Exactly," said Ellean. "Anyway, can I go on? So they were nice to us in this village, and they told us what it was called but I instantly forgot. And the next morning we went to Calway."
"And how is the biggest city in Farlain?" asked Sir Rogier.
"A lot bigger than the biggest city in Clane ever was. And a lot poorer. Boy, there sure were a lot of beggars. Lots of hungry looking children. Lots of women of the night. Lots of thieves. As we found out."
"You had your money stolen?"
"Pretty near. Girl was reaching into my coat pocket for a little bag that had about a dozen florins in it. I'm sensitive to people groping around my pockets."
"Does it happen to you often?" asked Vivian.
"To her?" put in Angeline. "Someone's always groping around her."
"Excuse me," said Ellean, "may I? So I grabbed her hand and twisted it till she shrieked, and I said, 'No you don't, that's not yours.' I would've broken her hand, but Marty stopped me."
"And he gave her a gold piece, right?" asked Vivian.
"No, and if he had, I would've broken his hand. I'm sorry. We needed the money to serve our Countess."
"You did fine, but I'm glad you didn't break her hand. It's not her fault she's poor."
"Maybe it is, we don't know. Anyway, that was the least of our troubles. Here was this whole city neither of us had ever been in, and people speak in that strange accent of theirs, and oh, by the way, it's the capital of our biggest enemy, and we had to find a place to sleep. And then it started raining."
"You couldn't find an inn?"
"You have to remember how big Calway seemed to us. We'd wander ten blocks down one street, turn and wander ten blocks down another, and we'd have no idea where we were. We ended up sleeping in an alley. In the rain."
"With that poor girl, no doubt."
"No, with our horses. She probably had a roof over her head. No, we just had rats to keep us company. At least they're not interested in gold. And by morning, you know what? No one wanted to steal from us. We didn't smell like rich people."
"You seem to have spent a lot of time smelling bad on this trip."
"It's a pretty sure defense. The next day we could wander freely about Calway and not have our pockets picked. That's good, because if anyone tried it, I'd've spilled their blood, I swear. Do you know I actually had to pee in the alley? Marty said 'I'll close my good eye,' and I just about whacked him right then and there. I had to remind myself that he'd probably saved my life at least once already when I was in a bad mood. So we tried to leave town, and you know what?"
"You got lost," said Sir Rogier. "The same thing happened to me about twenty years ago. I made the mistake of leaving the main road. That town's a mess."
"Yeah, and we spent all day trying to find our way out. We found ourselves back at the north gate, but we didn't want to go back to Delyan, so we went around again, and it was almost sunset when we finally saw the Emperor's Gate that faces the direction of Avigon. And there right inside it was the biggest inn I'd ever seen. I said, 'Marty, I'm staying the night there, and you can stay too or go on to Avigon without me.' And that's where we stayed."
"It's a good thing you allowed yourselves three weeks to get to Avigon," said Sir Rogier. "It used to be a week's journey from Vonnis. But of course I didn't spend any nights in cells."
"How was the inn?" asked Vivian. "I remember seeing the one you're talking about, but we stayed as guests of Duke Maladar when we went through."
"Hey," said Ellean, "we got to bathe, and they brought food and wine to the room. Washed up in the room, ate in the room, no reason to leave the room."
"Am I to understand," said Angeline, "that by now you and Martin of Auzel were just like roommates? Bathing in front of each other and everything?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"
"Well, you don't even like him, for one thing."
"Hey, he's a good guy. I mean, by then we might as well have been brother and sister, we knew everything about each other. You sleep in an alley with someone, and huddle in a jail cell for five days with literally nothing else but that other person, and after all that, bathing in front of them doesn't seem so bad."
"I have a sister," said Francis, "and I never did bathe in front of her."
"Well," said Vivian, "theirs was a special kind of relationship."
"Especially that night," said Ellean, looking into Vivian's eyes with a distant smile. She giggled. "Ignore anything you want of what you hear tonight, Sir Rogier."
"I've been doing so," replied the knight.
"And the next day you were in Avigon," Vivian prompted.
"Yep. I happen to know that it was the night of 18 February when we got there. Then I knew that Calway was a small and wealthy city. And a clean one, too. Avigon the Dirty, indeed."
"It's been called that for at least five centuries," said Vivian. "Seven hundred and seventy years is a long time for dirt to accumulate."
"So did you have trouble," asked Sir Rogier, "finding the Imperial Commission Hall?"
"No, we had trouble getting into the Imperial Commission Hall. Even cleaned up, we didn't look like the sort who belonged. And we didn't know if we should come out and say, 'Hi, we're here to represent the Countess of Clane,' since Duke Maladar's entourage made up about a third of the participants. There were blue horses everywhere we looked. So we got a room at an inn again, not a terribly nice one either, and we set about finagling. It only took four more days."
"You did go to the museum, didn't you?" asked Sir Rogier.
"Um, only once, actually, later on. It was pretty amazing, even in decline. But what you really want to know about, I guess, is the Imperial Diet. Marty tried to sneak in, and was almost thrown in a cell again, so I thought maybe I'd chat up some of the Lords Sovereign."
"Chat up the Dukes?" replied Sir Rogier. "Only you, my dear Ellean."
"Hey, it worked. The Duke of Samarra's a nice old guy. And I think the Duke of Orzali's well-disposed to our cause, at least he was when I wore my short skirt."
"You got in to see them?"
"Um, yeah. The old Duke of Samarra, well, that took hours of waiting, but when I talked to him it was just like talking to my dad. That's what I kept thinking of. He said, 'You can be one of my attendants. Your lady ought to be represented, but they're not going to allow that.' So I was one of his attendants. Duke George, his name is."
"I remember him," said Vivian. "Fell asleep every day, five minutes after lunch."
"But what a set of sideburns! And eyebrows, grey eyebrows out six inches from his head."
"And Orzali's on our side?"
"Oh," said Ellean, with an ugly look, "you could say that. The things I do for the good of the County. By the way, I don't know if you're interested, Countess, but he's gotten rid of his latest young blonde wife, and he's willing to consider marrying you."
"Thank you very much," said Vivian. "Between us, the job's taken. But you got to be a fly on the wall. What did Martin of Auzel do?"
"Some sneakery, some sightseeing. He's not exactly the sort you'd have on regular diplomatic service, but he's pretty good at the casual stuff."
"Did he find anything out?"
"Well, just that Salvar, early on, was trying to negotiate with Shadewind, all hush-hush. Whatever it was, it didn't work out. They did not part on good terms."
"It might have been a show," suggested Weaver.
"I don't think they're such good actors," replied Ellean. "At least the Count of Shadewind isn't. You never know about Salvar."
"So tell us, finally," said Sir Rogier, "how the Diet went?"
"Well, I thought it'd be like a council session. But it's not--it's like a big town meeting, except that everyone's grouped by what county or duchy they're from. I guess it was somewhat better attended this time than when you were there. By the time I got in, there was Samarra, Orzali, Farlain, Inzil, Shadewind, Amari, Allor and the Grand Duke of Avigon. Oh, there was some guy as emissary of the Duke of Rahavon, who didn't want to miss out but didn't want to honor the Diet with his presence. And there was Prince Salvar too, by the way, trying to exercise the vote of the Count of Clane."
"Oooh! Wait till I get my fingernails in his throat!" seethed Vivian. "Did he know you?"
Ellean smiled. "He sure did. But what could he do? Duke George said his piece about how the Countess of Clane was still Vivian. Only he and Orzali and the guy who claimed to be Duke of Allor really stood up for you, but only Maladar was for giving his son the proxy vote for Clane, so, yes, you're still officially the Countess. Not that it would really matter if they voted otherwise."
"So what were your impressions," asked Sir Rogier, "of the other Sovereign Lords? Tell us about Allor, and Inzil."
"Well, the Count of Inzil's that boy Chalris, but something's happened to him. He's all serious now. And Allor, well, I guess it's disputed, and what, Shadewind's trying to conquer it or something?"
"Been trying for about ten years," said Sir Rogier, "and gradually succeeding."
"So this Duke of Allor, Gregory I think, he was heavily disputed. Orzali backed him, and Orzali offended pretty much everyone else, especially Farlain, and so Farlain was against him. Amari's a complete wimp. He's this old fat guy. Makes Neil seem underfed. He thinks if he just doesn't do anything to bother Duke Maladar, he'll be left alone from now on. Wrong! And the so-called Duke of Shadewind was in some sort of negotiation with Farlain, but they're also trying to stab each other in the back. The thing is, until one can actually completely destroy the other, they have to pretend to be best of friends."
"Ah, yes, the art of diplomacy," said Sir Rogier. "How to sell someone poison and get them to pay a good price for it. Of course, they're trying to sell you poison at the same time."
"Well, there was plenty of poison offered for sale, but except for Amari, I don't think anyone was buying. The Grand Duke of Avigon acted like he knew for a fact that every one of the others was trying to kill him. Maybe they were--personally, I doubt they'd bother."
"I take it," said Sir Rogier, "that the Count of Shadewind wasn't getting away with calling himself Duke."
"Not at all. They'd call him 'My dear Count,' and 'my good friend the Count,' and you could tell it really bugged him. Fine. He's a sleazebag."
"Um, any new Imperial Heirs?" asked Vivian.
Ellean looked at her strangely. "In fact--sort of. The second day I was there, right after they stopped bickering about Clane, Count Chalris got up and announced that he'd found a new heir. Very weird. He said there was someone whose claim was 'undeniable', whose heritage from the Imperial Line was 'unimpeachable', but who had to remain unknown for now. He said that the lords should be prepared for the coming of this new claimant. Of course they all laughed in his face. Except Salvar, by the way. I think he knew about this ahead of time."
"How very strange," said Sir Rogier. He turned to Vivian, who had not reacted. "Well, I think it strange. Why a new heir after all these years? Declaring oneself an imperial heir has never been a way to assure a long and prosperous life. And why start in Inzil?"
"I think it strange too," said Vivian defensively, "but that describes Count Chalris pretty well, doesn't it?" She was thinking about how easy it was to read Chalris's mind, and wishing she had been at Avigon to do it--and to strangle a few of the other participants. She changed the subject. "Were you still staying at the inn with Martin?"
"No, he stayed at the inn, I stayed in the palace, in the wing that the Samarrans used. I didn't see so much of Marty that week."
"Ah," said Angeline, "it must have been your time of month."
"Yes, it was, in fact, and it is again now, so watch yourself."
"We're just glad to hear you're having it," said Vivian.
"I for one," said Sir Rogier, "would rather hear about something else."
"How was the beer in Avigon?" asked Miranda.
"Lousy," Ellean answered. "Yours is the best. The wine was just all right."
"It was absolutely excellent when I was there," said Vivian. "It must be in decline too."
"So," said Angeline, "was that all the fireworks there were?"
"Yeah," said Ellean. "That was it. They spent about two more weeks arguing, making resolutions, blocking each other's resolutions, but what was the point of it all? They're all just getting ready to fight again, right? Anyway, we left Avigon on the ninth of March, and we rode west through the Grand Duchy and into Amari, and stayed in Syrud, which is kind of pretty up on its cliffs overlooking a river, and then we took farmer-roads into the up-country, and from there we rode up into the mountains. We hired an old Amarian mountain man to guide us. Paid him our last two gold florins, and he led us faithfully over a little goat-trail and down into the high hill country along the Little Glass River. It took us three weeks from Avigon to get here, including four days in north Amari waiting for the snow to melt. It's a nice little trail, when the snow's off."
"So what good came of it, going all the way down there?" asked Sir Rogier.
"Ellean," asked Vivian suddenly in a soft voice, "did you find out about--?"
"That town?" Ellean filled in.
"Arrenuim? It's a town? That's kind of what I thought--where is it?"
"Was," Ellean amended. "I guess." She searched her pockets and presently came up with a few folded papers covered with her scribbles. "It was in Farlain. I found a book in the House of Records--now that's a weird Imperial relic. Anyway, I found the entire Empire's tax records for the year 612, the first full year of the eighteenth Emperor. Arrenuim was listed under Farlain. They paid the Emperor forty-six florins that year. That was all I could find--I never saw the name on a map, and it wasn't in the book I saw from the Twenty-Second Emperor in 653."
"You sent Ellean all the way to Avigon to look up tax records from Farlain?" asked Sir Rogier. "I hope it was some use to you, my lady, because the Diet itself, as you observed three years ago, remains a complete waste of time."
"I think it was worth it," said Vivian. "I'm not sure what I expected, actually. As for, um, that town in the tax records--it was just another dark room I had to look in, checking for burglars."
"Burglars, eh? You didn't need to look so far--Neil's still in the house."
"Oh, he'll get his. But there's so much still hidden. What about this new claimant, or all the dark politics? I'm not sure what it all means, but it surely means something. Of course, I didn't have to go. Did you have a good time, Ell?"
"Well, it sure was memorable," Ellean replied. "The jail and the alley for example--I know I was scared and miserable at the time, but when I look back on it, it almost seems kind of fun."
"I don't think I'll ever look back on Vonnis burning as 'fun'."
Sir Rogier was counting on his long fingers. "There were a lot of Sovereign Lords there, this time around. Let's see, you said Samarra, Orzali, Farlain, Amari, Shadewind, who else?"
"Inzil," said Ellean, "and Allor and Avigon. Eight."
"A majority, if we count you for Clane; ten, if we add Rahavon's emissary. There hasn't been a majority at the Diet since the first years of Count Edmund, when they thought a new Emperor might yet appear and everyone wanted to be there just in case, to stab him. Of course, we'll never see Liath and Terandra again. There were only six lords last time, including the Countess: I recall that Shadewind, Allor and the Grand Duke were all no-shows."
"Well," Vivian said, "we won't know what it was all about, really, for months or years. Last time, we had no idea what was going to happen, as we rode away from Avigon. We feasted and dressed up in all our finery in Calway, our host the courteous Duke Maladar. Then the next day we were waylaid in the fog by two young riders, do you remember, Rogier?"
"I certainly do. Whatever happened to them?"
"It might have been Willd instead," said Vivian. "Except that Ellean and Angeline weighed under a hundred pounds. I don't suppose that's true any more."
"I still outweigh them, I'm sure," said Willd.
"And what of your news, my love? You have told it to me, but I think it might concern some here."
"Yes, well," said Willd, his face clouding, "I have already told Sir Rogier as well, but in short: the Rugians have occupied Acali. The residents were all evacuated to Tarnhold in plenty of time, thanks to Weaver's men."
"Yes," said Sir Rogier. "Lady Alice is arranging the removal from our house at Clatu, which may be in danger."
"A wise decision," said Francis Weaver. "We can keep them from moving into Clatu, but we can't keep them from burning it, now that Acali's been given up."
"I assume," said Vivian, "that military necessity was involved."
"Yes," said Weaver. "We have a little over a thousand men under arms at Tarnhold, plus some local militia. The big Rugian chieftain, Torak, he's got about five thousand. And Acali's not built for prolonged defense. Tarnhold is, but Acali isn't."
"Well," said the Countess, rocking her baby gently, "it's not as if we weren't used to this sort of thing. But no more. We give no more ground."
"No more," said Sir Rogier. "We have fallen back to our strongest towns: Dubkarin, Tarnhold, Hvanar, Nikolad. We can hold what we have."
"That's not good enough," said the Countess. "It may take the rest of my reign--isn't that a scary thought? But we will return to Vonnis, to Acali, to Radun. Maybe even to Bazir."
"And Intror," said Ellean. "I want to see that Thane Karlan's face when you shoot him in the stomach."
"Ah, yes, that does sound good." Vivian looked around. "But I think we haven't heard all the news. Sir Rogier? How's Siret these days?"
"Well, the mountain trail is fine, considering it's winter, but I wouldn't want to send supplies along it."
"But," said Vivian, "I'll bet Thane Ellimer wants just that."
"Indeed, he does, my lady. It took my escort and myself four days to reach Hvanar, and we had good weather. Master Colmack and his crew are indeed expert at snow removal. As long as we're based at Nikolad, they're going to get plenty of practice. Suffice it to say that there were drifts twice my height, and I am not slight of stature."
"Not standing next to me, that's for sure."
"Yes. Well. We got to Hvanar, and we were treated courteously, but--well, you know, sometimes you say 'How are you?' to someone and they tell you all their problems. That's Thane Ellimer. He has his eight thousand Hvanar residents to feed, and a few thousand that live in the farms around, and on top of that about five thousand refugees from around Hildiwern. So, predictably, he's having difficulty with supply."
"And he wants us to ship supplies by the mountain trail."
"My lady, it's impossible. Even in summer, we just couldn't do it. I know he has a problem, but we can't solve it that way."
"Then either he has to send out some of his refugees by that same trail--I take it, it's easier for people than supply trains--"
"Exactly."
"Or he has to grow more food this year. I suppose he also wants more troops?"
"Well, of course he does. And he whines and carries on about how much trouble all this is putting him to--why don't we here in Nikolad do something about it? He seems to think that Nikolad is some kind of garden paradise, with fields pouring forth with excess grain and cows giving rivers of milk."
"We do have good beer."
"Better than his, my lady, but he doesn't need to know that. Well, this went on for three days until I was completely sick of it. So I let Master Colmack have him for a day, for the purpose of finding out which walls were good to fix up, and I can tell you that Colmack, though he did not voice any complaints, gave me a withering look as I left them together. Tough luck, Purcell."
"I managed," said Purcell Colmack.
"And Rogier ran off and hid in the wine cellar," guessed Vivian.
"Not at all," said Sir Rogier, "not at all. It was, hmm, two weeks ago, no, twelve days. It was a thaw. Beautiful day. So I went out for a ride: you know, when we got to Hvanar I half expected to see Rugian bands encircling its walls, but by this time I had nearly forgotten there was such a thing as a Rugian, one never sees a sign of them and hardly hears them mentioned in Hvanar."
"Ohhh," said Vivian. "I bet I can guess where this is going."
"Can you? Maybe so. Well, I was just around the corner of a rock face along the road that overlooks the Snow River when I saw plenty of Rugians. These were almost all women, about ten of them, if my frightened eyes did not count each one twice. But they knew who I was, more or less. They spoke good English: 'Countess's Man,' one said, 'you're coming with us.'
" 'Sure,' I answered, for they brandished weapons, 'but where?'
" 'Our chieftain needs to send the Countess a message.'
"So with that, we all started riding, in strict formation, the Rugians on their horses all around me. I don't recall ever before seeing more than one Rugian at a time on horseback, but these were good riders, even though I'm sure your Finesse could outrun them. We rode for more than an hour, but I doubt they feared any pursuit. Knowing Thane Ellimer, I assume there's never a patrol out so much as a mile down that road from Hvanar. We stopped by a narrow canyon where a frozen stream flows into the Snow River. They took me up the canyon and around another corner of rock. Beautiful country up there, by the way, if you've never been."
"You're getting evasive," said Vivian.
"Sorry. Well, there she was, in all her glory. Several inches taller than me, and I'm six foot one. Red-blond hair hanging four feet in braids like rope. Armor over thick furs, and a broadsword that I probably couldn't pick up. She said, 'I am called Sigrith.'"
"Oh, her!" said Vivian.
"Oh, wonderful," said Weaver.
"There was a little encampment there," Sir Rogier went on, "maybe twenty of them in four tents. We sat in the big tent and she spent at least an hour telling me exactly how things were and how they should be."
"And how should they be?"
"Well, let's start with how they are. She's concerned about this Torak person."
"That's the big chieftain," Weaver put in. "He's the boss in Selac. He's the one that took Radun and Acali."
"And he's apparently thought of as underhanded," said Sir Rogier.
"Yeah, and brutal and savage too, but I guess he's quite a leader."
"Well, he's not Sigrith's leader. She seems to be the chief of the warrior women of the Rukh, that's what the Rugians call themselves. Not all her warriors are women, but three fourths are at least, which I take it is not the usual among the Rugians. Anyway, Sigrith thinks Torak is some sort of major menace to the world. It didn't sound like mere clan rivalry, although that's there too. She regards him as your biggest threat as well."
"Among the Rugians, I guess he is," said Vivian.
"She hinted that he's allied with the Farlainers, though I don't think she knows the name Farlain. 'Torak, and those who squat in the stone-walled city where the rivers meet, the folk of the blue horse, they eat together at the Countess's table,' she said. It's hard to explain, but she ascribed all sorts of hidden plots to Torak and his allies. And it all makes a certain sense, doesn't it? Torak invades, and you have to call in the Duke's men, and then the Duke takes over, and Torak can take Radun, and--"
"Yes," said Vivian, "it does make sense. Precious little does, these days."
"For instance," said Francis Weaver, "why this warrior woman would invade our land and take one of our towns and then suddenly have a change of heart and be on our side."
"She claims that land as her clan's from of old," said Sir Rogier. "And it was Rugian territory before Clane existed. She said she didn't want any more of our land. 'I could have Hvanar if I wanted,' she said, and she spat when she said Ellimer's name. She also said that the refugee farmers were welcome back on her territory, if they acknowledged her as their lord."
"Well," said Vivian, "I don't know if I like that, but it's new."
"Yes. And then this, my lady. She wants to meet with you. Of course, she's nervous as a cat about it, and so should you be, but that's what she said. She was also nervous about 'others of the Rukh' hearing of her contact with you."
"I can understand that."
"And that, more or less, is the totality of what the lady Sigrith had to say to you, or to me," said Sir Rogier. "It took all afternoon and night and then the next morning, for she said many things over and over again. But by noon the next day I was back in Hvanar, and I had to make up the story that I had gotten lost exploring the back country, and slept in an abandoned hut. I thought it was at least as believable as the truth."
"Indeed," said Vivian. "I can hardly credit either one. But Sigrith needs to be approached. Perhaps whenever Spring finally comes to this mountain land, I will send out Ellean and Martin to treat with the Lady Sigrith of the Rukh. Perhaps even I shall go to Hvanar by the mountain trails, to set Thane Ellimer straight on a thing or two. But like I said, I also have news, news I got just this afternoon before my three sets of noble messengers returned from their journeys."
"You did promise us news of your own," said Sir Rogier. "Tell me that it is not of Thane Burley and Skavin."
"It is not, but if you're concerned, I can send you thither next. No, Thane Burley's latest word is that he's doing fine up there, but he's withholding taxes until we plow the roads."
"Skavin still holds."
"It does, and Thane Burley might soon get the idea that he doesn't need us. No, the Avars' spears are pointed elsewhere. I received news this afternoon. There has been a battle north of Tenford in Shadewind. The Count ordered his sons, including my former suitor Mertenus, to challenge the Avar raids into the hilly north of his land. Ten thousand Shadewind troops met the Khan's six thousand a little over a week ago. The Avars annihilated of the Shadewind force: yes, the messenger used the A word. Lord Mertenus and his brothers are all dead. So, I think, are the dreams of glory of the so-called Duke."
"Whence came this news?" asked Sir Rogier after a silence.
"Our unofficial representative in Angren."
"This hardly means that Shadewind will fall," said Sir Rogier. "They have twice as many men as that in the south, where they have been holding down much of the old Duchy of Allor. It means that Allor gets a reprieve."
"It means," said Vivian, "that it's not just our problem. But it also means that we can no more expect help from the other Sovereign Lords than they can expect help from us. It means that the rotting stench of the dead Empire is starting to attract scavengers."
"And yet there is that claimant."
"Yes, isn't that odd? Of course the Duke of Farlain is really a claimant. He thinks the Throne might be just the right size for his big fat butt. And here is this other, this heir championed by--Chalris, of all people. This one 'whose heritage from the Imperial Line is unimpeachable'. What are we to make of it?"
"I think," said Francis Weaver, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
"Hmm. Yes, I'd think so too, but--here is the dead body of the Empire, and any fool can see it's dead, cut into pieces, headless for forty years now, some of its organs gone, others rotted from within, its muscle, the old Imperial Army, and its blood, the traders that it protected, gone and almost gone. Even the great fools that are the Lords Sovereign, and I include myself among their number, even we great fools know better than to try to graft a new head onto this rotting and dismembered corpse. We think like a bunch of independent kingdoms, invading, allying, betraying each other. Yet here comes this ghost to try to reenter the corpse. Why?" No one answered. After a silence, the Countess raised her glass. "It's not ours to say, but it's worth wondering about. And now, a toast: my throat is dry from all this talk."
"No, no," said Angeline. "It is ours to toast you. Here's to her Ladyship, Vivian, Seventeenth Countess of Clane, and to her daughter and heiress, the Lady Susan, may she learn to walk on the cobbled streets of Vonnis."
They drank, and laughed, and Sir Rogier and the Countess each brushed a hidden tear from their eyes as they did. Then Vivian said, "I hope she learns to walk before she's old and grey," and they went on, talking and laughing and thinking of more things to toast, until Willd had to carry Vivian to bed.