Part 45 (2/2)

Proximity to the throne, he thought, was intoxicating, but it was also unnerving. Estragoth, secure in himself and older than the Emperor, had been immune, but Malum had been living on the edge for some months now and it was playing havoc with his digestion.

”The Elector of Estragoth had a number of excellent sources. Sire,” he said cautiously, ”but they do not have the contacts with the younger generation and there are those who, quite naturally, do not trust me in the same way that they trusted my Lord of Estra- goth. I have some of my own men in place now, but it takes time.”

Varodias turned his attention back from the hawk.

”It would be well, given the changing circ.u.m- stances”-his left hand described a vague circle in the air-”if we had intelligence of Isphardel. In my pre- decessor's day, traders sufficed, but we think it wise now to know what the Oligarchs are planning. It is our opinion that they intend to make Isphardel into a major power and, since we share a border, it behooves us to know what is in the minds of their Council.”

Here is his chance, he thought. If he knows he will tell me now.

249.

Malum smiled to himself, but allowed no trace of triumph to show. ”I have made a start in that direction, Sire,” he said. ”Unfortunately the Isphardis are a venal lot so it is an expensive undertaking. The good in that is that their venality makes them relatively easy to sub- orn. I have an informant placed high in the household of one of the Oligarchs.”

”A good beginning,” the Emperor allowed, ”and you shall have money as you need it. What says this man?”

”That the Council is taken up with the logistics of road building,” Malum replied, not bothering to inform his sovereign that his informant was a woman.

A peal of disconcerting laughter rang out, startling both the hawk and Malum. The Emperor's gloved hands beat together like a child's. ”And think of the cost,” he crowed. ”If a couple of setbacks occurred, it could end up bankrupting them.” He has failed, he thought be- hind the facade of mirth. He needs another test.

”Your Majesty is most wise,” Malum said, making a mental note.

The Emperor allowed his good humor to subside. The long, mobile face became stem once more.

”There is a commission that we would have you per- form for us,” he said. ”The Mother Supreme is, as you know, here at Angom. She is an old woman and un- healthily obese. We should not care to have the Church in the throes of change if there are severe problems in the realm. It is our opinion that the lady's time has come. Better now than at a more inappropriate date. It would be fitting if she ate something that disagreed with her, or mayhap choked on her food. It must appear an entirely natural death. Do we make ourselves clear?”

”Absolutely, Sire.”

”You may go then.”

Malum bowed once more and retreated. Varodias turned to the gyrfalcon. He hummed to himself as he

250 stroked the fierce head. An interesting session. What was obvious was that the Mother Supreme had an ex- cellent network of spies and that meant that there would be some in the Imperial household. He would root them out. Their deaths would be slow and painful. He smiled at the thought-

chaptCR 22

ie Oligarchs of Isphardel were gathered to discuss policy. It was as discreet a meeting as could be ar- ranged, given the fact that Belengar was a place where no secret was safe and that it was impossible to disguise the fact that every Oligarch was out of the city at the same time. There was no regulation that forbade it, it was just that it went against mercantile self-interest and that was enough to provoke comment.

That the Oligarchs should seek relief from the heat and odors of the city during the Season of the Moons was not unexpected. It was the rainy season and the coastal regions were always the hardest hit. Dark clouds rolled in off the Inland Sea and disgorged torrents of rain on a daily basis. s.h.i.+ps rode high in the harbor and the culverts that ran down the streets overflowed. There was a rumor that the Magicians of the western realms were going to control the weather, but there were few who believed that they could harness the daily down- pours. Even if they did manage to drive the clouds north so that the rains fell on Songuard, it would only mean that the Illuskhardin would burst its banks and drown the city. Kadif, kadaf, as the locals said. If not one thing, then the other.

The roads leading north were all paved, but the wise and wealthy always added extra horses to their teams at this time of year when business called them away, or when their families escaped Belengar's pervasive damp

252 for the drier uplands. The absence of their families not- withstanding, only an outbreak of plague could drive all of the Oligarchs out of the city.

The meeting was being held at a summer villa on the sh.o.r.es of Lake Grad. though ''villa” was an ingenuous word for the sprawling, honey-colored, stone mansion set in five acres of gardens and surrounded by a further three hundred acres of carefully maintained parkland.

Clouds moved slowly overhead, but every now and then shafts of sunlight speared down between them and danced on the leaden surface of the lake.

Inside the house the fires were lit, even though the rest of the world would consider the temperature balmy.

In the main withdrawing room, the furniture had been moved back to make s.p.a.ce for a broad table. There was food and drink on smaller tables, but there were no servants. There were eight people in the room, all of them Oligarchs.

Isphardis tended toward olive skins and brown eyes and these heads of the old mercantile houses ran true to type. The general population tended to be dark- haired, and most of those about the central table had been dark-haired when young. Only one, Torrant Lar- ridan, was black-haired now, and everyone knew that he dyed it. There were five men beside Torrant; Calliost of the Grandons, Marwin of the Pintarels, Asphar of House Urcel, Rully of the Narboresa and Festin Man- yas, son of the former amba.s.sador to Arundel and host to this gathering. All were dressed finely in the samites and light velvets considered proper to the season.

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