5
'Vegetarians?' Valens frowned. 'Are you sure?'
Orsea nodded. 'We found out the hard way,' he said. 'We assumed they'd be complete and utter carnivores, so we got in every kind of meat and poultry and game we could think of, as well as most of the booze in the duchy-'
'Hold it.' Valens' frown deepened into a scowl. 'You aren't about to tell me they don't drink alcohol either.'
Orsea looked away. 'It was embarrassing,' he said. 'Not the high point of my diplomatic career.' He stood up and walked to the window. 'Though how I was supposed to have known about it…' He sighed. 'Serves me right for jumping to conclusions. I thought that, just because they're savages, they must eat flesh and drink themselves stupid three times a day. Apparently not.'
'Well,' Valens said, 'thanks for the warning. Nothing about it in any of the reports, and I confess, I'd made the same assumptions as you did.' He thought for a moment. 'Presumably they must eat cheese and drink milk, or what do they keep cattle for?'
Orsea didn't seem inclined to offer an opinion on that. 'When will they be arriving?' he asked.
'Five days' time,' Valens answered. 'Assuming they aren't held up in the mountains or anything like that. It's odd,' he went on. 'I've been fighting the Cure Hardy on and off for most of my adult life-raiding parties, that sort of thing; nothing big or political, just plain, unsophisticated robbery-and never in all that time have they ever wanted to come and talk to us. Now, just as we're about to pack up and leave, they turn up on our doorstep asking for a meeting.'
'You think they know something? About the evacuation, I mean.'
'I doubt it,' Valens said, leaning back a little in his chair. 'We've kept a pretty tight lid on our plans; besides, why would it interest them, one way or another? As far as they're concerned, we're just people to steal from when they're tired of life. Still, if they want to talk to me, they're welcome. I'll talk to anybody, within reason.' He picked up a sheet of paper he'd put on the table earlier. 'Talking of which,' he went on, 'an off-relation of yours, Jarnac Ducas, wants to see me. Wrote me a memo asking for an appointment, which strikes me as a bit formal and businesslike. Any idea what he wants?'
Orsea shrugged. 'No idea, sorry.'
'Ah well.' Valens nodded. He knew the answer, of course, because it was in the letter. 'Jarnac Ducas,' he said. 'Relation of the Miel Ducas who was your chief of staff.'
Orsea didn't turn round. 'Cousin,' he replied.
'Ah yes. He put up quite a show at Civitas Eremiae, didn't he?'
'Jarnac? Yes.' Orsea nodded. 'I put him in charge of the defenses, at the end. He did a good job in a hopeless situation.'
Obviously Orsea didn't want to talk about the Ducas family. Still, it had to be done. 'I've been meaning to ask you,' Valens went on. 'Why did you dismiss Miel Ducas? From what I've gathered, he was perfectly competent.'
'I made a mistake,' Orsea said.
'Ah. Well, we all do that. Many thanks for the tip about the Cure Hardy,' he added, in his best polite you-can- go-away-now voice. 'It'll be interesting to find out what they want.'
Orsea drifted away; not a moment too soon, as far as Valens was concerned. He was finding him increasingly difficult to tolerate, and the harder he found it, the harder he resolved to try.
In order to give Orsea plenty of time to leave the North Tower before he sent for his next appointment, he picked up the dossier on Jarnac Ducas and read it through one more time. Head of the cadet branch of the powerful Ducas family; presently head of the family as a result of the disgrace of Miel Ducas; a competent, efficient and conscientious soldier, and the finest huntsman in Eremia before the war (Valens smiled at that); given the honorary rank of colonel in the heavy cavalry, currently on detached service with the Eremian guerrillas, commanding the Vadani volunteers fighting the Mezentine occupation. Fine; he knew all that. The reason for the interview was rather more intriguing. He rang the bell, and sent a page to fetch him.
He'd seen him before, of course, and remembered him clearly. Jarnac Ducas wasn't easily forgotten. Valens' first impression had been that there was far too much of him. He loomed, and there was always the danger that he might tread on you by accident. Today, however, he was practically subdued. Valens told him to sit down, and asked him what was on his mind.
'I have a favor to ask,' Jarnac replied. He was sitting-no, perching, like a falcon on the wrist of a novice, awkward and unsteady. It was as though he was trying to act normal-sized.
'You want two squadrons of light cavalry for a raid into northern Eremia,' Valens said. 'I know, it was in your letter.' He put on his stern expression. 'There's no reason why you should've heard, but I've decided to scale down our involvement with the guerrillas. The plain fact is, they're doing a good job, but I can't afford the manpower. Any day now, you'll be getting recall orders telling you to get your men out of Eremia. Obviously you're entirely at liberty to go back if you want to; after all, you're an Eremian, I've got no right to tell you to stop fighting for your country. But the Vadani troops under your command are a different matter entirely.'
When he'd finished, Jarnac waited for a moment or so, then said: 'Understood. But if I can just explain…'
'Go on.'
Jarnac opened and closed his left hand. 'When I filed the request for the two squadrons,' he said, 'I didn't mean I wanted them as general reinforcements for the resistance. The fact is, I want them for one specific operation.'
He seemed to have run out of words, but Valens decided not to prompt him. Eventually, Jarnac went on: 'It's quite simple, actually. I've heard reports that my cousin Miel's been taken prisoner, and I want to get him out of there.'
Valens nodded. 'That's different,' he said. 'What's the position?'
Jarnac closed his eyes, just for a second. He was afraid I'd say no, Valens thought, and I don't suppose fear is something he's had much experience with. He doesn't handle it well.
'As far as I can make out,' Jarnac said, 'he was picked up by a party of looters. Apparently they're Eremian renegades, I'm sorry to say. They go round robbing the dead after battles, stealing equipment, that sort of thing; and if they find survivors, they hold them to ransom. When Miel went missing after a skirmish a few days ago, I had my people try and find out what had become of him. One of my men knows a trader who buys from these people, and he told me they've got Miel and they're about to open negotiations with the Mezentines. Obviously, we can't have that. Quite apart from the strategic implications-I mean, Miel knows everything there is to know about how the resistance is set up-'
Valens nodded. 'Fine,' he said. 'Go ahead. Will two squadrons be enough?'
'Oh, plenty,' Jarnac said quickly. 'I don't think these characters are fighters, it'll be more about speed and surprise than weight of numbers.'
'Go ahead then, by all means.' Valens frowned. 'There's just one thing,' he added. 'I don't know much about the background, but I get the impression there's bad blood between your cousin and Duke Orsea. Presumably once you've rescued him, you'll be bringing him back here. Is there anything I should know about, or is it strictly a private matter?'
Jarnac kept perfectly still for a moment, but his eyes were wide open. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I assumed…'
'That doesn't sound very good,' Valens said. 'Perhaps you ought to tell me about it.'
Jarnac wriggled a little, and Valens felt a moment of anxiety for the chair he was sitting in. 'I assumed you'd have known,' he said. 'Orsea had Miel arrested for treason.'
'I see,' Valens said. 'I'm assuming he was wrong about that.'
It was almost painful to watch. 'I suppose it depends on how you define treason,' Jarnac said. 'You see, Orsea found out that Miel had got hold of a letter he shouldn't have had.'
Valens didn't move, not even to breathe. 'A letter.'
'Yes.' Jarnac was looking at him. He had bright blue eyes. 'I can't remember offhand whether it was a letter from you to Duchess Veatriz or the other way about…'
