Winterhall resembled the va Still-Patter house, built larger. Why did the Empress want to meet away from her palace? The grandeur there would overawe a beetle like Piper Hecht.
Madouc opined, “She knows you’ve seen Krois. You’ve seen the Chiaro Palace and the Castella dollas Pontellas. Her palace wouldn’t intimidate you. And she might want to be away from all the eyes and spies that go with a palace. Here she can talk with only a few noses poking in. Here she can get away from her fianc?.”
Rumor had King Jaime making himself thoroughly unpopular by acting like he was in charge. Katrin supposedly would not admit his bad behavior but had taken steps to neutralize it.
“Be interesting to see how much control she lets him have after the wedding,” Hecht said. Katrin Ege was used to having things her way. Often even over the objections of her Council Advisory.
“Indeed,” Madouc replied.
“What is that?” Hecht indicated construction they were passing. It could not be seen well by torchlight.
“Something being built by bankers from the Imperial states in Firaldia. Their own private fortress. You see more and more of them in northern Firaldia. Just round stone towers with only a few windows up high and just one small entrance maybe fifteen feet above the street. Good enough in family and city politics, where you don’t see heavy weaponry or extended sieges.”
Hecht recalled capturing a somewhat similar citadel in Clearenza, when Sublime V wanted to punish the local Duke. That place had had a ground-level entrance, though. And a larger footprint.
The Captain-General had to shed most of his party outside the Ege palace. And all of his weapons. Unarmed, Madouc was allowed to accompany him as far as the doorway of the sizable room where the Empress had chosen to see Hecht. He remained outside with a brace of humorless Braunsknechts.
The room was drawn from an eastern potentate’s fantasy, all silken pillows in bright colors. The air was heavy with rare incense. Six women were present. Hecht recognized the Empress and her sister. Katrin had aged badly. The other women were unfamiliar. They would be ladies-in-waiting, wives or daughters of important nobles.
It was a torment, avoiding staring at the Princess Apparent.
One of the women seemed aware of his problem. She looked him straight in the eye, mocking and flirting.
“Captain-General, come forward,” the Empress ordered.
Hecht pushed himself. He was able to pursue ceremonials under fierce pressure. He did those things an empress would expect, but once he completed his obeisance he dared say, “This is irregular in the extreme, Your Grace.” He understood that honorific pleased Katrin, though it was more suited to a Prince of the Church.
“It is. Yes. Sit. Be comfortable.”
The Captain-General did as instructed. The Empress had gained a regal air along with the haggard look. Helspeth had gained… something dangerous. More magnetism than in his frightened fantasies.
Katrin continued, “There are matters I want to raise with you. I couldn’t, elsewhere. As it is, my Council Advisory will fulminate and bluster when they hear about this. Jaime will be petulant. But not enough to endanger his chance to become Imperial Consort.”
The woman with the challenging eyes approached the Captain-General. She brought coffee in a little cup so thin the fluid level was evident from outside. The odor said this was the finest Ambonypsgan, smuggled through Dreanger and so expensive that only kings and princes dared enjoy it.
There was a message in the appearance of that cup. The Empress knew a lot about Piper Hecht. Including his fondness for coffee.
The woman who brought the coffee murmured, “Compliments of the Princess.”
She knew.
A glance at Helspeth. The Princess Apparent was not behind that message. She had best hope this woman was a true friend.
“Thank you for the coffee, Your Grace. I haven’t had the pleasure in some time. How may I be of service?”
Encounters of this sort often dragged on, no one speaking to the point, everyone looking for some bit of leverage. Hecht was impatient.
“Two matters, Captain-General. Possibly more, later. Firstly, the Remayne Pass. You came that way?”
“I came with King Jaime. Who went the northern way. He had reservations about the pass.”
“Because the thing my sister squashed there has found new life. In a smaller way. It’s making trouble but I can’t unleash my ferocious little Helspeth again.”
So. She had heard the whispers marking Helspeth as the truer child of the Ferocious Little Hans.
Helspeth was not pleased. That was clear. But, as mentioned in more than one careful letter, she meant to be the perfect younger sister and Princess Apparent.
“And?”
“Only the Captain-General of the Patriarchal forces has the power and means to eliminate this pest. The Empire will bear the expenses. Including indemnities to the families of anyone lost in the hunt.”
Hecht took a tiny sip of coffee. That could have been arranged by go-betweens. Even if Katrin was flexing her Imperial muscles for the benefit of men who had been pushing her this way and that. Who might be inclined to do more pushing, more vigorously, these final days before the wedding.
Once trivial opposition to her choice of husbands had grown dramatically since King Jaime had become available for direct assessment.
Only Katrin remained infatuated.
Katrin proved capable of cutting through when she wanted. “That’s my lesser problem. I have something bigger in mind. First, though, I want your oath never to discuss it outside this room. If we can’t come to an accommodation.”
Hecht thought the Empress naive if she believed anything discussed here would remain secret. The ladies- in-waiting had husbands who wanted to know. Someone would tell someone, in strictest confidence.
Hecht toyed with blond hair he had let grow long. And was considering pruning back. Strands of gray had begun to appear. “I can make that commitment. But my silence won’t keep the secret.”
“No doubt. The great symbol of the Empire is the eagle. But I’m surrounded by vultures.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“But you’re not surprised.”
“The price of power, Your Grace. The higher you rise the more parasites you accumulate.”
Katrin rose from her cushions. Helspeth did the same. The Empress said, “Come with us. There’s a quiet room back here.”
Every lifeguard and lady-in-waiting began to stir, driven to protest. Katrin snapped, “My ferocious little sister will guard me against the wicked Brothen.”
Moments later the Empress herself shut the door of the most austere quiet room Hecht had seen. The walls were bare stone that sorcery could not penetrate. There were no furnishings.
Hecht studied the milky rock sheathing.
“Captain-General? I promise, it’s real. The best stone, from the quarry where Aaron and his father worked.”
“I was looking for cracks. An acquaintance-he belongs to the Collegium-can spy on a quiet room if there’re cracks anywhere.”
“Muniero Delari.”
“Him. Yes.”
“Helspeth. Stop that.”
The younger woman was trembling.
“All right.” The Princess Apparent feigned an abiding interest in the integrity of the stonework.
Katrin said, “I’ll get straight to it. Excusing themselves one way or another, someone will force that door soon. Captain-General. I want to hire you away from the Church. You, your staff, and all your professional people.”
Helspeth gasped. “Katrin?”
“Your Grace?”
“I swore an oath when I was crowned. Only my confessor knows. I mean to make the pilgrimage to the Holy
