“What? Why not? They were a stroke of genius.”
“The pot needs to seat into the breech perfectly. The founders can’t cast them with enough precision. We can’t get them to line up right. Which isn’t a huge problem if we’re shooting gravel but metal warshot can hang up and damage the weapon. Solid shot can hang up enough for the pot to explode. The weapons would have a very short life under field conditions.”
Hecht sighed. This was an old story. The human mind could invent things that human hands could not make work. “I understand. But don’t give up on the idea completely.” He hurried to overtake the Empress.
Katrin went straight to her sedan. She had had all the activity she could take. She told her Commander of the Righteous, “I’m inclined to turn you loose. Next planning session bring your best assessment of the weapons makers. We may have to alter our strategy. Meanwhile, I’ll be flooding the Eastern Empire with embassies this summer. Maybe they can do some good.”
“As you will, so shall it be, Your Grace.”
“How do you think it went, boss?” Prosek asked. He had not yet recovered from having to speak to the Empress directly.
“Relax, Drago. She’s as human as you are. Just more dangerous. And a little crazier. I think we did well. She got what we wanted her to get.”
Prosek muttered something.
“What?”
“I just said them two women are too damned smart.”
“You could be right.”
Helspeth said, “You’re going to get what you want.” She sipped coffee, looked at Hecht over the rim of her cup. “From my sister.”
“Really?” In a teasing tone that surprised him more than it did the Princess Apparent.
“I could tell what you were thinking. Wicked man.”
“Ouch! Then I’d better kill you before you tell somebody.”
“Smart aleck.”
“Can’t help it. I get distracted.”
Helspeth smiled a small smile.
Hecht said, “And I’m as happy as I’ve ever been. Life is good. I have a job I like, working for somebody who is interested and supportive. If a little scary sometimes. What more could I ask?”
“Ask? Maybe nothing. Want? I could make a suggestion but these old cows might hear.”
There did appear to be an extra ration of chaperones.
“Well, yes. There’s something that would be nice.”
Helspeth said, “She isn’t a little scary, she’s very scary. Almost enough to make me hope they find some fool prince who wants to carry me off. To safety. For as long as Katrin hangs on.”
Was that a hint of something hidden but important?
Helspeth leaned in to whisper, “The Council Advisory has sent a delegation to Castauriga. Very secret. To get Jaime to come back. Katrin doesn’t know. Yet. She’ll figure it out.”
Hecht had not known. Titus had missed that.
Numerous delegations had departed Alten Weinberg in recent weeks. Several of Algres Drear’s suspects had been posted to one or another. Almost, Hecht thought, as if the person handing out the appointments had a good idea which of her subjects might be most useful farthest from town.
Helspeth said, “It’s risky. No telling what Katrin will do if Jaime flat refuses to see her again.”
“I hear rumors that she’s not well.”
“Rumors? You saw her the other day. Did she look healthy?”
“No.”
“No is right. Her physicians keep looking grim. At the same time, a lot of people who are never nice to me have been stricken kind.”
“Good. Have the physicians told you anything?”
“Not really. They thought she was being poisoned. Caches of arsenic and belladonna were found in the Winterhall kitchen. The cooks disavowed any knowledge. They didn’t seem to be lying. There’s no sorcerer available who can backtrack and identify the culprit.” And that villain would have been busy covering trail.
“I wondered. Because of how she looked. But she started improving.”
“Because of you.”
“What?”
“People notice things, Piper. Like you having your men tag along behind half the nobles in the city. Things like thugs who try to discourage your men ending up thoroughly discouraged themselves.”
“Really?” He had not known about that. But he did not need to know. “The people being followed are supposed to notice. The idea is to encourage them to behave.”
“They’re encouraged. Katrin’s health started improving right away. So much that she noticed and worked it out for herself. So she started handing out ambassadorships to people you seemed not to trust.”
“It’s all working out, then.”
“Except that she’s still sick in her head and heart. In her soul and her body. A lot of people think she’ll die even if she isn’t being poisoned.”
“Which they thought about your brother.”
“And Lothar died.”
“But years later than even the optimists were betting. Your sister does still have something to live for. Her crusade.”
“Her mad expedition that she hopes will make her more famous than Hansel Blackboots.”
“Is that how you see it?”
“Don’t you?”
“No. I believe her. She’s so sincere it’s terrifying. When you consider where her determination might take us. What it might cost the world.”
“You puzzle me, Piper. Truly. I’d expect you to be a butcher. The nature of your profession. But you do care about the harm you do. Maybe that’s what… No. That’s animal. It started the first time I saw you. Anyway, my father cared, too. A great deal.”
“Cared but didn’t let caring keep him from doing what needed doing.”
“Nor will you.”
“No. I won’t.”
“You showed that in the Connec.”
“I hope the world understands the points I was trying to make. But I doubt it. Most people can’t get anything more subtle than a hammer between the eyes.”
Helspeth poured fresh coffee. She contrived to touch him several times as she did.
Several women noticed. None seemed to care.
Hecht wondered if there might not be a faction hoping a liaison developed. That could take Helspeth off the marriage market for a decade at least. Once a woman reached a certain age she was no longer expected to be an innocent maiden. Especially if she came equipped with a handsome dowry.
What could be more handsome than an entire empire?
To the pleasure of some and the despair of others the Empress regained her color and strength and energy, if not her full grasp on reality. She became bold. She braved the streets with a handful of lifeguards. She looked fortune in the teeth and sneered. She passed many of her more tedious duties to her sister and spent her time watching the troops train, both those assembling at Hochwasser and her own Righteous, as she now styled Piper Hecht’s force. Which she authorized to increase their numbers twice over the course of just two weeks.
She bestowed the incomes of several of her grander holdings upon the Righteous, having seen little waste and less corruption there.
There being no stemming the flood of money, Hecht armed Buhle Smolens with an additional mission and the
