which has worked out pretty well for me personally…so far, at least. But don’t wed yourself to the idea that They always know what They’re doing. Or that They even know what all the cusp points are. Both sides manage to hide at least some of the more critical threads from each other. That’s how They blindsided Wencit and the Ottovarans in Kontovar, but it also means the other side can blindside Them.”
It would have been hard to say whether Sahrdohr looked more unhappy or more worried by Varnaythus’ frankness, but he gave a grudging nod.
“Still,” he said after a moment, “I can’t see this leading to any fundamental advantage for them. So Bahzell’s found a lover-so what? If anything, it makes him more vulnerable, not less, especially if anything…unfortunate were to happen to Mistress Leeana. And she’s already legally out of the succession, so even if they were to have a child someday-and you know how likely that is-it won’t make any difference in the West Riding. For that matter, Bahzell’s so far down the succession from his father that it wouldn’t make any difference in Hurgrum, either!”
“Granted.” Varnaythus nodded. “And granted that it’s going to be more grist for the mill of really traditional Sothoii like Cassan and Yeraghor. In fact, it’ll be interesting to see which outrages them the most in the end. They’ve been disgusted over Leeana’s becoming a war maid in the first place, but now they get the chance to be even more disgusted and revolted by the notion of a hradani ‘polluting’ one of the most highly born Sothoii ladies imaginable. Of course, it would be more than a bit inconsistent of them to be pissed off over both those things at once, but little things like consistency never hamper your true bigot’s outrage, now do they?” He pursed his lips while he considered it for several seconds, then snorted. “Knowing Cassan, I imagine they’ll come down on the side of it’s being no better than bestiality, in the end. After all, what else could you expect out of an unnatural bitch like a war maid?”
“Ummmm.” Sahrdohr frowned thoughtfully. “You may have a point there, especially if we handle it properly- get behind it and push judiciously in the proper direction.”
“I’m perfectly willing to push all you want, but I’m not going to let myself be distracted from the main object. And if the chance comes along to kill either of them, I intend to take it.” Varnaythus showed his teeth in an expression no one would ever have mistaken for a smile. “Bahzell’s on our list anyway, and you’re right about the way this makes him more vulnerable. Champions of Tomanak should be smarter than to offer up hostages to fortune this way. And any nasty little accident which befell Mistress Leeana would have a salutary effect on Tellian, too, for that matter. Using this to foment more unhappiness among the bigots might be useful, but if she’s considerate enough to wander into our sights at an opportune moment, I’ll take the opening in a heartbeat.”
“Do you think there might be a way we could use her as bait?” Sahrdohr thought out loud. “Grab her and use her to suck Bahzell into a place and time of our choosing?”
“Oh, there might be ‘a way,’” Varnaythus said, “but I wouldn’t hold my breath looking for it, if I were you. We’re talking about a war maid. And a wind rider, now. Not exactly the easiest person in the world to capture and use for ‘bait’! Especially not when the war maid in question is as good with her hands as Mistress Leeana and the courser who’s adopted her is Walsharno’s sister. You do remember what Gayrfressa did to the shardohns who attacked her herd, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Sahrdohr replied a bit irritably. “Not even a courser is immortal, though. Arthnar’s men would’ve killed Dathgar if Bahzell and Walsharno hadn’t been there. For that matter, they could’ve gotten Walsharno if they hadn’t been so focused on Tellian! So it doesn’t really matter how dangerous Gayrfressa might be if we can get enough arrows into her first. And the same goes for Leeana, for that matter.”
“True.” Varnaythus nodded. “That’s why I’m perfectly willing to kill her if the opportunity presents itself. But trying to take her alive?” He grimaced. “ That would require getting just a bit closer to her than bow range, and I’d suggest you ask the dog brothers how many of them would be eager to take on that particular commission. Personally, I’m willing to bet none of them would. Not without a damned substantial bonus, at any rate.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “For that matter, I’m sure they remember what happened the first time they went after someone close to the Bloody Hand-and he wasn’t even a champion then! Does the name ‘Zarantha’ ring any bells with you, by any chance?”
“You’re probably right,” Sahrdohr conceded with a sigh. He frowned again, absently this time, and sat staring into space for several seconds. Then he shrugged and refocused on Varnaythus.
“I assume we do want to pass this information on to Cassan and Yeraghor as soon as we can?”
“Of course we do. Master Talthar will turn up in Toramos to discuss it with the good duke in a day or three.” Varnaythus shrugged. “I’ll even do a little of that judicious pushing we discussed, although he probably won’t need that much to throw three kinds of fit over it. Especially when I report on Tellian’s antics here in Sothofalas at the same time.”
“No, he isn’t going to be happy about that, is he?” This time Sahrdohr’s smile was almost beatific. “Particularly not with my own esteemed superior’s contribution.”
Varnaythus returned his subordinate’s smile. Sir Whalandys Shaftmaster and Sir Jerhas Macebearer had finally talked King Markhos into officially sanctioning Tellian of Balthar’s Derm Canal project. All of the Derm Canal project, including not only the Gullet Tunnel but the open challenge to the Purple Lords’ monopoly of the Spear River, as well.
Macebearer had been supportive from the outset, although his acute awareness of the potential political price had prevented him from openly and officially endorsing it. His advice to the King on the subject was hardly likely to come as a surprise to anyone, however, whereas Shaftmaster had been far more dubious initially. Unfortunately, the fact that everyone-including King Markhos-knew the Chancellor had originally cherished such powerful doubts only made his conversion into a supporter an even weightier argument in the canal’s favor.
Of course, Shaftmaster’s original reservations had stemmed from more than one factor. First and foremost, he’d doubted that such a monumental project was possible, even for dwarven engineers. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he’d been only too well aware of the enormous economic advantage for the entire Kingdom if it could be done, but he’d been far from convinced it could. And as the son of one of Tellian of Balthar’s lord wardens, he’d probably been even more aware of the advantages for his father’s holding of Green Cove, squarely on the most direct route from the Gullet Tunnel to Sothofalas. But he’d also been aware of the political risks inherent in endorsing it too loudly, specifically because of his family’s links to the West Riding and just how wealthy Green Cove stood to become if it succeeded. The last thing any chancellor of the exchequer needed was to be accused of using his position for personal or family profit, especially in the Kingdom of the Sothoii, where political exchanges were still known to turn into personal combat upon occasion. Quite aside from any considerations of physical survival, a chancellor whose personal honor and honesty had been brought into question would become far less effective as a minister of the Crown.
And on top of any political factors, there’d been the fact that he’d been about as thoroughly prejudiced against the hradani as anyone could have been. In fact, up until three or four years ago, he’d belonged to the court faction most concerned by the threat of a unified hradani realm, and it was no secret that he’d quietly approved of Sir Mathian Redhelm’s attempt to prevent that from happening, which had put him in direct opposition to Tellian’s actions. That had led to a certain tension between him and Sir Shandahr Shaftmaster, his father…not to mention Tellian himself. In fact, that tension was one of the things which had made him acceptable at the Exchequer (at least initially) as far as Cassan and his partisans had been concerned, and he’d frankly doubted that anyone as primitive and barbaric as hradani could possibly hold up their end of the proposed construction schedule even if the dwarves could actually design the thing in the first place.
Unfortunately, while he might have been prejudiced, he wasn’t stupid, and his attitude had shifted steadily from one of acid skepticism to one of enthusiastic support. The numbers had been too persuasive for him to ignore, and the steady-indeed, astonishing-rate at which the construction had progressed, coupled with the success of the expeditions Tellian and Bahnak had launched into the Ghoul Moor, had dealt his contempt for the hradani a death blow. He still didn’t like them-or the idea of an actual alliance with them-but he’d been forced to admit the same things which had made them formidable foes could make them equally formidable allies. Besides, he was a realist. Unlike Cassan, who might continue to dream fondly of the way the Northern Confederation must inevitably disintegrate upon Bahnak’s death, Shaftmaster recognized that Bahnak had built better than that. The Confederation was here to stay, whether he liked it or not, and since it was, he preferred to be on good terms with it and to bind its future economic interests to those of the Kingdom in any way he could. People were far less likely to attack people whose prosperity was intimately linked to their own, after all. A point, Varnaythus thought glumly, which wasn’t lost on Kilthan, Bahnak, or Tellian, either.
That realism and pragmatism of Shaftmaster’s were the reasons he’d finally come out and firmly supported
