“There are Gharm there in Voorstod,” said Maire sharply, getting the Queen’s attention. “Thousands of Gharm. You don’t want them hurt. That would be a bad memorial for Stenta Thilion. Saturday must go in. Later I must.”
Queen Wilhulmia tried to focus. “What are you saying? That you have some way to save the Gharm in Voorstod?”
“Perhaps,” said Saturday.
“Perhaps,” agreed Maire. “You must let Saturday and Sam go in. No matter what else you do.”
“Is it your plan to invade Voorstod, Mother?” asked Prince Ismer. His fine features were drawn into an expression of pain and resolution. His younger brother, Prince Rals, stood at his side, blank-faced, unable to comprehend what was happening. At one moment he had been drowsily listening to some quite pleasant music, and the next moment he was being dragged off by guards. He still wasn’t sure what had happened to the harpist.
“Ismer, I don’t know if we will invade. All I know at this moment is that no man of Voorstod is to come out of that place. Should I prevent these people going in?”
Ismer regarded the three. “Why should you go into Voorstod now?” he asked Saturday.
“One reason is that my cousin is there,” said Saturday. “They’ll kill him unless someone gives them a reason not to.”
Maire stared at Sam, as she said, “If they think it is only a blockade, they will hope that eventually the blockade may be lifted. While they have hope, they may continue with their prior plans, with what they wanted before all this happened. They may still want Maire Manone. Or they may simply wish to appear reasonable, for a change. They may still be willing to trade a life for a life. Or trade many lives for the lifting of the blockade. It gives you something to bargain with, for the Gharm.”
And gives me time for myself, thought Sam. Time to meet Phaed and set this matter straight between us.
“Very well. Let us say it is only a blockade,” said the Queen. “For now. Maire Manone is right. Let them have hope. Let us conspire to get every life that we can out of there and safe before we take hope away, as I will do. What right have they to hope.”
“Sam and I … we will go in,” said Saturday, looking closely at Sam to be sure he was in agreement. “Maire must stay with the soldiers until we return.”
“Once they have you, girl, they may not want me,” said Maire. “Remember, if they saw what happened, they heard you sing. They might rather have a girl who can sing than an old woman who can’t.”
“When the time comes,” said Saturday, fueling her determination on outrage, “that’s when I’ll worry about that, Maire.”
• Men had fled from the citadel of the Cause. They had removed their coup markers, coiled up their hair on top of their heads, put on their caps, and gone out into the night like skulking beasts, quietly. Their lofty moment had turned to dust and irritation. They were greatly angered at that.
“What do we do with him?” Preu asked Epheron, indicating Jep.
It was not Epheron who answered. Mugal Pye answered. “Take him back to Sarby.”
“Why don’t we get rid of him now?”
“Because he’s a trade! Something to give for something! Kill him now, and we’ve nothing to give for nothing. Take him back to Sarby. He’s no trouble there. Let’s see what’s going to happen.”
“Oh, we’ve an idea as to what’ll happen,” said Preu, with a sneer. “Those bracelets of yours worked a pure joy, didn’t they, Pye. I’ve never seen better.”
“You got them into the box!”
“Only after Phaed found out where the Gharm was. The Gharm thought they came from the Queen. Couldn’t have been better. Timing, setting, everything. Very dramatic.” His voice was bitter.
“Bastard!” snarled Mugal Pye. “It was not only Phaed and me. We all decided when it was to be, how it was to be.”
“Neither you nor Phaed mentioned the Gharm was a pet of the whole damned Ahabarian world!”
Phaed snarled. “You knew that. That’s why you sent Pye to me in the first place. It was that riled your guts, Preu Flandry. It was that fact riled all of us. If she’d not been a pet, who’d have cared what we did to her!”
Epheron thrust a shoulder between them. “Whatever’s done’s done. Now we have to figure what’ll happen next. What do you think the Queen will do.”
Preu Flandry pursed his lips and spat, glaring at Phaed from the corners of his eyes. “Oh, she’ll have the army marching back and forth, I should say. She’ll make some threats maybe, askin’ Voorstod to turn over those who did the deed, which is us, and which the neither the Faithful nor the prophets will allow. She’ll complain to Authority, no doubt.”
“Invasion?”
He thought about it. “Either she’ll move in the next few hours, out of temper, or she’ll cool and won’t move at all.”
“So, then, we go to ground and keep quiet for a time. Let things sort themselves out.” Epheron kicked at Jep, where he crouched against the pillar. “Take him back to Sarby. Maybe he’ll be good for something there.”
• By dawn of the following day, Commander Karth was at the southern border of Green Hurrah with armies stretching in long east and west wings, curving northward to the sea. The lines would cut off Voorstod from the rest of the land. The order was search and seize. Persons who could not be identified as known and trusted residents of Green Hurrah were to be rounded up and placed in confinement camps at the rear of the lines. The line was to push into Green Hurrah
