work.
He pressed for specifics about what he was expected to accomplish. With what men and resources.
He heard little that had not been part of some rumor already reported by Titus Consent.
Hecht told his staff, 'This one is just as loony as Sublime was. But his ambitions are less mean. He's honestly determined to make the world a better place. For everyone, not just for himself and his cronies. Hell, for as old as he is, he's ridiculously naive. He thinks all the evil accumulated over the last few years will clear off if we're just men of goodwill. Ready to invade the Connec again. And, just like the rumors say, we're supposed to use our new tools to render that land free of its revenant Instrumentalities.'
The expressions he saw ranged from baffled to unbelieving. His officers were unable to comprehend. 'Never mind. It signifies nothing. Just get ready to enter an environment where the Night is used to having its own way.'
Hecht's companions gawked.
They did not understand.
Nor did he, really.
He said, 'We're getting paid. Prosek. Take delivery on as much weaponry as possible. Get your new crews trained up.'
'Yes, sir.' Prosek grinned from ear to ear. He loved the bangs and stinks.
Coming off one of the bridges from the Castella, lost in thought, Hecht found himself suddenly seized and dragged backward. Lifeguards rushed past, responding to some threat he did not see. Then Madouc announced, 'False alarm, men.'
The bodyguards had pounced on two civilians, now shaking in terror. 'Stay here, sir.' Madouc went to ask why the two had gotten into the Captain-General's path.
Madouc returned. 'They've been hanging around, waiting to take you to the Arnhander ambassador.'
'Is it that time already?'
'It is.'
'Damn. I was hoping to sneak into the Chiaro Palace and get some coffee from Delari's cook.'
'I've never had that pleasure,' Madouc informed him. 'I have smelled it. Delicious.'
'It smells better than it tastes. Tell them to lead on. And I hope it isn't far. Bechter has me loaded down all day.'
'Sergeant Bechter took time into account when he filled your schedule.'
Of course. Bechter would have consulted Madouc.
He needed to talk to Bechter about the lifeguard situation. Madouc was a good man. But he and Hecht had begun to resent one another simply because of the demands their relationship placed upon them. That was not good.
Hecht's face went stony the moment he saw the purported ambassador. He had not met the man before but recognized him by his hunchback. Rinpoche. One of those thoroughly corrupt priests that Sublime had so favored.
The man had a knack for surviving the disasters he authored, apparently. Morcant Farfog had had, too. For a time. Never really interested in Arnhand's efforts in the Connec, Hecht had paid little attention so long as that kingdom's agents stayed out of his way.
Rinpoche smiled. 'Thank you for seeing me, Captain-General.'
The smile went unreturned. Hecht said, 'You aren't the Arnhander legate. I was told I'd be seeing King Regard's man.'
The hunchback smirked. 'I may be closer to the heartbeat of Salpeno than the Count d'Perdlieu.'
'I doubt it. I recognize you. I know your reputation. Neither the Church nor I have any business with you.'
Rinpoche's expression hardened. 'Remember who you're talking to. Remember whom I represent.'
'I am. I'm not impressed. You should recall whom you're talking to and whom I represent. Sublime isn't Patriarch, now. His follies are being addressed. Incompetence and corruption are no longer tolerated. Any odor whatsoever out of Arnhand could cause this Patriarch to review his predecessor's decisions concerning the legitimacy of marriages.'
A man in brown turned into being behind the gnome. He grinned and waved and twisted away into invisibility again.
The hunchback visibly controlled himself. He was unaccustomed to being thwarted. Anne of Menand must see something in him that remained invisible to the rest of humanity. Else why invest him with so much power that he could not imagine disobedience?
'Perhaps. But this Patriarch will not be with us long.'
True. And Hecht had a few ideas he wanted to kick around with Principate Delari and Cloven Februaren. He liked having Hugo Mongoz in charge.
'As may be.' No leading candidate to succeed Boniface VII said anything good about Anne of Menand. Some Principates from neighboring states argued for a successor who would withdraw the Church's blessing from Regard and his mother. Hecht did not expect that to happen. Arnhand lashed by Anne, provided the majority of the Church's income. And most of the warriors who went to defend the Crusader states in the Holy Lands.
'The situation in Salpeno won't be your problem, Captain-General. I want to talk about things you will have to deal with.'
Hecht felt obligated to give the man his say. 'I'm listening.' He might learn something.
'Boniface means to send you back into the End of Connec.'
'I hear rumors to that effect. I have no orders yet.'
'This Patriarch withdrew the charter of the Society. He's ordered its dissolution.'
'Yes.' Reserving his approval of that.
'He might expect you to enforce that.'
Hecht nodded. It would be enforced. He meant to see Society members who defied Boniface VII returned to Brothe for ecclesiastical trial.
'We urge you to look the other way. Those brothers are doing the work of the Lord.'
'In defiance of the Infallible Voice?'
Flash of irritation.
The hunchback had swum so deep in corruption, for so long, that he had no grasp of the notion that others might not be equally corrupt. Or, at least, useful in their peculiar honesty.
Rinpoche said, 'The Connec will be cleansed of heresy. My lady will see to that. I'm offering you the opportunity to be part of the solution to the heresy problem.'
'If that's the will of the Patriarch and the Collegium, then that's what will be.'
More irritation. 'The King is young. He has many years ahead. Before the end of his days the Connec will be subject to Arnhand's crown.'
'We have nothing to discuss. You're living in a fantasy, disconnected from all political and religious reality. I suspect that it's impolitic of me even to have spoken with you.'
'You'll regret your attitude.'
'I doubt it. So long as Anne trusts men like yourself to further her ambitions she'll go on enjoying successes like Caron ande Lette, Calour, and the Black Mountain Massacre. Good day.'
'There'll be a new Connecten Crusade, Captain-General. With or without you.'
'Without, most likely. But the Patriarch will make that decision.'
Madouc fell into step beside Hecht. 'That went faster than I expected.'
'It wasn't the Arnhander ambassador. It was an agent of Anne of Menand. He wants me to ignore her mischief in the Connec. Wants me to let the Society run wild there, again.'
'You told him where to insert his idiot ideas?'
'I was more circumspect. But not by much.' He wondered if Cloven Februaren would do anything to add misery to the hunchback's life.
'An ambitious woman, Anne. Up to her ears in enemies, inside Arnhand and out. She just ignores them. That has to catch up someday.'
'How long before we need to show at the Penital?'
