of the Confederacy. He had been the last man to hold the Speakership of both the Council and the Assembly simultaneously-an ambition which all the men in that room knew was held by Albrecht. If Albrecht obtained his goal, however, it would be by the profligate use of bribery. Which, in the end, was not as dangerous as the means of sheer military power which Marcomann had used.
Demansk's lips twisted into a grimace. Technically, the expression might be called a 'smile.' But there was no humor in it.
'Relax,' he commanded. 'I am as well aware as you are of the dangers involved. Which is why my proposal, I believe, accomplishes three salutary goals. It locks out Albrecht, it keeps any of us from becoming a dictator… and it allows me the chance to accomplish a personal goal which is rather dear to my heart. Vengeance.'
Not surprisingly, it was Jeschonyk who first understood. Tomsien was… not stupid, no; but not quick-witted, either.
'Ah,' murmured the old Speaker Emeritus. 'I see.'
'I don't,' said Tomsien crossly.
Jeschonyk waved a languid hand. 'Demansk will allow you to command the southern provinces, facing the barbarians with most of our army. Since I'm too damn old anyway to take the field any longer-Preble was it, for me-I'll remain here in the capital exercising political control. Which frees him up to put paid to the stinking Islesmen altogether.'
Tomsien's eyes widened. It took him longer to see a point, perhaps, but he was quite intelligent enough- experienced enough, at least-to see the implications once he did.
The real threat of a new dictator would come from whichever Confederate official could conquer large new territories on the continent. That alone would provide them with the land grants needed to cement the loyalty of a large enough army. The Western Isles, even all of them put together, did not allow for that even if conquered. The Isles were, and always had been, places for traders and fishermen and pirates. There simply wasn't enough acreage to create a large new layer of propertied men who could serve as the base of support for a dictatorship.
That was not the least of the reasons, of course, that the pirates of the Isles had been tolerated for so long. Yes, they were a pestiferous nuisance. But they posed no real threat to the Confederacy-and there simply wasn't enough to be gained by their conquest to make the effort seem worth it.
Unless… the man who led that effort had a serious personal grudge to settle.
Tomsien's eyes grew heavy-lidded, as he studied his fellow Justiciar. Demansk could practically read his thoughts.
What an idiot. She's just a woman, after all, even if she is his daughter. And for that he's willing to give me the lion's share of the army?
Demansk waited. Tomsien was not someone who could be rushed into a decision, anyway. And Demansk was quite sure that Tomsien had heard tales of Demansk's unseemly toleration of his daughter's outlandish ways.
He dotes on her. Always has, the fool. Odd, really, for such a man to have such a weakness. Almost effeminate, for all his skill at war.
When he needed to be, Tomsien could be decisive. 'Done!' he barked. 'As long as you give me the southern provinces- and a personal assurance.'
Demansk frowned. 'My word has never-'
'Damn your 'word,' Demansk!' snapped Tomsien. 'Don't play the honorable old-style Vanbert nobleman with me. It's a rotten world today-rotten through and through-and you know it as well as I do. Facts are facts. I want a personal assurance. Something a lot more tangible than words.'
Demansk ran fingers through his beard. 'I see. Very well. My son Olver-'
'No! Your oldest son, Demansk. Barrett it'll be or there's no deal.'
'He's already married,' protested Demansk. But the tone of the words was mild.
Tomsien's grimace was not quite a sneer. Not quite. 'Have him put her aside. He'll do it, don't think he won't. And the courts certainly won't be an obstacle-not after our 'triumvirate' is in place.'
Jeschonyk chimed in. 'Your daughter-in-law's family aren't all that well placed, Demansk. They'll say nothing, if they're slipped some quiet bribes.'
Demansk had expected this moment to come. So he was a bit surprised at how difficult it was to keep his rage from showing. It helped that he understood the reason. Tomsien, for all his slow way of thinking, had clearly assessed Demansk's oldest son quite accurately.
Barrett was… not the son that Demansk wished he were. His daughter, the youngest of his four children, seemed to have gotten twice her share of Demansk honor-and all of it taken from the oldest. Barrett Demansk was a typical scion of the modern nobility. Ambitious, greedy, and-Demansk didn't doubt it any more than Tomsien- would be quite willing to discard a wife who had already borne him a child in order to make a more advantageous match.
'Which of your daughters?' he grated.
Tomsien shrugged. 'Any of the three. Take your pick. It doesn't matter to me.'
Demansk left that problem for a later time. He would allow Barrett to make the choice, in any event. His son would choose unwisely, and that too would further Demansk's scheme.
He took a moment to bid farewell to a piece of his own honor. Then:
'Done,' he said softly. 'But, now that I've given you the personal assurance you insisted upon, I will demand myself that I be given complete authority over all Confederate naval forces. Every ship, every crew-and whatever else I need to crush the King of the Isles. I will have my vengeance.'
Tomsien's hand was too thick to wave languidly, but the fat Justiciar came as close as possible. Now that he had settled the deal in a manner very favorable to himself, he was quite willing to concede the crumbs from the table.
'Whatever you need,' he agreed. 'So long, of course, as you don't touch my armies, and don't try to extract resources from the southern provinces.'
Demansk shrugged irritably. 'I wouldn't do it anyway. I am principally motivated by my concerns for the Confederacy, Tomsien, whether you believe it or not. You'll be needing those armies and resources yourself, soon enough. Don't doubt for a moment that the Southrons will begin raiding again, as soon as they hear that we've committed a major expedition to conquering the Western Isles.'
Tomsien said nothing. Indeed, he looked away, as if in momentary fear that Demansk might be able to read his thoughts.
Pointless, that. Demansk could read them easily enough. Tomsien was calculating the future. After he broke the Southron probes and launched his own offensive into the southern half of the continent. With its wide rich lands… And two partners in a triumvirate, one of them old and the other possessed only of naval power. Who was to say that there might not be another dictatorship? Marcomann had done very well for himself, when all was said and done, even if he'd left something of a mess behind him when he died.
Demansk watched as Tomsien, eyes turned away, made the same calculations concerning the future that he had made of his daughters. Any of them. Take your pick. It doesn't matter to me. The havoc he might wreak in the lives of others was irrelevant, so long as it worked to his advantage.
Three hours later, when the day was almost done, Tomsien left the villa. Demansk remained behind in the chamber for a few minutes. Something in Jeschonyk's expression had made clear that the Speaker Emeritus wanted a few last private words.
'And now that he's gone, Verice, tell me what you're really planning.'
Demansk was a bit startled. Jeschonyk hadn't addressed him by his first name in years.
The old man chuckled. 'And please-spare me the speeches about the needs of the Confederacy. Not that I doubt you, mind. But nobody is that disinterested.'
Demansk frowned. 'I don't see where my motives really matter, Ion. You sat through this entire meeting, even if Tomsien and I did most of the talking and the bargaining. You know as well as I do that he came out of it with the most. I'd think you'd be worrying more about him than me.'
'Cut it out, Verice. The thing about Marcomann, you see-people forget this because of his brutality-is that he was smart. Without his wits, all his land grants and his armies wouldn't have meant anything. Tomsien's simply not
