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under the purlieu of the Hebriate crown.
Lawyer s niceties! Haukir snorted.
Those lawyer s niceties may have some import if the case is brought before a Royal commission,
Abeleyn said.
You cannot put the High Pontiff on trial, Skarpathin of Finnmark said, a conservative despite his youth
and the bloody steps he had taken to secure his throne.
No, but perhaps he is not the High Pontiff, if Macrobius yet lives. Also the purges were initiated by a
Prelate, not a Pontiff. We have yet to read a Pontifical bull extending them formally.
I hear that two thousand of the Knights are almost on Hebrion s borders, cousin. That would not have
anything to do with your haste to table this issue? Haukir said, smiling unpleasantly.
I rejoice that the resources of the Church are so lavished on my kingdom, but like Lofantyr I think they
could be better employed elsewhere.
You need men to fight the Merduks, not words, Markus, the Fimbrian marshal said suddenly, his
bluntness disconcerting. You can no longer rely on the troops of the Church, that is plain. The Pontiff
and his Prelates are playing their own game; they do not care about the fate of Ormann Dyke. They may
even be glad to see it fall, if it rids them of this rival Pontiff at the same time.
It was unforgivable to speak the truth so openly. Isolation has atrophied any kind of diplomatic subtleties
the Fimbrians might once have possessed, Abeleyn thought.
Haukir seemed to be on the verge of another explosion, but the Fimbrian continued speaking in his level,
toneless voice.
The Fimbrian Electorates have decided to put their forces at the disposal of the west. There are six
hundred tercios under arms in Fimbir itself. These troops have been set aside for possible employment
beyond the borders of the electorates. Any monarch who needs them may have them.
The table sat stunned in silence. Six hundred tercios! Over seventy thousand men. They had had a
chimera in their midst and had not known it.
Who will these tercios serve under? Lofantyr asked.
They will have their own officers, and any expeditionary force will be commanded by a Fimbrian
marshal who will in turn accept orders from whichever ruler employs him.
Employs? Cadamost asked, his red eyes narrowing. Tell me, Marshal, who will pay the wages of
these soldiers?
For the first time Markus looked less than impassive.
Their costs will have to be met by the monarch they serve under, of course.
So that was it. The Fimbrians were killing two birds with the same stone. Now that the electorates had
seemingly patched up their differences they no doubt had a wealth of unemployed soldiers on their hands.
What to do with them, these peerless fighters? Farm them out to the other western states, relieve a
no-doubt strained economy and extend Fimbrian influence at the same time. The Fimbrian crutch might
well transform into a club one day. It was a neat policy. Abeleyn wondered if Lofantyr were desperate
enough to take the bait. Surely he must see the ramifications.
I would speak to you privately after this day s meeting is concluded, Marshal, the Torunnan king said
at last.
Markus bowed slightly, but not before Abeleyn had caught the gleam of triumph in his eye.
T HE damn fool! Mark raged. Can t he see what he is doing? The Fimbrians will put a leash about his
throat and lead him around like a dog.
He is in a tight corner, Abeleyn said, sipping his wine and rolling a black olive round and round the
table to catch the sunlight. He has been baulked of his reinforcements by the Church, so he must have
men from somewhere. The Fimbrian intelligence service must be quite efficient. The timing of this offer is
perfect.
Do you think they hanker after empire again?
Of course. What else could have persuaded the electorates to cease their internal strife? My ploy of
bringing the Narbukan envoy here has fallen flatter than a pricked bladder. It is strange. Golophin must
have suspected that there was something afoot in Fimbria, for it was he who advised me to sound out the
electorates. I do not think he imagined this, though, not in his wildest dreams.
Or nightmares. Our alliance looks like pretty small beer compared with this news.
On the contrary, Mark. It is more important than ever. Cadamost has come to some secret arrangement
with the marshals, of that I am sure. They accepted his invitation, not mine. And Torunna needs troops.
How does one get to Torunna from Fimbria? Via Perigraine! Cadamost has been playing a very deep
game. Who would have believed him capable of that?
They were seated at a roadside tavern in one of the main thoroughfares of the city. Waggons and carts
trundled past unendingly, and around them was the red-gold shade of the turning trees, avenues of which
lined almost every street in Vol Ephrir. Scarlet and amber leaves dotted the ground like a crunching
carpet, and there was a cool breeze blowing. If they looked up, past the well-constructed buildings on
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