In many ways, they had been preparing for this for years. Sir Jinmin of Oskerre appeared last, summoned from the North Gate where he commanded the night watch. The chair creaked beneath his weight as he took his seat at the long table.
Six men, his closest and most trusted knights. All of them had had opportunities to betray him over the years, and had steadfastly refused. Remin keenly felt the absence of Sir Huber Adaman, who would have asked the most uncomfortable questions, and Sir Miche of Harnost, who would have laughed Remin’s fears down to a manageable size.
“This may be nothing,” Remin began, trying to settle himself. “It may be just an inconvenience. It might be that we will go to Starfall, have our audience, and then come home. Or it might be an attempt to abduct or kill the Duchess of Andelin, the mother of my House, a child of the stars.”
Viewing the Emperor’s invitation as merely a threat to himself and his wife robbed it of its significance. She was a duchess, a princess, the mother of his heirs and his rightful partner in society and politics. An attack on her was not merely a crime. It was grounds for war.
“In either case, we have already been making preparations,” he said, his mouth hardening. “Juste.”
“Darri has been working on placing people into key positions,” Sir Justenin said readily. His was the most dangerous and clandestine work in the capital. “Inside and outside Starfall, and within certain noble Houses. They are distributed in the structure we discussed, small units and individuals who are unknown to each other. We intended our decoys to be discovered early next year, but we will move that forward. The Emperor will never believe you are idle, my lord.”
“Good. Before we arrive in the city, I want them to have secured routes in and out of Starfall,” Remin said, looking at the map of the small island. Starfall was smaller than Tresingale, nine square miles, but far more secure. The city walls went right up to the river, and the Emme was wide and deep. It was a fortress.
“There are two bridges and four piers,” Edemir said, tapping their locations on the map. “The piers are for deliveries. Servants in Starfall all wear livery and have to provide a badge to go in and out of the delivery entrances.”
“I want eyes on all of them. Put guardsmen on the walls and workers on the docks, if we can.” Remin studied the map, mentally listing priorities. He had long considered how he might break Starfall, if he had to, but it was a different prospect when he and Ophele might be inside it. “While we are there, nothing goes in or out without being observed.”
Quills scratched as he spoke. Each of his men were accustomed to their own areas of authority, and it saved a great deal of discussion. It went without saying that this sort of clandestine, small-scale work was only possible while everyone in the capital was still being nice.
“Estimates of the forces inside Starfall, and estimates of the forces inside Segoile,” Remin continued, examining the routes in and out of the city, the wide avenues that divided the estates of the Wold. The sprawling estates of the noble quarter of the city had changed since his parents’ time. The nobility of Segoile had voted to convict and sent his whole family to the block, and only afterward realized that if one noble House could be extinguished overnight, so could another. Those estates now had high walls and many guards. “Make that Darri’s second priority. He should be monitoring the numbers of every guard force in the city, and their movements.”
“He has been working on that already, Your Grace,” Juste replied, and Remin plucked up his own quill as he totted up Juste’s numbers, rattled off from memory. Darri had not been idle in the capital.
“Bram, you will augment our forces.” Remin jabbed the tip of his quill at his final figures. “I will send some of our men to the capital in ones and twos, but we dare not move any forceof significance. You will have to acquire more. Move them into Waterside, no one will notice them there.”
“Give me a few commanders for them,” the former mercenary agreed. “I can’t promise an army for you over the course of a winter, Rem, but maybe I’ll go by Rendeva on my way to the capital, and see what I can find.”
Rendeva always had a ready supply of mercenaries.
“Send word once you have them. Tounot, how is our messenger network?”
“Complete, from here to Segoile.” Tounot had begun this work over the summer. His riders could cover the four hundred miles from the capital to Tresingale in four days. “I’ve begun a route from here to Ereguil, but we’re still getting our horses into place and identifying transfer points. There are three duchies between us and them.”
“Firkane, Pomeret, and Melun,” said Remin, without glancing at the map. There were nine ducal Houses in the Empire, remnants of the old kingdoms that pre-existed Argence, and he knew every mile of their boundaries. “The Brede doesn’t freeze over. We were planning to dock the ferries, but see what it would take to make them fit for winter travel. How long would it take to sail to Segoile?”
All of them looked at the map. Travel down the river would speed them considerably.
“Our ships aren’t made for open sea,” said Tounot slowly. “But we might go down the Pemburne. I’ll look into it.”
The matter of distance was paramount. If something happened in Segoile, it would take four days before anyone in Tresingale knew about it, and more than a month before an army could march there, never mind winter weather and possible opposition. At present, the forces Remin could place and maintain inside the capital would be his only forces to command. Ereguil had their own guard corps, and Remin knewthe old man would back him to the hilt, but he did not like their chances, at present. They would have to work to level the field.
“Berebet already extended a hand to us,” Tounot noted sourly. He and Justenin had disagreed strongly over the letter Duke Berebet had sent last autumn, offering to host Remin and Ophele for a social season, as if he had known already that they would come to the capital. “Firkane and Tries have been loyal to the House of Agnephus for decades. Pomeret and Sangevin are openly allied with Melun.”
“Pomeret may be persuaded,” said Edemir, lifting a finger. “There was a proposed marriage that fell through a few months back, and it was not the first broken promise. Melun may be taking their loyalty for granted. We can try to court them.”
“It will be challenging,” warned Juste. “All we can offer an ally is a great deal of money and even more enemies. We might sound out House Melun, but they will not look with favor on Her Grace as the Emperor’s bastard. And the Crown Princess must be wary on two counts, unless we can persuade her that you will limit your vengeance to her father.”
Remin could not truthfully offer any promises. Even after everything the Emperor had done, the thought of actuallykillinghim was inconceivable; to destroy the House of Agnephus might revoke the blessing of the stars forever. That would mean the destruction of the Empire itself.
But if it came to war, Remin would end it as thoroughly as he had ended the war with Valleth. He would slay the Emperor, and if the Crown Princess seemed inclined to avenge her father, he would kill her, too. He would never allow his children to face the dangers he had known all his life.
“It doesn’t hurt to listen,” he said, and glanced at Edemir. “I will need you to go and do the listening.”
“I know.” Neither of them looked at Tounot, who would have been the obvious choice for this task before his fatherdisinherited him. “Bendir can take my place. I have been bringing him along, just in case. We’re lucky it’s nearly winter, that will slow both the building and the buying.”
The discussion of the political situation lasted longest. There were many pressure points to be exploited even within the duchies; if Remin could not have sincere allies, then he would blackmail, bully, and bribe. Edemir would go and set up a noble household in the capital, as loudly and luxuriously as possible, and let it be known that the Duke of Andelin would be arriving for the social season. It would be interesting to see who snapped at the bait.
“Take a few knights and squires,” Remin added, scratching a few more marks to the balance of Edemir’s forces. “Let them test themselves in the Court of War and tell them to win honor in my name. Let anyone who wants to know that I will be along directly, if they want to challenge the Supreme Sword.”
