Conqueror’s Moon: Part One of the Boreal Moon Tale. Julian May
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Conrig drew out his cup, sipped the fiery liquor, and said, ‘Much better than Stippenese wine! Did both of you eat your wafers?’
They nodded. Beorbrook’s smile was now openly wicked. ‘Clever trick, with the poison. But I think Skellhaven was the only dubious one in the pack.’
‘You guessed?’ the prince asked.
‘I’m the futterin’ earl marshal. I’m supposed to be sharp. Made certain that all of them munched up the antidote goodie, too. Your blockhead godfather, here, was going to save his and give it to the duchess. Dear Monda has a sweet tooth.’
The prince paled. ‘Saint Zeth! I never thought—’
Vanguard waved a hand. ‘Let it be. We’re all playing a dangerous game … And speaking of games, I think you’d better tell us how you made the acquaintance of Lady Ullanoth.’
‘In a moment, Godfather. But first, I immediately require three strong men, well armed, whose loyalty and discretion you trust absolutely.’
‘Any of my household knights will serve,’ Vanguard said. ‘What’s going on?’
‘There’s a dead man in the stables, lying in a far corner of the dormitorium where Viscount Skellhaven’s lackeys are bedded down. The body must be taken away at once and brought to a prison cell or some other secure place, where Skellhaven will be asked to identify him and explain his presence here. The man was both a magicker and a spy, scried out by my brother Vra-Stergos as we held our council of war.’
‘God’s Breath!’ exclaimed the duke. ‘This intruder oversaw us and read our lips?’
‘Apparently. As an ordained Brother avowed to peace, Stergos did the only thing he could think of, sending young Deveron to confront the villain. There was a struggle, and the spy was killed.’
‘By your serving boy?’ The earl marshal shot an incredulous look at Snudge, who sat expressionless.
‘He is more than that, my lord. As I said, Deveron is my trusted man.’ To the duke: ‘Godfather, the matter is urgent.’
Vanguard went to the door and told the guards, ‘Summon Sir Myndon, Sir Tíralos, and Sir Naberig. Be quick.’
When he returned, he asked permission of the prince to question Snudge, and so did the earl marshal. But the boy only confirmed what Conrig had said, adding that he had made his way to the stables through the secret passages, which the Doctor Arcanorum had sketched out for him from childhood memories.
‘But — weren’t you afraid to confront a sorcerer?’ Beorbrook asked.
‘We don’t know that he was one, Earl Marshal,’ Snudge dissembled. ‘More likely he was just a wind practitioner particularly adept at scrying. A skinny little fellow, but he came at me like a wildcat. I clouted him with a bucket, and then we fought, and he ended up stabbed.’
Beorbrook grunted. ‘Too bad. It would have been useful to question him. As it is, we’ll make do with Skellhaven, as His Grace suggested. Go back to your seat, lad.’ He turned to the prince with hooded eyes. ‘This is a serious development, and we can only hope that the invasion hasn’t been betrayed. Could this fellow have been an agent of the Conjure-Princess?’
‘Hardly,’ said Conrig. ‘Why should she bother, when she herself helped draw up the plan of action? In my opinion, he came from Ullanoth’s younger brother Beynor, who knows she covets the throne of Moss. According to their laws, the reigning monarch may appoint his or her successor. Thus far. King Linndal favors the son, whose arcane powers are supposedly stronger than those of his sister. This is why Ullanoth decided to make her bargain with me.’ He paused, then plunged into the lie. ‘As to how she and I first met, it happened in Thunder Moon, a few weeks after the murder of the delegation to Didion. Stergos and I were taking our ease in a stone pavilion at Brent Lodge after a boar hunt, looking out at a great storm approaching from across the lake. Suddenly the Lady Ullanoth appeared before us in the form of a Sending.’
‘That’s a kind of living ghost, is it?’ the earl marshal asked.
‘Not really. The apparition is quite solid. To Send requires extraordinary talent and strength, such as none of our own alchymists possess.’ He lifted his shoulders and smiled. ‘My brother explained the process, but I have forgotten the details. The lady proposed an alliance and we discussed the matter at great length while the storm raged around us.’
‘This was your only meeting?’ Vanguard asked.
‘Nay. She came again, and we refined the scheme and discussed every aspect of the invasion, and agreed on the terms of her benefice and guerdon should the venture succeed. She even helped to select the nobles I would invite to participate in the enterprise, including Skellhaven.’
There was a loud knocking at the door. The prince said, ‘May I take the liberty of instructing your knights, Godfather? I’ve worked out a way the body might be removed without raising suspicion among the others in the dormitorium.’
‘Go ahead,’ said the duke. When the prince went to the door and was out of hearing, Vanguard spoke to Beorbrook in a low voice. ‘What do you think, Parli?’
‘Disturbing, this Beynor knowing about the council of war. Makes you wonder if Ullanoth has other fish to fry. We’ll have to talk to the doctor, but I reckon he’ll back up his brother’s judgment.’
Both of them had completely forgotten Snudge, sitting motionless in the darkened room.
‘The two princes were close as lads,’ the duke recalled. ‘Young Con always the cleverest, knowing what he wanted and often not scrupling at how he got it.’
‘I’ll say! That damned wine …’
‘Aye. But that ploy might have been my own fault. I refused to detain any nobles who opposed the invasion.’
‘And now it’s on, for better or worse, and maybe compromised already. Bloody hell.’
‘Well, we still have the option of turning back at Breakneck Pass,’ the duke said. ‘I daresay the witch Ullanoth will keep a close magical eye on events in Didion over the next five weeks. She’ll know if we’re expected by the foe, and give us warning.’
‘If it suits her,’ the earl marshal said cynically. He fell silent as the prince returned.
‘I told them to bring the covered body to the gatehouse armory,’ Conrig said. ‘Let’s fetch Lord Skellhaven and have a look at it.’
‘I’ve never clapped eyes on the wanker in my life,’ said the seagoing viscount. ‘Look at him. Just another underdeck swabbie.’ He bent forward suddenly and spread open the body’s blood-stiffened shirt, where a yellow gleam had shone momentarily in the torchlight. ‘Booger me! What kind of lackey wears a heavy golden neckchain like this?’
Vanguard and Beorbrook exchanged glances. If Skellhaven did know the identity of the spy, would he have called attention to the betraying chain?
The viscount unfastened the gold from around the corpse’s neck and held it closer to the armory’s sputtering wall torch. ‘I’ll tell you something about this bauble, Your Grace. It’s Mossbelly-made. Nobody else uses twisted-wire links like these, and the thing’s worth a pretty penny.’
Conrig said, ‘My lord, did anything unusual take place before you set out to Castle Vanguard, or on the journey?’
‘Hmm. We had a problem at one inn a day’s journey from here. A dozen or so of the lads got royal gut-aches after eating rabbit pies that’d turned. They moped and moaned and browned the hedgerows all the next day riding into Castle Vanguard. Some of ‘em still feel a mite seedy.’
Conrig addressed the duke and earl marshal. ‘My brother Stergos has told me that when a man is ill, he is more susceptible to the spells of a magicker. Perhaps this fellow’ — he tapped a dead shoulder — ‘did away with one of your retainers and took on his identity.’