Javan crossed to Tobbar and embraced him gently. “My Lord Thorald, you honor me with your offer of hospitality.”
“I would have liked to greet you at the gate,” Tobbar said, releasing him and sitting once more. “But I don’t climb the towers as well as I used to.”
“Your son did me the honor, and acquitted himself nobly.”
Marston bowed. “My lord is too kind.”
Javan turned to Caius and Elam. “My Lord Dukes,” he said. “I’m pleased to see you both.”
“And I to see you, my Lord Curgh,” Labruinn answered, stepping forward to embrace Javan in turn.
Elam remained where he was. “Curgh” was all he said, adding a small bow, almost as an afterthought.
Javan gave a thin smile, but said nothing to the man. After a moment, he faced Tobbar again. “Forgive my haste, my Lord Duke, but as I’ve already told your son, I’m loath to be far from Curgh for very long. I was hoping that we could begin immediately to speak of whatever tidings led you to issue your kind invitation.”
“That suits me as well, Tobbar,” Eardley said. “Caius and I have waited long enough. Javan’s here now. Let’s get on with it.”
Tobbar nodded. “Very well.” Turning his gaze to Marston, he asked, How do you wish to proceed? This was your idea.“
The thane took a long breath, feeling far less sure of himself than he had at the beginning of the turn, when he wrote the messages.
“Xiv?” he said, facing his minister.
“Of course, my lord.” The Qirsi stepped to center of the room and made himself smile. “If the other ministers would follow me, we can speak of these matters on our own while our lords talk among themselves.”
“Is that necessary?” Labruinn’s first minister asked.
“It’s all right, Ottah,” Elam said. “Go with the other ministers. I’ll be fine.”
“As you wish, my lord.” The minister didn’t sound pleased, but he followed Xiv and the others from the chamber, closing the door as he left.
Elam eyed Tobbar briefly before turning to Marston. “Now, what’s this about, Shanstead?”
“Won’t you sit, my lord?” He glanced at the other dukes. “The rest of you as well. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Elam and Caius returned to their seats and Javan sat beside Tobbar.
“I notice that your first minister is nowhere to be seen, my Lord Duke,” Curgh said. “Is this about her?”
Elam’s face reddened. He had been in Thorald for two days, and it seemed he had failed to realize this.
“It is,” Tobbar said, his voice flat, his cheeks coloring as well. “Enid is dead, killed by her own hand, though not before she admitted to being a traitor and party to the conspiracy of which we’ve all heard so much.”
“You have my sympathy,” Javan said. “I’m certain that I speak for my fellow dukes when I say that each of us fears he’ll be the next to learn that one of his Qirsi is a traitor.”
“Indeed,” Caius agreed, passing a meaty hand over his brow. “None of us is immune.”
“Have you had a minister betray you, Labruinn?” Elam asked.
“Not yet. At least not as far as I know. But I must admit that I rely on them far less than I have in the past. Ever since Kentigern-” He stopped abruptly, his eyes flicking toward Javan.
“It’s all right, Caius,” the duke said, actually managing to laugh. “You can speak his name in my company.”
“Well, I was just going to say that we were all alarmed when we heard about his Qirsi.”
Elam sat forward. “I’m sure her betrayal must have been difficult for you, Tobbar, but I fail to see how this warrants calling us all to Thorald.”
“That was my idea,” Marston said. “Enid’s treason did far more than cost my father a friend and a trusted advisor. It’s forced us to question many of our assumptions regarding events in Thorald over the past several years.”
Caius let out a small gasp. “Filib!” he whispered. “You think she had something to do with his death.”
“I believe it’s possible.”
“Which Filib?” Javan asked.
“The Younger,” Tobbar said. “Enid hadn’t yet come to Thorald when my brother died. I made her my first minister a few years later. It now seems that was the greatest mistake I’ve ever made.”
“It was a mistake any duke might have made,” Eardley said, surprising Marston.
“Thank you, Elam,” Tobbar said, sounding like the man’s kindness had caught him unprepared also.
Caius shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m still a bit confused. Even if Filib was killed by the Qirsi rather than by thieves, why ask us here?”
“Because of Kentigern’s first minister,” Javan said before Marston could answer. He turned to Tobbar. “Has Enid’s betrayal convinced you of Tavis’s innocence?”
Elam bristled. “One has nothing to do with the other.”
“Are you certain?” Marston asked. “We’ve assumed for years that accidents of history placed Curgh in position to claim the throne. The act of a madman in Galdasten, my uncle’s death during a hunt, Fihb’s murder at the hands of thieves-all separate occurrences that together removed Eibithar’s two leading houses from the Order of Ascension. When Tavis was accused of killing Brienne, it seemed that Javan’s house had squandered its one opportunity to rule the kingdom. But now it seems there were far darker forces at work here. Assume for a moment that Filib was murdered by the Qirsi, or people working for them. And then consider that the betrayal by Aindreas’s minister came only days after Brienne’s death. Suddenly these seem less like accidents of history, and far more like a Qirsi plot to bring civil war to our land.”
Elam frowned. “You sound more like a Curgh than a Thorald, Lord Shanstead. Is this your thinking, or have you been speaking with Curgh and his allies?”
“I assure you, Lord Eardley,” Marston said coldly, “this is the first time I’ve spoken of these tidings with the duke.”
“I see. And can you offer any proof that your father’s Qirsi had a hand in Filib’s murder?”
Marston felt his cheeks growing hot. “No.”
“Well, have you learned anything new about Lady Brienne’s death that might support this wild theory of yours?”
“Nothing beyond what we’ve all heard.”
“So you’re just guessing then. Your father’s first minister turns out to be a traitor, and so you assume that Qirsi conspirators are responsible for all the land’s troubles. Is that about right?”
“It’s more than that,” Javan broke in. “We have many reasons to believe that Tavis was innocent of any crime, though Aindreas refused to acknowledge them. My minister and I have thought for some time that the Qirsi might have been behind Brienne’s death and my son’s suffering.”
The duke of Eardley glared at him. “Don’t speak to me of your son’s suffering, Javan. Aindreas and Ioanna have suffered. I’ll even allow that you and Shonah have. But not the boy, not after what he did. And as to these reasons of which you speak, I don’t even want to hear about them. I’m not likely to give much credence to anything you have to say about the Lady Bnenne or your son.”
“That’s your choice, Elam,” Caius said pointedly. “I, for one, would like to hear what Javan has learned.”
“Of course you would, Caius. You’ve already allied yourself with Curgh and Glyndwr. I’m sure you’d welcome any word that might justify that choice and cleanse the lady’s blood from your house.”
Labruinn stood, his hand straying to the hilt of his sword. “How dare you!”
“My Lord Dukes, please,” Tobbar said, forcing himself to his feet once more. “We are all men of Eibithar, and we all want what’s best for our kingdom. Surely that bond is stronger than any issue that divides us.”
Elam was still sitting, but he stared up at the other duke as if ready to do battle.
“Please, Cams,” Tobbar said gently. “Sit down.”
After another moment, the duke of Labruinn nodded and lowered himself into his chair. His eyes never left Elam’s face, however, and his expression did not soften.
“You saw my son at Kearney’s investiture,” Javan said to Elam, breaking a lengthy silence. “You saw the scars on his face. They were nothing compared with the marks Aindreas’s torture left on his body. Yet he never confessed. Doesn’t that tell you something? Doesn’t it at least give you pause?”
“It tells me only that the boy is strong-willed to the point of stubbornness.” Eardley gave a cold smile. “It comes as no surprise, really, given that he’s a Curgh.”
“You think willfulness is all a man needs to endure torture?”
“Maybe he knew that an attempt would be made to win his freedom, that all he needed to do was last a few days until his escape. Certainly such hope would sustain him through a good deal of suffering.” Elam gave a small shrug. “To be honest, I don’t know what kept him from confessing. But to assume, in the face of all the evidence against him, that his failure to confess makes him innocent seems to me the worst kind of sophistry.”
Marston could barely contain his frustration. “So you refuse to accept that there might be any connection at all between Brienne’s murder and the treason of Kentigern’s Qirsi.”
“In the absence of any evidence linking one to the other, yes, I do.”
“Don’t you see that by taking Kentigern’s part, you weaken us? This is just what the conspiracy wants: a kingdom at war with itself, and a king without the support of his people. You’re as bad as Enid and every other traitor to-”
“Marston!” Tobbar said, his voice like a war hammer. “That’s enough!”
Elam looked around the chamber, shaking his head slowly, a dark grin on his lips. “I should have known better than to come here. It’s not a discussion you want, Shanstead. You asked me here to turn me from Kentigern’s side.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then how is it that in a kingdom that leans heavily to Kentigern’s point of view, I find myself his sole defender here in your castle? Did you send that damned message to anyone else, or was I the lone target of your efforts this time?”
“He sent the message to every house in the land,” Tobbar answered. “Including Kentigern. The snows kept some of the others away, narrow-mindedness the rest. Aindreas wouldn’t even allow our rider to deliver his message.”
“Can you blame him? Demons and fire, Tobbar! You have children. Can’t you see how the man grieves?”
“Of course I can. And I can even see why he hates Curgh so.” The duke glanced at Javan. “Forgive me, but circumstances demand nothing less than complete honesty. Had it been my child, and your son’s blade, I’d hate your house as well.” He faced Elam again. “That said, the defection of my Qirsi would have given me cause to wonder, and so too would the boy’s refusal to confess, even after the most severe torture.”
Eardley shook his head again. “I expect such nonsense from Javan, and maybe from the thane as well. But you should know better, Tobbar. Your neutrality is a farce. You claim to fear for the kingdom, but you care only for your own power. You ally yourself with butchers and a false king so that you can maintain your precious supremacy.” He stood and started toward the door. “If Ean cares at all for justice, the boy will hang, and the Rules of Ascension will cease to govern our land.”
“Elam,” Tobbar called. “I beg you not to go. My son had no right to say what he did. But his fears are justified. No matter what you think of the rules or of Javan, you have to see that civil war will weaken us.”
Eardley had pulled the door open, but he paused now on the threshold, turning to face the duke. “Kearney weakens us. Demons like Tavis of Curgh weaken us. What is a kingdom without justice? If it takes war to make Eibithar whole again, then so be it. But I’ll not allow Glyndwr’s ambition and Curgh’s lies and Thorald’s lust for power to rule over my house.”
With that he walked out, not bothering to close the door again, so that the click of his footsteps echoing through the corridor filled the chamber.
“Can he really be so blind?” Marston asked. “Doesn’t he know that the Qirsi want us thirsting for each other’s blood?”
“For centuries,” Javan said quietly, “the Rules of Ascension have only barely masked the fact that Eibithar remains a loose confederation of clans. Over the course of our history we’ve been as eager to fight ourselves as we have the Aneirans.” He looked at Marston. “The Qirsi seek to defeat us by attacking our greatest weakness as a kingdom. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us that their tactics are working.”
Eardley’s first minister dropped herself into a large chair by the thin slit of a window and looked up at Xivled, Marston’s minister. “So tell us, cousin. Why has Thorald called our dukes to his castle? What are these tidings you’re all so eager to share with us?”
“Yes, cousin,” Labruinn’s first minister added. “You and your thane have been terribly mysterious, and I grow tired of it. What could possibly justify asking us to brave the snows?”
Ottah was older than the rest of them. His pallid face was deeply lined and his white hair had begun to thin. Though his journey had been much shorter than the one from Curgh, and the path he and his duke followed through the North Wood more sheltered than Fotir’s ride across the Moorlands, the Curgh minister had little doubt that the older man had found his travels quite arduous.
“My lord and the duke of Thorald wished to speak with Eibithar’s other dukes about the Qirsi conspiracy,” Xivled answered. “That’s why they asked us to leave.”
“But why now?” Cerri asked, playing with her braided hair. “Why wait for the snows? Or for that matter, why not wait longer, until the rains return?”
“Because we only learned on the last Pitch Night that the duke of Thorald’s first minister was a traitor.”
Fotir had expected something like this. His duke had noticed almost immediately upon their arrival that Enid ja Kovar was nowhere to be seen. Either she was dead, or she had left the castle. And if she had died without incident, Tobbar would have replaced her with one of his underministers. All signs pointed to her betrayal.
“My lord believes Enid may have played a role in Filib the Younger’s death,” the minister continued. “Perhaps in the elder Filib’s as well.”