War Maid's Choice-ARC (8 page)

“Get an assassin close enough to Kilthan of Silver Cavern? Not bloody likely! We don’t have that many dwarven dog brothers to begin with, and the security around any clan head—and especially
that
clan head—is far too tight for any stranger to get to him. We
might
be able to manage it the next time he heads out with the trade caravans, but do we have the time to wait that long?”

He looked the question at Varnaythus, who shook his head.

“Almost certainly not. And, frankly, it sounds like investing the effort it would take to get to him would be a waste of our resources. Not to mention coming entirely too close to spreading ourselves too thin with the same kind of ‘let’s kill everyone in sight’ stupidity that screwed up Their plans
last
time.”

“That’s about what I thought.” Salgahn shrugged. “And as far as Bahnak is concerned, his security’s almost as good as Kilthan’s. I’m pretty sure we could get to him, but there’s no way we could make it look like anything except a very obvious assassination...and not by hradani.”

“We couldn’t simply...assist one of the Bloody Swords who hate him?” Sahrdohr asked.

“There aren’t as many of them as you might think,” Varnaythus said grimly. “He’s actually making this Confederation of his work, and the Bloody Swords who still have enough of a power base to risk going after him and infuriating every single Horse Stealer in Norfressa are smart enough to recognize that they’ve never been as well off as they are now. For that matter, they remember how Harnak’s and Chalgaz’s association with us turned even some of their fellow Bloody Swords against Navahk before the war. They’re not going to be in any hurry to do anything that could make people think
they’re
signing up with Sharnā and the Dog Brothers. Besides, Bahnak’s done too damned good a job of training up those children of his.
All
of them, not just Bahzell. He may be the glue that put the hradani together in the first place, but I think Barondir and the rest would almost certainly manage to hold them together if he were to die suddenly.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Salgahn agreed after considering it for a moment or two. “And, to be honest, hradani are hard to kill under the best of circumstances. You may remember how much trouble we had trying to take Bahzell and Brandark even before Bahzell became a champion! Of course, they’re both special cases, even for hradani, but trying to get through Bahnak’s bodyguard with anything except a full frontal assault would be...unlikely. And hradani are damned near impossible to poison with anything except an instantly fatal dose. Considering all the difficulties, taking Bahnak with any normal tactics would probably be at least as hard as taking Bahzell. Our best odds would be with Tellian, frankly, and even that would be a challenge. Not impossible, by any stretch, mind you, but definitely a challenge. Which is the reason Arthnar’s not going to be all that keen on trying it, I suspect.”

“Oh, I agree,” Varnyathus said. “Which doesn’t mean I won’t be trying as hard as I can to talk him into it. In fact, I think we’re going to have to get you involved in that as well, Salgahn.”

“Oh?” The assassin raised an eyebrow at him, his expression wary. “And just how did you have it in mind for
that
to work?”

“I need someone to help do that convincing...and to make sure things are properly organized if we can talk him into it. He’s cleverer than Cassan thinks he is, but he
does
have a certain tendency towards brute force solutions. We need something a bit more subtle than that. Or, at least, we need it to be something that steers any suspicion towards Tellian’s purely local adversaries, since
we
”—he met his fellows’ gazes levelly—“are specifically forbidden to make any attempt which could be traced back to us.”

“We are?” If Sahrdohr was dismayed by the restriction, he hid it remarkably well, Varnaythus thought dryly.

“The overall operation is too important, and the odds against a successful assassination are too high, to justify risking it,” he said calmly, not mentioning that
he
was the one who’d made that argument—successfully, thank Carnadosa!—when he first received his instructions. “If we launch a direct attack that’s powerful enough to have a decent chance of success, the Order of Tomanāk is entirely too likely to be able to prove we were behind it...and that would prove
They
were behind it.” Varnaythus shook his head. “We absolutely can’t risk providing any evidence of that until all the other pieces are in place—not if we hope to succeed in our other plans, that is.”

His fellows nodded gravely, and although it was obvious their approval had more to do with their own odds of personal survival than any tactical constraints, that didn’t make anything he’d just said untrue. If—
if
—they succeeded in killing both Bahzell and Tellian, they would probably succeed in their overall mission. If they tried and failed, however, and if the effort proved the Dark Gods were trying to eliminate the two of them, it would strengthen Tellian’s position in the Kingdom immeasurably. Sothōii were often impulsive and always prickly where things like honor and family feuds were concerned, but despite the stereotype certain of their enemies nourished, they weren’t stupid. Certainly they weren’t too slow to figure out that if the Dark Gods wanted someone dead it was because whoever they were trying to kill stood in their way, at any rate. That might not bother some of their...more self-serving nobles, perhaps, but whatever their internal political squabbles might be, the vast majority of the Sothōii could be expected to close ranks instantly against any recognized intrusion by Phrobus and his offspring.

And if that let Varnaythus stay far, far away from any direct attack on Bahzell Bloody Hand, that was a wonderful thing as far as he was concerned.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t be invloved, of course,” he continued out loud, “but we
are
going to have to be as certain as we can that our cutouts will work. I think we’re going to have to send you down to talk to Arthnar, Salgahn—I can arrange an introduction that will get you in to see him—to help move him gently in the proper direction. We
don’t
want the Guild openly involved. The last thing we need is any suggestion of dog brothers stirring up trouble, so we’ll have to cover you as a mercenary with the right connections. I haven’t decided yet whether or not we want you involved in the actual attempt or only in setting things in motion, and I don’t see any way we
can
decide until we have a better idea of what he’s willing to do, but I want to keep our options open in that respect.”

Salgahn nodded, and if he looked less than delighted by the prospect, Varnaythus found that understandable enough.

“In the meantime,” the wizard went on, “I’ve maintained my contacts with Cassan, and he’s been kind enough to provide me with an introduction to Yeraghor, as well. Needless to say, neither of them is the least bit happy over what Tellian’s up to, although I’m not positive Yeraghor truly realizes how close to finished that damned tunnel is. Or how profoundly the entire project—assuming it succeeds, of course—is going to change this part of Norfressa, for that matter.”

“How close
are
they?” Sahrdohr asked, and Varnaythus shrugged irritably.

“I was just watching that unmitigated little pain Chanharsa.” He gestured at the gramerhain. “She’s putting in a forty or fifty-yard section every day or so now, and she’s only got about another three-quarters of a mile to go. That’s only another two months. And the locks in the Balthar are already finished—they’ve had barges hauling construction materials all the way from from Hurgrum to The Gullet for two months now. The Derm Canal’s taking longer, but I expect
it
to be finished by next spring, even allowing for construction shutting down over the winter months. In fact, they might even get it done before first snowfall, if the weather favors them over the summer.”

Sahrdohr pursed his lips in a silent whistle, but Salgahn shook his head.

“That’s all well and good,” he pointed out, “but they’ve still got the River Brigands and the Ghoul Moor to worry about. As you just pointed out, Arthnar isn’t going to take Bahnak’s and Tellian’s plans very cheerfully.”

“Neither are the Purple Lords,” Varnaythus agreed. “But exactly how do you think they’re going to discourage a trio like Tellian, Kilthan, and Bahnak? Unless we—by which I’m afraid I really mean
you
, this time around—can convince Arthnar to try to kill them...and he succeeds, of course.”

Salghan snorted in acknowledgment, but he also shook his head again.

“I’m just saying it’s going to be a little more complicated than simply building a couple of canals and digging a tunnel,” he said.

“And that’s exactly what Yeraghor’s been counting on—and Cassan, too, I suspect.” Varnaythus shrugged. “Which, frankly, is...shortsighted of them, to say the least. Given the success rate Tellian and Bahnak—and Kilthan; let’s not forget him—have demonstrated to date, how likely do
you
think it is that they won’t succeed this time, as well?”

It was Salgahn’s turn to shrug, conceding the point.

“As it happens, the Ghoul Moor is going to figure rather more prominently in our plans than I’d thought it was,” Varnaythus continued. “I don’t know that it’s going to give us everything we want, although the chance that it might is actually better than I expected before She told me what resources we’ll have there. Even if it doesn’t work as well as expected”—he grimaced, and the others joined him as they recalled
other
plans which had failled to work exactly as the people who’d made them had expected—“it’s still going to hurt them badly. It may actually stop the canal project completely, although I expect it’s more likely just to slow them up for a year or two. More to the point, it ought to both draw attention to the foot of the Escarpment and away from what we’re really after on top of it. It may well fan the fire under Cassan and Yeraghor, as well, and whether it does or not, nothing that goes wrong for them on the Ghoul Moor is going to suggest any special interference on our part.”

“Ah?” Sahrdohr cocked an eyebrow, and Varnaythus smiled unpleasantly.

“I don’t have all the details yet, myself, but apparently the Ghouls are going to be receiving just a bit of a reinforcement. Quite a
sizeable
one, actually—possibly even enough of one to give one of those damned champions of Tomanāk pause. And since the Ghoul Moor’s
always
been a...chancy proposition for the other side, let’s say, no one’s likely to be very surprised if this year’s expedition suffers an accident or two, even if the accident is rather more spectacular than most.”

The younger wizard nodded, and Varnaythus nodded back, then leaned back in his chair.

“The only downside in helping the ghouls slow them up is that if it
does
slow them up, it’s likely to undercut the sense of urgency we’ve been trying to encourage among Tellian’s opponents. One of my jobs is going to be keeping that urgency alive, and that means convincing Yeraghor and Cassan of just how close to success they are at court. Cassan’s had too much personal experience with the ghouls to expect them to stop Tellian’s and Bahzell’s plans unless they succeed a lot more spectacularly than I expect, but Yeraghor will probably tend to overestimate their chances, and even Cassan’s likely to see it as a reprieve. He’ll expect it to give him more time to build opposition in Sothōfalas and on the Great Council, and he may figure the losses Tellian’s about to take will help his own arguments that the entire idea is going to cost more than it’s likely to be worth to the Kingdom in the long run. I need to knock both of those notions on the head, and for that I’m going to want access to Tellian’s correspondence with Macebearer and Shaftmaster. Can you get it for me, Malahk?”

“I don’t know.” Sahrdohr frowned thoughtfully. “Shaftmaster’s, yes. I’ll have to be careful, but I can get to it without too much difficulty. If it will be all right to use a capture spell on it, that is?”

It was Varnaythus’ turn to frown. A capture spell was a very minor working, one even one of those accursed magi
probably
wouldn’t notice unless he was right on top of it at the moment it was triggered. It required the use of a very small gramerhain, however, and if
that
was found on Sahrdohr’s person...

“You’re not concerned about carrying the stone with you?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t concerned, but I think the risk would be manageable.” The younger wizard smiled crookedly and held out his left hand, then tapped the ring on his second finger with his right index finger. It was an obviously old piece, set with a rather cheap looking opal. “I’ve been wearing this ever since I got here just for a moment like this one,” Sahrdohr continued. “Everyone knows it has great sentimental value to me, despite the poor quality of the stone—it was a gift from my grandmother to my grandfather—so nobody thinks anything more about it. But—”

He touched the opal itself and it flashed into sudden clarity, like water-clear quartz. It stayed that way until he took his finger away again, when it turned just as quickly back into the milky stone it had been to begin with.

“Very nice,” Varnaythus said sincerely.

The fact that Sahrdohr had put the ring into place so long ago was yet another demonstration of his basic intelligence and foresight. And even at this short range, even after having had the glamour concealing the gramerhain demonstrated to him, Varnaythus could detect barely a whisper of the spell. If that was a sample of Sahrdohr’s craftsmanship, he was further along towards the rank of master than Varnaythus had thought.

“All right, if you’re comfortable using a capture spell, I’ll leave that in your hands. But what about Macebearer?”

“That’s going to be a lot harder,” Sahrdohr replied. “I’ve at least got an excuse to be in Shaftmaster’s office. I work for the man, after all. But I’m not high enough in the Exchequer to be wandering into the Prime Councilor’s office and examining his personal correspondence with Baron Tellian.”

“I really want to get our hands on those letters,” Varnaythus said. “Shaftmaster’s estimates will help—probably a lot—but Cassan’s still keeping his head down, even without our gingering up the ghouls. I need proof of how much ground Tellian is gaining with Macebearer and Markhos to get him stirred back up again.”