By Schism Rent Asunder (81 page)

“I'm not saying action isn't called for, Ahlvyno!” he said, carefully confining his remarks to Baron Ironhill, rather than looking in his monarch's direction. “Obviously, it is. I'm only saying that when we're already at war with Corisande and Tarot, and the Church seems to be on the point of declaring Holy War, we don't need to be adding
another
war to all of that.”

“With all due respect, My Lord,” Sharleyan said, “it isn't ‘another war'; it's the same one we're already fighting with those … people in Zion. They've simply chosen to open another front.”

“Her Grace is right,” Gray Harbor said firmly. “This has Clyntahn's touch written all over it.”

“You think the massacre was intentional, Rayjhis?” Admiral Lock Island asked.

“I'm not really prepared to decide about that either way,” Gray Harbor replied without so much as twitching an eyelid in Captain Athrawes' direction. “On the one hand, it would have been an especially stupid thing for them to do on purpose. On the other hand, it might not strike
them
that way. Especially not Clyntahn and Maigwair. The two of them would probably favor anything that drives a deeper wedge between us and any appearance of reasonableness.”

“You're saying they might have deliberately engineered a massacre in order to goad us into a disproportionate response of our own?” Sharleyan said thoughtfully. “One they could use to good advantage when they paint us as the bloody-handed villains trying to destroy God's Church?”

“I'm saying they
might
have thought that way, Your Grace.” Gray Harbor shrugged slightly. “At the same time, remember that you should never ascribe to malice what can be put down to incompetence. So far, this is the only port where we've had anything like this happen. Of course, it's also the first port where we know our shipping has been seized, at all. I doubt very much that King Zhames would have run amok this way on his own, however, and the presence of Schuelerites in the boarding parties would obviously argue against that, as well. But if we assume this has been part of a general offensive against our merchant ships and crews, then the same thing may have happened in dozens of seaports. Or, conversely, ships may have been seized elsewhere with a minimum of violence. If it turns out this is the only place a massacre resulted, then I'd think it indicates there was no direct order from the Temple for bloodshed.”

“God knows it wouldn't be the first time troops got out of hand, misunderstood their orders, or just plain fu—er,
fouled
up their execution, Your Grace.” General Hauwyl Chermyn was not officially a member of the Council, but his role as the senior officer of the Royal Charisian Marines (and the fact that he'd happened to be in Tellesberg for an entirely separate series of meetings with Lock Island and Cayleb) had brought him to the council chamber. Clearly, he wasn't accustomed to his present situation, as witness his fiery blush as he shifted in mid-verb out of deference to Sharleyan, but there wasn't an ounce of quitter in him, and he continued gamely. “If there wasn't ‘supposed to be' any fighting, then if any of our people
did
fight back, the troops may well have exceeded their orders. I'm not saying that would justify anything they did. I'm only saying it happens, and that it wouldn't have taken an order from the Grand Inquisitor to
make
it happen this time.”

“I find myself in agreement with the General's comments, Your Majesty. Indeed, his observations accord well with my own estimate of what's happened,” Nahrmahn said. If the rotund little Emeraldian felt out of place sitting at the council table, there was no sign of it in his expression or his manner. One or two people frowned, but it was little more than an automatic reflex. Even those who remained least reconciled to the bizarre and unnatural notion of the Prince of Emerald as the father-in-law (by betrothal) of the Charisian crown prince had quickly realized that the “fat little bugger,” as King Haarahld had been wont to call him, had a far nimbler brain than most of them had ever suspected.

“And that estimate is, Your Highness?” Cayleb asked.

“My personal belief, which I hasten to add is based solely on my own analysis of the Group of Four's probable motives, not on any concrete evidence, is that what occurred at Ferayd was not intended when the orders to sequester our shipping”—Merlin wondered if calling Charisian merchant ships “our shipping” felt as peculiar to Nahrmahn as
hearing
him call them that felt to everyone else—“were initially given. Or, at least, not specifically ordered. While it's probably true Clyntahn would feel a certain satisfaction, and Maigwair definitely wouldn't
mind
that it had happened, neither Trynair nor Duchairn would have wanted it.”

“That does make sense,” Ironhill acknowledged after a moment. “Duchairn certainly wouldn't want anyone we're not already at war with to do anything which would cause us to retaliate against their own shipping on a grand scale. And it's pretty obvious Trynair's doing all he can to delay the next major clash until the Temple finishes building up its naval forces.”

“Which so far appear to consist entirely of galleys,” Lock Island noted with profound satisfaction.

“Well, I don't really care
why
it happened,” Sir Rahnyld Seacatcher, Baron of Mandolin, growled. “The point is that it
has
happened, Your Majesty. And it happened because those bastards in Zion—beg pardon, Your Grace—
ordered
it, whether they specifically wanted a massacre or not. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's time to teach a lesson to anyone who seizes our shipping and murders our seamen!”

There was a general almost-snarl of agreement. Cayleb, Sharleyan noticed, failed to join it. And so did Earl Gray Harbor, Archbishop Maikel, and Baron Wave Thunder. She'd quickly discovered that those three were the most accurate barometer for what Cayleb himself might be thinking, and she frowned mentally as she considered Mandolin's argument.

A part of her agreed fiercely. In fact, she was just a little surprised to discover how “Charisian” she'd come to feel over the last few five-days. She told herself she would have felt the same way if it had been Chisholmian merchant ships and seamen and their families, and that was true. But she was still a little bemused to find herself identifying so powerfully with her new husband's subjects as her own.

Another part of her agreed solely on the basis of cold political and military calculation. Whether the massacre had been intentional or not, it had, as Mandolin had pointed out, happened. Allowing it to pass unavenged for any reason would be seen as an indication of weakness by Charis' enemies and potential friends alike.

Yet despite that,
another
part of her dreaded the expansion of warfare which seemed implicit in Mandolin's position. Not simply because it would mean more people would be killed, but because of the way it would dilute the combat power of the new Charisian Empire.

We don't need a distraction from Hektor right now
, she thought, and realized with something very like surprise that Cayleb must already have recognized that point. In fact, it seemed as if his closest allies in the council must have seen it also, and she wondered when and how they might have found time to discuss it.

You're making mysteries out of nothing again
, she told herself.
They've known Cayleb since he was a boy. Of course they'll have realized how his mind is working without his having to tell them. God knows Mahrak does that for you often enough!

All of which was perfectly logical … and did nothing to change her stubbornly persistent feeling that something more was involved.

“You've made an excellent point, Sir Rahnyld,” Cayleb said. “I'd like to remind everyone, however, that we have a rather pressing problem to the east, as well. Does anyone at this table really want to think about what Hektor may be able to do if we give him any more months to work with than we have to?”

The thoughtful silence which answered him was profound, Merlin observed dryly.

“Obviously, we can't know everything Hektor might be doing,” Gray Harbor said … not entirely accurately, Merlin thought. “On the other hand, we all know he isn't exactly a drooling idiot, unfortunately. We have to assume he's making preparations for the invasion he knows as well as we do is coming.”

“Actually, Prince Nahrmahn and I may have a report on his preparations sometime in the next few days, Rayjhis,” Wave Thunder said. “I'm expecting to hear from certain agents of mine sometime quite soon now.”

Nahrmahn simply nodded, his expression serene, as if he had some idea of what Wave Thunder was talking about, and Merlin felt a smile tickling the corners of his mouth.

“That will be very welcome, Bynzhamyn,” Gray Harbor said with a nod of his own. “However, the point we all need to bear in mind right this minute is the one His Majesty's already raised. If we allow this massacre to divert us from our focus on Hektor, it may cost us dearly.”

“I agree.” Sharleyan was a bit surprised by how firmly her own two-word sentence came out, but she didn't let that faze her. “Obviously, I have my own reasons for wanting to see Hektor dealt with. Nonetheless, I think it should be clear to all of us that he represents a far greater potential danger to us than Delferahk ever could. Not only do we already know he's our enemy, even without the Church's prompting, but he's closer to us. And, as Earl Lock Island's just pointed out, all indications are that the Group of Four is laying down only new
galleys
, whereas I think we'll all agree Hektor is far too smart—and far too well aware of what just happened to his navy—to make that particular mistake.”

“Precisely.” Cayleb nodded and smiled at her.

“I have to agree, as well,” Lock Island said, far more reluctantly. “At the same time, though, Your Grace, Baron Mandolin's point is very well taken. We have to respond to this.”

“Oh, I agree, Bryahn,” Cayleb said. “I simply want everyone to bear in mind that the nature of our rather pressing commitments means that some of the things we might
like
to do are mutually exclusive.”

“Very well, Your Majesty, we'll all bear that in mind,” Lock Island said, eyeing his youthful monarch speculatively. “Now suppose you tell us what you've already decided
we're
going to decide to do about this?”

Sharleyan still felt more than a little surprised when one of Cayleb's councilors showed the temerity to speak to him that way. Very few monarchs would have tolerated it, yet Cayleb actually seemed to
encourage
it, out of his closest advisers, at least.

And the fact that they feel comfortable enough with
—
and confident enough
in—
him to actually
do
it probably explains why he gets so much out of them
.

“Actually, I have had a thought or two on the subject,” Cayleb admitted mildly, and despite the gravity of the events which had brought them together, more than one of his councilors raised a hand to hide a smile.

“In simplest terms, we do need to respond, but we also need to retain the majority of our fighting power for use against Hektor and Corisande. Also, I believe it's important that whatever response we make be clearly appropriate to the provocation. We're going to have a fight on our hands getting anyone to accept—or to openly admit that they do, at least—that our version of events is the truth, instead of the lies we all know the Group of Four are going to manufacture to justify their actions and blacken ours. We don't need to make their mouthpieces' task any easier.”

Even Mandolin nodded, and the emperor continued.

“So far as we now know, the only place where this has happened is Ferayd. It's possible we'll find out differently, in which case we may have to reconsider things. If, however, it turns out that this did happen only at Ferayd, then our legitimate quarrel will be with King Zhames and his Kingdom. We may protest the seizure of our ships by other realms, but under the accepted law of nations, protesting is the appropriate response at this point
unless
there's been deliberately inflicted, avoidable loss of life. Which is precisely what seems to have happened at Ferayd.

“In addition, there's the … complication that all of the witnesses agree the Inquisition was directly involved. In fact, that Inquisitors deliberately
incited
the massacre.” The youthful emperor's expression turned bleak, his eyes into brown flint. “Whatever Clyntahn and the Group of Four may claim, those Inquisitors
knew
they were goading King Zhames' troops into murdering women and children aboard those ships. Somehow I find it difficult to believe a
child
could be guilty of heresy, whatever its parents might have done, and I think it's time we reminded of the Inquisition of what the
Writ
says about the murder of innocents.” Those flinty eyes went to Maikel Staynair's face. “I believe the relevant text is in
The Book of Langhorne,
isn't it, Maikel? Chapter twenty-three, if I recall correctly?”

The archbishop looked back at him for a moment, then nodded slowly.

“I believe you're thinking about verse fifty-six, Your Majesty,” he said.“‘Woe be unto the murderers of innocence, for the blood of the innocent cries out to the ear and heart of God, and He will not hold His hand against its shedders. Better for them never to have been born, for His curse is upon them, His wrath will find them out, and He will use the hand of the righteous to destroy them utterly.'”

“Yes, that's the passage I had in mind,” Cayleb agreed grimly.

“Excuse me, Your Majesty,” Baron White Church said in a very careful tone of voice, “but—”