The Sword of the Lady (32 page)

″You′re serious,″ she said. ″But you′ve been an enemy of ours
forever
. Matti said you would be reasonable, but—″

″I was an opponent, not an enemy, but leave that aside.
Iowa
has an enemy now, and we can′t afford to fight among ourselves. I didn′t kill your husband, Kate. I tried as hard as I could to stop it. Hell, Jack here got himself busted up fighting
for
you, remember.″

The younger Heuisink nodded, then winced and touched his bandages; the splinted leg was outstretched on a support rigged to the pre-Change wheelchair. Kate looked at Mathilda, who stood cradling her bandaged arm and tight-strapped ribs. The very slight nod she got seemed to relax her a little further.

″That′s true, Colonel . . . Abel,″ she said. ″What do you have to propose?″

″A coalition, and you as . . .″

This time the elder Heuisink looked at Mathilda himself.

″Kate will be Regent until her son′s majority,″ Mathilda Arminger said. ″I′m familiar with arrangements like that. A Regency with you, Colonel Heuisink as . . . well, might as well call it Chancellor. And offices and hon ors divided between your factions . . . parties, you call them . . . according to a mutually satisfactory plan. Or equally unsatisfactory plan; there isn′t enough land and offices to satisfy all the claimants, and never will be. With a war coming, you′re going to need your unity.″

Young Tom Jr. murmured and turned in his mother′s arms. She stood and handed him to his nursemaid. ″Take him away, Annette,″ she said. ″It′s time for his nap and we have business to discuss.″

 

 

 

″So we′ve got a war on our hands,″ the elder Heuisink said, several hours later. ″At least it isn′t a civil war.″

Mellow evening light came through tall windows. He passed a cup of the coffee to Rudi; they were alone in the room now.

Rudi shrugged, sipping at it and nibbling a cookie rich with walnuts. Sitting in a room full of politicians and helping keep their mutual fears, hatreds and spiteful greeds from boiling over was work, just as sure as skinning a cow or pitching sheaves onto a wagon.

Unfortunately it didn′t give you the
honest
weariness that real labor did. His stomach felt sour, and the muscles of his neck stiff and tense, in addition to the fading but still sharp pain of bruises and cuts.

″Not this year, I think,″ he said. ″It′s too close to winter.″

The Iowan landholder nodded; the season of mud was coming, and the blizzards after that. Iowa′s railroads and roads were vastly better than most, but that could do only so much for moving and supplying armies inside the Provisional Republic′s boundaries, and nothing outside them.

And besides which, the preparations to
build
an army will take time. But not an hour of
my
time here in Iowa and over the river has been wasted, mad though it drove me to stay when the Sword calls ahead. For now I′ve found allies here, and powerful ones with armies at their commands, bound to me by both honor and policy. When I return, those bonds will be iron chains for the curbing of Corwin and the Cutters.

The Mackenzie went on aloud:

″And Corwin′s domains are far away, though they may move local allies against you. But next year, almost certainly, in my judgment. Fortunately it′ll be a war against a foreign foe, not amongst yourselves, and Iowa is very strong.″

″Not as strong as you might think,″ Heuisink said grimly. ″Tom Heasleroad was always more concerned with a possible coup than he was with making the National Guard . . . the army . . . effective. The units are un derstrength and scattered, and a lot of the officers are more concerned with lining their pockets than anything else. Plus the National Guard Reserve—the farm militia—is a joke and a bad joke at that, on most of the Farms. Barely even police, much less soldiers.″

Rudi blinked. ″That′s, ummm, less clever than I′d have expected, from the man′s reputation, which was that he was no fool, whatever else his failings.
Ni neart go cur le chéile
.″

At the older man′s puzzled look he rendered the Gaelic into English:

″No unity, no strength.″

″No, it was very clever indeed,″ Abel Heuisink said. ″From Tom′s point of view, if not the whole State′s. He was always most worried that someone would do to him what he and John Denson . . . and I, I was in on it too, let′s be honest . . . did to the Governor right after the Change. Killed him and took over, no point in weasling about it.″

Rudi looked at him. ″But that was necessary, wasn′t it?″

″I thought so. Tom too, but he
wanted
to do it and I was reluctant. But do it once, and get away with it, and there′s always the chance someone else will give it a try. For reasons they think are good. Possibly just a little worse than the ones
you
had. And after that another, and another, until it′s just for whatever they can grab, for no better reason than they think they′ve got a tougher bunch of thugs. We did what we had to do, but we broke things doing it. Broke barriers.″

Rudi nodded. ″And that′s another reason you should keep your promise to Kate . . . to the Regent,″ he said. ″Not that I doubt your honor, Colonel. But for the good of your land, too. Iowa
is
strong . . . if it can learn to use that strength, the which requires years of good lordship. And while I wouldn′t wish a war for the purpose, still fighting one together against outsiders who deserve it can be a powerful bond.″

Heuisink looked a little surprised, and the Mackenzie went on:

″Men will bow to a naked sword; but that makes your back feel very naked too, and everyone has to sleep sometime. They need a story as well, a story that tells them the ruler has a
right
to rule, and tells the ruler
how
to rule: by right, and not by whim.″

″Well, Tony certainly didn′t know that one.″

″No, he didn′t . . . and you′ll notice that he′s become somewhat dead the now. Such a tale is no fancy; it′s as needful as air if men are to live together as men, not like crabs in a bucket devouring each other. The which is not a good thing! You may not like the House of Heasleroad, sir, but here they are. They did bring Iowa through the Change. And
this
Heasleroad heir is very young indeed, and need have no feud with you, you and yours being guiltless of his father′s death. If you′re Chancellor, and his mother the Regent is your friend, you′ll have a hand in the shaping of him. And of this land.″

The pouched blue eyes were shrewd as they regarded him. ″You′re young but no young fool, are you, Mr. Mackenzie?″

Rudi grinned. ″No, that I am not. I′m young, but I′m learning, so! Modesty′s a vice I leave to Christians.″

″And if I′m prime minister, Chancellor, whatever . . . I
can
make some changes. There are too many of Tony′s men in power to get rid of them without a civil war—I told Kate the truth about that—but with a
real
war in prospect, we′ll need reforms whether they like it or not. We′ll have to have the common people on our side, not just following orders.″

″We . . . all of the Prophet′s enemies . . . will need that strength,″ Rudi said. ″Iowa′s neighbors will listen to
you
, Colonel Heuisink; you have the reputation of an honorable man. And the Seven Council Fires of the Sioux will, as well.″

″They will with you vouching for me,″ Heuisink said. ″You′re the one who got adopted by them . . . Strong Raven! I wish you weren′t leaving us; it′d go better with you in person than in a letter.″

″The which is also my wish,″ Rudi said. ″That I was staying just long enough to then go west again with an army at my back to help my folk! But the Sword of the Lady is still waiting for me on Nantucket; nor am I truly the Lady′s Sword until I hold it. We have more than armies to fight, sir. We have to deal with—″

″Principalities and powers,″ Heuisink said, and shivered very slightly.

He crossed himself, and Rudi drew the Pentagram.

Mathilda waved wistfully as the spires and towers and curtain wall of the Iowan city fell out of sight around a bend of the river. Their shadows fell long across the deck, with the morning sun at their backs. A propeller ship went by in the other direction, the crew chanting at the pedals belowdecks, and fishing boats were out like a flock of gulls. Rudi stood with his hand on the cool metal frame of the schooner′s bow catapult, his legs flexing as the ship nosed across the swell, content with the slap of water on the hull, the manifold thrum of wind through the rigging and the groan and creak and squeal of the wooden fabric beneath them.

″I′ll miss Kate,″ she said after a while. ″Her husband was a complete bastard, but
she
was . . . is . . . a good friend. A good woman. I don′t know how she could have loved him, but she did.″

″
Acushla,
if women didn′t have bad taste in men and weren′t prone to fall in love with right bastards now and then, it′s certain, sure and completely beyond question that humankind would have died out long ago.″

Mathilda snorted. ″Things would have been a lot harder for us without her. She′s really getting a grip on things there, too.″

Rudi nodded; he′d had the same impression. ″And now that she′s hatching from her egg, the which you had a hand in, I suspect she′ll be a very bad enemy to her foes, as well as a good friend to us. It′s important work you did there, work which may decide battles in our favor in a year or two, and perhaps turn the course of the war.″

She leaned against him with a sigh, and he put his arm around her shoulders—careful of her wounds—and his chin on her hair, enjoying the clean summery smell of it.

The sun was fairly warm as the morning went on, just comfortable despite the stiff breeze that fluttered the edges of his kilt and plaid, and snatched at his bonnet and shoulder-length hair. The ship heeled as the two triangular sails behind them thuttered and then cracked taut, smooth lovely geometric curves up the white-pine masts. The craft was rigged fore and aft, handy for the confined waters of even a giant river, and ninety feet at the waterline. A little spray came over the bowsprit and touched his face where they stood on the foredeck.

The use of the ship was a gift from the new Regent and Chancellor of the Provisional Republic. She was big enough to take the party, their best horses, and all the Southsiders.

The whole tribe of which are now a pain in the arse of cosmic dimensions,
he thought.
But we couldn′t leave them there, not even at someplace friendly like the Heuisink′s estate. Too many old angers, and they′d be too afraid and bewildered and cramped, too likely for it to end in blood if they felt deserted. At least they′re hardy sorts, and not settled folk. They′re all used to moving about in dangerous country in all seasons.

It wasn′t something he could get too irritated about now. They were finally
moving
, and quickly—as much north as east, right now, granted, but on their way again, and soon they′d turn eastward up the Wisconsin River.

And Mathilda was a pleasant warm solidity against his side, as well, the dearer for their separation. The blue-gray surface of the Mississippi slid by, the wooded bluffs on both sides streaked with gold and red and brown as the trees turned, above marshes clamorous with duck and goose and teal, where reeds had gone brown and spilled their white floating seed onto the air. That air smelled of wet and silt, tar and canvas and warm wood. And, faint and exciting, a hint of the wildwood.

Mathilda grinned up at him. ″No more prairies!″ she said. ″No more bug on a plate. No more walking and walking and riding and riding and nothing
changes
.″

He laughed. ″You took the thought from my mind, darlin′,″ he said. ″Now, just put some high mountains on that eastern horizon, turn this river westward, sow the forest with some Douglas fir, and it would be downright homelike, eh?″

″Just like Montival?″ she said.

Rudi′s answering grin was wry. There was a yearning in the tone beneath the joke, and he knew his heart as well would leap when he saw the cone of Mt. Hood again, or sailed down the Columbia past waterfalls vein ing the cliffs in silver, or felt the soft autumn rains that dimpled the Willamette between willow-clad banks.

″That name . . . I think a kindly Power whispered it to me. It has a ring to it, does it not? For our home is all mountain and valley, and it′s beautiful . . . which the name is too, you see? Though Edain liked it even more than I.″

″I think it does have a ring to it,″ she said. ″We′ve all been talking about it and we
all
like it. It′s . . . it′s
true
. The name the land was waiting for.″

There was something in her voice . . . He looked down sharply, and her bold-featured face was smiling in a way that had a disconcerting hint of her mother′s expression when she′d just maneuvered someone exactly where she wanted them—or was about to castle in a game of chess. The more so as she stepped out from beneath his arm.

He turned, and all the companions of his journey were there, with Jake sunna Jake as well. Edain was grinning like Garbh; most of the others were solemn; Mathilda′s face had turned serious as well.

″You′ve been conspiring behind my back!″ he said, half-angry, half-amused.

Mathilda wasn′t in court dress today, of course, but the badge of the Eye was on the shoulder of her sheepskin jacket. She tapped it, and grew less grave for an instant.

″Conspiring?
Hel
lo!
House Arminger
, Rudi!″

Then she drew her sword with her good arm, and carefully so as not to stress her healing ribs beneath the bandages. They all did, and raised the blades; Rudi felt himself struck speechless as the ship′s crew looked on curiously.