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  With the death of Verenius, the position of Primus Itinerant was now his. Octavian glanced at the riders around him. Are they doing this on purpose? I am becoming paranoid, he almost laughed. Why should they want to delay me? And why should they care about my need to hurry? They even don’t know it. The journey toward the border between Severin and Leyona could be accomplished by a determined rider in a day, or at most in one and a half. At this speed, it would take them three days to make it. I did not expect Codrin to fall so easily into our trap. He may be a good soldier, but he is an inexperienced politician, or perhaps just too young. In the short term, both will work to our advantage. Given the new circumstances, Maud will be more than happy to marry her granddaughter to him. She is not interested in a mere man; she wants a King for the girl. Aron was a stubborn mule, and we had to play him with caution, but Bucur was even easier to handle than Codrin. He was not stupid either; just too dependent on Tolosa and Maud.

  Two days later, they finally arrived at the border, and from there Octavian could set his own speed. He arrived in Leyona in the evening, and his impatience was again put to test; the guards at the gate were slower than usual. With Codrin’s victory in Poenari and the taking of Severin, the new Grand Seigneur of Leyona was being more cautious than usual. In front of the finely sculpted door which guarded Maud’s office, Octavian breathed with relief. Two sentries stood guard, but he was a known entity, and they let him enter without questioning him.

  To his surprise, he found Laure, Maud’s daughter and Duchess of Tolosa, and Laurent in the office too. In that brief moment, when those inside were still half unaware of his presence, he thought about the unusual closeness between Laure and Laurent. The next thing he observed was that Laurent wore the insignia of the Itinerant Sages.“My ladies,” Octavian bowed slightly, “Laurent.”

  “Octavian, finally,” Maud said and flashed a smile at him. “Tell me that you have good news.”

  “Yes, Maud, I have very good news,” he could not help bragging. “Important news.”

  “Tell me.” Maud overrode his caution, and that unsettled him; Laurent was still a new member of the order, and some things should have been discussed only in higher circles.

  “As you know,” he gestured at Laurent, “we were able to secure Aron’s and Bucur’s leave from Severin. They took Saliné with them. The next news is of a different and sadder nature. Codrin reacted badly to Saliné’s departure and killed Verenius. Hanged him. That young man has a sick predilection for hanging our Primus Itinerants.”

  “One day, he will be punished for that,” Maud said coldly.

  From her reaction, I should not delve any deeper into this subject. “I wonder if there is news from Aron by now.”

  “None yet. You must be tired and hungry. We should talk again, after you have refreshed yourself.”

  There was no time to talk when they met again, without Laurent this time, as the guards announced Veres, the Grand Seigneur of Midia. Maud, Laure and Octavian shared a laugh and, suppressing her mirth, Maud signaled the guard to let the man enter. She raised three fingers, and the guard understood that she needed three minutes of delay.

  “That pompous nothing. Snail, the Grand Seigneur of Midia. I wonder what he wants. I am sure we will have a pleasant talk. More funny than pleasant, I suppose. I still don’t know if he is called Snail for his slow mind or body.”

  “Maybe both,” Octavian offered, and they laughed again.

  Entering, Veres bowed, and his eyes moved from one woman to another; he did not know any of them.

  “The guard said that you wanted to talk with me,” Maud said, her voice flat, her eyes still glimmering with amusement.

  “Lady Master Sage, Octavian, Lady,” Veres bowed again. It pained him to bow in front of a woman, even more so knowing that he needed her, but even he understood that Maud represented the power of the Circle. She nodded, inviting him to speak. “I tried to reach the Candidate King in Severin, but the roads were blocked by that vagrant from Arenia, and I thought that you might want to hear the news I bring.” He stopped and glanced at Maud, who nodded again. “After the siege of Poenari, Bucur suspected Pierre of treason, and asked me to punish him. I did so, and Pierre is now dead. Bucur promised to give Midia back to me, before the end of the year.”

  With some effort, Maud avoided looking at her daughter. “Where did this happen?”

  “I waited until the army of Tolosa went south and ambushed Pierre from a ridge. My man planted a bolt in his chest.”

  “Did you see him dead?”

  “We had to run, but there was a bolt in his chest.”

  This one is not a man, Maud thought, looking at Veres. This one is a tool, and as with any tool, he begs to be used. That is his reason for existence. She closed her eyes, trying to remember everything about him, from the reports she had received from Aron and the other Sages. He is stupid and violent, mostly with women. He is too weak to fight men. I think that this is exactly what we need. “Veres,” she said and set her lips in a warm smile, “you are one of the few faithful men that we can fully trust. We meaning the Circle and the Candidate King. And I think that Fate has sent you here today, as we have a very important mission, and you are the perfect man for it. You are twenty years old, aren’t you?” she asked, and Veres nodded, surprised and pleased at the same time; Maud’s detailed knowledge about made him feel even more important. “That’s the perfect age to marry.”

  Veres frowned. Marriage was the last thing he wanted; he was expecting something significant, something to match his self-importance. There is no glory to gain from this. He tried to protest. Maud’s sharp glance quieted him, his mouth closing as fast as it opened.

  “There is a young lady at the court of Peyris, who is creating problems for us, both the Circle and the Candidate King. More problems for us mean more delays for you in recovering Midia. She is not without qualities, and she is the granddaughter of the former Duke Stefan. Unfortunately, she is acting against us, and we need someone to control her. I think you are a strong enough man to control her and, in time, she will add a good dowry to your possessions.”

  The words ‘Duke’ and ‘possessions’ invaded Veres’s little mind, and he completely forget his previous worries about the lack of glory. “Yes, Lady Maud, I think that I will be able to serve Bucur and you well in this.”

  “You will leave tomorrow for Peyris. An Itinerant Sage will accompany you. You don’t need to worry; he will negotiate everything for you.” You don’t need to think. “Take some rest now; we need you in good shape tomorrow.”

  “What do you think about Pierre?” Maud asked her daughter, when the door closed behind Veres.

  “We were not friends, and I did not expect his death, but it suits us. A new Spatar will be more malleable to my will.”

  “Pierre was right about Poenari and, sometimes, malleable people don’t make good advisers.”

  “Or maybe he lost because he wanted to prove his own words. As it looks now, from Veres’s story, Bucur thought the same.”

  “Who will be your new Spatar? Joffroy?”

  “No, he is as stubborn as his father was, and he is the one I told you about; he is too close to Marie.”

  “Ah, that thing about Marie would explain your worries. And mine. Octavian?”

  “Bucur was wrong; there was no way to take Poenari. I am sorry, Lady Laure. We made a mistake and we have to learn from it. What good will Pierre’s death bring?” He shrugged, looking at Laure. “Probably nothing, but we will see.”

  Laure considered this, but did not speak her thoughts. “What is this game with Peyris? I suppose that’s about Cleyre.”

  “We have a strange situation there. She is undermining Albert, and for the moment, we want to keep him in place as the Duke of Peyris. We do not contemplate her ruling there, or at least not until we have a new King. The Duke himself is a kind of older version of Veres. He is not violent, though. At our suggestion, Albert forced her to marry an old man, who has just died, an
d no one knows why. She is free again. But the strangest thing is that we have tried twice to solve the situation. The first time, we hired a team of ten mercenaries, but they never reached Peyris. We still don’t know what happened to them. The second time, a Triangle of Assassins protected her and dispatched a team of twenty hardened mercenaries as if they were children. Who hired the Assassins and why is still a mystery. They are expensive at worst and often money alone is not enough to buy them. Maybe the old Duke foresaw this and made plans to protect his granddaughter. If so, he was doing the right thing; Cleyre is his only descendant intelligent enough to lead the Duchy. We will never know if Stefan planned to grant the Duchy to Cleyre; Reymont moved a little too fast against him, and I hate it when poison replaces control of the situation. The Assassins left one mercenary alive to spread the word that Cleyre is under their protection, and now, no one dares to touch her. Veres is known for his violence against his lovers. Of course he has to pay women to love him. We must find an isolated castle and keep him and his new wife there. At least until spring. She will have something else to think about than taking Albert’s place. This will free our hands in the north and, later, we may help her take Peyris. She will be a wiser woman by that time and willing to cooperate with the Circle. Now we need to concentrate on Codrin. He acted like an idiot with Verenius, but he is still young. What did he say about our proposals?” Maud asked Octavian.

  “Nothing, really. He says he needs time to think about it and will answer in spring. At least that means no more wars this year. By spring, we may be able to undermine his position. Devan would be a good start. His son fought along Codrin in Poenari.”

  “I know about Devan.” Maud closed her eyes for a few moments. “This idea that Codrin will do nothing until spring? It doesn’t match what we know about him. I was expecting an attack on Orban, who is weak now; he has lost a third of his army.”

  “Nonetheless, that’s what I learned from Codrin, Vlaicu and a captain who is one of his four young wolves. Codrin has already disbanded his army. I saw them breaking camp when we left Severin. Perhaps his losses were higher than we know, and he needs time to build another army. This frees us to act in the north. Which Sage will go to Peyris?”

  “Laurent; he played his role well in Severin and delivered Saliné to us,” Maud said.

  So he is Laure’s lover, Octavian thought. “The last days on the road, there was not much to do and I thought about Poenari again. It was an isolated place that only old men still knew about. Laurent was there several times and did not let us know how strong the fortress actually is.”

  “He thought we knew that already, and he did not think we would try to take it by siege. He was expecting us to have someone inside who could open the gates for Bucur, like he opened the tunnel in Severin for Aron to leave.”

  Octavian pondered for a while. I need to learn more... “There are some restrictions on us, in Codrin’s land. Sages are not welcome until spring.”

  Before they could continue, the guards announced Eric, the man Maud had sent on a special mission. This is an interesting evening, Maud thought. Laure and Octavian will learn more now. She glanced at Eric, and signaled him to sit at her desk, next to Octavian. Something is wrong. “Tell me, Eric.”

  “My Lady, I don’t bring good news. We failed, and Dog is dead. Even worse, Aron killed Petronius and his guards.”

  What? Maud gripped the edge of the table. Eyes closed, she breathed deeply. Once. “Let’s take your tidings one by one. Dog, first.”

  “As planned, we killed the sentries, and Dog went for the girl. I think that he was too confident in his abilities. The girl was awake and sounded the alarm.”

  “He still had time to...”

  “She stuck an arrow in his face, and that delayed him. Aron’s men surrounded Dog and gave him no chance. We were at least lucky that they overreacted and killed Dog instead of taking him alive. They could have tortured him to learn more and then killed him anyway.”

  “Who is the girl?” Laure asked.

  “Saliné. I had no choice. She is a fine girl, but we need to clear the path for Marie. Aron recognized Dog, and then he killed Petronius.” Maud looked at Eric this time.

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  “He is not an idiot, but he lacks subtlety.” Maud closed her eyes for a moment, rubbing her chin. “So Aron will certainly not go to the place we provided for him.”

  “My men are following him. There was one other thing, a strange thing. We met a band of ten men, looking for him. Some unpaid debts, they said. They were tough men, and they promised to bring him here for five thousand galbeni. Saliné and Bucur were included in the price too.”

  “Tough men don’t come cheap, it seems. I would be willing pay that money but, as we planned with Petronius, a ship is waiting for Aron in Rochil, and who knows where it will sail? For sure not to Bardaux, as we agreed. You may go, Eric. You too, Octavian.”

  “Mother,” Laure said, when the two women were alone, “don’t you think that we are going too far, by trying to kill Saliné?”

  “I don’t feel particularly proud of the assassination attempt, but we are in a kind of war with Codrin. That young man is as stubborn, and inexperienced, in politics, as he is experienced in making war. Any other man would have accepted the proposal of marriage to Marie, become Duke of Tolosa this year and King of Frankis the next. He wants to think until spring. That’s childish. Lose a kingdom because of some infatuation for a girl? Another year lost, and who knows what could happen before spring? He may not give up until Saliné is dead, or married and with children. We don’t have time to wait until she gets children.”

  “Aron probably thinks the same: force Saliné to make children with Bucur in the hope that the children will shield him from Codrin.”

  “I no longer care about Aron or Bucur. Drusila told me that a Fracture is coming. The nomads will invade the continent. We need a kingdom united under Codrin to have any chance against them. I wish I had known more about the Fracture and Codrin’s abilities before we elected Bucur as the Candidate King, but at least the death of Petronius frees my hand. I will ask a Conclave to demote Bucur and make Codrin the Candidate King, not necessarily at the same time. Until then, the marriage must be arranged. Even with his skills, alone, it will take Codrin years to unify Frankis. With Tolosa behind him and Peyris weakened, we may have a King next year.” Feeling suddenly tired, she put her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her clasped hands. “I need to write some letters.”

  “You want to find out where Aron is?”

  “Yes, I will write to any Seigneur who has a harbor on the Ocean. They must locate Aron. And Saliné.” Maud paused. “If we find her, I will keep Saliné until spring. If Codrin accepts the marriage and the Duchy of Tolosa, I will release her.”

  “That sounds better,” Laure said. “I am teasing you,” she added with a smile, seeing Maud’s frown. “We have a free hand in the north until spring. Maybe we should use Manuc while he can still do something; the Duke of Loxburg is still strong.”

  “I wish I could make you a Sage, daughter, but Duchesses are not allowed in the Circle.” This time, it was Maud who set a tired smile on her lips. “The Duke is an old man, the only one still alive from the old generation, and his son is not... Well, his son is not Albert or Veres, but he is not much better either. Manuc will be the obstacle we raise in Codrin’s path. He is capable enough and has a larger army. Technically, Codrin is stronger than before the siege, but his strategic position is weaker now. In the next war, he can’t afford to hide in Poenari. He must defend his land and fight in the field, army against army. Manuc and Orban have almost five times more soldiers than Codrin. That should be enough to convince him that Tolosa is his only way to gain the crown. We need to offer Manuc a bone, something he wants, perhaps a part of Peyris. Soon, Reymont will convince Albert to replace Nicolas as Spatar. Nicolas is to close too Cleyre. Sandro, the second Spatar, is weaker, and the army will find itself without a capable commande
r.”

  “And maybe we will free Cleyre after a while, to enhance the chaos. Will you send Laurent to Peyris and Loxburg?”

  “No,” Maud shook her head, “we need a more skilled negotiator, and there are some things we need to clarify about what he actually knows of Poenari. I stopped Octavian from asking awkward questions to protect Laurent, for now. He has a lot of potential. Though I don’t like his persistence in trying to get into your bed.”

  “It will not happen. At least, it will not happen while Baldovin is still alive.” Laure’s lips twitched in a dry smile, and Maud smiled too. “There is not much love between us, and my husband is sick and less than a man now, but I will not cheat on him. Laurent has to wait as long as it takes.”

  Maud looked away for a while, almost dreaming, eyes half-closed, rubbing her nose thoughtfully. A thought struck her, and her eyes snapped open. “Codrin is an anomaly.”

  “In what sense?” Laure asked, cautiously.

  “In the sense that no one expected him. He is not a center of power that grew organically, from whatever base. He appeared from nowhere and stormed Frankis. And he is not the only anomaly.”

  “His young wolves.”

  “Yes, capable men are attracted by strong leaders, but they appeared from nowhere too. I don’t understand.” Maud paused, and the fine lines of her face deepened with her frown.

  “We know about them. We use them. The process should have been started earlier, but anomalies are hard to predict, and even harder to control. We will find a way.”

  “It’s not easy to handle such men. They don’t have past allegiances or obligations. They are like newborns, without a history that can be used to control them.”

  “Codrin is a Duke’s son, and he was formed like any other noble. There are patterns, and they can be used to lead him in one direction or another.”

  “Codrin is not a Duke; he is the legitimate King of Arenia. In the longer term, the game is larger than Frankis,” Maud said. “We learned that a bit too late.”