The Sapphire Rose

‘Are you really sure you want to marry into that family, Sparhawk?’ Ulath asked.

‘Do I have any choice at this point?’

‘You could always run away. I’m sure you could find work in the Tamul Empire on the Daresian continent.’

‘Ulath,’ Sephrenia said, ‘hush.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said.

‘Go ahead, Vanion,’ she instructed.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he duplicated Ulath’s intonation perfectly. ‘After Arissa had killed Aldreas, Ehlana ascended the throne. She turned out to be Sparhawk’s true pupil. She absolutely denied Annias access to her treasury and she was on the verge of packing him off to a monastery. That’s when he poisoned her.’

‘Excuse me, Lord Vanion,’ Tynian interrupted. ‘My Lord of Lenda, attempted regicide is a capital offence, isn’t it?’

‘Throughout the civilized world, Sir Tynian.’

‘I thought that might be the case. Kalten, why don’t you put in an order for a bale of rope? And Ulath, you’d better send to Thalesia for a couple of spare axes.’

‘What’s this?’ Kalten asked.

‘We have evidence now that Lycheas, Annias and Arissa have all committed high treason – along with a fair number of other confederates.’

‘We knew that before,’ Kalten said.

‘Yes,’ Tynian smiled, ‘but now we can prove it. We have a witness.’

‘I was sort of hoping to take care of suitable rewards myself,’ Sparhawk objected.

‘It’s always better to do such things legally, Sparhawk,’ Lenda told him. ‘It avoids arguments later on, you understand.’

‘I wasn’t really planning to leave anyone around to argue with me, My Lord.’

‘I think you’d better shorten his chain a bit, Lord Vanion,’ Lenda suggested with a sly smile. ‘His fangs seem to be getting longer.’

‘I noticed that,’ Vanion agreed. Then he went on. ‘Annias was a little confounded when Sephrenia’s spell kept Ehlana from dying the way her father had, but he went ahead and set Lycheas up as Prince Regent anyway, reasoning that an incapacitated queen was the same as a dead one. He took personal charge of the Elenian treasury and started buying Patriarchs right and left. That’s when his campaign to gain the Archprelacy gained momentum and became more obvious. It was at about that point in Lycheas’s story that My Lord of Lenda here suggested to him quite firmly that he hadn’t yet said anything momentous enough to keep his neck off Ulath’s chopping block.’

‘Or out of my noose,’ Kalten added grimly.

Vanion smiled. ‘Lenda’s suggestion had the desired effect on Lycheas,’ he said. ‘The Prince Regent became a gold mine of information at that point. He said that he can’t actually prove it, but he’s picked up some strong hints that Annias has been in contact with Otha, and that he’s seeking his aid. The Primate has always pretended to be violently prejudiced against Styrics, but that may have been a pose to conceal his real feelings.’

‘Probably not,’ Sephrenia disagreed. ‘There’s a world of difference between western Styrics and Zemochs. The annihilation of western Styricum would have been one of Otha’s first demands in exchange for any assistance.’

‘That’s probably true,’ Vanion conceded.

‘Did Lycheas have anything at all solid to base his suspicions upon?’ Tynian asked.

‘Not much,’ Ulath told him. ‘He saw a few meetings taking place is about all. It’s not quite enough to justify a declaration of war just yet.’

‘War?’ Bevier exclaimed.

‘Naturally,’ Ulath shrugged. ‘If Otha’s been involving himself in the internal affairs of the western Elene kingdoms, that’s cause enough to go east and do war upon him.’

‘I’ve always liked that expression,’ Kalten said. ‘“Do war.” It sounds so permanent – and so messy.’

‘We don’t need a justification if you really want to go and destroy Zemoch, Ulath,’ Tynian said.

‘We don’t?’

‘Nobody ever got around to drawing up a peace treaty after the Zemoch invasion five hundred years ago. Technically, we’re still at war with Otha – aren’t we, My Lord of Lenda?’

‘Probably, but resuming hostilities after a five-hundred-year truce might be a little hard to justify.’

‘We’ve just been resting up, My Lord,’ Tynian shrugged. I don’t know about these other gentlemen, but I feel fairly well-rested now.’

‘Oh, dear,’ Sephrenia sighed.

‘The important thing here,’ Vanion went on, ‘is that on several occasions Lycheas saw one particular Styric closeted with Annias. Once, he was able to overhear a part of what they were saying. The Styric had a Zemoch accent – or so Lycheas believes.’

‘That’s Lycheas, all right,’ Kurik observed. ‘He’s got the face of a sneak and an eavesdropper.’

‘I’ll agree to that,’ Vanion said. ‘Our excellent Prince Regent couldn’t hear the whole conversation, but he told us that the Styric was telling Annias that Otha had to get his hands on a particular jewel or the Zemoch God would withdraw His support. I think we can all make some fairly educated guesses about which jewel he was talking about.’

Kalten’s face grew mournful. ‘You’re going to be a spoilsport about this, aren’t you, Sparhawk,’ he lamented.

‘That one escapes me.’

‘You’re going to tell the queen about this, I suppose, and then she’ll decide that the information’s important enough to keep Lycheas’s head on his neck or his feet on the floor.’

‘I’m sort of obliged to keep her advised, Kalten.’

‘I don’t suppose we could persuade you to wait a while, could we?’

‘Wait? How long?’

‘Only until after the bastard’s funeral.’

Sparhawk grinned at his friend. ‘No, I’m afraid not, Kalten,’ he said. ‘I’d really like to oblige you, but I’ve got my own skin to consider. It might make my queen cross with me if I start hiding things from her.’

‘That’s about all Lycheas really knows,’ Vanion told them. ‘Now, we need to make a decision. Cluvonus is almost dead, and as soon as he dies, we’ll have to join the other orders at Demos for the ride to Chyrellos. That’s going to leave the queen totally unprotected here. We don’t know when Dolmant’s going to send us the command to march, and we don’t know how long it’s going to take the Elenian army to get back from Arcium. What are we going to do about the queen?’