The Office of Shadow (55 page)

You made a headstrong, stupid decision by choosing to go against your uncle as
you've done. And I must say that I have never been more proud of you.

Perrin, I predict that your life is just beginning.

Love,

Mother

When Silverdun arrives by coach at the prison of Crere Sulace, a testy
message sprite is waiting to inform him that his mother has died.

Silverdun's arrival is the talk of the prison for a few weeks, but his notoriety is short-lived. A few months later, Mauritane, the captain of the Royal
Guard, is convicted of treason and sent to Crere Sulace as well.

For a long time, nothing happens. Then Midwinter descends, and
Mother's prediction comes true most spectacularly.

When Silverdun and Paet stepped into the Shadows' Den the next day, Ironfoot and Sela leapt to their feet.

"Silverdun!" shouted Sela. She ran to him and embraced him, and he was
more than happy to let her.

"You're alive," said Ironfoot.

"That's a matter of some philosophical debate," said Silverdun. "I'm here,
anyway."

"What happened?," asked Ironfoot. "How is this possible?"

"Pray you never find out," said Silverdun. He looked at Paet, who shook
his head. "Apparently it's a bit of a trade secret."

"We can celebrate later," said Paet. "Right now there's work to do."

"But-," began Sela.

"Another time," said Paet. "Silverdun's untimely death has stolen away
valuable time. So catch us up. Any progress on the Einswrath?"

Ironfoot's face fell. "Unfortunately, yes." Ironfoot filled them in on his
discovery about the plans Timha had brought them.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I wish I could give you better news."

"What are you talking about, man?" said Paet. "That's excellent news!"

"How so?" asked Ironfoot.

"Because if they don't have the real plans," said Silverdun, "that means
they don't have any Einswrath, either."

Ironfoot's eyes widened. "So we may have a chance after all."

"We need to tell Everess immediately," said Paet. "If this is true, then we
may be able to avoid a war entirely. Mab was clearly counting on having the Einswrath in order to bolster her attack. She may be having second thoughts now."

"What makes you think that?" asked Silverdun.

"Remember what Timha told us," said Ironfoot. "Mab's thaumaturges
were under heavy pressure to complete the thing. They were on a strict
timetable. She committed to a war footing in the hope that it would be finished on time."

"We hope," said Silverdun.

"If nothing else," said Paet, "if we let Mab know through diplomatic
means that we're aware of this, she may stand down, and we won't have to
engage in a war that we can't possibly win."

"Even without the Einswrath?" said Sela.

"The last time I spoke to Mauritane," said Silverdun, "he admitted that
we're hopelessly outmatched. We now know that Mab's been drafting soldiers from all over the Unseelie Lands, and with the Annwni Army at her disposal, we're outnumbered nearly two to one. The Einswrath was merely the
shot of whiskey in the beer."

"I'm off to talk to Everess," said Paet.

Paet sat in Everess's office at the Foreign Ministry, with Everess and Baron
Glennet, and told them what Ironfoot had discovered.

"Wonderful news," said Everess.

"I believe that if we pass this information to Ambassador Jem-Aleth and
he spreads it around the City of Mab, then she may think twice about her
invasion. We could avert this whole nasty business."

"Perhaps," said Everess, thinking.

"No," said Glennet. "Those in Corpus will disagree. They'll argue that
the only information we should send to Jem-Aleth is instructions to abandon
the embassy and return to the City Emerald. What you've just told us is the
best argument I've heard yet to proceed with Corpus's plans."

"Which plans are these?" asked Paet.

"Corpus has asked General Mauritane to prepare for a preemptive strike
against the Unseelie," said Everess.

"Where does the queen stand on this?" said Paet.

"Titania keeps her own counsel," said Glennet. "She has informed Corpus
that she will consent to whatever they decide."

"This is Regina Titania we're talking about, right?" said Paet. "The
Stone Queen, the Fist of Cold Iron?"

"The queen is not as she once was," said Glennet. "It is sad, but true.
She's become far less involved in affairs of state since midwinter."

"But Baron Glennet," said Paet. "General Mauritane has said that-"

"Mauritane is more concerned about the safety of his troops than the
safety of his kingdom," said Glennet. "I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but we must consider the larger issues here. If we strike now, then there will be no
invasion of the Seelie Kingdom. We will take them by surprise."

"And you agree with this assessment?" asked Pact.

Glennet shrugged. "My role in this, as always, is to try to reach consensus. There are factions in the House of Lords who feel as you do, but most
of the guilds feel otherwise, and they've brought a number of the lords over
to their way of thinking. Elvish memory is long, Chief Paet, and Selafae is far
from forgotten. Some of these members were furious when Mauritane didn't
continue north after the Battle of Sylvan and finish Mab off entirely."

"That would have been suicide," said Paet.

"I didn't say I agree with them," said Glennet.

"Well, what's done is done," said Everess. "If we're going to war, then we
need to prepare for it. Paet, you'll need to shift your focus onto developing
intelligence on Mab's tactics and strategy."

"I feel deeply uncomfortable with this," said Paet.

"You feel deeply uncomfortable about everything," said Everess. "Now
go and do as you're told."

Paet stormed into Blackstone House, hurling his cloak at Brei, the receptionist, and glowering at the copyists and analysts on his way downstairs, all
of whom knew better than to disturb him in this mood.

He came downstairs, went into his office, and slammed the door, fuming.
Would Everess ever stand up for what was right? Or would he spend his
entire career doing only what brought him more influence? And Glennet, so
well known as a peacemaker, hadn't done anything that Paet could see to
remove the fire from the boiling pot the Seelie government had become.

And where was the queen in all this?

There was a knock at the door. "What is it?" he shouted.

A timid analyst hurried into his office and handed him a slip of paper, a
summary of a sprite's message. The analysts all knew better than to provide
transcripts from such conversations. Paet's hatred for message sprites was
legendary.

He read the paper once, then again. "Shadows!" he shouted. "Get in here
now!"

Silverdun, Ironfoot, and Sela filtered into the office, as always slower than
he preferred.

"What are you bellowing about now?" said Silverdun.

"We've just received word from your man Estiane, Silverdun. He
received a horrified note from an Arcadian housemaid in Mab's palace."

"What was in the note?" asked Ironfoot.

"Hy Pezho is alive. Hy Pezho. The Black Artist. The man who created
the Einswrath is alive."

"But we'd heard from numerous sources that he'd been executed by Mab
herself," said Ironfoot.

"Well, Silverdun died," said Paet. "And there he is."

"What do we do now?" said Sela.

"We panic," said Paet. "And I go back to Glennet and Everess. Maybe
now they'll reconsider their preemptive strike."

"What should we do?" asked Silverdun.

"Silverdun, you go get your old friend Mauritane and have him meet us
at the foreign minister's office. I don't care what he's doing. If he's making
love to his wife, tell her she can finish on her own."

"Done," said Silverdun. "Though, having spent some time with Mauritane's wife, I pray it doesn't come to that."

"Ironfoot," said Paet, standing and stuffing the slip of paper in his
pocket, "you get back to your map and your books and you figure out how
that weapon works. I don't care what it takes. I don't care how much you have
to spend or who you have to kill to do it. Am I understood?"

"No one is more eager to make that happen than I am," said Ironfoot.
"I'll do my best."

"Your life literally depends on it, Ironfoot. If you can't figure it out, I
believe we are all dead."

He strode out of his office. "And now I'm off to see if I can at least put
our deaths off for a little while."

Sela called out to him. "Paet," she said. "I really would like you to look
at the dispatches I've found."

"Later!" snapped Paet. He stormed back up the stairs, leaving Sela and
Ironfoot glaring after him.

Lord Valen once asked me how I defined true friendship.
I told him that a true friend is one who forgives any indiscretion. I thought it a particularly fine thing to say, as I
was having an affair with his wife at the time.

-Lord Gray, Recollections

meeting was swiftly arranged at the Barrack, where Mauritane was kneedeep in planning for the imminent invasion. When Silverdun entered his
office, he was surrounded by a horde of junior officers and amanuenses, all
clamoring for his attention.