Through Wolf's Eyes (36 page)

"And Baron Archer as well," Colby added. "Lady Zorana
has fallen behind somewhat, now that there has been an alliance between
Lady Elise and Jet Shield."

"What about Allister Seagleam?" Derian asked. "Once you said he was favored by many."

"A few weeks' time hasn't changed that situation
much," Colby admitted. "More disturbing are rumors that would seem to
indicate that Bright Bay is determined that if Allister wishes to claim
his rights he will have support in doing so."

"What do you mean?" Derian asked, sitting up straight in his chair.

"It's the stories coming up the road," Colby said slowly. "You know that we border Bright Bay all along the Barren River."

"Of course."

"Now strategically, the Barren makes a good border.
It is rocky most of its length and where it isn't, it's still very
wide. There are a few places, however, that are more fordable than
others and reports say that a greater concentration of Bright Bay's
Stalwarts—or their allies from Stonehold—have been seen in these
places."

"I understand," Derian said, watching the map Colby
had drawn with his damp fingertip on the tabletop dry into
invisibility. "They're watching us, but not yet moving in."

"Right. From my conversations with the army's Master
of the Horse—he came by to ask on the quiet if we had any draft animals
to sell—the king's officers are aware of the situation but are
unwilling to move in lest it prompt the very conflict we would all like
to avoid."

"At least," Vernita added, "until King Tedric's heir
is selected. It would be a horror if we were to lose the king while
engaged in an active war and no one was prepared to take his place. In
the infighting for the crown, Hawk Haven could easily be defeated by
outside enemies."

"Then," Derian frowned, "the pressure from Bright Bay
may force the king to make his decision before the Festival of the
Eagle this coming Lynx Moon."

"That," Colby said, "is precisely how I see it. And it may be precisely what Bright Bay wants."

"Or," Vernita countered, "precisely what they don't
want. After all an heir chosen may ruin Allister Seagleam's hopes for
the throne."

"And we must not forget," Colby added, a wicked
twinkle in his eyes, "that Hawk Haven's allies may be putting pressures
on King Tedric that we know nothing about. No ruler can be completely
indifferent about those countries along the border—even the friendly
ones. They can become unfriendly far too easily if offended. It's all
rather like running a business."

Derian rubbed his eyes with his hands, thinking of
the argumentative and contentious forces gathered at the castle,
wondering if any among them could see past the crown's glitter to
realize what a tremendous headache wearing it must be.

"I wish we knew," he said, "which way to jump and what the consequences would be!"

"Foresight," Vernita replied calmly, "is the rarest of the gifts and the least understood."

"I wonder," Derian said with an attempt at humor, "if Lady Melina possesses it."

His joke fell flat. Together they sat, sharing in
silence the impotence of the common folk when the actions of the great
threaten their lives and happiness. Derian wondered what choice he
would make if he were King Tedric and was secretly glad that he could
leave that choice to the king.

A
BOARD A GREAT
masted ship anchored off the shore of a small island in the ocean east of the mutual coasts of Hawk
Haven
and Bright Bay, Prince Newell leaned against the starboard rail. His
hair was concealed beneath a seaman's stocking cap; the rest of his
person was equally well disguised in a striped jersey and canvas
trousers. The disguise worked simply because no one expected a prince
to be so clad— especially as the colors he wore were the blue and
yellow of a rival navy.

If any were watching him, Newell would seem
completely absorbed in studying the eddies created when the water
splashed against the hull. Actually, he missed nothing that happened in
his vicinity. When a slightly built man crossed the deck with affected
casualness and came to stand near him, Newell did not look up to see
who it was. Instead he asked rather diffidently:

"Have a good voyage?"

"Yes, thank you," said the man, whose name was Tench. He was a trusted advisor to the throne of Bright Bay. "And yours?"

"Good enough."

Newell's voyage had been, as a matter of fact, less
than ideal. He had departed the capital of Hawk Haven two days after
convincing Zorana Shield that pursuing her own policy with an enemy
power was not traitorous. From the capital he had ridden a series of
fast horses to the coast, arriving three days earlier than he had been
expected. From there he had helped sail a small, swift cutter to
rendezvous with this vessel. At dawn, he would return to that cutter
and make the return voyage, all so he could arrive just in time to
rendezvous with the Hawk Haven
Wings
, on which he served as
Commander of Marines, a task undertaken ostensibly as a means of
soothing his broken widower's heart and of giving himself some sense of
purpose.

In reality, the game Prince Newell was playing was
far more complicated than any of those who associated with him
realized, a game that was meant to make him the next king of Hawk Haven
and beyond. The first step in this process was convincing the
government of Bright Bay that he favored a peaceful resolution of their
conflicts. Thus this meeting and the importance of seeming both
confident and
invulnerable. So Newell said nothing of his onerous journey, but instead commented languidly:

"And all remains well with Gustin the Fourth?"

All the monarchs of Bright Bay assumed the name
Gustin on taking the crown, men and women alike. It was a curious
custom, one that Prince Newell meant to change when he himself was king
of Bright Bay. That violation of tradition, however, would need to wait
until he had finished with Hawk Haven. One thing at a time.

"All is well with our honored monarch," Tench said.
He was a foolish-looking man who rather resembled a fish, complete with
slightly popping eyes and a perpetually open mouth. "She expresses some
concern as to the situation in Hawk Haven. Although some of her
advisors feel otherwise, she is firm in her conviction that her cousin
Allister Seagleam is the only proper heir to that contested throne."

"Glad to know," Newell said languidly, "that she
hasn't changed her mind. Tell your queen that agents interested in her
cause have been working busily. Allister Seagleam should soon receive
correspondence suggesting a way to strengthen his claim to the throne.
Her Majesty should press him to accept the offer."

"Duke Allister," came Tench's stiff reply, "remains
difficult. He does not wish to reign in a land that will not welcome
him, no matter how prepared Her Majesty's military is to support him—no
matter how much the queen presses him."

"Perhaps," Newell said, "we should find a way to make
him a hero in the eyes of both peoples. He would feel himself more
welcome then."

What Newell actually planned was for he himself to be
that hero. King Tedric, sadly, would probably not be present to witness
those heroics, but he would hear report of them. The prince was not
precisely certain just what heroic deed he would perform, but he had
infinite trust in his ability to manufacture situations to his
advantage.

He turned and for the first time looked Tench squarely in the face. "And Stonehold?" he asked, naming Bright Bay's primary ally.

"Remains firm in its support of an independent Bright
Bay. However, its ministers are as ever opposed to the uniting of Hawk
Haven and Bright Bay. They fear that the larger nation would threaten
their own national sovereignty."

"And how shall they prevent this union?" asked Newell
scornfully. "Surely sending a few troops to support Bright Bay is a
peculiar tactic! What if Bright Bay conquers Hawk Haven?"

"If Bright Bay wins on land," Tench replied, "the
victory will be achieved only with Stonehold's support. In that case,
Stonehold is confident that it will be able to dictate some of the
terms. I believe they favor a partition of the conquered Hawk Haven
lands."

Tench added cautiously, "The diplomats from Stonehold
have hinted that if Bright Bay permits a marriage alliance with Hawk
Haven, Stonehold will be forced to withdraw its military support. Then
Bright Bay may be at Hawk Haven's mercy on land."

Fools!
Newell thought.
Once Stonehold
does that, they lose any chance of subtly pressuring Bright Bay into
their way of thinking. All that will remain to them will be force. I
must make certain, somehow, that Stonehold does withdraw and then
re-enter the field as an opponent. An independent threat would be just
the thing to unite both Hawk Haven and Bright Bay behind me.

Aloud he said, "Stonehold's withdrawal, of course,
should be prevented at all cost. This is essential for the delicate
balance of power we are relying upon to achieve a peaceful alliance
between our nations. If Stonehold withdraws, Bright Bay loses in land
power and Hawk Haven may be less willing to treat with it as an equal.
Suggest to Queen Gustin the Fourth that even the least rumor of Duke
Allister's negotiating with Hawk Haven must be kept the greatest
secret."

"I will do what I can," the diplomat said dubiously. "Her Majesty is difficult to guide. She is yet young and impulsive."

"Make her think this secrecy is her own idea," Newell suggested. "Let her think she needs to convince Duke Allister.
If she must dominate another's will, she will find she must dominate her own."

"A good thought," Tench replied.

Newell smiled politely. His plans included a future
wherein Queen Gustin IV would be his wife. The fact that the headstrong
young queen was already married was a difficulty he chose to overlook.
Political assassination was not a completely unfamiliar tool to him.

He remembered the days when he and Princess Lovella
had squarely faced the terrible consequences that would arise if Crown
Prince Chalmer assumed the throne. Despite bearing the name of his
illustrious grandfather, Prince Chalmer was an indecisive man. King
Tedric had not realized that in the course of educating his son in
statecraft he had crushed his spirit as surely as the spirit of a good
horse could be ruined by being too severely broken to rein.

Although Chalmer had visited battlefields, he was not
a warrior. Lovella was and she feared for her nation if her brother
became king. Chalmer's hemming and hawing over the least decision would
have meant disaster as his field commanders waited for orders that came
too late or were too frequently countermanded.

Since King Tedric refused to acknowledge his son's
flaws and promote his daughter over him, then another must do the
difficult task for him. Lack of decisiveness was not one of Lovella's
flaws. With Newell's assistance, she had engineered her brother's
death. Afterward, she had honestly grieved for Chalmer, but, as she
told her husband, she had not viewed his slaying as murder, but rather
as an execution necessary for the greater good of the state. Simply
put, an incompetent commander must be demoted.

Prince Barden had already been disinherited, so only
Lovella remained to assist her father. She did her duty well and then,
with bitter irony, she died in battle before she could assume the
throne, leaving the kingdom in greater peril than it had been in before.

Many a dark night after Lovella's death, Newell had
sat alone with only a bottle of strong brandy for company. In his most
miserable, most drunken moments he had wondered
if
Lovella's death had been Chalmer's revenge reaching out from beyond the
grave. When he was sober, those fears dispersed like fog in the heat of
the sun. Rapidly, therefore, he learned to stay sober and found himself
praised for his strength of character.

Newell was sober when he decided that King Tedric had
wronged him by not confirming him as heir to the throne following
Lovella's death. Surely he was suited. Certainly he had risked far more
to secure the throne than any of those who were now being considered.
If Lovella had lived, Newell would have been king. How had her death
changed anything?

Newell was sober when he decided that if his rights
were not given to him, he would take them. Sober he had remained as he
had made his plans, manipulating the policies of Bright Bay with words
dropped into eager ears. Sober he had continued as he had watched the
political maneuverings of King Tedric's potential heirs with sardonic
humor bordering on scorn.

Certainly it was symptomatic of the greater chaos
that Earl Kestrel thought he could foist off a foundling on the king
and convince him to name her his heir. Yet, on meeting Lady Blysse,
Newell had rather admired the young woman. For all her lack of manners,
there was a buried ferocity to her that reminded him somewhat of
Lovella. Never mind. This Blysse Norwood would never see the throne.
Indeed, she might well be the very scapegoat he needed. As an outsider,
resented by the others, she could easily be blamed for the work of his
hands.