He was confident he’d be able to restrain any rashness on the duke’s part and, truthfully, Rock Coast had shown far more self-discipline than he’d expected. The duke seemed to grasp the notion—intellectually, at least—that this time Sharleyan and Cayleb Ahrmahk would crush any rebellion ruthlessly and for good. A part of him clearly still cherished the notion that his high birth and family connections would protect him from the worst if things went awry, as they had in the past, but deep inside, he knew that if he and his fellows launched an open rebellion and failed, Sharleyan would leave very few heads attached to their owners’ necks.
But if they were going to succeed, they needed to share information and make firm plans. Mahrtynsyn agreed completely with that point. His concern—and, he admitted, it was a serious one—had nothing to do with whether or not the duke should have that information or begin solidifying a comprehensive plan. It was the fact that he was a great believer in the proposition that successful conspiracies were always planned “under four eyes,” as the Desnairians called it. Face-to-face conversations, with no unfortunate witnesses, were the only truly secure way to communicate, and he hated the very thought of writing down anything that might fall into unfriendly hands.
Unfortunately, there was no practical way—or plausible pretext—for Lady Swayle to journey all the way to the Duchy of Rock Coast at this time of year. Or the other way around, either. True, she and Rock Coast were first cousins. But only the most pressing emergency could justify a sixteen-hundred-mile journey by road through the ice, snow, and sleet of a typical Chisholmian April. Simply visiting a kinsman, however much one might love the kinsman in question, scarcely constituted that sort of emergency. And given the long-standing tension between Rock Coast and the Crown—and the fact that Colonel Barkyr Rahskail, Rebkah’s husband and the recently deceased Earl of Swayle, had been executed for treason—any open contact between Rock Coast Keep and Swayleton was dangerous.
The problem was that Mahrtynsyn knew too much about what the Inquisition could do with written messages, however well encoded they might be, to be happy about having them traveling back and forth, either. It was true that the Inquisition had more experience dealing with ciphers and codes than almost anyone else. It was also true, however, that the heretics’ spies seemed to be even better than Mother Church’s. The possibility that they owed their efficiency to demonic intervention couldn’t be overlooked. Yet troubling and frightening as that thought was, and dire as the religious implications might be, it was the practical consequences which concerned him most.
And there was also the not so minor concern that if Rock Coast wasn’t noted for subtlety or thinking things through, the same could be reasonably said of his cousin. Lady Swayle hated Sharleyan Tayt Ahrmahk and her husband with every fiber of her being, and while Rock Coast was a man of faith, the countess went beyond simple faith to a zealotry even Mahrtynsyn found worrisome. The service of God required the exercise of intelligence, not simple, unthinking fervor. That was something the Inquisition understood, and just as Mahrtynsyn had been tasked with restraining Rock Coast’s enthusiasm, Father Zhordyn Rydach had the unenviable task of moderating Lady Swayle’s. The fact that he’d succeeded was greatly to his credit, but it seemed that having once put the brakes on Rebkah Rahskail’s impulsiveness, Rydach was understandably hesitant about encouraging her to give anything that might be construed as a blank credit draft to her headstrong cousin.
But in this instance, the Duke’s right and Zhordyn’s wrong, Mahrtynsyn thought. If we’re going to move forward with any real chance of success, it’s time for everyone to put his or her cards on the table and start making some firm commitments and hard plans.
He didn’t really like that conclusion, yet this was a moment he’d always known would come … just as he’d always known it would be one of the most dangerous moments of his entire mission to Chisholm.
“Your Grace,” he said finally, “I understand what you’re saying, and I share your concerns. More than that, I agree it’s essential we … solidify your plans as soon as possible, in order to be ready the instant General Kahlyns sends Duke Eastshare’s reinforcements out of the Kingdom. If there were any way for you and Lady Swayle to meet face-to-face without drawing unwelcome attention, that would clearly be the ideal solution. Unfortunately, I can’t think of one. Can you?”
“No,” Rock Coast growled.
“In that case, we’re left with the danger involved in written messages, and I understand exactly why the Countess and Father Zhordyn are hesitant to write down anything that might fall into the heretics’ hands. Perhaps I might serve as your communication link? I’m far less visible than you or Lady Swayle, so finding some pretext for me to make the journey to Swayleton, to serve as your personal messenger, would probably be feasible. There’d still be some risk, of course, but I could bring back oral answers to any questions you might wish to pose, and she and Father Zhordyn might well be the more comfortable with that.”
“Father,” Rock Coast said in a much warmer tone, “I’d trust you implicitly as my messenger—and my representative and advocate, for that matter. But I’m not the only one involved, and simply knowing what they intend isn’t sufficient. We need to put together a complete plan, one that orchestrates their efforts and ours into a single strategy instead of going off in our own separate directions and inadvertently getting in each other’s ways. Or even working at cross purposes because we didn’t know what they meant to do. A lot of the pieces of any strategy will have to be executed independently, if only because of the distances involved, but they have to be coordinated. And they also have to be executed simultaneously, because success will depend on achieving our initial objectives quickly, before the other side can react. A lot of our longer term planning will depend on how well the initial stage goes, and once we’ve established a firm base of control in this part of the Kingdom and our initial success begins attracting more supporters, we’ll have more flexible options going forward. The situation will be in a state of flux at that stage, as well, with both the opportunities and the threats changing rapidly, so it would actually be a mistake to try to make definitive plans—tactical plans, at least; we need full agreement on the ultimate outcome of all this—beyond that point. The problem’s getting to that point, and that requires us to discuss what we’re doing. Not just agree to cooperate, but agree on how to cooperate. And that’s going to require two-way communication.”
He shook his head and looked back out into the rain.
“I’m afraid it would be difficult for you to carry sufficient of the details for that level of communication in your memory, Father. I’m eternally grateful that you’re willing to undertake the journey, but what we really need is a way to exchange those very written messages—plural, I’m sorry to say—that we both wish weren’t necessary. And, that being the case, I’d prefer not to risk you as a simple courier. I have reliable men who could take care of that for me, and my relationship with Rebkah’s close enough that exchanges of written messages, even at this time of year, wouldn’t seem too noteworthy. For that matter, once she’s agreed, we won’t need couriers; we can use messenger wyverns. If she’s willing to correspond with me at all.”