W: No, my concern is with one whose profession is concerned with the alleviation of pain, not the causing of it.
Q: Really? Ah, you mean that woman who calls herself a doctor? Yes, what does the King see in her? Can't he just fuck her and have done with it?
W: Perhaps he has, more likely he has not. She looks at him in a way that leads me to believe she would like to be tumbled… but I care not either way. The point is that he seems convinced of her efficacy as a physician.
Q: And… what? There is someone you would rather see in her place?
W: Yes. Anybody. I believe she is a spy, or a witch, or something between the two.
Q: I see. Have you told the King?
W: Of course not.
Q: Ah-ha. Well, my own physician is of much the same opinion as yourself, if that is any comfort. Which I warn you it ought not to be, really, given that my physician is a self-important fool and no better than any of the rest of these blood-letters and saw-bones at curing anything.
W: Yes, quite. I am sure, nevertheless, that your physician is as competent a doctor as can be found, and so I am glad that he shares my opinion of the woman Vosill. That may well prove useful if eventually we have to convince the King of her unsuitability. I can tell you that Guard Commander Adlain feels that she is a threat too, though he agrees with me that it is not yet possible to move against her. That is why I wanted to talk to you. May I rely on your discretion? I wish to speak of something that would have to be done without the King's knowledge, even though it would be done solely to protect him.
Q: Hmm? Yes, of course, good Duke. Go on. Nothing will go beyond these walls. Well, balustrades.
W: I have your word?
Q: Of course, of course.
W: Adlain and I had an agreement with Nolieti that should it prove necessary, the woman could be taken and put to the question… without reference to the King.
Q: Ah, I see.
W: This plan was ready to be put into effect while we travelled from Haspide to here. But now we are here, and Nolieti is dead. I would ask you to be willing and ready to put a similar plan into effect. If your fellow Ralinge is as efficient as you say then he ought to have no difficulty extracting the truth from the woman.
Q: Certainly, to date, I can think of no woman who has been able to resist his advances in that respect.
W: Well then, will you let some part of the Palace Guard arrange for her apprehension, or at least allow it to take place without their interference?
Q:… I see. And what would be my interest in doing so?
W: Your interest? Why, the safety of the King, sir!
Q: Which is of course my first concern, as it is so clearly and creditably yours, dear Duke. Yet without some obviously deleterious action by the woman, it might rather look as though one was acting on no more than your own dislike of her, however well informed.
W: My likes and dislikes are predicated entirely on what is good for the royal house and I would hope that my service over the past many years, indeed decades, has proved that. You care less than nothing for the woman. Are you saying you would object?
Q: You have to see this from my stand-point, dear Walen. While you are all here the responsibility for your safety is formally mine. On this occasion, only a few days after the arrival of the Court at Yvenir, one of its officers was killed unlawfully and his murderer escaped the questioning and punishment that should rightfully have been his. That displeased me greatly, sir, and it was only because the matter was concluded almost as soon as it began, and appeared to be entirely internal to the royal court that I felt no more insulted. Even so, I think Polchiek does not realise how close he came to being brought down a rung or two. And I might add that my Guard Commander still worries that something is being hidden, that the apprentice's death was somehow arranged by somebody who might have benefited from his silence. But in any event, if, after such a murder and suicide, a favourite of the King were to disappear, then it would mean that I would have no choice but to discipline Polchiek with the utmost severity. My honour could be preserved by nothing less, and arguably would still suffer. I would need the most decidedly persuasive proof that the woman meant the King some harm before I could possibly countenance any such action.
W: Hmm. I fancy the only proof you would accept would be the King's corpse, and that alone might prove satisfactory to you.
Q: Duke Walen, I would hope that your wit might devise a way to discover the woman's fraudulent nature long before that could possibly occur.
W: Indeed. And I have just such a commission in hand.
Q: There, you see? And what is your plan?
W: Close to fruition, I hope.
Q: You will not tell me?
W: It is unfortunate that it seems neither of us can indulge the other, Quettil.
Q: Yes, isn't it?
W: I have no more to say, I think.
Q: Very well. Oh, Duke?
W: Sir?
Q: I take it I can rely on the woman not still somehow disappearing while the court rests at Yvenir, can I? If she did, I might have to think most carefully about whether to reveal to the King what you have revealed to me.
W: You gave me your word.
Q: Why, that I did, dear Walen. But I'm sure you would agree that my first loyalty is to the King, not to you. If I judged that the King was being deceived for no persuasive reason, it would be my duty to inform him.
W: I am sorry I have troubled you, sir. It would appear that we have both wasted our time this morning.
Q: Good day, Walen.
This too I found later, not in the Doctor's journal but in some other papers (and have edited it slightly to present a more continuous narrative). The common participant of these two passages is Walen, but — especially given all that happened later — I simply do not know what to make of it. I record. I do not judge. I do not even offer speculation.
12. THE BODYGUARD
The Royal Park of Croughen Hills had been a private game reserve of the royal house of Tassasen for several centuries. UrLeyn had parcelled large parts of it out to various of the nobles who had supported his cause in the war of succession, but reserved the right of the Protector and his court to go hunting in the forests.
The four mounts and their riders circled the tall clump of brush and tangled creeper bush where they reckoned their prey had gone to ground.
RuLeuin took out his sword and leaned down from the saddle, poking at the mass of vegetation. "Are you sure he went in here, brother?"
"Quite certain," UrLeyn said, dipping his face towards his mount's neck and squinting at an opening into the bushes. He lowered himself still further, letting go of the reins with one hand to peer into the undergrowth. DeWar, riding at his side, reached out to hold the reins of UrLeyn's mount. RuLeuin, on the far side of the bushes, also leant down upon the neck of his mount.
"How is the boy today, UrLeyn?" YetAmidous said, voice booming. His big face was red and bright with sweat.
"Oh, he's well," UrLeyn said, levering himself upright again. "Better with every day. Still not strong, though." He glanced round, looking back up the slope beneath the trees. "We need some beaters here…"
"Get your dark man to beat for us," YetAmidous said to UrLeyn, referring to DeWar, "You'll get down and beat for us, won't you, DeWar?"
DeWar smiled thinly. "I only beat out human prey, General YetAmidous."
"Human prey, eh?" YetAmidous said with a hearty laugh. "Those were the days, what?" He slapped his saddle. DeWar's thin smile lasted a little longer.
In the last years of the old Kingdom, when King Beddun had been at his most carelessly cruel, prisoners — or poachers unlucky enough to be caught plying their trade in the forest had provided most of the prey for hunts. That tradition of savagery had been outlawed, but there was one memento of the time present, DeWar thought, in the shape of the old King Beddun's antique hunting crossbow, which UrLeyn carried slung over his back.
UrLeyn, DeWar, YetAmidous and RuLeuin had become separated from the main part of the hunt, 'Which could be heard on the far side of the hill. "Sound your horn, will you, Yet?" UrLeyn said. "Let's get some of the others here."