"We are not doubting your word," Sir Jehan said evenly. "If you had reported the attack when it hap- pened, we might have been in a position to do something about it, but I fear the evidence, if there were any, would be a little stale by now, don't you think?" His face hardened. The time had come for him to make his move. "No, the situation, I fear, is something other than the Prince claims. It appears your secretary has broken one of our laws, and is hid- ing from our justice."
"Alaire did no such thing!" Kai shouted at his erst- while friend.
"Silence!" the King roared. "You've had your say."
Naitachal regarded Sir Jehan with a cold, unwaver- ing stare. "Those are strong accusations to be making against Althea. What evidence have you? And what law did Alaire allegedly break?"
Sir Jehan met his stare and promptly blinked, then looked away. "When the boys went out last night, I had two of our men follow. This was only a precaution, you see, and something I do from time to time anyway.
Our men caught Kai trying to recruit magicians in the tavern district, and when he saw our men he went after them, killing one. The other lived to tell about it."
"Interesting," Naitachal replied. "If true. Why wasn't this information available last night? Certainly you must have known at dinner that this alleged inci- dent had taken place. Why did you say nothing?"
King Archenomen cleared his throat. "It would be wise of you, my dear Ambassador, to remember that you are a guest of the palace, and not a member of my staff," he said sternly. "There are things to which you are not privy. Sir Jehan, please continue."
"Our man saw Alaire cast the spell," Sir Jehan said smugly. "And a rather potent one, at that. It was for show only, to impress the Prince. It would also seem that the Ambassador's secretary has been in the proc- ess of allying himself with the young, traitorous Prince, while his Master is presenting the illusion of Althean decency here in the palace."
He turned to the King, his tone silky, but full of menace. "Your Majesty, there can be no mistaking the factions that threaten your land. We have seen a clear pattern of deception, cloaked with diplomatic propri- ety. Althea has been infiltrating mages into your land to aid the Prince in disposing of you, and last night my men caught the Prince and an Althean mage red- handed carrying out plans to overthrow you. I see no reason for further debate."
"Well, I do," Prince Kainemonen interjected. "
Jehan is a lying traitor. There were no keepers as he describes, only two ruffians who tried to kill us both, without provocation. Sir Jehan sent assassins, not guardians. Please, Father, you must believe me! I am your son! I am telling you the truthl"
King Archenomen gazed at his son thoughtfully, rubbing his temples as if this would make it all go away. Then he shook his head.
His voice was sad and heavy, but determined. "Son, in the past year I have seen you go through some disagreeable changes. You have completely ignored your responsibilities here at the palace in favor of carousing with the scum of our society. You have consistently shamed Suinomen before visiting dignitaries, important men of the trades, and our own nobles; you have shamed the throne, and worst of all you have shamed me personally.
"Do you have any idea how bad you make me look when you show up too drunk to stand at official gath- erings? Do you know how humiliated I am whenever you arrive at the palace at daybreak, reeking of ale, with women in tow, singing at the top of your lungs?
Your mother won't speak to me, she won't even show her face in public, because of the monster you've become.
"You've shown no interest in the well-being of Kingdom, unless it happens to coincide with your own selfish needs. You're more interested in your grape crop than you are in the farmers' wheat! Sir Jehan, on the other hand, has been a trustworthy confidant of mine since before you were born, has consistently per- formed his duties with no regard for his own welfare, and up until now he's put out every one of the little political fires you've started, protected the throne, put the kingdom's needs before his every waking moment of his life, and you want me to take your word over his? How dare you insult my intelligence that way!"
The silence in the room was thick enough to cut.
Nobody moved, or breathed. The King was on his feet, his face a hand's width away from his son's, and purple with rage.
"Why should I believe you?" the King said, his voice dripping with contempt, and he turned on his heel and returned to his throne.
Kai didn't answer right away. His attitude during his father's tirade had gone from cocky to neutral to sub- missive.
He spoke softly, into that horrible silence that had filled the room.
"Because I am telling the truth, Father."
"Nonsense!" the King spat "You've been conspiring against me for a long time now. Admit it! And you thought you had an ally in Althea. Didn't you?"
"I thought no such thing, Father."
"Where is this secretary?" Sir Jehan demanded "If you're not a traitor, then why are you protecting him?"
Kai shrugged. "I told you, we parted, last night.
Check the brothels."
"If I may interject something," Naitachal said cau- tiously. "If Alaire is allegedly guilty of performing magic without a license, then why haven't the Swords of the Association picked him up already? They're magicians, with a license. Surely this shouldn't be a problem. Any Althean hedge-wizard can track the scent of magic to whoever has performed it One of your Association mages should have found Alaire long ago, if he is guilty."
All eyes turned to Soren, who had all but vanished during the exchange. It looked to Naitachal rather as if he had attempted to slip out the door.
"Your Majesty," he said, sweating profusely, "this is a very powerful mage we're talking about here. He must have -- must have cast some sort of concealing spell, so that we can't find him. The moment he cast the magic, the entire Association Hall trembled with the power, and we knew immediately where it came from.
The tavern district. As soon as our staff of magicians began tracing this power source back to the culprit, the trail mysteriously vanished."
Naitachal rolled his eyes. What a charlatan. "Are we speaking of the same young man?" he asked mildly.
"A powerful mage? At nineteen?"
"You've never had this problem before," the King said suspiciously. "Why the problem now?"
Sweat was pouring down Soren's face. "If we had some personal possession of his, it would make it much easier."
"Such as?" Naitachal asked politely. First Alaire is a conspirator, now a mage. Not even a hint that h Bard. Good. Up to a point.
"An article of clothing, jewelry. Anything will do."
"Then perhaps we should escort Naitachal back to his room," Captain Lyam suggested. "Where Alaire's possessions are." The Dark Elf's heart sank; he had hoped Lyam would be an ally, but it looked otherwise.
Perhaps he still is. There's enough smoke in this room to smother a horse.
"Before you go anywhere," the King said, yawning.
"Arrest Kai. Throw him in the dungeon, until further notice."
"No!" Kai shrieked, leaping to his feet. "You can't do that! I'm your son!"