Sovereign

When Areava eventually let him go he took a deep breath. Ignoring the pain in his ribs he took his sister's hand and patted it.

'Something has happened, hasn't it?' he ventured.

Dejanus sat at the head of the table. No one asked him to, or offered it to him, but he took the privilege for himself. Similarly, when Marshal Lief, Fleet Admiral Setchmar, Chancellor Gravespear and Duke Holo Amptra finally arrived, without discussion he started the first meeting of the Great Army Committee by calling for order. The others looked at him with mild annoyance since no one actually had been speaking at the time. He nodded to the priest assigned as secretary to the committee and the man distributed a written page to everyone present.

'What's this?' Orkid asked.

'The schedule of equipment and supplies necessary for the creation of the Great Army.'

'This first meeting was supposed to be about discussing the creation of such a schedule,' Lief said.

'I've saved the committee a great deal of time then,' Dejanus answered. 'Now we can move directly to discussions on how to achieve the schedule.'

The other members exchanged wary glances then read the paper in front of them, their eyes widening as they did so.

'You can't be serious,' Orkid said. 'This will bankrupt the Kingdom.'

'Then the queen can raise taxes,' Dejanus countered. 'Better a bankrupt Kingdom than a razed Kingdom.'

'The provinces will never stand for it,' Duke Amptra objected.

'How unexpected to hear a member of the Twenty Houses protest on behalf of the provinces,' Dejanus said.

The duke blushed and started to rise from his seat. The marshal put a hand out to stop him.

'I don't believe the provinces will mind overly,' Dejanus continued, 'considering the fate of Daavis and its ruler.'

'The fate of its ruler? What do we know about the fate of its ruler?'

Dejanus shrugged. 'Well, if the city was destroyed we can assume Charion died while defending it.'

'We don't know that Daavis was destroyed,' the marshal said, 'let alone what happened to Queen Charion.'

Orkid put up his hands to stop the discussion turning into an argument. 'Whatever the condition of Hume's capital, I think the constable is right. The other provinces will provide what we ask of them to stop Prince Lynan from reaching Kendra.' Holo and the marshal scowled at him. 'However, I do think the demand on Aman in this instance is excessive.'

Dejanus grinned at the chancellor. 'No more than a fair contribution considering the province's favoured position in court.'

Orkid could not help noticing that Holo and the marshal were now smiling nastily at him. It occurred to him that Dejanus was playing them all with unexpected cunning. Animal cunning, he explained to himself, the way a grass wolf might exploit the weakness of a karak herd.

'Nonetheless, considering the substantial contribution Aman has already made to the first army, I ask the sum be reconsidered.'

Dejanus turned to the secretary. 'Make a note of that,' he said. 'The chancellor believes Aman's contribution is too high.'

'That isn't exactly what I said—'

'And now that we've all seen the schedule,' Dejanus said, speaking over Orkid, 'we can set about finding ways to implement it.'

Again the others exchanged glances, but no one complained or criticised. They were allowing themselves to be boxed in, but were so taken aback by Dejanus's assertiveness they were not sure how to counter it.

'As I understand it, Kendra is already on a war footing,' Dejanus continued.

'It has been for half a year,' Lief said. 'Foundries must give over half their time to the production of war goods. Similarly with lumber mills, weavers, tool makers…'

'And farms, fisheries?'

Lief shook his head. 'No. Until now we have produced enough—'

'It won't feed this proposed Great Army,' Orkid said. 'We will need to divert more of the Kingdom's agricultural production.'

'The Kingdom has never done that,' Holo objected. 'Not even during the Slaver War.'

'Grenda Lear itself was never seriously threatened during the Slaver War,' Dejanus said. I should know, I was on the other side. 'Now it is.'

'To meet this schedule we will have to raise the level for industry,' Setchmar said. 'Maybe to six tenths or even seven tenths of their production.'

'That will cause inflation,' Orkid pointed out. 'The common people will suffer.'

'For a short period at least,' Setchmar agreed. 'But it might lower the cost to the Kingdom for buying war goods.'

'Inflation?' Dejanus shook his head. 'Why should it cause inflation?'

'Because there will be less domestic goods produced,' Setchmar explained in a tone that suggested it was obvious.

Dejanus nodded, pretending to understand, something Orkid observed. 'Of course,' the chancellor said quickly, 'we could mint more coins to provide the common people with the money they needed.'

All on the committee stared at him, horrified. All except Dejanus. 'A good idea,' he said, trying to sound wiser than he felt. After all, if goods were going to cost more, what could be simpler than increasing the supply of money? He turned to the secretary. 'Make a note of that.'

The secretary, who had already made a note of it, was not sure what to write.

'Write that I suggest the Kingdom mint more money to help the common people,' Dejanus said brusquely.

The secretary duly noted it. Those committee members who thought the idea a terrible one now understood why Orkid had suggested it.

'These troop contributions you've listed here for the provinces might necessitate conscription,' the marshal said carefully. 'Especially if you want the troops in Chandra by the date you've specified under Item 12.'

There were mumbles of agreement from around the table.

Dejanus glanced at the secretary who now knew how the constable wanted the minutes to be recorded. He wrote down that Dejanus suggested conscription be introduced in the provinces to ensure troop levels were met.

Orkid smiled easily now. The constable may have possessed an animal cunning, but like a hungry grass wolf he was easily led out of his depth. He checked the schedule for any other items he might profitably bring to Dejanus's attention.

Powl stood alone in the tower room. There was an empty bottle, covered in dust, on the floor. The wooden shutters to the only window were open. The round stone walls had a deep inset at about head height, and this was filled with ancient tomes. The books of Colanus, Kendra's first great king. And, if the legends were right, the first magiker.

Powl pulled out one of the books, waving away a cloud of dust, and opened it. The writing was almost unrecognisable. One or two of the signs he knew from the alphabet used all over Grenda Lear, but most of them were unknown to him.

'He gathered the old knowledge before him,' Powl murmured to himself, remembering part of the legend of

Colanus he had read in the church library. But what old knowledge? And how do I read it?

He put the book back and took out another. As far as he could tell it used the same script as the first book. He turned a few pages experimentally, felt one of the leaves between his thumb and forefinger. Not paper exactly, but not parchment either. Nor brittle, nor yellow with age. There were no illustrations or diagrams. Just words in this strange writing, and probably in a strange language.

Powl sighed heavily. I will not find what I seek among these volumes. It was stupid of me to think that I would. He replaced the second book and ran his finger along the spines of the entire library, walking a circuit of the room. But where else can I look for the name of God?

He stopped. Something had caught his attention. For a long moment he looked around, trying to discover what it was. He had just given up and was turning to leave the room when it happened again.