"Sad? It's horrible! Do they have to do it?"
"No. It's a strong drive, but it only gets to be a compulsion in the worst of them. Most people can keep it in bounds, because by the time they've grown up, they've learned it's wrong. But these people have grown up with a king who tells them cruelty is right, as long as there's a good chance they can get away with it."
"So if you show 'em they won't get away with it, then they'll stop! And the best way to show 'em that is to kill off the ones who do it!"
"Maybe—but there's no point in trying, as long as someone's protecting them from justice. You have to start with the one at the top."
"Let me at him!"
"I'll try," Matt said. "But first, we have to get to him." Their first view of the village had been bad enough—Matt would have avoided it, if he'd been able to see it far enough ahead. But no, the trees had suddenly opened out, and they had found themselves in the middle of the char and soot. Matt wondered how many more like it he'd pass, before they reached Orlequedrille. There couldn't be too many, he told himself frantically—the noblemen had to have some taxpayers left. What good was owning the land, if you didn't have anyone to farm it? It made Matt edgy. Gordogrosso's forces were obviously in the vicinity, and if Fadecourt was right, the king could see everything that was going on in Ibile—so how come Matt and his friends hadn't been attacked by an army?
Finally, he tried the idea out loud—but with as much casualness as he could manage. "Any idea why the king hasn't sent an army after us yet?"
"Why," Fadecourt said in surprise, "he may not know that we are here. He must look in his magic mirror before he can see, you know."
Matt shook his head. "I've tried to hold down on the magic, but I have used a few spells in the last few days, and most of them have been to fight evil deeds. That kind of thing is bound to draw his attention."
"How so?" Fadecourt asked, frowning.
"Because a magician can tell whenever another one is working magic nearby," Matt explained. "At least, that's what happened to me in Merovence. I should think it would work just as well here."
"It may be as you say," Fadecourt said slowly, "but you did say `nearby.' Would the king be able to feel your magic, all the way across the land in Orlequedrille?"
"Good point," Matt said slowly. "But I'd think the local baron could, and that he would pass the word on to Gordogrosso. I'd also expect him to come charging out with an army of his own."
"The local lord is penned within his own castle," Fadecourt explained, "and the king's soldiers besiege him. What you say may be true, but the lord cannot come out against you—nor is he likely to, if you oppose the king. The more confusion among his attackers, the better for him."
"Good point," Matt said slowly, "but wouldn't there be a sorcerer among the besiegers?"
"Aye, but he cannot move without Gordogrosso's command. He may tell the king of your presence, but His Corruption is not apt to weaken the siege by sending more than a handful of soldiers after you."
"Okay," Matt said. "Where's the handful?"
Fadecourt shrugged. "Mayhap they think you too small to bother with."
"These boys don't seem the kind to let anything pass, no matter how small." Matt remembered the village.
Fadecourt shrugged. "For myself, I would attribute your safety to the intervention of the saints. They have not completely abandoned Ibile, you know."
"Even though Ibile may have completely abandoned them. Yes."
"Would not the saints favor you, and wish to aid you in your quest?"
"You could say that," Matt said with a sardonic smile, remembering the angel. "Yes, you could say so." And he let it go at that—temporarily.
They were riding down the mountain trail when Matt suddenly reined in. "Hold on! What am I thinking of?"
"I'll bite," Narlh grunted. Fadecourt and Matt shot him looks of horror, and he said quickly, "No, no! I mean, I'll ask the question. `All right, Wizard—what are you thinking of?' "
Matt relaxed. "It's what I'm not thinking of that matters. The siege! Here I've had it made plain every day to me, time and again, that there's a siege going on, with besiegers who have all the virtue of piranhas in heat, and all I can think of is, `That's interesting. Good place to stay away from.' But if I'm really meaning to fight evil in this country, I ought to be going toward that siege, to see if I can help out any! Fadecourt, you've just come through that stretch of country. Can you lead us to the castle?"
Fadecourt exchanged a glance with Narlh. "I can, aye—yet whether or not 'twould be prudent, I must debate."
"Oh, it's anything but prudent! This whole quest is anything but prudent. I mean, if I'd been prudent, I never would have sworn to go kick Gordogrosso off his throne in the first place, would I?"
"Even allowing that," the cyclops said, "it may be that you should bypass this conflict. Is not the greater villain the more vital target? And should you risk your safety, let alone your anonymity, in attacking a lesser?"
"Oh, come on! That's the kind of thinking that's gotten this country into this mess! Of course we should attack evil wherever we find it! Trying to be smart, and becoming callous in the process, is playing into the sorcerer's hands!"
"I s'pose," Narlh grumped. "But it could be you're going after bait, you know."
"Bait?" Matt frowned. "You don't really think the king would mount a siege just to sucker me in, do you?"
"If he knew you were coming? Sure! From what I've heard of him, he's done a lot bigger setups for a lot smaller reasons!"
"Why hit a fly with a swatter when you could use a shotgun, huh?" Matt nodded. "Doesn't sound like a smart ruler, though."
"Nay, but think of it as a cat playing with a mouse," Fadecourt explained. "He derives such miserable pleasure as he may, from allowing his victims a maze in which to wander."
Matt frowned. "You're beginning to sound convincing."
"Yeah, well, it could also be that neither side is worth fighting for," Narlh pointed out. "You know how a man gets to be nobility here?"
"Why...he gets born. Doesn't he?"
"Sure, and he gets killed off fast, if he doesn't show any sign of being just as cruel as his papa is," Narlh snorted. "'Nobility' in Gordogrosso's Ibile means being more brutal than the brutes and more merciless than the mercenaries."
"He speaks truth," Fadecourt said, his voice low. "Only those who delight in cruelty, and are swift to strike and slow to repent, become knights of Gordogrosso's liege men. And to become a baron, one must be also harsh and ruthless, and skilled in treachery."
Matt frowned. "Then how can Gordogrosso trust his vassals?"
"He cannot. He trusts them to seek their own advantage, and leads them by the force of their own greed."
"So he can trust them to do what's best for themselves," Matt said, glowering, "and he makes sure following his orders is in their greatest self-interest."
"Aye," Fadecourt said. "So if you would help a lord who is besieged, you would be aiding one villain against another who besets him."
"Choosing the lesser of two evils, is that it? Gordogrosso just lets his barons slug it out with each other whenever they want to?"
"Oh, nay! They must have his leave—or be sure he'll turn a blind eye."
"Which is to say, the pocket war has to be in his interest," Matt interpreted. "But doesn't that mean one of the two barons is less evil than the other? At least enough to get Gordogrosso mad at him?"
Narlh and Fadecourt exchanged a startled glance.
"It may be," the cyclops said slowly, "though it may more easily be that the one of them has angered Gordogrosso in some way, mayhap by insolence or by overreaching himself."
"Possible," Matt agreed, "but it's also possible that he won Gordogrosso's anger by trying to be good."
"Yeah, well, that could be," Narlh argued, "but even if it was, how could you tell which baron was the good guy?"