"Will it get any better after you know how it turns out?"

The question caused Katrin"s hysteria to stumble. "What?"

Helspeth decided she had asked the question wrong. "Uh... I just wondered if you haven"t gotten yourself so worked up that no matter what happens..."

Katrin"s expression hardened. She heard criticism. She did not take criticism well.

Anger did distract her from her growing lack of control.

Helspeth reminded herself: stick to Ferris Renfrow"s formula. Give Katrin no provocation.

It was hard. Her sister had grown so mercurial it was impossible to guess what might set her off. In the greater court that did not matter. If Katrin shrieked absurd orders the court pretended to carry them out. She would calm down eventually. If she had done something egregious she would become deeply contrite. Then the object of her fury could be trotted out and forgiven.

Helspeth wanted to believe Katrin was a victim of cruel mood swings, from near deadly paranoia to unpleasantly deep depression.

A cycle of crude humor steeped Alten Weinberg. What could young Jaime do to relieve Katrin"s moodiness?

Katrin went through one of her changes. "We"ve had feelers from Salpeno about an alliance for you with Regard."

"No!"

"Ellie..."

"The man is a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. His mother is a wh.o.r.e!" Helspeth flared despite the damper on her emotions, though not half as loudly as she was inclined. She did not mention Sublime V"s role in supplying Anne of Menand"s feeble claim to legitimacy. Sublime was Katrin"s hero.

Katrin soothed her irritation at Helspeth by being catty about Lady Hilda. Then, sipping brandy brought up from Helspeth"s Plemenza, through the pa.s.s that Helspeth had suffered so for opening, the sisters relaxed, came closer, and began to relive the gentler, warmer days of their childhood. They had a good cry over Mushin.

Alten Weinberg entered a timeless summer of waiting. Nothing happened because everyone, of every political allegiance, was focused on the Almanohide campaign in Direcia. Every Brothen Episcopal family backing the Empress had someone gone to crusade with King Peter.

Most families in Arnhand and many in Santerin enjoyed the same purgatory. To a lesser extent, so did those of Firaldia, Ormienden, Grolsach, the lesser Brothen kingdoms and princ.i.p.alities, and even the Connec.

Helspeth guessed that similar tensions might grip the Praman world, at least in the Kaifate of al-Halambra.

The outcome in Direcia was more certain to shape the future than were either of Sublime"s crusades.

Katrin told Helspeth, in a whisper no spy might overhear, "If G.o.d grants victory to Peter and Jaime, I swear by the Grail crown that I"ll undertake my own crusade to free the Holy Lands."

Helspeth shuddered. The Night would be listening. The Night would amuse itself by pushing the Empress to ruin Episcopal Chaldarean humanity by launching another hopeless war in the east.

"Father had that dream," Katrin said. "Once he united Firaldia and brought it all into the Empire."

"What? Really? I never heard him say that."

"Really. Father Volker told me." And Father Volker was Johannes"s confessor before a.s.suming the same role with his successors.

Helspeth sighed, defeated. Katrin would not hear a word against Volker or his master, Bishop Hrobjart. Nor could she pray for guidance in mellowing Katrin"s bloodthirsty ideology. G.o.d might be the Almighty but He was Born of the Night.

The sisters enjoyed weeks of intimacy unmatched since their father"s pa.s.sing. Brandy helped. A lot. The obsession of the court with Direcia quieted the usual politics. Helspeth did not miss the whining, backbiting, and name-calling. She did enjoy the time with her sister, just being sisters. Though she found the adult Katrin"s powerful, obsessive, driving emotions frightening and her ignorance appalling.

Grand Duke Hilandle was in a fine mood, graciously gifting everyone he appreciated, for whatever reason. Helspeth faked a smile and wondered, for the hundredth time, why Hilandle was not in Direcia, commanding those Imperials who had chosen to reinforce King Peter. Lord Admiral Vondo fon Tyre was not suited to the task.

Hilandle began telling a hitherto unbored emba.s.sy from the Eastern Empire about the monster in the Jagos. Wonder of wonders, he credited the Princess Apparent with having engineered the beast"s defeat. Then he produced the grasper he had lopped off the monster in his own encounter. The emissaries of the Eastern Emperor pretended to be impressed.

Those men were not interested in the Grand Duke"s adventures. Rumors had leaked out. They had come to a.s.sess the likelihood that the Empress really would back another crusade in the east. Earlier crusades had not benefited the Eastern Empire. Especially those that originated in the Grail Empire. Those earlier crusaders had traveled overland, of necessity pa.s.sing through the Eastern Empire. They had been more terrible than any locust plague.

These days the eastern emperors, however mad they might be in their beliefs, policies, and social notions, made sure the locusts of the west would not scourge their empire again.

"Time to find out what those not beholden to us think," Katrin said. Shakily. Because of too much brandy, not the uncertainty that ruled her secretly. She wanted to sit down with the strangely dressed easterners, whose beliefs seemed almost as bizarre as those of the Connecten dualists. She wanted what she could not have here, even with her confessor. She wanted to talk on into the night, as young people do, playing with ideas as though they were counters in some timeless game.

The chieftain of the eastern emba.s.sy seemed older than the world itself. He wore a huge, brushy black and gray beard. Katrin paid him little mind. She was almost flirtatious with his younger a.s.sociates. Helspeth followed Katrin"s lead, as much as her nature allowed.

There was no point, she thought. Katrin was amusing herself at the easterners" expense. They pretended to be good Chaldareans but were only slightly less d.a.m.ned than the Praman Unbeliever. They refused to recognize the divine supremacy of the Princ.i.p.ate of Princ.i.p.ates, the Patriarch of Brothe.

Fifteen minutes into the audience Helspeth knew the easterners were playing the Empress more than she thought she was playing them. The encounter consisted entirely of posturing and lying. She tried to suggest that the visitors be left to the droning mercies of the Grand Duke. She failed. They played well to Katrin"s need for approval.

For the first time since her coronation Katrin was having a good time, Direcia forgotten.

The Direcian situation had not forgotten her.

An obsequious courtier came at Katrin like a bowing, pulling crossbow bolt, clearly the harbinger of great news. While having no idea what that news might be.

As her sister fell into a chair, crying, Helspeth spied Ferris Renfrow weaving through the parasites of the court at Alten Weinberg. He looked like he had just stepped off the battlefield. He was filthy. Heavily bearded. His clothing in tatters. Under a mail hauberk in worse shape than a shirt ripped and torn by squabbling dogs. He had been leaking blood recently. He was pallid. He approached in a controlled stumble.

Where had he been? Helspeth had not seen him since last winter. Nor had anyone. Mainly to their pleasure. Many creatures of the court considered Ferris Renfrow a tutelary, not just a man whose labors on behalf of the Grail Empire had been appreciated by no one other than Johannes Blackboots.

At Helspeth"s urging, Katrin brushed aside her tears. She recognized the spymaster and beckoned him. "Hurry!" she insisted. "Tell me! What news? How awful is it? Must we go into mourning? Are we in danger from the Unbeliever? Why aren"t the bells ringing?"

The bells in every Chaldarean church were supposed to ring if the news from Direcia was good.

Ferris Renfrow seemed to gather strength. He dispensed with the usual honors. He treated his Empress, her sister, her courtiers, and the nearest easterners as though they were companions on campaign. "Not at all, Highness. The news is good. G.o.d stood with the Chaldareans in Direcia. He gave us a victory for the ages. The Unbeliever may never be a threat there again. Unless he gets help from the eastern kaifates. His champions are all dead. Every Praman of substance who rode with Sabuta. Gone."

Katrin seethed with impatience. She did not care about the battle"s outcome. She wanted to know, "What about my Jaime?"

"He survived, Highness. He was one of the heroes. A timely charge by the Castaurigans sealed the thing."

"I sense reservations, Ferris. Don"t toy with me. Tell me. I am the daughter of Johannes Blackboots." And for a moment everyone within earshot believed, except Helspeth. Helspeth felt the fear devouring the inside of this girl who pretended to be the despot of the Grail Empire.

"You are. My apologies. Jaime suffered numerous wounds, two of which were not inconsequential. He"ll be a while recovering but there"s no reason he shouldn"t. And, despite his injuries, he hopes the nuptials will happen on schedule this time."

Helspeth kept her expression blank. She was unable to believe that handsome Jaime of Castauriga could be infatuated with her horse-face, insecure sister. Other than as a means by which he could elevate his own status, especially inside the Grail Empire. Though the marriage contract kept Jaime from becoming more than Katrin"s consort, he would father the next Emperor.

Ferris Renfrow glanced at Helspeth. She smiled weakly.

"When can I expect my beloved?" Katrin asked.

"Not soon, Highness. But as soon as he"s physically able. He"s as eager as you are. He"d be headed this way now, but for his wounds." Renfrow glanced at Helspeth again, caught her frowning. She thought he was just telling Katrin what she wanted to hear. He showed her a tiny smile she took to mean that he confessed the action but not the crime. What he said was true, although it did fit in with Katrin"s wishful thinking.

The Empress swallowed a draft of brandy that dismayed everyone and made it plain she had lost interest in the easterners. She did not care if they were affronted. In a soft voice she spoke to the chief of the serving staff. That man began shooing pages and servers out of the hall.

Katrin could have been more directly offensive only by shouting, "Get the f.u.c.k out of here, you a.s.sholes!" By the standards of the easterners. Who did understand that she was not creating an incident willfully. She was female, after all. At her best, most brilliant moments she was certain to be distracted and emotionally confused.

The easterners withdrew. Other guests departed. Members of the Council tried to a.s.sert themselves. Just a scowl from Ferris Renfrow sent them scurrying.

Helspeth watched in wonder while the grand hall shed ninety percent of its occupants.

When Renfrow came so close that no one would overhear, Helspeth asked, "Who are you, Ferris Renfrow?" Getting no answer, she added, "I bet that battle isn"t more than a day old. How can you possibly know?"

"Why do you care, Princess? Isn"t it enough to know?"

Helspeth did not respond. But she had ideas that would not please the master spy. She shrugged, pretending it was only adolescent curiosity.

Renfrow went on, indifferent to the sharp-eyed suspicion of the younger Princess. He told the story of the battle, "In the central highlands of Direcia there"s a blistering plain known by several names. Piano Alto is the most common. It"s been a no-man"s-land between Chaldarean Direcia and al-Halambra since King Peter overcame the Praman princ.i.p.alities farther north. It"s set off by a range called the Brown Mountains. The most direct approach to al-Halambra is over those mountains, across the Piano Alto, then down to the river valley of the Plata Desnuda. Which means something like naked silver and makes no sense. But that"s not germane.

"Four kings joined Peter of Navaya in responding to the threat of the Almanohides. With them rode the chivalry of many other kingdoms, great and small. Meaning our ever-p.r.i.c.kly contemporaries can can recognize a real threat. As opposed to one contrived." Just to make his point clear. Without naming any recent Patriarch. "Eighty thousand gathered. The Pramans were overawed. Counsels of caution prevailed. They decided to defend the pa.s.ses through the Brown Mountains instead of invading Navaya until Peter"s allies went home." recognize a real threat. As opposed to one contrived." Just to make his point clear. Without naming any recent Patriarch. "Eighty thousand gathered. The Pramans were overawed. Counsels of caution prevailed. They decided to defend the pa.s.ses through the Brown Mountains instead of invading Navaya until Peter"s allies went home."

Ferris Renfrow glanced round, found his audience content to listen. "The Almanohides thought they had the advantage.

But a Chaldarean shepherd knew a way through the mountains that the Pramans hadn"t found. We got through, behind, defeating numerous Praman bands before Sabuta abd al-Qadr al-Margrebi gathered his forces near a village known, in Direcian, as the Baths of the Spirits. There are healing hot springs there, of which King Jaime is taking full advantage. Each spring is an extremely feeble well of power. Kaif Sabuta"s personal guard attached themselves by chains and shackles to posts driven deep into the ground all round their master"s tent. So they couldn"t run away if things turned out the way our side hoped.

"That was all for show. They didn"t think their G.o.d would turn his face away. I expect they"re asking him about that now.

"The Chaldarean victory was overwhelming. King Peter was the great hero. With King Jaime playing a smaller but still very big role."

Helspeth said, "So, once again Peter of Navaya is made stronger."

Renfrow said, "Some think he must be especially beloved of G.o.d. Each time he responds to the will of the Patriarch, his fortunes soar."

Helspeth kept her opinions behind her teeth. Not needing Renfrow"s warning glance.

Katrin would not tolerate criticism of the Patriarchy. Although Boniface VII was doing bizarre things, like making overtures to Viscesment, canceling the charter of the Society for the Suppression of Sacrilege and Heresy, trying to open the Collegium to a broader range of prelates, and, especially, striving to revitalize the Church in its role as Protector of the Small. Meaning taking up its ancient obligation to shield the poor and the weak from the Tyranny of the Night. Boniface was making himself unpopular by absolutely insisting that Mother Church do all those good things that, supposedly, Mother Church had been created to do.

Every new Patriarch offered surprises. This one was the terror of all clerics of standing: an honest, G.o.d-fearing pontiff.

Because Katrin was not interested, Helspeth asked questions. "What"s he done to make secular people unhappy?"

"He"s about to send the Patriarchal army back to the Connec. But this time to hunt down the Instrumentalities running loose there."

"Instead of heretics?"

"It could be open season on dualists, too. But only if the troops want to bother. They call the Captain-General the G.o.dslayer, these days. And that"s what he"ll be doing. Destroying things freed by the Artecipean pagans. Instead of just binding them."

Helspeth understood, tactically. Having witnessed the destruction of an Instrumentality.

The Captain-General"s falconeers had, supposedly, refined and honed their methods dramatically since the encounter in the Jagos. Still... "How can the Church afford that? I saw the ammunition they use. It"s expensive."

"The Deves of Brothe, who are allied with the Captain-General for reasons only they understand, have developed munitions that include only a twentieth of the silver needed when you attacked the monster in the Jagos."

"But..." She did note the use of "attacked" in preference to anything more absolute and final.

"Yes. You"re right. It will be expensive to wage war on the Night, even so. Boniface will finance this campaign by the means used to fund the original crusades in the east. Every church, every monastery, every nunnery, every living, every instrument of the Church that produces revenue, will have to forward another tenth to Brothe to finance the scouring of the Connec. If that works, the compulsory donation could become a permanent weapon in the struggle against the Night."

"That"s sure to cause him trouble."

"The Special Office will be thrilled."

"Are we going to trade in the Society for the Witchfinders?"

"Possibly." Renfrow shrugged. "Boniface"s reign will be characterized by an inflexible adherence to canon law. He"ll root out corruption wherever it"s found. He"s issued a bull saying the Church must put its house in order. That it must be beyond reproach when it makes demands of the secular realm. He might well loose the Captain-General on any bishop who remains obstinate."

"A great wind of reform, eh?"

"As Aaron declaimed on the steps of the Home Temple. It could be. Unfortunately, Boniface is older than the moon. He was a compromise, chosen to take up s.p.a.ce while the factions agree on a younger man. A more flexible, more amenable man."

"Boniface won"t live long enough to reform the Church?"

"That would require an immortal. Your Highness? Katrin? You haven"t said a word."

"Jaime is all right?"

"He"ll recover. Expect him here before winter closes the pa.s.ses. His journey may be slow and painful but he"s eager. You shan"t have to endure virginity many months more. And now I must take my leave, sweet ladies. I"m an old man. I"ve come a long, hard way to bring the news. I need rest."

Katrin made a faint gesture, giving Renfrow permission to leave.

Helspeth surveyed those of the court who remained. They had closed in in order to listen. A few, old men of the Council Advisory, were not pleased. Not that they had hoped for a Chaldarean defeat. But they had hoped that King Jaime would embarra.s.s himself somehow. This Imperial marriage, however much they had been part of making the arrangements, would only reduce their influence over Katrin.

Plotting. Always plotting. Helspeth fumed. And wondered how her father had controlled them.

Their natures must have compelled them to play the same games when Johannes was Emperor. Therefore, perhaps, one nickname: Ferocious Little Hans.

They did respect power. When it was employed.

Katrin employed her power inconsistently. She had trouble keeping her mind made up, except in the matters of Jaime of Castauriga and her allegiance to the Brothen Patriarchy.

Helspeth wondered what Katrin would do if Boniface tried to take over Imperial holdings in Firaldia. Lothar had come near war over Clearenza. Would have gone to war if he had lived. Katrin had accepted the Clearenza situation, urging that city"s Duke to be more obedient to Mother Church.

Sublime"s cronies did make sure the Duke"s loans got repaid.