Otto frowned. This was taking too long. "We have orders to march. Much as it pains me to deprive Sky Father of his own, I think we'd better speed things up. So once the men have finished decorating that branch-"he pointed: there was barely room for another three bodies "-hmm, how many arc we left with? Two score'?" This particular house had been full of refugees, and the village with collaborators. "Strip them naked, whip them into the woods, and (ire the buildings with their clothes and chattels inside. We'll have to rely on winter to do the rest of our work here."
Sir Geraunt blanched. "Isn't that a bit harsh?" he asked.
"His majesty was most specific." Otto tapped his finger on the letter. "I don't have time to gently send them to their one-eyed father-you say his Majesty is a day's ride away? We have to meet with him by this time tomorrow. With my men."
"Oh, I see. If I may be permitted to ask, did he issue orders for my disposition, my lord? I am anxious to return-"
"You may ride with us." He turned and walked away, towards his tent. "I'm sure there'll be enough wise trees for everyone if he's right about this," he muttered to himself, for the summons was unequivocal:
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT:
"Good evening, your grace!"
"Indeed it is, indeed it is, Eorl Riordan. A lovely evening. And how are you?"
"I am well, sir. As well as can be expected."
"For a fellow who is well, your lace is uncommonly glum. Here, sit down. A glass of the Cabernet, perhaps?"
"Thank you, sir. What can I do for you?"
"Hmm, direct and to the point. Let me ask you a leading question, then. You may answer as indiscreetly as you care-it will go no farther than this room. How do you rate our performance?"
"Tactical or strategic? Or logistic and economic?"
"Whichever you deem most important. I want to know, in confidence, what you think we're doing wrong and what you think we're doing right."
"Doing
"That's- " (Pause.) "-a provocative statement. Would you elaborate?"
"Yes. your grace. May I start with a summary?"
"Be my guest."
"We are engaged in a war on two fronts. I shall ignore the first hostility for now, and concentrate on the second, because that's the one you assigned me to deal with. Hostilities started when the former crown prince usurped the throne. It is evident from the speed and nature of his actions that he had been planning to do so for some time, and that he had already assured himself of the support of a sufficiently broad base of the nobility, before he moved, to have some hope of success. However, his move may well have been reactive-a response to the imminent marriage of his younger brother. So to start with, we are fighting an opponent who has studied his enemies and who has prepared extensively for this conflict, but whose execution was rushed."
"Hmm. How do you evaluate his preparations?"
"They were confoundedly good, your grace. His
control over the royal Life Guards, for one thing-that was a nasty surprise. His ability to install explosives in the palace-his possession of them-speaks of a level of planning that has given me sleepless nights. The Pervert may be many things but he isn't stupid. Despite his well-known antipathy for our number, he has studied us closely. It is impossible to now ask his grand-dame how much lore she may have passed on to him, but we should take it as read that when he refers to us as 'witches' he knows exactly what we are capable of. For example, rather than holding Niejwein and the castles surrounding it, he immediately departed for the field, where I am told he sleeps among his troops, never in the same tent twice. Sir, he clearly knows how the civil war was fought: he knows exactly what tactics we would first think to use against an enemy noble, and his defenses arc as good as anything we could muster for one of our own."
"You've considered the usual routes, I take it? An assassination team from the other side?"
"Yes, your grace. It would be suicidal. For one thing, as I said, he sleeps among his men, in the field, always moving-for another, he has body doubles. We have identified at least two of them on different occasions, and they're good actors: there is a good chance we would be striking at a puppet rather than their master. Finally, he has bodyguards. And I fear we have been too liberal with our gifts over the past decades: either that, or they've captured some hedge-lord's private cabinet of arms, because I have confirmation that his Majesty's hand-men carry MP-5s."
