David Weber - The Road to Hell

Howan Fai gave up calming the man and left the store.

“There’s little difference between banditry and taxes in some places, Highness,” was all Munn Lii had to say about it.

“This won’t be tolerated for long.” Howan Fai couldn’t help giving a pair of city guardsmen patrolling the street a look of disgust. “I wouldn’t tolerate it, and I don’t believe Emperor Zindel will accept it either.”

Munn Lii was right about their tail and his watcher having disappeared. Howan Fai wasn’t sure the two men hadn’t simply realized they’d been recognized and left. The crowd filling the street now showed no one who stood out or appeared to be lingering anywhere too long. He sincerely hoped the shopkeeper wasn’t too frightened of the criminals’ possible Order affiliation to make a report when the city guard eventually stopped by.

December 13

Andrin listened with rapt attention during the afternoon gathering of the Privy Council. Technically it wasn’t a formal meeting since neither Emperor Zindel nor a councilors’ quorum was present, but the working session was vitally important. And her father would be receiving a detailed report of everything they uncovered.

Privy Voice Ulantha Jastyr, formerly the Assistant Privy Voice, sat in the corner making a human record of everything said. She was surrounded by physical reports and notices Andrin vaguely recognized as the routine work of the Privy Voice’s aide. Alazon Yanamar’s resignation was for public consumption, not reality, and Andrin knew her father intended to have the exceptional Talent back in formal service once Darcel Kinlafia was elected. But Jastyr was an excellent Voice in her own right, and Andrin appreciated having one person on the Privy Council who was closer to her age than her father’s.

Andrin added to her very long list of things to accomplish someday, a mental note to find a way to see Jastyr was rewarded for her term as Privy Voice with more than just a thank you and a resumption of her former duties as Alazon Yanamar’s aide and protege. In fact, she supposed it was time she began assembling her own staff-that was another thing Janaki would have been doing if she hadn’t been thrust into his rightful place-and one member of that staff ought to be a Voice of her own.…

The papers and notes Jastyr was shuffling through at the moment had nothing at all to do with Crown Prince Howan Fai Goutin or any of the other Uromathian marriage candidates, however. The Privy Voice was managing all the other reports and notices that had been forwarded to her father’s attention relating to the war, the administration of the empire, and the minutia of coordinating a multi-universe unification.

The other council members focused on the detailed discovery and analysis of marriageable candidates, freeing Jastyr to limit her involvement to making a perfect mental record of the proceedings, and Andrin was deeply thankful for the Privy Voice’s ability to multitask. Having heard her recall before, Andrin had no doubt at all Jastyr would be able to provide the Emperor with a perfect recitation of everything they discussed when she briefed him at the end of the day. But even more important than updating Zindel, Jastyr kept the secret. No one else could be allowed to know they were working on a way around Emperor Chava’s demand until the moment they announced the wedding and Jastyr was playing her part flawlessly. Voices working with the media and serving other royals knew Alazon Yanamar’s mind intimately, but Jastyr was new. The change in Privy Voices would certainly help Darcel’s chances of securing a seat in the new Imperial House of Talents, but perhaps even more importantly, it also protected the secret. Even Voicecasters who might have realized Alazon was hiding something in one of the countless interviews and Voice briefings expected of her position were unlikely to detect those same nuances in Jastyr’s Voice. Not until they’d had longer to become accustomed to Hearing her, at any rate.

First Councilor Taje, at the end of the table opposite Andrin, checked off the agenda items and called on Brithum Dulan to handle the presentation on prospective consorts.

“Your Highness.” Councilor Dulan nodded to her. “I think we have some useful information to present today. We’ve had men investigating every candidate Uromathian prince in Tajvana and a few more who didn’t come for the Conclave. I’ll remind everyone that while every member of the Imperial Guard is loyal, none of the men testifying about their investigations know why they were assigned the task.”

The first councilor and the few other council members in the room acknowledged the warning amicably. Andrin-who suspected the real reason he’d mentioned the point had more to do with her presence than with the councilors who’d been working with him since the beginning of the effort-thanked him politely and they began the day’s work.

The subject of the day was the Eniath Crown Prince: Howan Fai Goutin, his family, his background, his connections to Emperor Chava Busar, and perhaps most critically, the detailed minutia of their claim that his qualifications met the terms of the Unification Treaty.

That final piece was easiest to confirm. Everything Darcel Kinlafia and Alazon Yanamar had pointed out about the treaty and Howan Fai was absolutely accurate. The terms of the original treaty called for a Princess of Uromathia to wed the Crown Prince of Ternathia. With Janaki dead, Chava had accepted the modification of Prince of Uromathia and Crown Princess. And as Darcel had pointed out, even though the implication had been Prince of the Uromathian Empire -which could be interpreted only as Chava’s sons-the treaty itself said only Prince of Uromathia…and Uromathia was a continent , not simply a single empire which happened to be located upon it. Howan Fai was a prince, and Howan Fai was Uromathian. All that remained was to ensure he was also a good candidate for consort.

At a nod from the first councilor, Dulan ushered in the first of his men.

Tolleran chan Lofti, a tall, well-muscled man with the extreme physical fitness common in the Imperial Guard, reported with sheepish detail his recent investigation of the eligible Uromathian prince.

“So you said you think the Eniath Crown Prince recognized you this morning even with the disguise change?” Taje asked.

“I don’t think so, My Lord,” chan Lofti replied. “I know so. He made me, and it could’ve gotten quite awkward if I hadn’t seen the look he passed to Munn Lii, his guard, and used the back exit instead of the front. In fairness, he didn’t guess who was actually having him followed. He seems to have assumed I was a Bergahl hireling, or possibly someone working for Emperor Chava. I’d barely started writing up the report when Munn Lii stopped by headquarters to ask if we’d had warning of any threats against Conclave members from Chava’s supporters.”

Andrin blanched. “Emperor Chava knows?”

“Knows what?” chan Lofti looked genuinely confused, then quickly amended his question. “My apologies, Your Highness. But I work outside the Palace most of the time and I certainly don’t want to know any more than I need to.”

Andrin swallowed her questions and let Taje answer the man.

“We’ll take the rest of your report now, I think,” the first councilor said smoothly. “If we need to call you back for more questions later, we’ll do so.”

“Of course, First Councilor.” chan Lofti took a moment to regather his thoughts and then continued. “There was an Order thug at a cafe playing lookout for some kind of strong arm antics on Gem Street. Either the Prince or the merchant, possibly both, associated me with that operation.”