David Coe - Shapers of Darkness

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You think I coddle him.”

“Not at all. He’s not even of Fating age, and the House of Glyndwr must have an heir. I believe you’re wise to keep him in the highlands.”

“He’s already made it clear to me that he doesn’t agree.”

Gershon actually grinned. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but he’s just a boy. He’s bright, and he’s brave, but he’s a child. He thinks of war as it sounds in children’s tales and warriors’ songs. My boys are the same way. He may think that he wants to join this battle, but he’s not ready.”

“The swordmaster is right, Your Majesty,” Marston said. “I wouldn’t allow my sons to fight either.”

The king gave a wan smile. “In fairness, neither of your sons is duke. But I thank both of you. Certainly the queen will agree with much of what you’ve said.”

The three men fell silent for some time, until finally the king sat forward again, seeming to rouse himself from a dream. “There remains one matter I wish to discuss.”

Marston nodded. “The Qirsi.”

“Yes.”

Gershon looked at them both, feeling his stomach ball itself into a fist. “What about the Qirsi?”

“Lord Shanstead has suggested that I have the Qirsi woman, the traitor, removed from Audun’s Castle.”

“Why?” he asked the thane. “Removed where?”

Marston gave a shrug. “At first I actually suggested that His Majesty have the woman executed. She betrayed the land, she admits complicity in Lady Brienne’s murder. We would be justified in whatever we chose to do.”

“But the king gave his word, not only to the woman, but also to the gleaner, the father of her child.”

“His Majesty said much the same thing, and also pointed out that it would be a terrible thing to do to the child. And so I counseled him to send the woman to Glyndwr.”

“I still don’t understand why.”

“She was attacked by a Weaver, swordmaster,” the king answered. “The same Weaver who leads the conspiracy. As long as she stays here, Audun’s Castle will be a target for every renegade Qirsi in the land. She’s a danger to the lives of everyone in the castle, including the queen and my daughters and your family as well, Gershon. Under other circumstances, I wouldn’t be so concerned. But with both of us riding to war along with much of the royal army, it seems too great a risk. The Weaver might have a more difficult time finding her in the highlands.”

Gershon couldn’t help but shudder at Kearney’s mention of the attack on the Qirsi woman. From what he understood, the Weaver had entered her dreams and used her own healing magic to open ugly gashes on her face and shatter the bones in her hand. Had the gleaner not been there to save her, the Weaver surely would have succeeded in killing her. But the swordmaster knew that there were risks in sending her away from the castle. “Then again, he might not, Your Majesty,” Gershon said, “in which case you’ll be placing your son and your home city at risk. Glyndwr is a fine castle, but it’s not nearly the equal of this one. Even with the King’s Guard abroad, it’s safer to keep her here.”

Marston and the king exchanged a brief look.

“I disagree,” the thane said. “With the woman-”

Kearney stood and walked to the window. “It’s all right, Lord Shanstead. He should know all of it.”

“All of what, Your Majesty? I don’t understand any of this.”

“There’s more to this decision than just sending the woman away, swordmaster.” With the king staring out at the castle ward, Gershon couldn’t see his face. But the swordmaster could hear the tension in Kearney’s voice, and he felt his own apprehension growing. “I intend to have Keziah escort her to the highlands.”

The swordmaster felt his mouth suddenly go dry. “The archminister?” he said, knowing how foolish he must sound.

“Surely this doesn’t come as a surprise, Gershon. You of all people should have expected it. For the past several turns she’s been belligerent and disrespectful. The counsel she’s offered has been questionable at best. I don’t believe she’s betrayed me to the conspiracy, though at times she behaves as though she had. But her loyalties are divided in ways neither of you could possibly understand. And her feelings for me have grown difficult to discern. I’m not certain what caused all this-maybe it was Paegar’s death, or perhaps. .” He shook his head. “Whatever its source, I no longer have faith in her ability to serve in this castle.”

Gershon knew all of this, of course. No one who had lived in Audun’s Castle over the past half year could have failed to notice the tension that had grown between Keziah and the king. But Gershon also knew that this had been Keziah’s intention all along. She had contrived to join the conspiracy, hoping to learn what she could of its leaders and its tactics. “But, Your Majesty-”

“You can’t tell me that you object, Gershon. I’d have thought you’d be pleased. It seems to me that you’ve been trying to get me to do this very thing for years.”

He wasn’t certain what to say. The truth was he would have been pleased a few turns ago, when he still saw Keziah as a threat to Kearney and all Eibithar. But with Keziah’s decision to join the conspiracy he had finally come to realize that whatever her faults, the woman was as brave as any warrior in the Forelands, and was devoted to the king and the realm. If Kearney sent her away, it would render her useless to the conspiracy, thus undermining all that she had done in winning the Weaver’s trust. It might even endanger her life.

“I admit that there have been occasions in the past when I wanted you to banish her from the court,” he said. “But this is not the time. As you say, you’re about to ride to war. I don’t know what powers the archminister possesses-”

“Gleaning, mists and winds, language of beasts,” the king said, his voice flat. Of course he would know.

“From what I know of the Qirsi, I believe at least two of those are considered to be among the deeper magics. Can we really afford to go into battle without her?”

“There are other Qirsi in this castle, swordmaster,” Marston said.

Gershon glared at him. How had this whelp convinced the king to do such a thing? “Yes, Lord Shanstead, there are. But Wenda is old, and Dyre is neither as intelligent nor as powerful as Keziah.”

“I speak not only of the king’s ministers, but also those of the other nobles. Surely Javan’s first minister is as powerful a sorcerer as there is in the Forelands, with the exception of this Weaver who leads the traitors.”

Gershon turned back to the king. “The point is, Your Majesty, we need to use all the weapons at our disposal. We face a powerful foe, and we may find ourselves confronted with an even greater one, if the conspiracy chooses to strike at us as well. From what I understand, a Weaver can turn even a small number of Qirsi into a powerful weapon. I’ve heard it said that one Weaver and a shaper or two could tear a castle to its foundations. If this man has even a hundred renegades in his army, he’ll be far more of a threat than any force the emperor might send to our shores. And I’ll wager he has a good deal more than a hundred sorcerers under his command.”

“All the more reason to send the archminister away,” Marston said. “If she is a traitor-and I think it possible even if His Majesty does not-then having her anywhere near the king when the renegades begin their attack would be sheer folly.”

“You have no evidence that she’s a traitor!”

“Given what’s at risk, it’s enough just to suspect it!”

“That’s enough, both of you.” Kearney hadn’t raised his voice at all, but his words silenced them nevertheless. “I’ve made my decision, Gershon.” He turned and faced the swordmaster. “I want you to tell her, and have both women ready to make the journey two days from now.”