Dave Duncan - When the Saints

“So I heard.” Konrad was unimpressed. Who would brag of family disloyalty?

“I am determined never to betray those three centuries of tradition. In short, sire, you can trust me.” That was a tweak, he hoped. His cadger had?p forbidden him to break the first commandment, but the second had not been mentioned.

Crown Prince Konrad blinked and then nodded. “After watching that jump, I would trust you to ride into hell and steal the devil’s codpiece. I shall need men I can trust when my grandsire finally gets around to dying.”

“You can always count on me, sire.” Tweak again. Was this to be his life from now on?

The sun had set. The moon was new and would give no light. Thanks to Wulf’s tardiness, the hunt could not possibly reach the palace before true darkness, but its destination had probably always been the hunting lodge at Kastan. Meanwhile, the prince was setting a fierce pace, and conversation became impossible whenever the road grew rough or the forest closed in on it. The rest of the time it progressed in fits and starts.

“Describe Dobkov.”

“An ancient but minor baronetcy near the Moravian border, known for its horses and its wine.”

“When will that brother of yours reach Cardice?”

“Knowing Anton, I am certain he is there already, sire.”

“How did he rate his chances against the Wends?”

“He will prevail or die trying. It is our way.”

“You will dine at our table tonight.”

A new liege lord could not be refused. “That will be both an honor and a pleasure.”

“Now tell us what you were up to with Marquessa Darina. In detail.”

“Nothing carnal, sire, alas. She accosted me, as she said. I confess that I saw an opportunity to be presented to Your Highness. The encounter turned out badly, as you know, and right afterwards the lady and I parted on unfriendly terms. By God’s Grace, the ending may yet be more profitable than the beginning.” Wulf wasn’t quite lying, but he was closer to it than he liked to be.

“Indeed? I noticed some of my friends regarding you with interest just now. Quite understandably so, of course.”

His leer made Wulf squirm. Loyalty did have its limits, and he doubted that his would stretch that far. Sex, in his opinion, was a private matter, no matter who was involved, and his choice of partner would be conventional. He prayed fervently that Darina had not lied when she said that Konrad’s debauchery was mostly pretense.

“You flatter me, sire, and many of your companions are remarkably handsome young men.” Why did such an eyesore surround himself with male beauties-was he proud of his ill?ud of hi looks? “The truth is,” the utterly trustworthy servant lied, “that I am newly married and cannot imagine betraying my wife. Not yet, anyway. In a year or two I may slip back into old habits.”

“What’s her name?”

“M… Magdalena, sire.” Madlenka was an unusual pet name for Marie. The Magnuses were in the public eye now, and to have two of the brothers marry Madlenkas in a week might raise questions about how many husbands she needed. Wulf had foreseen the need to tweak the prince, but not all this disgusting mealymouth lying.

The heir apparent snorted. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe what you said about that slut Darina. You can’t expect me to trust you if you lie to me. I grant you your horsemanship-I could barely believe my own eyes when I saw what your brother did last week, and I truly expected you to break your insolent young neck today. But I don’t believe Darina picked you up in the palace stable. And she set up our encounter last night, not you; I want to know why.”

Either Konrad had been primed by some perceptive crony, or he was smarter than he pretended. That was encouraging.

“I’m not at all sure you do, sire.”

“Do what?”

“Want to know. It’s very bad news. I mean, I am a loyal subject of the House of Jorgar, and I began picking up worrisome rumors. I stress that I have no hard evidence and I am not completely sure of my facts, but it felt like my duty to-”

“Evidence of what?” The prince hadn’t slackened his pace at all, and yet he was giving all his attention to Wulf. He must have remarkable faith in his horse and his own horsemanship.

How to convince him? Konrad was not among the Wise. Told that Wulf was a Speaker, he would either flee in terror or scream for the Church. And even sorcery had given Wulf no hard facts.

His father had always said that truth was safer than lies because it was easier to remember. “Treason, sire. The brewing of a plot to depose you very soon after your grandfather’s passing.”

Konrad’s sudden pallor showed through its coating of dust and a long day’s sun- and windburn. Deposed monarchs had the life expectancies of mayflies. Everyone knew that, even stupid princes. But he did not scoff, so he must have at least considered the possibility.

“I will have their heads! Who are they? Give me names!”

“Names I do not have. It may reach up to the Assembly of Nobles.”

The prince’s muttered blasphemy suddenly changed to a shout of annoyance as the cavalcade came to a ford. The stream was flowing rapidly, and severa?y, and sl minutes were needed to cross. Then he dug in his spurs, yelling for Wulf to close up again. Other courtiers were looking disgruntled at this blatant favoritism.

“Talk!”

“Yes, sire.” First lay a foundation of truth. “You know my brother was serving in the cavalry. I was his varlet and had much time on my hands.” Now build an edifice of lies. “I overheard some nasty jokes about ‘King Konrad the Brief.’ I accompanied my brother for a couple of days on his way north, and then doubled back to join my wife. Being known in the stable, I could prowl around, and I made it my business to do so. What the marquessa told me last night confirmed my suspicions. There is a plot forming in the shadows. Of course I may be worrying unnecessarily, and nothing may come of it.”

“That slime Zdenek is behind it, I’ll wager. I swear that the first thing I will do when I succeed is throw him in a dungeon.”

“And who will replace him?”

“I will. I intend to rule, not just reign.”

Heaven preserve Jorgary! “A very noble sacrifice, sire.”

The horses had slowed to a walk for a stony hill. The prince scowled at Wulf, suspecting mockery. “What does that mean?”

“Just that the old man works all day and half the night. No more hunting for you, sire. No grand balls or late parties. No wrestling, no jousting. Just reading all those reports would keep a team of clerks working from dawn to dusk. Your life will be nothing but drudgery. ”

Konrad’s scowl became a glare at such impertinent back talk. But he had to believe what Wulf was saying. “I’ll find some senior underlings for the routine. Maybe two or three good ministers to do the rough work, and I’ll supervise.”

“An excellent idea, sire. Of course they will have to be trained.”

Probably no one had dared question any of the lummox’s harebrained declarations since he was shoulder-high. He shot Wulf another suspicious glance. “Now what are you getting at?”

“If Your Highness is really asking my opinion, I would suggest you tell the Scarlet Spider to start training his successor.”

“I can’t tell him a damned thing! Nothing! He just nods very solemnly and then ignores everything I say.”

Wulf just smiled until the pause was obvious, then said, “I could suggest some orders he would accept from you already, sire. Sadly, we all know that your accession is only a matter of days away. So there are certain instructions he would have to take now, without waiting for your grandfather to die. I don’t know for a fact that His E?ct that minence is involved in the plot against you, but I am sure the plotters will want to enlist him as soon as possible. Of course, the Assembly of Nobles-if that is who is behind this, as I suspect-are a quarrelsome bunch.” No one had ever told him so, but any collection of nobles was certain to be a quarrelsome bunch. “So it seems likely that their plan will be to keep Zdenek on, running the country for them and their puppet king.”