A Mighty Fortress (126 page)

Which, obviously, was not the case. “I’m not really surprised Narth didn’t mention anything about it,” Clyntahn said now, almost carelessly. “Probably not his fault, really. I mean, I know he’s our official representative in Tarot, and that he’s been conferring regularly with Gorjah, so I’m sure he’s confident he’s on top of the situation.”

“But you’re suggesting he
isn’t
on top of it, correct?” Trynair asked sharply.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s fully conversant with all the diplomatic correspondence and negotiations—all that sort of thing. But according to Father Frahnklyn, there’s been a mysterious drop in Charisian naval activity in Thol Bay. As a matter of fact, the entire Charisian blockade seems to have suddenly become about as watertight as a fishnet.”

“Excuse me?” Trynair’s puzzlement was obvious, and Clyntahn snorted.

“We already know Gorjah changed sides once,” he said in the tone of a man explaining something to a very young child in very simple words. “We also know, despite any investigations which might have cleared him, that only someone in Tarot could’ve warned Haarahld of what was about to happen. I’ve always wondered just who could have had the authority and reach to both pass that information along and make certain no one was ever able to identify him as the source. Of course, as the rest of you have pointed out, we can’t just go around deposing kings and princes on suspicion, can we?”

“Zhaspahr, if you were really convinced Gorjah was the leak, you should have said so at the time.” There was a pronounced edge of asperity in Trynair’s voice. “Your own Inquisitors conducted the investigation—at
his
request, I remind you! If they turned up any evidence that you failed to share with us, I suggest you tell us about it now.”

“If I’d had any such evidence, I would’ve shared it with you
then,
” Clyntahn said coolly. “Obviously, I didn’t. But riddle me this, Zahmsyn. Why should the Charisians suddenly begin going easy on Tarot? After locking that damned island up tight—sticking it in a cask and then driving in the bung for the better part of two years—why is their blockade suddenly so porous? You know as well as I do that that bastard Rock Point’s been basing himself
inside
Thol Bay. Frankly, I’ve always found it just a bit suspicious that Gorjah and his precious White Ford weren’t even able to keep him from doing that! But now, all of a sudden, ‘blockade runners’ are managing to slip past the eagle- eyed Charisians in droves.”

“You’re suggesting Gorjah’s negotiated some sort of secret arrangement with Cayleb and Sharleyan?”

Trynair and Clyntahn both looked at Duchairn as he asked the question. His own expression was one of indifference, almost boredom, and there might actually have been a hint of amusement in his tone.

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting, Rhobair,” Clyntahn said after a moment. “You find the idea humorous?”

“Oh, by no means,” Duchairn said calmly. “What I
do
find a bit amusing, though, is that you—well, you and Zahmsyn, I suppose—should be more concerned with scoring points off of one another here in the council chamber than in keeping all of us fully informed on what ever information comes into our hands.”

Trynair’s eyebrows rose. Clyntahn’s didn’t, and an ugly light flickered in his eyes. He started to open his mouth, but then he stopped. He glowered at Duchairn for a moment, and then, to Trynair’s surprise, he actually chuckled.

“Point taken,” the Grand Inquisitor said, and turned his gaze to Trynair. “Rhobair’s right. And I’ll admit there’s a part of me that wants to rub everyone else’s nose in it, if it turns out Gorjah really is turning his coat . . . again. Because the truth is I never did trust the slimy little bastard, and I did let myself be overruled by the rest of you. So, yes, I guess I would take a certain satisfaction if it turns out I was right about him. Which, as Rhobair has just pointed out, isn’t really all that smart of me.”

Trynair managed not to blink, although the sight of Zhaspahr Clyntahn in reasonable mode wasn’t one that had come along all that often of late.

“I don’t imagine any of us are really at our best these days,” the Chancellor said after a moment. “I know I’m not, at any rate. And you’re right, Narth didn’t mention anything about blockade runners. To be fair, though, matters of trade and shipping have always been rather outside his area of expertise.”

“I know.” Clyntahn waved one hand. “In fact, I knew it when I was twisting your tail. But my point stands. I think we have to take this sudden shipping upsurge in and around Tarot seriously. I think it’s possible—even probable—that Gorjah
has
worked out some sort of under- the- table deal with Cayleb.”

“What sort of a deal?” Duchairn asked. “I don’t know,” Clyntahn said thoughtfully, pursing his lips. “It could be something as simple as an unofficial, effective neutrality. Or it could indicate he
was
the one who passed our original plans along and that he’s reopened that channel of communications. In either of those cases, the Charisians might let enough shipping through to ease his own shortages without either side making any official admission about what they were up to.”

“But what you’re really afraid of is that he’s becoming a second Nahrmahn,” Trynair said.

“Yes.” Clyntahn shrugged his beefy shoulders. “That would be the most damaging thing he could do to us, at any rate, so on the theory that it’s best to assume the worst, that’s exactly what I’m afraid he’s doing.”

“In that case, why don’t we arrest him?” Allayn Maigwair asked. All three of the others turned to look at the Temple’s Captain General, and Maigwair raised his hands a bit defensively. “I mean, if we’re afraid he’s going to betray us, why not have the Inquisition take him into custody while we investigate?”

“Under other circumstances, that might not be such a terrible idea, Allayn,” Trynair said almost gently. “If Gorjah’s really planning on emulating Nahrmahn, though, and if his plans are so far along Cayleb and Sharleyan have already eased their blockade, we have to assume Gorjah’s also following Nahrmahn’s example in terms of covering his back. Let’s face it, that far from Zion, the Inquisition relies more on its moral authority and its power to require the secular authorities to support Mother Church rather than on the Temple Guard. You know—better than anyone else, probably—that we’ve never had anything remotely like enough guardsmen to cover everything that needs to be covered all over the world! I doubt there are more than a couple hundred guardsmen in all of Tarot. So if Gorjah has a few thousand men who are prepared to follow his orders and defy Mother Church, actually arresting him would be almost impossible.”

“And trying to arrest him and
failing
would be even worse,” Duchairn pointed out. His colleagues swiveled their gazes to him, and he shrugged. “Think about it. If we order him arrested when we don’t have any evidence he’s done anything wrong, we hand him a ready- made pretext to turn against Mother Church. Faced with such serious ‘false accusations,’ he’d simply be reacting in self- defense . . . and claiming our decision to arrest him as yet one more example of the corruption and capriciousness of Mother Church.”

“I really hate to say it, but I think Rhobair has a point,” Clyntahn said heavily. “As a matter of fact, it occurred to me to wonder if that wasn’t exactly what Gorjah was trying to provoke me—us—into doing. If he really is ready and waiting, I mean. And let’s face it, as Rhobair says, Tarot
is
a long way from Zion. Father Frahnklyn’s a good man, but we can’t possibly read the situation in Tranjyr from here without better information than he’s been able to give us . . . so far, at least. If I were Cayleb, and if I could manipulate things to create a situation in which Mother Church ‘drives’ Gorjah into his arms—for general consumption, at least—I’d damned well do it. It would be one more way to make everybody who’s still loyal to Mother Church nervous ... not to mention the way it would play into that son- of- a-bitch Stohnar’s hands.”

Duchairn squelched his smile before it ever got anywhere near his lips. He’d wondered how long it would take for Clyntahn’s compulsive suspicion of Greyghor Stohnar to surface.

“But if we don’t arrest him, what
do
we do?” Maigwair asked.

“I don’t think we
can
do a great deal inside Tarot,” Trynair said thoughtfully. “About all that’s really available to us, I think, is to encourage Father Frahnklyn to pursue this matter—discreetly, of course. I’ll send a message to Bishop Executor Tyrnyr instructing him to assist Father Frahnklyn, as well. And I think it might be a good idea to transfer a few more agents of inquisition into Tarot from Desnair and Siddarmark, Zhaspahr. Let’s get some more eyes and ears into Tranjyr. If we can find evidence Gorjah’s already in contact with the Charisians, I’d be a lot more inclined to try to arrest him, even if the attempt is likely to fail.”

“You know,” Duchairn said pensively, “I have to wonder—aside from the example of yet another secular ruler deserting Mother Church, how much would losing Tarot really hurt us? You haven’t actually been counting on the galleons they’re building being available in our order of battle, have you, Allayn?”

“Not really,” Maigwair admitted unhappily. “We went ahead and ordered them, but the chances of Tarot’s actually getting them completed, manned—and armed—and then getting them to sea past the Charisians are pretty damned slim.” “That’s what I was thinking,” Duchairn said, and looked at Trynair and Clyntahn. “As Mother Church’s Treasurer, I may be more aware than the rest of you of how much money we’re putting into Tarot . . . and for how little return. That blockade’s been damnably effective, and Tarot’s paid less than a third of its usual tithe ever since the war began. For that matter, this year the Exchequer doesn’t expect Gorjah to be able to pay at all! To be brutally frank, losing the Kingdom completely would be barely a bump as far as our finances are concerned. So I think what we really need to think about are the political and military consequences. And as Allayn’s just said, losing Tarot from our side would have very little impact on our capabilities. So how much would
gaining
Tarot
help
the other side?”

“An interesting point,” Clyntahn said thoughtfully. “The political damage would be worse, I think, if only as an example of ongoing erosion. Militarily, I doubt Tarot would add much to Cayleb’s capabilities. In fact, it would give the Charisians still more territory to protect, which would spread their forces even thinner.”

“By the same token, though,” Maigwair pointed out, “it would give them a naval base right off the Siddarmark coast. It would dominate the Gulf of Tarot and close off the Tarot Channel, which would pretty much isolate the Gulf of Mathyas.”

“Drive a wedge between our northern squadrons and Desnair, you mean?” Trynair asked.

“Exactly.”

“But how realistic a concern is that?” Duchairn asked. “I mean, if Rock Point’s already basing his squadron in Thol Bay, then they’ve already got a ‘naval base’ right there on the Tarot Channel, don’t they?”

“Well . . . yes,” Maigwair admitted slowly.

“Then the only real difference is that it would become an
official
naval base,” Duchairn pointed out.

“So what you’re suggesting, Rhobair, is that we not act precipitously and give Gorjah a pretext for deserting us, but continue to investigate cautiously,” Trynair said. “If we find proof—real proof, or at least strongly suggestive evidence—we can go ahead and try to arrest him. And if it should happen he either surprises us by actually changing sides, or goes over to Cayleb after we give him that ‘pretext,’ it’s not really going to hurt us that much militarily or economically?”

“More or less.” Duchairn shrugged. “This is your area of expertise—yours and Zhaspahr’s, where the politics are concerned, and Allayn’s, where the military’s concerned. I’m simply trying to examine this question from all perspectives. It’s not,” he finished dryly, “as if we haven’t gotten ourselves into trouble upon occasion by acting too precipitously.”

Clyntahn flushed at the none- too- oblique reference to his own “final solution to the Charisian problem.” He chose to let it pass, however. At the same time, his eyes took on a thoughtful look. He sat silently pondering for several seconds, then nodded to himself and refocused his eyes on the other three.

“I’m not sure keeping our hands off Tarot is the right way to proceed. On the other hand, I’m not sure it
isn’t
the right way, either.” He shrugged. “Under the circumstances, I think a wait- and- see attitude’s less likely to go
catastrophically
wrong, though. At the same time, I think we ought to think about ways to... disaster proof our position, as it were, if Tarot does switch sides.”

“What do you have in mind?” Trynair sounded a bit cautious, and Clyntahn smiled.

“I’m not planning on running off in a bout of excessive enthusiasm, Zahmsyn! I was just thinking about what Allayn said about Tarot’s strategic position. About its offering the Charisians a naval base between our northern squadrons and Desnair.”

“And?”

“And it occurred to me that one way to prevent that from becoming a problem would be to concentrate our forces in the Gulf of Mathyas right now. Before Tarot does what ever it is Gorjah’s planning to do.”

“What?” Trynair blinked. “Look, it’s already September,” Clyntahn said, and twitched his head in the direction of the council chamber’s window. Icy rain pounded down outside, and nearly leafless branches swayed in the wind. “It won’t be long before Hsing- wu’s Passage starts to freeze over again. When that happens, our northern squadrons—the ones we’ve built here in the Temple Lands and all the ships Harchong’s built in her northern ports—are going to be stuck. If we get them out now, before the ice closes in, and send
all
of them to Desnair, we’ll have all seventy- four Desnairian galleons and at least fifty or sixty each from Harchong and the Temple Lands—that’s between a hundred and seventy and
two hundred
galleons—in one concentrated force, less than two thousand miles from Tarot and barely three thousand from Charis. If we get them there before Gorjah changes sides, it might suggest to him that treason would be a bad idea. And even if they don’t get there until after he changes sides, or if he goes ahead and betrays us despite their presence, we’d have a serious force in place both to threaten Tarot and Charis and to force them to redeploy against it. After what Thirsk did in the Gulf of Dohlar, they’d have to take that threat seriously, don’t you think?”