‘Sir — ’ He swallowed, and started again, ‘You probably haven’t heard, but there are beggars and the like gathering outside the gates of the Ruby Tower. They believe the child, Ruhen, has been sent to intercede for them with the Gods. Since the clerics’ revolt, and then the duchess locking down Hale district, the numbers outside the tower have increased every day.’
‘Ruhen? The child taken in by the duchess?’ Certinse’s hand fell to his sword hilt and a look of suspicion crossed his face. ‘Are we to replace one mortal power over us for another?’
‘No, sir, but perhaps the men might be more willing to act if they have a figure to inspire them?’ Perforren suggested. ‘They say the child gives men heart with a mere look. Right now our men are feeling frightened, and abandoned by the Gods. They are men in search of salvation.’
From the look on Certinse’s face Perforren saw his words had had the right effect. The Order’s self-appointed mission was to provide the prophesied Saviour with an army. For more than a century, this is what it had been working towards. Normally soldiers were resistant to change, but if the dogma was already built into the Order’s rituals, it would be accepted more easily.
‘It would explain why the duchess and her bodyguard fussed so over the child,’ he said after a while. ‘To Ghenna with them all! I will not let a rabble of clerics take the Order from me, not while I still draw breath.’
Perforren inclined his head in agreement but before he could speak there was a soft knock at the door. The two men exchanged looks, and Perforren shook his head, indicating that he knew nothing of the arrival.
At his commander’s gesture he went to open the door to a Litse man with a thin, washed-out face and long white robes too rough and badly cut to belong to a priest.
‘Good evening, Knight-Cardinal,’ the man said with a small smile and a bow.
‘Who in Ghenna’s name are you?’ Certinse exclaimed. He looked at Perforren, but his captain still looked blank. His expression turned fearful as he took in the long white robes.
‘My name is Luerce, Knight-Cardinal,’ said the visitor. ‘I am blessed to number among Ruhen’s Children.’
Certinse grabbed Perforren roughly by the shoulder. ‘What did you do, you fool?’ he demanded.
Perforren gaped in helpless astonishment.
It was Luerce who answered for him. ‘He did nothing - at least as far as I am aware, anyway,’ said the Litse. ‘I heard the Knights of the Temples were making enquiries and I decided it was time to pay you a visit.’
‘This is all coincidence? I do not believe in coincidence!’ Certinse snapped.
‘Ah, but a fortuitous one, by the looks on your faces.’
‘We were just discussing the child,’ Certinse said, determined to give no more away.
Luerce’s face blossomed into happiness. ‘He does so love new friends. However, I doubt that had I come yesterday instead, our conversation would have been any different — ’
‘Wait a moment,’ Perforren interrupted, finding his voice at last. ‘How did you even get inside the building? We’re under house arrest, and we are watched by both Menin troops and clerical spies.’
Luerce stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked sly and he answered, ‘How? Let us just say that shadows are kind to me.’
CHAPTER 6
Camatayl Castle stood south of the eastern end of the Blue Hills, which stretched between Narkang and Aroth. Camatayl, an unlovely and unloved structure that looked increasingly grim with every passing year, had been built by one of the more effective warlords in that area, but it now occupied a part of Emin Thonal’s kingdom that had no need of such a fortress. By contrast Kamfer’s Ford, a prosperous market town, flourished half a mile to the north, on the lower ground, where the King’s Highway met the river.
The castle comprised a main square tower, built on the highest point for miles around, with walls as thick as one might expect of a castle that had survived two hundred years in troubled parts, and a much smaller tower beside the single gate. The steward lived in the smaller tower with his family and a handful of retainers. While useless for defending King Emin’s new nation, he recognised that Camatayl would be a fine base for anyone plotting insurrection, so the royal warrant had been given to a loyal knight rather than the local suzerain. However proud the man was of