Avatar wrote:I've always been pretty impressed by Kragen's sincerity really.
--A
Yes, Avatar, it turns out that Kragen is one of the most straight-ahead-and-openly-honest characters in this story, right up there with Geraden!
Argus, Ribuld, and Geraden became still: all movement was sucked out of them. They didn't blink or glance around; they didn't appear to breathe. Every part of them--their arms and legs, the angles of their backs, the set of their shoulders concentrated on what they were hearing.
So it was all a lie, thought Terisa. His peaceful mission. His meeting with the lords. A lie. The Alend Monarch had begun marching before he even had time to learn the outcome of his son's mission. He had never intended to do anything except invade Mordant.
Like an echo of her shocked thoughts, Nyle articulated softly, "You never wanted peace. You never meant King Joyse to take your mission seriously. You just came here looking for people to help you betray him." Both arms leaped outward in a gesture full of violence, fiercely truncated. "This is what you call good faith."
Distinct and sibilant in the cold, a sword came out of its sheath. Prince Kragen's bodyguard moved forward, aiming the tip of his blade at Nyle's throat.
Ribuld clutched at his own sword.
But a quick wave of the Prince's hand stopped the bodyguard. The man shrugged stiffly and resheathed his longsword.
"I understand your anger, Nyle." Prince Kragen spoke calmly, almost casually, but his tone warned Nyle not to push him too far. "You misunderstand me, however. The problem is one of communication, is it not? Knowing that I spent nearly thirty days in the worst of this winter making my way from the Alend Monarch's seat in Scarab to Orison, you believe that we have had no time to exchange messages since my arrival here. Therefore you conclude that I have come merely to serve plans which he made before I left him."
Nyle didn't move.
With a faint smile, the Prince continued, "Those unruly barons, the Alend Lieges, are always striving to gain the advantage over each other. At last their petty wrestling has produced something useful." Another gesture to his bodyguard brought the man forward carrying a bundle that appeared to be a swath of cloth wrapped around a rigid frame.
___________________________
Prince Kragen rolled his message tightly and tied it into a tiny packet with a piece of thread. When he was done, his bodyguard unveiled the bundle, revealing a bird in a square cage.
"A carrier pigeon," Terisa breathed in astonishment. "they're using carrier pigeons."
Argus, Ribuld, and Geraden all stared at her for an instant, then snapped their attention back down into the ravine.
The bird was unmistakably a pigeon. It cooed comfortably as the bodyguard removed it from the cage and held it so that Prince Kragen could bind his message to its leg. "One of the Lieges," the Prince explained, "discovered that these birds have the ability to find their way over any distance back to the place they have been trained to recognize as home. This one has learned to identify a combination of tents, standards, and wagonlines that invariably occurs in my father's encampments. It will fly to him when it is released.
"Now do you understand?" Prince Kragen's tone was hard, a threat behind his amicable manner. "I brought a number of these birds from Alend. They bear messages to my father in a day--perhaps less. In this way, I make decisions for him.
"I came to Orison charged with the responsibility of resolving the dilemma of your King's strange weakness. I am the Alend Contender. I wish strongly to earn the throne. For that reason, my mission of peace was sincere, I assure you. But when King Joyse rejected it, I began to think of war. I sent messages accordingly. Then, however, both Master Eremis and the lady Elega offered me hopes that were much preferable to war. Again I sent messages, When the lords of the Cares refused the pact Master Eremis suggested to them--and most especially when I experienced how vulnerable Orison, and therefore the Congery, was to attack from Cadwal--I determined to act on the possibilities the lady Elega and I had discussed.
"The Alend Monarch is doing what I ask of him. And I ask it because I believe it to be the least bloody and most effective answer to an intolerable danger. High King Festten must not gain control of the Congery. The breach of Orison's wall is an opportunity I can not ignore."
Firmly, the Prince concluded, "What is your answer now?"
Nyle looked like he was swallowing hard, trying to adjust his preconceptions to fit new information. At the moment, Geraden appeared to have no opinion about what his brother should do. He seemed to be scrambling to catch up with the implications of what he had just heard. Both Argus and Ribuld watched the encounter below with trouble in their eyes.
"My lord Prince," Nyle began thickly, "I should probably apologize. I didn't know this was possible." His hands moved helplessly at his sides. "Of course I'll go to Perdon. I'll persuade the Perdon somehow."
Prince Kragen studied Nyle for a moment. Then he nodded.
His bodyguard released the pigeon.
It took to the air in a flash of gray, a hint of blue and green. Terisa watched it go, an easy labor of wings against the chill sky--watched it as if it were on its way to bring bloodshed down on Orison. After circling briefly, it turned north.
Ribuld glared at her. "You knew about that bird," he murmured.
"We have them where I come from." Defensively, she added, "We have horses, too, but I've never ridden one before."
Geraden nudged the guard silent.
