Tal said, “Will I return to Micel’s Station?”
“No,” said Kaspar. “My insistence on fealty will go away. I wanted Svetlana dead, though I will miss the old harridan.” He held up his hand, finger and thumb separated by only the tiniest margin. “You know I came that close to being wed to her? My father thought it a good match, but I persuaded him otherwise. One of us would have killed the other.” Suddenly Kaspar laughed and said, “Well, one of us did!” He stood up. “I reward excellence, Tal, and for this you are now a baron of my court. I’ll have the patent drawn up and will find a useless piece of land to give you to go with the useless land you own in the Isles.
“But you will find other benefits awaiting you if you continue to serve me this well.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. I will always do my best.”
“Come, let us have some lunch and see what other mischief we can dream up for you.”
Tal followed Kaspar out to a balcony overlooking the harbor. The day was cold, as autumn was fully upon them, and both men wore heavy coats. Yet Tal found the chilly air invigorating as servants put food and wine on the table between them.
Kaspar motioned for the servants to withdraw, and when they were a discreet distance away, he said to Tal, “I must say I was prepared to hear you had been arrested and executed, which would have given me an excuse to march down there and avenge you. Not that I needed an excuse, but you take my meaning.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Now I can probably wring concessions out of Minister Odeski and save myself the bother of a war.”
Tal said, “I was under the impression you wanted total subservience, Your Grace.”
“From Svetlana and her idiot husband, yes. If you failed in your mission. Remember, never rely on one plan, Tal. Always have two or more in place when you undertake something perilous. If the first one fails, go to the second plan. If the second plan fails, go to the third.”
“If the third plan fails, Your Grace?”
Kaspar laughed. “Then run like hell if you’re still alive.”
Tal laughed, though his heart wasn’t in it.
Kaspar said, “If I had gone to Svetlana with a reasonable demand, insisting Salmater stop working on behalf of my enemies, she would have insisted we talk, and by the time I left, I would have a concession from her that Salmater would stop working for my enemies every other week.
“By demanding fealty and a complete surrender to my rule, I knew they’d be so busy wondering what madness had taken possession of me, they wouldn’t give much thought to the possibility I had a different ambition.”
“To rid yourself of Princess Svetlana.”
Kaspar nodded. “Yes, as much as I regret it. She’s never had the resources to challenge me directly, Tal. She’s always had to depend upon others to bolster her position. At various times she’s acted in concert with Roldem, the Isles, and this time it was Miskalon. She really never forgave me for refusing to marry her.”
Tal sat back, his expression betraying his thoughts.
Kaspar said, “Yes, a lot of what passed between Svetlana and me was over my refusal to take her as my wife. Not that she was in love with me, you understand.” He chuckled. “We were two of a kind, in many ways: ambitious, remorseless, unrelenting. Had she been a man, I’d have taken her for my first general without hesitation, then watched my back. But as a wife…” He shrugged. “She needed a puppet like Janosh to control. But her most recent intransigencies were beyond forgiveness. Working with Miskalon to take Olasko Gateway…that was too much. It was the first time she’d attempted to abet a direct attack on Olasko soil, and that I could not tolerate.” He slapped the table with a grin. “But it is of no matter. She is gone, and soon I will have a new treaty with Salmater, and it might as well be Olasko’s southern province by the time I’m done with them.” He sat back. “Now I can turn my attention to other matters.”
Tal said nothing, merely sipping his wine and taking a small bite of food.
Kaspar did likewise, then after swallowing said, “Do you discern any plan here, Tal? Any pattern that leads you to believe you understand what I’m trying to do?”
“In truth, Your Grace, I do not. I think there are some obvious things, such as securing your borders and making sure you’re protected from potential enemies, but beyond that, nothing obvious.”
“Good, because you are a very astute young man, and if you see nothing obvious, then there is nothing obvious to see.
“Now, about your next undertaking. I want you to rest and enjoy your new rank for a week or so. Then, when I tell you, I wish you to voyage to Salador. I have a variety of errands and tasks for you in that city. But I want you established by the Midwinter Festival as a resident of that city.”