“You must think like a Prince. No matter what else you do with the invaders, you must also deal with Kesh. They are only restraining themselves because the magicians at Stardock are as likely to destroy their forces as they are ours should either side not abide by the present truce. The only way you can deal with Great Kesh is from a position of strength.
“You must reclaim Yabon. To do that you must clear the Western Realm west of the Calastius Mountains, and to do that you have to take Sarth. If you are forced to fight for Krondor, you will not be able to launch a campaign against Sarth until the middle of summer, at the soonest!” Arutha’s temper was also rising, but he did a masterful job of keeping his tone under control. “If you have any sort of protracted campaign against Sarth, that means a winter campaign against Ylith or holding off until the following year. By then LaMut will have fallen. If you give Fadawah another winter to consolidate his holdings, we may never regain the North!” He lowered his voice. “Fadawah has already bribed key officials in the Free Cities. They’re trading with him from all reports. In three months, his army will be better provisioned than our own. He’s also making overtures to the Quegans, who are likely to listen, given how badly they were treated during the invasion.” He glanced at Owen.
Greylock said, “Taking Ylith is going to require naval support, Highness. If Fadawah is as clever as he seems, he’ll have Quegan ships anchored in the harbor by the time we get there, and that would mean another war with Queg.”
Patrick looked as if he was frustrated to the point of tears. But he kept his voice and anger under control as he said, “So you’re telling me unless I make a bargain with this murderous scum I may be fighting a three-front war I can’t win?”
Arutha sighed loudly. “That’s exactly what we’re telling you, Highness.”
Patrick’s fury was barely held in check. He was intelligent enough to know that Arutha was right, but angry enough to be unwilling to admit it. “There must be another way.”
“Yes,” said Owen. “You can march to the walls of Krondor, through the assembled mercenaries camped outside, swarm the city and fight house to house for a week, then spend another month licking your wounds and getting ready to march north.”
Patrick seemed to lose his anger. “Damn,” was all he said. For a long moment, he was silent, then one more time he said, “Damn.”
Arutha said, “Patrick, you can’t reject this offer. An invading general is seeking to make a separate peace with us, and only the King can reject that offer. Do you want to guess that your father will say no? He’ll ratify any deal you and I strike with Duko, that much I know. All we need are some assurances that this isn’t a trick of Fadawah’s.”
Jimmy said, “Highness, I only spent a few days with the man, but I think him sincere. There’s a. . .” He paused, searching for the right words to describe what he saw in Duko.
“Say on,” prompted Patrick.
“There’s something in the man, a hope. He’s tired of the killing, the endless conquest. He told me of the time when he discovered the evil that possessed the Emerald Queen, when she created her Immortals, her Death Guard, the men who surrounded her and who willingly died for her, one each night, so that she might keep intact her death magic. By then any man who showed the slightest hesitation was destroyed, common soldier or general, it didn’t matter. That was demonstrated early in the campaign when some captains tried a revolt, and all were impaled, with the bulk of her army forced to march by the men while they still twitched as they died. After the fall of Maharta, General Gapi was staked out over an anthill for letting Captain Calis and his men escape. That showed no one, no matter what rank, was safe from her wrath. Companies were instructed to watch other companies, so no one knew who could be trusted not to report if even a hint of defiance was suspected.
“Duko spent the winter talking to Kingdom prisoners, soldiers and commoners, some officers from the garrisons down at Land’s End and up at Sarth. He’s fascinated by our way of living, our government, our Great Freedom, and he thinks it a wondrous thing, our idea of nation. He was trapped, a prisoner, and jailer of every other, prisoner in the army.” Jimmy took a deep breath, and said, “I think he wants to be part of something bigger, something that will live on after his death and something about which he can feel giving his life might be worthwhile.”
Arutha said, “And he’s been betrayed by his own commander. He may be exactly what he says he is.”
“I want reassurances,” said Patrick sharply. “I want whatever guarantees you can dream up to convince me I should bring this murdering butcher into our nobility.”
Owen laughed.
“Is there something funny in this, Lord Greylock?” asked the Prince.
“Only that I imagine an ancestor of yours may have said exactly the same thing about the first Baron to live in this castle,” said Greylock, smiling.