“Willem’s pushing a strategy against the Demon Riders that’s almost certain to end in many deaths. I’m looking for any weakness on his part that I might be able to use against him.”
Orvin’s eyes showed clear understanding as he took in her words. “Willem’s ambitious, I’ll give him that. He has a vision of Forge as a bastion of greatness—what Parna has done, but bolstered with our greater numbers.” He indicated Kyra. “You yourself have benefited from Willem’s ambition. The Palace healers are some of the best in this part of the world, and it was Willem who invested in their training. Of course, gains made by the more refined layers of society are paid for by the masses. This Demon Rider offensive is just the latest. Glory for the city, paid for by the blood of soldiers on the ground.” He threw a quick glance over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “I can tell you this. Willem has been receiving private messengers late at night, about once a week. They come into the Palace past midnight, when the main gates are closed.”
“What messages do they bear?” asked Kyra.
He shook his head. “The meetings are closed, with only Willem and the messengers. I wouldn’t even have known about them had I not been paying extra attention to His Grace’s movements. But he would not receive the messengers in such secrecy if he had nothing to hide.”
She made note of his words. “One other thing. I suspect Willem might be making changes in the conscription lists. A good friend of mine was in the first conscripted unit, and it seems too much a coincidence. Do you know anything about that?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” said Orvin. “But I’ve heard nothing of it, though that kind of evidence would be hard to find. You’d have to track down whichever scribe he persuaded to change the lists.”
That was disappointing, but Kyra was marginally familiar with the Palace’s roster of scribes from all the time she’d spent stealing Palace records. She could look into some of the more likely suspects. “And what about at court? Does Willem have any new allies or enemies?”
“He’s never been a friend of the Defense Minister, as you surely know. The rivalry seems more pronounced lately after Malikel was voted Second to the Head Councilman last month.”
“That’s right,” said Kyra. It had happened shortly after Kyra started working for Malikel, and it meant that Malikel would become Head Councilman if something were to happen to Willem. “But Willem couldn’t possibly think that Malikel would consider foul play, would he?” said Kyra.
“No, I don’t think Willem worries about assassination. But Malikel’s been pushing a good number of controversial measures—a law was passed last week requiring landlords to wait two months before evicting a tenant. Changes like these tend to be unpopular amongst the nobility who form the core of Willem’s support. So Willem’s been attempting to undermine Malikel’s competence. He might hope, for example, that your friend’s early conscription into the army would distract you from Malikel’s assignments.”
“By making me chase scribes instead of pursuing peace with the Demon Riders?” Kyra asked, chagrined.
“Aye. And the Brancel marriage negotiations are another example. Willem’s voiced his support, and the only reason he’d do so would be to hinder Malikel.”
Brancel marriage negotiations? Orvin had brought it up in such an offhand way, as if he expected her to already know about it. She grasped for something to say that would get more details out of him. “But would Willem really undermine Forge’s war efforts just to hurt Malikel?”
Orvin shrugged. “It’ll be a bloodbath either way. A few more deaths won’t matter. And Malikel’s plenty competent. If your friend Tristam were to marry, it would take him away from Forge for the duration of the nuptial preparations. Malikel would lose Tristam’s help, but it probably wouldn’t change the overall outcome.”