“I couldn’t say,” Ghreni said. “I know he’s still angry with me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to suggest I was involved in some way. Other than lending the duke my bolt thrower, I mean. He wouldn’t know about that. Is there a recording from the office?”
Mount shook his head. “Security tells me the duke didn’t have any of that at Weatherfair. He called it his ‘place of refuge,’ whatever that means.”
Ghreni nodded, as if he didn’t know Weatherfair had no real security measures. “The next duke will know better,” he said.
“Whoever that is.” Mount motioned to the slab. “This one has no heirs and no close family, and the duke’s prenup with the duchess specifies she cannot inherit. Apparently there were trust issues there.”
“Isn’t there a protocol? As the emperox’s representative you’d have to approve whomever claimed the title, yes?”
“In the absence of a direct heir I’d be the one to appoint an acting duke, yes. My recommendation would still have to be approved by the emperox, of course. My first inclination would simply be to pass it along to the next-highest-ranking noble. Which in this case would be the Count of Claremont.”
“That wouldn’t be the best idea under the circumstances,” Ghreni said.
“No, it would not. There are a few other counts and barons who I would have found acceptable but some of them have fled the planet, and the others are either currently hiding or have allied themselves with the rebels, which makes them untenable. For now, anyway.”
“What if the rebel leader presents herself? Livy Onjsten, their general.”
Mount snorted. “I’m not going to appoint her just because the duke died and now she doesn’t have to overthrow him. They are still in rebellion. You don’t win a rebellion by default.”
Ghreni made himself look thoughtful and silent and waited for Mount to notice. “What is it?” Mount finally said.
“This wasn’t something I was supposed to talk about.” Ghreni made himself talk haltingly. “For the last few months, the duke has quietly had me treating with the rebels to find out if there’s a way out of this mess. Their resources are stretched thin and so are ours. Both our sides are looking for an acceptable way out. But now the duke is dead. The rebels will want the ducal throne. If we don’t act quickly the rebellion will fracture into competing factions of leaders claiming the dukedom for themselves, which will make it worse for everyone else on End.”
“What do you suggest, then? That I do make this Onjsten woman the duke?”
Ghreni shook his head. “Has the duke’s death made the news yet?”
“No,” Mount said. “For the moment, all anyone knows is that the Count of Claremont is upstairs. They don’t know he,” Mount pointed at the duke, “is down here. That won’t last, though.”
“I can reach Onjsten as soon as you and I stop talking. Let me offer her an immediate truce, acceptance of several of the rebels’ political goals, and a title for her.”
“Which title?”
“Countess.”
“Of Claremont?” Mount said, sarcastically.
“Possibly, if it becomes vacant after a trial. But you said several counts have fled. Give her one of those vacant titles. Lesser titles for her lieutenants. General amnesty for her fighters. We can end this now, with a single call.”
“That’s a lot for a single call to do,” Mount observed.
“It’s not the call, it’s the months of work before it,” Ghreni said. “Her people and I already have most of this hammered out in principle. This would just be us implementing it.”
“And if Onjsten doesn’t agree?”
“Then I tell her the Imperial Marines are stepping in.”
Mount stiffened. “We have no intention of doing that, Lord Ghreni.”
“Of course not! But she doesn’t have to know that, and it makes fine leverage. I’ll be saying ‘Have everything you want or the Interdependency will crush you.’ It’s motivation to act.”
“You’re confident you can do this?”
“I think it’s the best chance we have right now. And the best chance we’ll have for a long time.”
Mount nodded. “Do it.”
“The thing is, Sir Ontain, I don’t have the formal power to do any of this. Yet.”
Ghreni waited for Mount to figure out what it was he was saying, which didn’t take long, because Mount wasn’t stupid. Then Ghreni had to wait while Mount weighed everything that had just happened in his head. He watched as microexpressions flashed across Mount’s face—the realization that Ghreni had basically walked him into a trap where Mount would have to give him what he wanted; irritation that he’d been that easily maneuvered; suspicion that Ghreni might have orchestrated the assassination outright for this very purpose; veiled admiration if that was in fact the case; recognition that this rebellion was a goddamned stupid mess and that the sooner it was over, by whatever means, the better off everyone would be; resignation that this sneaky little Nohamapetan was probably the best chance Mount had to get this whole shitshow off his hands quickly.
Ghreni knew Mount was going to offer him the dukedom probably a few hundredths of a second before Mount did.
“All right, Lord Ghreni,” Mount said. “Get a cease-fire in the next hour and a truce in the next twenty-four and you’re acting duke. I’ll start the paperwork for the recommendation to make it stick. But I want to be clear with you about this, my young friend. If I discover that the assassination of the duke is in any way different than how you’ve related it to me here, your dukedom is going to be a three-meter-by-three-meter cell for the rest of your natural life. And I will make it my personal business to assure you live a very long life indeed. Are we clear?”
“Of course, Sir Ontain.”
“Then congratulations, Lord Ghreni, provisional Duke of End. Get to work.” Mount strode out of the morgue. Ghreni suppressed the urge to pump his fists in joy.
One hour later he’d secured the cease-fire and dispatched people to get to work on the treaty. He hadn’t had to threaten General Onjsten with the Imperial Marines, of course; she was working for him anyway.
Two hours later he’d informed Captain Wimson of the Red Rose that payment for the ship damages and the weapons would be forthcoming pending Ghreni’s formal installation as acting duke, so please be patient and don’t have him murdered.
Three hours later the new acting Duke of End was informed that the Count of Claremont was awake and cognizant. Ghreni decided to pay him a visit, and ordered everyone, including the six Imperial Marines, to wait on the other side of the door. They complied, although not happily. Ghreni took the chair in the corner of the room and sat it next to the hospital bed, so he could talk very quietly to the count.
“I’m the Duke of End now,” he said to the count.
“Congratulations,” the count said, after a moment. There was a distinct lack of enthusiasm to his voice.
Nevertheless Ghreni nodded. “Thank you. Now, here’s the thing. You and I need to get our stories straight. The story is, you assassinated the duke for ordering me to kidnap your son. You two had an argument, you pulled your pistol, he pulled a bolt thrower, you don’t remember anything after that because the stun bolt messed with your memory.”
“You want me to confess to murder.”