"You cannot defeat your enemies until you know who they are." – Anthony Horowitz
Herald Alberich stared at the image of the Sunlord that graced his quarters. It reflected the light of his room and, like his own thoughts, seemed a barrier against the darkness hidden on the other side.
Uncharacteristically, he fretted at the problem of Trainee Kensie Poldara. Five nights ago, his foresight had urged him to watch the young man, but the Queen, the Lord Marshal and Lord Orthallen had demanded he meet with them concerning rumors out of Karse that Son of the Sun Lastern had launched a new pogrom against suspected dissidents. Believing that Kensie was safely within the walls of the palace complex, Alberich had reluctantly attended, not knowing that the boy would venture out to beg a favor of his father's major-domo.
::He's twenty-one years old. You can hardly call him a boy anymore.:: Kantor pointed out.
::With four previous assassination attempts against him, he was still boy enough not to think of elementary precautions.:: Alberich said.
Kantor sighed mentally. ::Even we thought the attempts would stop after he was Chosen.::
::An unwarranted assumption.:: Alberich growled in frustration.
::They're here now.:: Kantor said.
Alberich went to the door from his suite to the salle and opened it just as Talamir and Kensie reached it.
Kensie gave a look of surprise as the door opened, then recovered. "I keep forgetting how the Companions announce us to one another." He explained.
::Someone has to keep track of you.:: Losanir said.
"Now that Losanir moving about is, about the attack we need to talk." Alberich waved Kensie and Talamir into his rooms.
With the amazing recuperative powers of Companions, Losanir had been on his feet the next day. Healer Kyminn had checked him thoroughly and pronounced him out of danger. After two more days of stall rest, Kyminn allowed Losanir to begin walking freely about Companions' Field. Though Kyminn had prescribed a program of gradually increasing exercise, Losanir had declared the warm days of the lingering False Summer the best therapy for his injuries. Kensie had hovered anxiously over the Companion's every move until Losanir pointedly ordered him to go back to his classes.
The three sat down. "Evident it is that the attacks against you personally are aimed." Alberich began. "How such a determined enemy have you made?"
"And why are they willing to spend hundreds of crowns to kill you?" Talamir added. "Your enemy must be very wealthy and have strong reasons."
"My father thought it was aimed at our family." Kensie said.
Alberich snorted derisively. "In five years, five attempts to kill you there have been. In that time, no one attempted to kill your father or other relatives has. You the target are, not your family."
"I have no idea who could be trying to kill me." Kensie looked bewildered.
"Previously, you said that you and your father had discussed several possibilities." Talamir said. "There must be some you suspect."
"All of those involved rivalries between House Poldara and other noble families." Kensie said. "Not personal plots against me."
"Nevertheless, they may contain the seed of what we need." Talamir said. "At this point, we must ask you to outline your speculations."
Kensie looked worried. "Father told me never to discuss those with anyone. They could cause real trouble in the court."
"You are now a Herald Trainee. You answer to the Queen and the Heraldic Circle. You no longer answer to your father." Talamir said. Alberich raised an eyebrow. Talamir was seldom so blunt.
"But the risk of trouble…." Kensie began.
Talamir cut him off. "Herald Alberich and I have been trusted with far weightier secrets than speculations about homicidal courtiers. We might tell the Queen if necessary, but no one who has not been Chosen will know what you say."
"I was almost certainly seen coming here. Whoever is trying to kill me will find out I have spoken to you." Kensie said.
Talamir's contemptuous snort made Kensie wince. "Any idiot would realize we would have an investigation. Not questioning you would be the oddity. You will have to appear before a public investigation in a few days. What you tell us tonight, however, will be between the three of us."
::Chosen, do you trust me?:: Losanir said.
Kensie blinked. 'Trust' was inadequate to describe his faith in his Companion. ::More than I trust myself.:: He replied.
::Three years ago, you trusted Heralds. You need to trust them again. If you trust me, trust them.:: Losanir's mindvoice was a plea.
Knowing the signs, Talamir and Alberich waited silently while Kensie spoke to Losanir.
Kensie's eyes flicked to Alberich. Had he ever known a man with so strict a sense of honor? He made his decision.
"Our first thought was Viscount Colin Aitken." He began. "His grandmother was the only sibling of my great-grandfather, Count Henrik. Count Jolyon, my grandfather, was his second son. Jolyon's brother and sister died in King Roald's plague, leaving him as sole heir. My father was an only child. Accordingly, if father's line died out, Colin Aitken and his heirs would inherit Poldara."
Talamir looked skeptical. "I know the relationship, but counting you, your siblings and your sister's children, there are seven people ahead of Viscount Aitken."
"When it looked like I might be disinherited, there was only me, Grayson and Naril. Eliminate me and Grayson, then Evan could have married Naril. Third cousins are permitted to marry." Kensie said.
"Wasn't Evan the second son?" Talamir asked.
"Samson Aitken is rather simple minded. His father wants to pass him over as heir." Kensie tried to be tactful. Samson Aitken was simply not presentable in any company. In addition to being dull-witted, Samson had a number of unsavory habits that could not be concealed. Samson was almost as good looking as Kris Peregrine, but prone to foulmouthed outbursts and a host of filthy habits.
Talamir looked thoughtful. "That would explain why Viscount Colin remarried after Evan was hanged."
"He did?" Kensie asked.
"It happened just after you left the Court three years ago." Talamir said. "Colin Aitken kept it quiet. Not even the chronicler knew until his son Conor was born the next summer.
"None of which explains why you think Viscount Colin would continue to pursue you after your brother Martin was born and your sister got married to Benal Foster." Talamir returned to the main subject.
"I was the person who arrested Evan after the failure of Prince Karathanelan's coup. I refused to let him escape." Kensie said.
"But your father voted for mercy." Talamir pointed out.
"My father's vote was not enough to spare Evan." Kensie looked bleak for a moment. "And Evan died rather horribly. It is possible that Viscount Colin still blames me."
"Rumors at the time said you were looking forward to seeing Evan Aitken hang." Talamir said dryly.
Kensie winced. "Sometimes you find out you didn't really want what you thought you wanted."
Talamir gave a slight smile. "Indeed. Well, if Colin Aitken is your hidden enemy, that would explain his motive and why you are the personal target.
"Who else have you considered?" Talamir asked.
"We considered Viscount Corbie." Kensie said. "But after the attack at Doncaster, we ruled him out. However much the Corbies hate me and my father, I can't see Viscount Corbie killing his son and heir to get at me."
Talamir nodded. One by one, Kensie went through the list of those he and his father considered possible conspirators. All of the candidates were possible; none of them were convincing.
"What about that young man from your home town? The one who has publicly promised to kill you?" Talamir asked.
"You mean Wallis Mittel?" Kensie said. "Bransat isn't my home town, it was just my honorific barony as my father's heir. Wallis wants to kill me personally, I don't think he'd hire the job done. He and his father just don't have that kind of money to spare, anyways. Besides, he didn't start threatening to kill me until after he convinced himself that I seduced his wife. There were two attacks before that."
Talamir raised his eyebrows. "Did you seduce his wife?"
"No." Kensie shook his head. Briefly, he described his friend-turned-enemy relationship with Wallis Mittel from childhood to the present.
"I had not heard of that attack in the temple in Bransat." Talamir said. "That makes six attempts in all."
Kensie shook his head again. "I've never counted that one. It was more him going crazy, not a planned assassination."
Alberich spoke for the first time. The political wranglings among the highborn were more Talamir's expertise and he had heard nothing that linked the attacks on Kensie to anything he was presently investigating. "You have told us about those you and your father considered have, but what about your enemy do you actually know?"
Kensie paused for a moment. "As Talamir noted, it has to be someone with a lot of money. They've spent enough to have purchased a respectable farm or a modest house in the city. We've always assumed it was one of the nobility. There are plenty of quarrels and grievances, but we can't think of any that rise to the level of a blood feud."
He shrugged. "I suppose some of the wealthier merchants could afford it, but House Poldara hasn't had any significant commercial disputes in two generations. All the merchants my father knows are seeking his favor. When I was Baron of Bransat, my major-domo handled most of the business decisions. Neither my father nor I can think of a merchant who actively hates us."
Kensie went on. "It has to be someone with a large network of spies and agents. Two attacks were here in the heart of Haven. One was in Leuven and another ten days northwest of Poldara. The poisoning originated in Poldara itself, right under my father's nose. We never did find out who bribed Geoffrey Toews."
"Why a large network of spies?" Talamir asked. "Couldn't it have been someone focussed on House Poldara alone?"
"The attackers in Oakdale obviously knew Kadhael Corbie and I were coming. That means they had an agent in the guard." Kensie said. "Only someone with a large network would have such contacts. Also, two of the attacks involved former Tedrels. My father has not been able to make a single contact or information source with the Tedrels."
Neither Talamir nor Alberich blinked at the notion that Count Wyeth had tried to infiltrate the former mercenaries. It was only logical to find out about the criminals in his demesne.
"We have had no success developing leads on the former Tedrels ourselves. They seem a remarkably close-knit group." Talamir did not add that his agents and Alberich's had regularly disappeared or died just when they seemed to be getting close to the Tedrel gangs.
Alberich sighed. "We have neither suspect nor motive. But someone wants you dead. There is, however, one thing that you have not told us that we wish to know." Kensie quailed at Alberich's look as he said the last.
"Five years ago, almost to this very night, your father and you here came. You asked for my help to save your name." Alberich paused. "I think you have proved my faith in you."
Kensie nodded his head, accepting the Weaponsmaster's compliment. He licked his lips nervously, wondering what the hook would be.
"Of your actions in the battle I asked." Alberich said. "You told me what you had seen and done."
"But you did not tell me everything. You saw or did something. Something Count Wyeth knows, but did not wish you to tell me. What was it?" Alberich stared implacably at Kensie.
Talamir straightened in surprise. He had not expected this.
Kensie froze and his mouth gaped open. Fear told him to deny Alberich's near-accusation.
::Chosen!:: Losanir spoke up. ::Trust the Heralds!::
Kensie closed his eyes briefly. He opened them again. "There was something. After I had initially broken. After Chase Tanner sent me back behind the lines. I saw a man…."
Kensie forced the words out. His heart pounded as he spoke. He told the Weaponsmaster how he had seen a man climb out of the ditch that concealed the men who later attacked and killed King Sendar.
"Concealing that knowledge was dangerously close to treason." Talamir said. "Why didn't you come forward?"
"I never got the chance." Kensie said. "When the King went down, everyone attacked at once, including me. After the battle, no one would listen to me and my father banished me back to Bransat."
"But your father eventually you told." Alberich said.
Kensie looked down, not wanting to face the Weaponsmaster. "Yes. When my father got back to Bransat on his way home. I told him. He told me never to speak of it, not even to him."
"Why? Was your father involved?" Alberich asked.
"No!" Offended, Kensie looked angrily at the Weaponsmaster. "My father is loyal to Valdemar!"
"So why did your father order you to keep silent?" Alberich asked softly.
"I think he was afraid." Kensie said.
Both Heralds' eyebrows shot up. What could frighten one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom?
"Why was he afraid?" Alberich asked.
Kensie looked down once more. "The man wore livery."
"Whose livery?" Talamir asked.
"Earl Orthallen's." Kensie was still looking down and did not see the look that Talamir and Alberich exchanged.
"Are you accusing Lord Orthallen of treason?" Talamir said.
Kensie's head jerked up. "No! Never! Just because he was wearing Lord Orthallen's livery doesn't mean he was the Earl's man. I had never seen the man before and haven't seen him since. The Earl has visited my father and vice versa many times. I have a good memory for people and I would have recognized the man if I had seen him accompanying Lord Orthallen."
There was a pause after Kensie's outburst. Finally, Talamir spoke. "Indeed. Someone wearing the Earl's livery could have gone anywhere on the battlefield without being questioned."
::Something Orthallen would have known as well.:: Rolan said. Alberich kept stone-faced as Kantor made a similar observation to the weaponsmaster.
After a pause, Talamir went on. "That still does not answer why you did not come forward later."
Kensie licked his lips. "The Earl does not take slights to his reputation, even easily refuted slights, lightly."
"Indeed." Talamir said dryly. "If you should ever see this man again, let me know immediately. You can pass the word through Losanir."
Kensie nodded agreement.
Alberich cleared his throat. "Covered as much as we can, we seem to have. Anything more have you to add?" He looked at Kensie.
Kensie sensed the interview was over. His shoulders sagged with relief. "Nothing I can think of." He said. "Seniors, I swear I will come to you immediately if I recall even the smallest detail that might help." Kensie felt cleaner for having unburdened himself.
Alberich stood. "Well, something more I have to add."
Kensie looked apprehensive.
"Why did you not turn back when you saw that the lights on High Street were out? Why to your father's house do you every time the same way go? Why with your gift do you not watch around you? Know these things you should by now. Careless you were."
Kensie smiled ruefully. Alberich never let up. "You are right, sir. In fact, one of my father's men told me the same thing in a letter today." Clyde Jensen's letter left no doubt that he thought his former student had been a fool.
"Then do these things." Alberich said.
"I will, Weaponsmaster." Kensie said. He and Talamir donned their cloaks and left.
Alberich sat once more. He looked at the stained glass window as though he could see Kantor in the darkness beyond.
::Nothing.:: He said. ::Nothing that we can investigate. No leads. Not even a promising suspect.::
Kantor sighed mentally. ::Even his deductions about his enemy's wealth and contacts agree with what we had figured out already.::
::Where do we turn next?:: Alberich asked.
::There is that interesting detail about the man in Orthallen's livery.:: Kantor pointed out.
::Pah! It is worthless.:: Alberich was dismissive. ::If he was someone impersonating one of Orthallen's men, he would have thrown away the livery and disappeared as soon as possible. If he was one of Orthallen's men, he is dead.::
::How so?:: Kantor asked.
::If he was an agent inserted into Orthallen's staff, he would have fled once he knew that he had been seen. The Earl keeps careful watch on his staff. He would have tracked down the man and had him questioned and killed.::
::If Orthallen were not involved, why not bring the man to trial?:: Kantor asked.
::As the boy said, the Earl does not take slights to his reputation kindly. Even a false accusation would have led many to doubt the Earl and given his enemies a tool to use against him. He could have lost his place on the council.:: Alberich said.
::He does seem to enjoy power.:: Kantor observed.
Alberich continued. ::If he was Orthallen's man, he either fled and was tracked down and killed or Orthallen found out he had been seen by Kensie. It matters not whether the man told Orthallen he had been seen or Orthallen found out another way, Orthallen would have had him killed.::
::Why couldn't the man simply have never told Orthallen, stayed hidden among Orthallen's secret agents and be plotting to kill the boy himself?:: Kantor said.
::The money to pay the assassins and the information to track Kensie had to come from somewhere.:: Alberich pointed out. ::Orthallen would have noticed the expense and the interest in tracking Kensie. He would have gone looking for the reason, with the same result for the agent as before.::
Kantor sighed again. ::If it is Orthallen, the money and the information about Kensie's movements match Kensie's deductions.::
::True.:: Alberich agreed. ::But it is all speculation. I don't like the man, but that doesn't make him a traitor. Realistically, what could he gain? He isn't a Herald. He can't be King. He is as high as he can get.::
::None of the Companions like him either.:: Kantor agreed. ::He will never be Chosen. In fairness, I should point out that he became Sendar's friend even before Sendar was Chosen.::
::As I said, we have nothing.:: Alberich said.