Bastard Prince by Katherine Kurtz

Author:Katherine Kurtz
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Sagas, Epic, Fiction
ISBN: 9780345391773
Published: 1994-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Meanwhile, many miles south, Archbishop Hubert MacInnis was receiving news long known to Joram and his kin but just come to Rhemuth. A Custodes monk called Brother Fabius had arrived at the Gwynedd capital just at dusk, with news so dire that Hubert could barely believe what he was hearing. He and Father Secorim, who was Custodes abbot at the cathedral, had been visiting the ailing Archbishop Oriss when the exhausted monk was shown into the parlour near Oriss' sickroom.

"Dimitri killed Albertus?" Hubert murmured, when the man had gasped out the gist of his news.

"And Paulin is not expected to survive?"

While Secorim questioned the man further, for he and Paulin had been friends since seminary days, Hubert quickly scanned over the written confirmations the man had brought— assessments from both Rhun and Lior—still unable to believe what he was reading.

"I must summon the council," Hubert said, folding the parchment pages and slipping them under his cincture. "Secorim, do you wish to come? I'd guess you're as likely as anyone to replace Paulin, if he doesn't recover. At very least, you can deputize for him for the present."

"I'll come," Secorim said. "Brother Fabius, please come along as well. The council may wish to question you further."

Half an hour later, they were seated around one end of the long table in the council chamber, now joined by Tammaron, Richard Murdoch, and the young Earl of Tarleton Bonner Sinclair, whose father had been Earl of Tarleton before he became Lord Albertus of the Custodes Fidei. Though Albertus and his eldest son had not been especially close, young Tarleton still looked stunned, as did the rest of them.

"I blame myself," Hubert murmured, when the messenger again had related the gist of his news and then Secorim had read aloud the texts sent by Rhun and Lior. "It was I who recruited Dimitri.

And all these years—Dear God, have I sent them all into a trap? Was Dimitri working for Torenth all along and this all was a ruse to lure the king to a meeting on Torenth's terms?"

"If it was," Richard said coldly, "their strategy did not think far enough ahead. Even if the king perishes, we still have the heir and another on the way. Do you really think Marek of Festil is strong enough to assault the gates of Rhemuth to press his claim? No. We still hold the important cards."

"You're probably right," Tammaron said. "Nonetheless, I think it might be best if we pull additional troops from elsewhere to defend the city—just in case we've underestimated Marek.

Richard, your lands are closest. How many men can you call up from Carthane?"

"How many would you like?" Richard replied. "A hundred? More than that? I should think we can also draw upon Custodes troops," he added, glancing at Secorim.

Secorim nodded. "I can secure perhaps a hundred overnight, from the garrison outside Arx Fidei Abbey. More, if I summon from farther afield, but a lot went north with the king,"

Richard shook his head, busy jotting figures on a scrap of parchment.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.