Theodosius Valkorion's Arc

Chapter 7 of 22

The letter sat on the war table between Theodosius and Heinrich. The absent lord's seal was broken. The terms were plain. One envoy. No guards. Inside the keep walls. "It's a trap," Heinrich said. "Probably." "Then don't send anyone." "He controls the road behind our western pass. If he opens it, our six thousand die from the rear." Theodosius pushed the letter aside. "I need to know where he stands before the foreign columns arrive." Heinrich set both hands on the table. "Any envoy you send walks in alone and doesn't walk out. You lose the messenger and the answer." "Then I send someone who can carry both back." He called for the Clandestine Guard. The man who came was not Master Inag. It was the operative Inag had assigned to the suspicious lord weeks ago. He entered without sound, black armor swallowing the pale light of the hall, the triangle visor turned toward Theodosius before the door had shut. Theodosius had met him once. He had not expected to see the face again, and did not. "Guardsman Serett," Theodosius said. "You already have eyes in his keep." "Two." Serett's voice was flat. "A groom. A scullery boy." "Can they get a man out through the walls at night?" "One man. Not in armor." Heinrich shook his head. "He asked for an envoy. He'll expect a noble in colors. Not a shadow." "He'll get both," Theodosius said. "An envoy rides in the gate under the banner. Serett goes over the wall the night before." Serett tilted the visor. "The envoy dies." "Probably," Theodosius said. "Choose a volunteer. Pay his family. He carries a false offer to keep the lord talking. You listen from inside the keep and bring me what the lord actually plans." Heinrich's jaw set. He did not argue. He knew the numbers. They chose a minor cousin of a pledged house, a man with debts and three sons. He rode out the next morning under the white banner with the pale blue star and the lotus, six riders behind him for show. Serett had left the night before, alone, in nothing that caught light. Four days later Serett came back over the palace wall the same way he had gone. He walked into the hall still dusted with road grit and set a folded parchment on the table. "The envoy is dead," he said. "Hung from the gatehouse before the second night." Theodosius opened the parchment. It was a copy of a letter, in the absent lord's own hand, sealed to a foreign commander. It promised the western pass road open in twelve days. It named a price already paid. "Twelve days," Heinrich said. "The columns arrive in sixteen." Theodosius folded the letter and closed his fist over it. The envoy was buried. The trap had sprung. He had his answer, and four days to take the keep before the road opened behind his army.