The Desert Spear

protection of the crown to any who swear an oath of loyalty to Angiers.” Rhinebeck nodded.
    The Painted Man bowed. “That is very generous, Your Grace, but these people are starved and penniless, lacking basic necessities of survival. Surely, in your mercy, you can offer more than that.”
    “Very well,” Rhinebeck said. “I’m not heartless. Janson, what can we spare?”
    “Well, Your Grace,” Janson said, flipping open a ledger and scanning its contents, “we can forgive the Hollow its delinquent lumber shipments, of course…”
    “Of course,” Rhinebeck echoed.
    “And while in the Hollow, your Royal Warders can offer their expertise in protecting the refugees in the night,” Janson went on, “as can the Wooden Soldiers.”
    “Of course, of course,” Rhinebeck said.
    Janson pursed his lips. “Please allow me to review further, Your Grace, and I will present you with detailed lists of what resources we have available.”
    “See to it,” Rhinebeck said.
    Janson bowed again. “As you command.”
    “And what of the Krasian advance?” the Painted Man asked.
    “I’ve seen no evidence that the Krasians
will
advance, apart from your own claims,” Rhinebeck said.
    “They will,” the Painted Man assured. “The Evejah demands it.”
    “You know a lot about the desert rats and their heathen religion,” Pether said. “Lord Janson says you even lived among them for a time.”
    The Painted Man nodded. “That’s correct, Your Grace.”
    “Then how can we be sure of where your loyalties lie?” Pether said. “For all we know, you’re a corespawned Evejan convert yourself. Night, if you won’t tell us who you are and where you’re from, how do we even know you’re not a Krasian yourself under all those wards?”
    Gared growled, but the Painted Man held up a finger, and the giant Cutter fell silent. “I assure you, that isn’t the case,” the Painted Man said. “My loyalty is to Thesa.”
    Rhinebeck smiled. “Prove it.”
    The Painted Man tilted his head curiously. “How shall I prove it, Your Grace?”
    “My herald is out in the hamlets,” Rhinebeck said, “and cannot travel as swiftly as you, in any event. Go to Fort Miln for me and speak to Duke Euchor. Invoke the Pact.”
    “The Pact, Your Grace?” the Painted Man asked. Rhinebeck looked to Janson, who cleared his throat.
    “The Pact of the Free Cities,” the minister said. “In the year zero, after the first wardwalls were finally built and a semblance of order restored to the ravaged countryside, the surviving dukes of Thesa signed a mutual nonaggression pact called the Pact of the Free Cities. In it, they recognized the death of the king of Thesa and the end of his line, and accepted one another’s sovereignty over their territories. The pact bans the taking of territory by force, and promises the unity of all cities in putting down its violators.”
    “Did the Krasians sign this Pact?” the Painted Man asked.
    Janson shook his head. “Krasia was not part of Thesa, and thus was never subject to the Pact. However,” he held up a hand to forestall further response as he set his spectacles at the end of his nose and lifted an old parchment, “the exact wording of the Pact is as follows:
    “Should the territory or sovereignty of any duchy be threatened by
human
design, it shall be the obligation of all signees and their posterity to intercede in unity on behalf of the threatened party.”
Janson set the parchment down. “The Pact was so worded to outlaw all warfare among men, because there were so few of us left after the depredations of the Return. Thus, it remains binding, regardless of whether the Krasian leader signed it.”
    “Do you think Duke Euchor will see it so?” the Painted Man asked Janson.
    “Are you in audience with my secretary, or me?” Rhinebeck demanded loudly, drawing all eyes back to him. Rojer saw that the duke had gone red in the face, as angry as he had been the night he had caught seven-year-old Rojer sleeping in the bed of one of his favorite whores.
    The Painted Man bowed. “Apologies, Your Grace,” he said. “No disrespect was meant.”
    Rhinebeck seemed somewhat mollified by the response, but his reply remained gruff. “Euchor will try to find a way out of the Pact like a coreling longs for a gap in the wards, but without support from him, Angiers cannot afford to commit to attacking the Krasian host.”
    “You would violate the Pact yourself?” the Painted Man