Fool's Errand (Tawny Man, #1)(209)

He gave a small shake of the head. “I had hoped we were wrong. That these Old Blood folk know he carries that blood is a knife in our ribs. At any time, the Piebalds could choose to drive it home, simply by speaking what they know.” His eyes turned inward. “The Bresingas will bear watching. I think, ah, yes, that Queen Kettricken will ask Lady Bresinga to take a certain young woman into her household, a girl of good blood but poor prospects. And I shall look into Laurel's family connections, as well. Yes, I know what you think of that, but we cannot be too careful where the Prince is concerned. A damn shame you let the Piebalds ride away, but I see there was nothing you could have done about it at the time. If it were but one man, or two, or even three, we could end the danger. But not only a dozen Old Bloods, but those Piebalds know as well.” He considered a moment. “Can their silence be bought?”

It disheartened me to hear him plot, yet I knew it was his nature. As well fault a squirrel for hiding nuts. “Not with gold,” I decided. “Actions might keep them content. Do as they asked. Show good will. Have the Queen move more strongly to protect the Witted ones from persecution.”

“She already has!” Chade replied defensively. “For your sake, she has spoken out, and more than once. Six Duchies law forbids that any Witted one be killed simply for being Witted. Other crimes must be proved.”

I took a breath. “And has that law been enforced?”

“It is up to each duke to enforce the laws within his own duchy.”

“And in Buck?” I asked softly.

Chade was silent for a time. I watched him gnaw briefly on his lip, his eyes staring deep into nothing. Weighing. At last he asked, “Do you think that would content them? Stricter enforcement of the law within Buck Duchy?”

“It would be a start.”

He took a deep breath and sighed it out. “I will discuss it with the Queen. It will not take much urging on my part. In truth, I have played the opposite role up until now, urg' ing her to respect the traditions of the folk she has come to rule, for she ”

“Traditions!” I burst out. “Murder and torture as 'tradi' tions'?”

“She bestraddles an uneasy alliance!” he finished more strongly than he had begun. “Since the end of the Red Ship War, it has been a juggler's trick to keep the Six Duchies in balance. It takes a light hand, Fitz, and the sense to know when to take a stand and when to let things go.”

I thought of the smell that had hung near the river, and the cut rope left hanging from the tree. “I think she had best decide to take a stand on this.”

“In Buck.”

“In Buck, at the least.”

Chade covered his mouth and then pulled at his chin. “Very well,” he conceded, and for the first time I perceived that I had been negotiating with him. I had not, I reflected, done very well at it, but then I had supposed I had merely been reporting. And whom had I expected to speak out for the Old Blood? Lord Golden? Huntswoman Laurel, who would just as soon not be associated with them? I wished I had been more forceful. Then I reflected that I still could be, when I spoke with Queen Kettricken.

“So. What did our Queen think of Prince Dutiful's bride?”

Chade looked at me for a long moment. “Are you asking for a report?”

Something in his voice made me falter. A trap? Was this one of his trap questions? “I merely asked. I have no right ê”

“Ah. Then Dutiful was mistaken, and you have not consented to teach him?”

I worked the two ideas against one another, trying to see how they fit. Then I gave it up. “And if I have?” I asked him cautiously.

“If you have, then you not only have a right to the information, but a need. If you are going to educate the Prince, you must know everything that affects him. But if you are not, if you intend to go back to your hermit's hut, if you are asking but for the sake of hearing family gossip . . .” He let his words trail off.

I knew that old trick of his. Leave a sentence dangling, and someone will leap to fill in the end, and possibly betray their own thoughts in doing so. Instead, I sat regarding my cup of tea and chewing on the side of my thumbnail until he leaned across the table and in exasperation slapped my hand away from my mouth. “Well?” he demanded.

“What did the Prince tell you?”

It was his turn to hold his silence for a time. I waited him out, wolfwary.

“Nothing,” he grudgingly admitted at last. “I was but hoping.”

I leaned back in my chair, wincing as my aching back touched it. “Oh, old man,” I warned him, shaking my head. Then I found myself smiling, despite myself. “I thought the years had rounded your corners, but they haven't. Why are you making it like this between us?”

“Because I am the Queen s Councillor now, not your mentor, my boy. And because, I fear, there are days when, as you put it, my corners are rounded, and I forget things and all my carefully gathered threads turn suddenly to a snarl in my hand. So. I try to be careful, and more than careful, in every aspect of all I do.”

“What was in the tea?” I asked suddenly.

“Some new herbs I've been trying. They were mentioned in the Skill'scrolls. No elfbark, I assure you. I'd give you nothing that might damage your abilities.”

“But they 'sharpen' you?”