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Marshal Jonakait raised his eyebrows slightly. Fimbria has never recognized the authority of any power outside its borders, including that of the Pontiff. We too are a Ramusian country, and the Inceptines live and work within our borders, but the electors are not bound by the bulls or edicts of the head of the Church. Hope sprang up in Abeleyn. Then your offer of troops still stands? Something like a smile crossed the marshal s hard face and then was gone. We will not contribute soldiers to any fellow-Ramusian state which wars upon another, but we will make them available to fight the Merduks. Cadamost started up. You cannot! You will be aiding heretics whose souls are as damned as the Merduks are! Jonakait shrugged. Only in certain eyes. The struggle in the east takes precedence over all else in the eyes of our superiors. If others disagree, then they will have to make their arguments known and we will consider them. But no Fimbrian will be farmed out as a mercenary in a fratricidal religious war. That is absurd! Haukir cried. Not long ago you were promising troops to whoever wanted them. What is that if not farming your soldiers out as mercenaries? Each and every case will be considered on its merits. I can promise no more. The Fimbrians naturally could not commit themselves here and now. The west had split down the middle. In honour, the electorates would have to send troops to Lofantyr he had already asked for them, Abeleyn knew that. But they would wait and see what happened before committing them anywhere else. No doubt the marshals were secretly hugging themselves with glee at the thought of a divided west, the Five Kingdoms at each other s throats. It augured well for any Fimbrian attempt to reestablish the Hegemony she had lost centuries before. But for the moment, more important was the fact that Lofantyr would have his reinforcements though they would have a long journey ahead of them were they not to traverse Perigraine to reach Ormann Dyke. The gamble had paid off. Mark and Lofantyr had played their roles well, but then Abeleyn had had them well-rehearsed in the days following the news from Charibon. Haukir glared at the three renegade monarchs. I will personally see that the High Pontiff excommunicates you, and it will mean war Ramusian versus Ramusian. May God forgive you for what you have done this day. Abeleyn leaned forward on to the table. His eyes were like two black holes. What we have done today is lift our heads out of the Inceptine yoke that has been tightening on the throat of every land in the west for decades. We have delivered our kingdoms from the terror of the pyre. You have plunged the west into war at a time when she is already fighting for her life, Cadamost said. No, Lofantyr told him hotly. Torunna is fighting for her life. My kingdom, my people we are the ones who are dying on the frontier. You here know nothing of what we have suffered, and you have cared less. The true Pontiff resides in Ormann Dyke at the heart of the struggle to defend the west. He is not sitting in Charibon issuing edicts that will send thousands to the pyre. I tell you this: before I am done, I will see this Himerius burned on the same pyre he has already burned so many innocents upon. There was a shocked stillness. The men sitting at the table had an air of disbelief about them, as though they could not quite credit what they had heard. Leave this city, Cadamost said finally, his face white as paper and his eyes two red-limned orbs. Leave it as kings in due state, for once Charibon hears of this you will be beyond the Church and every right-thinking man s hand will be turned against you. Your anointed right to rule will be stripped from you and your kingdoms declared outlaw states. No orthodox ruler need fear retribution if he invades your borders. Our faces are turned against you. Go. The three kings left their places and stood together. Before they started for the door, Abeleyn turned round one last time. It is Himerius we defy. We harbour no ill-will towards any other state or ruler Haukir snorted derisively. but if any seek to injure us without good cause, then I swear this to all of you: our armies will seek redress in the blood of your subjects, our fleets will make unending infernos of your coasts and we will show less pity to our foes than the blackest Merduk sultan. You will rue the day and hour you crossed swords with Hebrion, or Astarac, or Torunna. And so, gentlemen, we bid you good day. The three young men, all kings, turned and left the chamber together. In the silence that followed, the Himerian kings, as they would come to be known, stared at the round table which had witnessed their conclave and the dissolution of the Five Kingdoms. The path of history had been set; all they could do now was follow it and pray to God and the blessed Ramusio for guidance on their journey. TWENTY-FIVE T HE north-easter stayed with them, as steady and as welcome as the Hebrian trade. Hawkwood could [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |