There were witnesses, the nameless, colorless clerks who are always there to write things down.

SIXTY MEN AND A WOMAN LISTENED AS A SLOBBERING, ALmost incoherent Tormond defended the agreement he had made with Sublime, once he spent time having nothing to drink.

The Connec would recognize the Brothen Patriarch. Priests and bishops who refused would be handed over to the new Bishop of Antieux. The bishop would be elevated to the Collegium within five years, guaranteed. His successor, the next Connecten Principatй, would be chosen by the ruling Duke at the time.

Bishop LeCroes flew into a rage. "You've betrayed your own faith, now? For a promise of peace from that feckless Benedocto jackal? You gain nothing, My Lord! Nothing! He can do nothing if you defy him. He's impotent. He'll turn on you as soon as he can. No Connecten Principatй will ever sit in the Collegium."

Tormond let the Bishop rage until his venom was spent "Second. We must eradicate all heretical cults and beliefs."

The most anticipated of Patriarchal demands, that sparked the most ferocious response. Even pro-Brothen Episcopals were outraged by what seemed an arrogant and inexcusable meddling in matters of no concern to anyone but Connectens.

Brother Candle stood glumly silent, betrayed by a friend.

Tormond's speech became less slurred. That did not make his words any more welcome. "The Connec must provide twenty-eight-hundred armed men to help punish Calzir for the afflictions it visited on the Epsicopal world."

Someone shouted, "You mean on the Benedocto family, don't you?"

Bishop LeCroes said, "In other words, Nephew, you gave the false Patriarch everything we resisted when he invaded our homeland. Then you threw in the lives of our young men as a bonus, so Sublime can work his wickedness on someone else. A true diplomatic triumph, Nephew. There will be jubilation from one end of the Connec to the other. There will be dancing in the streets when the news reaches Khaurene."

The Duke was not so far gone in his cups that he failed to understand. Those dancers might be carrying torches and pitchforks and a notion to shape history by their own hands, by making it necessary to find a new Duke.

Tears flooded Tormond's eyes. Till that moment he had been sure that he had scored a diplomatic coup. Why such bitter anger from his friends and advisers?

"Let me offer a suggestion, Nephew," Bishop LeCroes snarled. "Stay in Brothe until the soldiers you gave away come home. Otherwise, our people might end up doing you personal harm in their wild enthusiasm for the peace that you've won."

Even the drunken Duke heard the soft speculations. How would Raymone Garete react when he heard? Any way he wanted. He would have the support of most Connectens.

Duke Tormond was befuddled. Brother Candle wondered how he could remain so consistently and stubbornly disconnected. Had they done something to his mind inside Krois?

Duke Tormond stumbled away from what he had expected to become a huge celebration. His disappointment, his confusion, were obvious.

His sister put aside her natural shyness, stepped forward to clarify the range of agreements reached. Those were of broad scope and implication and included Navaya, the rest of Direcia, Calzir, and the Empire in addition to the Connec, Firaldia, the Patriachal States, and the Church. Sublime had imposed no hard deadlines except in the matter of the armed men, who were supposed to be available in time for an autumn campaign against Calzir.

Isabeth said her husband would guarantee the independence of the Connec. He would send ships and siege specialists to help with the war.

Brother Candle did not fail to note that a punitive expedition had metamorphosed into a war. A war that would become a crusade, probably. Supported by a king who had no part in putting the thing together.

Isabeth was a sharper negotiator than her brother. In return for King Peter's help in reducing Calzir, Sublime would convey the island of Shippen to Navaya. Along with the smaller islands nearby. Shippen was large enough to have been an independent kingdom at times. It was more vast than Peter's current Direcian territories, though much poorer.

Isabeth also reported Sublime's arrangements with the Grail Empire.

Mainland Calzir, with its coastal islands, would be conveyed to the Empire and Alameddine. Various towns and castles would go to individuals who helped in the reconquest but they would be subject to the Emperor and the King of Alameddine.

Sublime was generous with territories not yet reclaimed.

Peter would do well in a successful war. And Sublime's Firaldian foes would be weakened. While Johannes became stronger.

Brother Candle began to suspect that there was a deeper plan behind Tormond's apparent fecklessness.

If Shippen passed into Navayan control, Platadura would gain immense influence eastward on the Mother Sea, at the expense of Sonsa, Dateon, and Aparion. Of Sonsa in particular. Most of Sonsa's trade passed through the narrow, treacherous Strait of Rhype, which separated Shippen from mainland Calzir.

Brother Candle worked his way close to Isabeth. "I smell a mystery. Where does Johannes figure? What's changed? How can the Grail Emperor suddenly be friends with the Patriarch? They're natural enemies, like cats and dogs."

No one else was much interested, now. Isabeth whispered, "This won't remain secret long. So I suppose I can tell you. Johannes only has one son. Lothar is twelve, sickly, and won't outlive his father. Johannes wants the Grail succession kept in the Ege family. Sublime, as Patriarch, has pledged that the

Church will guarantee the Imperial succession through all of Johannes's children."

Interesting. "Even through the daughters?"

"Absolutely. Katrin, then Helspeth, before anyone else can be considered. The price? Johannes has to help conquer Calzir. You've already heard of the division of spoils."

There would be more to it than that, Brother Candle believed. Sublime would not give his dearest enemy anything that cheaply. Nor would Hansel be subverted that easily.

Later, Michael Carhart wanted to know, "Will any of that really happen? Tormond can tell Sublime anything. What happens if he does try to suppress the Maysaleans, the Devedians, the Dainshaukin, the Pramans of the Terliagan Littoral, or the free-thinking Episcopals of the Connec?"

Seldom spoken Tember Sihrt observed, "He'll find himself in a cold and lonely place."

"Literally," Bishop LeCroes said. "A lot of people will turn their backs if he tries. He needs a lot of cooperation to hold things together."

Michael Carhart observed, "None of you, and no one else since Honario Benedocto's election, has pointed out how few of the world's problems would be problems if Honario Benedocto wasn't Patriarch."

Brother Candle asked, "Are you saying that somebody should do something about that?"

"Oh, no. No! I was stating a fact. Sublime's election has caused a horrible amount of misery and death. And he's just gotten started."

“The man has a point," Brother Purify observed. "Now we're going to blacken our souls further by not keeping the Connec out of this war with Calzir. I know some Pramans. Plenty still live around Terliaga and along the coast there. They're mostly good people. Like most Connectens. Like these Calzirans Sublime wants to butcher."

"Don't mention the Terliagans," Michael Carhart said. "If Sublime finds out that Volsard didn't wipe them out in his war with Meridian, he'll put them on the suppression list with the rest of us. Right up top, probably."

Brother Candle said, "We may be worrying too much. Remember who our Duke is. I'm thinking he'll never get around to doing much. Except to put Count Raymone in charge of the expedition to Calzir so he and his hotheads won't make things worse at home. If Calzir is as obstinate as it's always been, Sublime won't have time to worry about the Connec."