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brother?”
    “When would I have had time?”
    “Right. One does take an advantage for granted quickly, doesn’t one?”
    “You may. I don’t. Seal the letters you have ready. I’ll move them along. Leave the rest here, addressed. And make sure no one can get in here when you’re gone.”
    Hecht grunted and folded, then applied wax. Within the minute the Ninth Unknown was gone again.
    *   *   *
    Hecht settled beside Kait Rhuk. Rhuk asked, “What have we got, boss?” Hecht did not mind the informality. Rhuk did his job. Well.
    “You talk much with Prosek about the thing in the Remayne Pass?”
    “Yeah. We designed our attack strategy based on what he learned there. Why? Something on the fire?”
    “That interview I had with the Empress. She told me the thing is making a comeback. And hopes we’ll do something about it.”
    “We can handle it. Our munitions are way better than when Prosek went after it. One good hit should take it out.”
    “Good. So. We’ll deal with that. After the wedding.”
    “There isn’t much to do, here. For us.”
    “So?”
    “So I’ve hung around a lot with guys who humped into town with the high and the mighty.”
    “And?”
    “There are incredible career opportunities for men in my line. Especially up north.”
    “Kharoulke the Windwalker.”
    “Not yet. Not directly. But his cult is back. That’s weird, isn’t it? The wells of power start drying up and, suddenly, we’ve got ten thousand more Instrumentalities plaguing us. You’d think it would go the other way.”
    “Slow down.” Rhuk had a substantial accent. It thickened when he became excited. “Do you know what you’ll do if we do come up against an Instrumentality like Kharoulke?”
    “More developed than Seska was. Probably bend over and kiss my ass goodbye.”
    “Because?”
    “At some point an Instrumentality should become powerful enough to see ambushes ahead of time. Then it’d stand off and do you wicked. With a platoon of first-string sorcerers I could lure him into a trap that didn’t look like a trap until the firing started. If the first salvo was accurate I could finish him before he pulled his shit back together. But if I didn’t get him the first time I’d never get another chance.”
    “Not what I’d hoped to hear. But pretty much what I expected.”
    “You ask me, boss, if you want to handle a demonic assertion like the Windwalker, you better get the Patriarch on the case with God. Get Him to come out and flex His muscles the way He used to do in the olden days.”
    An interesting suggestion. But not especially useful.
    Hecht suspected that God would not show up.
    His faith had suffered serious ablation lately. “Think about the Kharoulke problem. If we ever face something that big it’d be handy to have a strategy set.”
    “Of course, sir.”
    Kait Rhuk was dedicated. He would do that. When he was not busy catching whores.
    *   *   *
    Cloven Februaren came and went. In the main, he brought good news. Buhle Smolens was headed for Brothe with five hundred crack mountain infantry. Patriarchal garrisons throughout Firaldia were on alert. The Master of the Commandery, the new Brotherhood chieftain at the Castella dollas Pontellas, Addam Hauf, would quarter Patriarchal troops there, meaning the Brotherhood would back the Patriarchal forces.
    The Brotherhood existed to make war in the Holy Lands. They could not do that without support from the west. Internecine squabbling anywhere meant reduced resources available to those determined to liberate God’s homeland.
    The Captain-General was satisfied that everything possible was being done. If Boniface hung on for a week, a smooth succession would be assured. Buhle Smolens would be close to the Mother City. The Captain-General would be headed south.
    The Ninth Unknown said he thought the Patriarch would last a month.
    He was able to get that close, now he had begun to put thought into the effort.
    Cloven Februaren began to show