Page 91 of The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy
“And we received that windfall and were able to counter the whole thing, without even knowing we were doing it,” said Élodie. “The vaccine rollout means we’ve taken their years of planning and their millions and millions of thrymsas and plunged them into the toilet.”
“But whose planning?” asked Prendergast. “Whose resources? Who is the Someone?”
“We can only speculate,” said Aurienne.
“Aurienne is being cautious,” said Xanthe. “I will be less cautious. We do have a few data points that might help us identify parties of interest. Élodie, which of the Tiendoms were the worst off in terms of infections?”
Élodie, who had been listening in bleak silence, blinked. “Euh—Kent, Mercia, and Dumnonia. They were the hardest hit by far. Practically double the contagion rates of any of the Tiendoms. We were never able to account for their numbers.”
“And in our search for funding for the inoculation project, those three also gave the least, did they not?”
“Correct,” said Élodie. “Only the most nominal sums.”
“But they had the most to gain from a vaccine,” said Prendergast.
Dinadan drummed her fingers upon the table. “All three of those Tiendoms surround Wessex.”
“What’s the relevance?” asked Birtwhistle.
Dinadan reached for a sheet of paper and drew out a quick map ofthe Tiendoms. “Wessex is the most powerful of the Tiendoms,” she said. “None of those three can win a war against her. But if they’ve made an alliance”—here Dinadan drew three arrows going inward from Kent, Mercia, and Dumnonia—“Wessex will be caught in the greatest pincer manoeuvre in history. And if they had an army of Dreor on their side…”
“She’d be done,” said Shearwater.
Dinadan scratched out Wessex with a violent X. “Exactly.”
Birtwhistle, anxious, said, “These are dangerous accusations.”
“No one is making accusations,” said Xanthe. “We are merely analysing available information. I nevertheless recommend secrecy. We mustn’t take a public position or make claims regarding the Pox having been deliberately unleashed. Those responsible mustn’t know we’ve begun to connect the dots.”
Dinadan looked stormy. “They’d better hope the dots don’t connect. My Order is headquartered in Dumnonia. If the Dumnonian queen is part of a three-way conspiracy to raise a Dreor army using children, we’re going to have words.”
Her finger on the handle of her axe hinted that the words would be accompanied by other things.
Vel, the Hedgewitch, spoke for the first time. They addressed the question to Aurienne. “Have we any evidence of the Kentish queen’s involvement?”
“Nothing concrete,” said Aurienne.
“If something surfaces, bring it to me,” said Vel. “Our Order’s newlings have been ravaged by the Pox. I, too, will have…words.”
The little hairs on the back of Aurienne’s neck rose. “All right.”
“If this all ends up being true, I would like the Haelan Order to react strongly,” said Abercorn as Prendergast nodded. “But we cannot withdraw Haelan from all three of those Tiendoms. The population would suffer too much.”
“I agree,” said Xanthe. “We could at most refuse to aid royal households.”
“The Leyfarers would face a similar problem,” said Shearwater. “If we block ley lines, it’s the population who suffers, not the royals. Mind you—if they declare war, wewillshut down the waystones within their borders.”
“The immunisation programme has an extremely high uptake,” said Élodie. “And now that we’ve found their incubators, we’ve effectively destroyed their plans.”
“Where are you keeping the sick children now?” asked Dinadan.
“Swanstone and Cygnet House,” said Élodie. “That’s one of Swanstone’s outbuildings. We hadn’t enough beds within the walls.”
“Move them into the fortress proper,” said Dinadan. “They’re what’s valuable now. The last of the investment.”
Xanthe nodded. “We’ll make the arrangements.”
“There’s one thing I want to know,” said Dinadan. “You mentioned an informant, for Wellesley Keep and Brackenbury—the one who also warned us about Tristane. Who is this anonymous source who’s helped so much?”
