Magician’s End by Raymond E. Feist Read Free Book Online Page B

reading their collective minds, James added, ‘And you must ensure that somehow Edward is crowned here, not that snake Oliver. We may have to persuade Edward to put himself forward as king, rather than backing Chadwick or Montgomery.’ He pointed at Hal. ‘You may be the deciding factor if he knows the fate of the Far Coast and probably much of Yabon, rests on this. You may very well be the one to tip the balance and save this nation.’
    He sat back and sighed. ‘But to do any of that, you must, of course, stay alive.’
    Jim nodded. ‘I’ll see that he does, Grandfather.’
    Duke James put down his goblet and stood up. ‘Then I’ll bid you a good night and advise you this: outside this room there are few you can trust. Ensure you take wise counsel and be cautious of honeyed words laced with poison.’ He nodded to the brothers and Ty, then left the room.
    As if by silent instruction, the other guests rose and one by one bid Hal, his brothers, and Jim good night. When the last was gone, only those five and the servants remained.
    Jim looked around. ‘Another drink?’
    No one objected, so the servants filled their goblets, and they partook of a particularly good wine, but the mood in the room could hardly be called festive.
    Jim waved for the servants to depart. When they had gone, he said, ‘Ty knows what I’m about to share with you three.’ He glanced from face to face. ‘I am a loyal servant of the Crown, but I also work with the Conclave of Shadows, and you’d never heard of them until Ruffio told you of them for a reason. What I know, what I’m telling you, is because my loyalty, and yours at the moment, must extend beyond the borders of our nation. I tell you this because I trust the woman in charge of Roldem’s intelligence apparatus more at this moment than half the nobles in our Congress of Lords. I trust a few Keshians as well. But mostly I trust the dedication of the Conclave to the preservation of our entire world.
    ‘The recent conflict with Kesh was pointless.’
    Martin seemed to be on the verge of speaking, but thought better of it.
    ‘It’s easy to get caught up in events without considering real causes. Kesh and the Kingdom had been at peace for a very long time, since a misguided adventure when they sought to take control of Krondor after the invasion of the Emerald Queen’s army. Since then there’s been the usual poking around in the Vale of Dreams and the occasional ship battle when one captain got a little too ambitious. But today we have half the Keshian army spread out along the Far Coast and mustered along their northern border to protect against a Kingdom retaliation; the Kingdom army either here on Rillanon protecting this very palace, or in Salador, or mustered in the Fields of Albalyn; most of the Kingdom fleet surrounding this island; the Keshian fleet at the bottom of the ocean; and Roldem’s fleet in a defensive position around their island. What do you think that means?’
    Martin said, ‘That we went through a pointless exercise?’
    Jim nodded. ‘Yes. What else?’
    It was Brendan who answered. ‘No one is where they’re supposed to be.’
    ‘Exactly.’
    Hal said, ‘So if another threat materializes, no one is in the correct position to deal with it.’
    Martin calculated, then said, ‘The West.’
    Jim nodded. ‘Yes.’
    ‘I need to get back to Crydee!’ said Hal.
    ‘No,’ said Jim. ‘You need to stay here until my grandfather tells you to go somewhere else. Most likely to Prince Edward.’ He looked at Martin and Brendan. ‘You must return to Ylith and explain to the Keshian commander that he’s in the way and you need to go poking around. My intelligence tells me you’ve got a reasonable chance to have him agree for the right bribe – he is Keshian, after all, as long as you only go with a small patrol. If he doesn’t, you need to find a clever way to get around his objections without starting another war out there. Sneaking past his line should