1 State of Grace (23 page)

There was an uncomfortable pause as everyone considered the ramifications of what was said. Even Honeyflower seemed disturbed by the concept.

“I don’t think that is a reasonable solution, Ambassador,” Lumendrake said. His tone had lost its angry edge. “Shadows are only a step away from demons. The power they gain from The Rift is unnatural. This land already suffers the effects of corruption. The presence of more Shadows may hasten it.”

“I’m not so sure, Minister,” the president said. “The prevailing opinion among the priesthood is we are doing this to ourselves. A schism between elves is what murders Alfar and Jifan, not some external corruptive force.”

“Be that as it may,” Lumendrake said, “and I would like to point out that your ‘prevailing opinion’ is not shared by every priest or even every elf, there is no tactical advantage to having more Shadows here, when the ones that are present are no more useful than the military at preventing these attacks.”

“Actually,” Goldenfawn said, “Urlish Shadows have been very successful at preventing attacks by ferreting out unexecuted plots. I am not fully certain how they ascertain the information they do, but they are effective. If we had more Shadows, there would be more people to run down Starfellow.”

“Which would in turn allow the Elite Guard to act as the police force it’s intended to be,” Honeyflower said. “Turning over most of the terrorist investigation to the Urlanders would give me more elfpower to handle daily security issues. Right now, with trying to stay on top of the terrorists, we’re stretched pretty thin.

“Of course, the Shadow Service would have to be working for us, not the other way around, but I like this plan. I think there are a lot of things a Shadow could uncover.” She shot Wolf a glance. He did his best to ignore it.

“Ambassador Dasher,” Spellbinder said, “I am impressed. Unlike your predecessors, you’ve come here with some concrete proposals for real solutions. I’d like to commend you on your willingness to negotiate.

“Are there any objections to the Ambassador’s plan? He’s called for an immediate twenty percent reduction in Urlish troops on the ground, a deployment of most of the remaining personnel to the countryside to re-establish security there, and to increase the size of the Urlish Shadow presence to focus on rooting out terrorist activity in Al-Adan and elsewhere.”

Nearly everyone nodded their assent to Wolf’s basic proposition. Lumendrake looked unhappy, but he didn’t speak up. Silverleaf, on the other hand, looked smug. It was the same look Wolf had seen before he played the “Gargantuan” card on Sir Leslie.

“Actually,” Silverleaf said, “I don’t like it.”

Everyone turned and stared at him. He put on a face of extreme doubt and worry. Wolf waited for him to unleash his masterstroke.

“Why not?” Spellbinder said.

“Several reasons,” Silverleaf said. He stood and began pacing around the table. “First, do we really need twenty-four thousand soldiers still in-country? It’s ‘very generous’ of Ambassador Dasher to offer a twenty percent reduction in troops, but what will be done to phase out the remainder? This sounds like not much of an offer.”

“We’ll need to evaluate the efficacy of the program before we can determine how many troops it will take,” Honeyflower protested.

“More importantly, this idea of bringing more Shadows to Alfar is disturbing at best,” Silverleaf went on. “Need I remind us that only humans can become Shadows? This is some natural malady of theirs that we do not need spread.”

“Spread?” Spellbinder said.

“The Rift’s energy is corruptive, Madam President,” Silverleaf said. “It corrupts certain humans. Do we really need more of them coming here to spread their poison?

“But then I suppose I should have expected such a suggestion from an infidel.”

“Ambassador!” Spellbinder shouted. “I made it very clear last night that I would not tolerate any of that sort of name-calling.”

“Forgive me, Madam President,” Silverleaf said with mock humility. “But I wasn’t throwing an idle insult. I was being sincere.”

“Ambassador!” Spellbinder warned. Silverleaf turned to Wolf and faked shock.

“Ambassador Dasher,” he said, “you didn’t tell the members of the government you were an atheist?”

An audible gasp went through the room. Everyone looked at Wolf.

“What?” Lumendrake whispered.

“Well, that’s what he told me,” Silverleaf said innocently.

Wolf was ready to kill Silverleaf on the spot. The self-serving elf didn’t want a solution to the negotiations. He was only trying to destroy Wolf’s proposal, so he could keep the talks perpetually hung. By calling Wolf out on his atheism, Silverleaf had completely discredited him.

Moreover, he was mad at himself. He’d allowed his passions to get the better of him back at Silverleaf’s villa, and now he was paying for it.

“Is this true?” Goldenfawn demanded.

All eyes turned to Wolf. He had to tell them something.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said, “I have different religious beliefs than you. We knew that going in. I’m human. Like most humans, I don’t accept Frey as a prophet. So we knew at the outset we would disagree on some things theologically. But that doesn’t mean—”

“Are you an atheist!” Lumendrake roared.

His voice echoed off the walls. This time, Spellbinder didn’t intercede. The question hung in the air like a spider poised to spring.

“Yes,” Wolf said.

There was an immediate uproar. Everyone began speaking. They argued amongst themselves, but no one said a word to Wolf. He caught Honeyflower’s gaze. It was regretful.

“Order!” Spellbinder yelled, and slammed her gavel on the table. The response wasn’t immediate, but she did manage to calm the storm.

“My friends,” she said. “This is an unfortunate development, but we have business to conduct.”

“‘A man who rejects God cannot be trusted,’” Lumendrake said. “‘For he scoffs at the very heart of a believer.’ Frey’s Fourth Epistle.”

Many of the ministers nodded their assent. Spellbinder attempted to grab control of the debate.

“Be that as it may,” she said, “Ambassador Dasher is the appointed representative of Her Majesty’s Government. His religious beliefs are immaterial. He is here to represent the Queen of Urland.”

“Actually, I’m not sure that’s true,” Silverleaf said. His eyes bored holes into Wolf, and he grinned like a fiend. “Mr. Dasher is a Shadow.”

There was another gasp from the table. Wolf felt his heart rate quicken. Everything was falling apart.

“My servant observed him using ... unusual abilities at my villa two nights ago,” Silverleaf said. “So I did some investigation into Mr. Wolf Dasher. It turns out he is of noble blood, but he was disowned by his family at the age of fifteen when they discovered he was a Shadow. It wasn’t long afterward Mr. Dasher was recruited into Her Majesty’s Shadow Service. Whatever he is, I very much doubt Wolf Dasher is Her Majesty’s true representative to Alfar.”

“Outrageous!” Lumendrake shouted.

“This certainly explains why he was so eager to increase the number of Urlish Shadows in Alfar,” Goldenfawn said.

Everyone started shouting at once. Wolf’s heart sank. Not only had he destroyed the investigation, his cover was blown. Somehow, Silverleaf figured everything out. Now he was using that edge to poison the negotiations. The Alfaris would never deal with him now.

“Stop!” Spellbinder shouted. This time, she didn’t use the gavel, but everyone stopped speaking immediately.

“Mr. Dasher,” she said. “In light of these revelations, I’m afraid I’m going to have to call a recess to all negotiations. We’re going to need to verify your credentials before we can go any further.”

Everyone at the table grunted in agreement. Honeyflower stood.

“Madam President,” she said, “under the circumstances, I believe I should escort Mr. Dasher from the premises.”

“Agreed,” Lumendrake said. “If this infidel didn’t have diplomatic immunity, I’d call for him to be placed in irons.”

Many at the table agreed with that sentiment too. Wolf noticed that a few of the progressives didn’t nod, but all of the conservatives and moderates did. This cause was lost.

“Mr. Dasher,” Honeyflower said, “if you’ll accompany me.” Her tone was dark; her face rigid.

Wolf didn’t know what else to do. He stood.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said, “things are not as they seem. I hope we will be able to speak again soon.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the chamber with Honeyflower on his heels. As soon as he crossed the threshold, the room burst into furious debate again. Wolf felt sick.

Chapter 28: A Show of Unity

(Eight Hours, Seventeen Minutes before Revelation Day)

“Wolf!” Honeyflower called as soon as they were out of earshot of the chamber.

He was moving at a fast pace. He just wanted to get the hell out of the palace and figure out what to do next.

He hated himself for being so stupid. He’d done everything Kenderbrick warned him against – he’d made a mess of the negotiations, and he’d blown his cover.

How had Silverleaf known he was a Shadow? He hadn’t used any abilities on Ravager or in Silverleaf’s presence. Lightwater must have seen him sneaking around at the villa. Damn! Why hadn’t he been more cautious? He didn’t know what it was about this mission, but he was making one stupid move after another. Maybe it was the air in Alfar or the unusual magic of the place or its persistent decay. Regardless, Wolf hadn’t had his wits about him since the moment
The Shimmering Veil
docked in El-Amin. First, he’d gotten Richie killed, then Simone, and now he’d blown his cover and sunk the negotiations. He found himself doubting he could actually bring Silverleaf to justice for Sara’s murder, let alone stop whatever nefarious plot he was cooking.

“Wolf!” Honeyflower shouted again.

He turned back, glaring at her. She was practically running to keep up with him. He stopped. Angry as he was, her beauty was overpowering. He couldn’t turn his back on her.

“I’m so sorry,” she said when she reached him.

“What for?” he said, surprised.

“I brought Silverleaf to the negotiations,” she confessed. “I got caught spying on him, and I had to tell him something, so he wouldn’t realize what I was doing. I told him I came to get him, because you had arrived for the negotiations. If I hadn’t done that, he couldn’t have ruined your offer.

“And it was a really good offer, Wolf. It’s the best thing I’ve heard for months. There were a lot of details to work out, but it moved us in a positive direction for the first time.”

Wolf stared at her, stunned. He couldn’t believe she was taking any responsibility for his own failures. Moreover, he didn’t fully comprehend just how much hope he’d given her with his proposals.

Before he fully realized what he was doing, he stepped forward, pulled her to him, and kissed her passionately. She resisted at first. She put a hand on his chest to push him away, and her lips refused to participate. But after a moment, she melted into him. She stopped pushing. She returned his kiss.

He pulled away and looked into her eyes. He read surprise and desire in them.

“There now,” he said, “I think that makes up for it.”

She blushed, something he’d seen no elf do. The red complexion coloring her brown skin was charming. For the first time, it was she who looked away from him.

“I don’t understand, Wolf,” she said. “Why would anyone assign you cover as an ambassador? You have no talent for it whatsoever.”

Wolf laughed, possibly the first time he had done so since arriving in Alfar.

“I tried to tell them that,” he said, still chuckling.

“You have many talents, Wolf Dasher,” she said, “but you are far too impolitic to work in court.”

He nodded. He didn’t know what to say now that she had responded to his advances. Once again, her beauty stupefied him.

“Wolf,” she said. “I overheard Silverleaf speaking with Ravager. Ravager said someone was ready and drooling to play his part.”

“Who?”

“He didn’t say, but Silverleaf knew whom he meant,” she answered. “Silverleaf also mentioned Revelation Day begins at sundown and that the president is desirous of a solution and an act of unity. He said you had helped them along, although he didn’t say what he meant by that.”

Wolf stroked his chin for a moment. He turned the possibilities over in his mind.

“Hmm. Well, the only insight I draw from that is whatever he’s up to is going to happen tonight. It doesn’t tell us where or what, though. Did he mention anything else?”

“He said, ‘
Operation: Hammerfall
is a go,’” she replied.

Wolf searched his memory. Nothing came to mind.

“I don’t know what that means, either,” he confessed. “Were you able to get me an interview with Nightshade?”

“Yes,” she said. “That was the other reason I wanted to see you. Here are your credentials.”

She drew some papers out of a case on her belt and handed them to him. He flipped through them briefly and saw they granted him an interview by authority of the Elite Guard and that he only had to present them to get in.

“
All right,” he said, “here’s what we need to do. You get back in there and spy on Silverleaf. We have to know what he’s doing.

“I’ll report to Kenderbrick and then conduct the interview. Hopefully, there’s a clue there. Let’s meet at the safe house this afternoon to compare notes.”

“Sounds good,” she said. “Thank you, Wolf.”

“For what?”

“For caring enough about my country to protect it from a saboteur. I know this is your mission, and I know you are motivated by revenge for the killing of your agent. But you clearly are concerned about the outcome of the situation here. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have tried so hard to mediate a solution.” She kissed him briefly. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

So saying, she was gone. Wolf stared after her for a moment. What an extraordinary woman. He resolved not to disappoint her faith in him.

***

“I move we immediately suspend all trade with Urland until they withdraw their soldiers,” Lumendrake shouted as soon as Dasher and Honeyflower were out of the room.

“Are you mad?” Waterdown retorted. “How will we fund our own operations?”

Everyone started yelling at once. Sagaius smiled. They were all fools. It was so simple to manipulate them. And Dasher was truly an idiot. Sagaius knew when the Urlander let his lack of faith slip at the villa he would be able to use it against the fool if necessary. He hadn’t imagined he’d need to, but Dasher had proved, if nothing else, difficult to kill.

“Has it occurred to you,” Waterdown was saying, “that with thirty thousand soldiers in-country, they might just decide they no longer need to ‘trade’ with us?”

“They wouldn’t dare!” someone said. Sagaius couldn’t see who.

“Wouldn’t they?” Goldenfawn said. “They sent a Shadow to pose as an ambassador, all in an attempt to get sanction for more Shadows in the country. They clearly are not interested in dealing fairly.”

“We don’t know that was Mr. Dasher’s or Her Majesty’s agenda,” Spellbinder said, “only that Mr. Dasher is not what he claimed to be. For all we know, their new ambassador may actually have been killed in that attack in El-Amin, and the Shadow Service sent in a temporary replacement.”

“That seems highly unlikely, Madam President,” Goldenfawn said.

“Minister,” she replied, “you’re in charge of internal security. Isn’t it a tactic that would occur to you if you were desperate?”

“Certainly not!” Goldenfawn shouted. He stood up. “I have far more honor than to perpetrate that sort of deception on honest negotiations.”

Sagaius nearly laughed. If Goldenfawn was really that straight and narrow, he should be removed as Minister of Internal Security. The man in charge of spying needed to have a sneaky mind. But Sagaius knew that Goldenfawn was an ideal candidate for the job.

“I was not suggesting you would do it,” Spellbinder said. “I only asked if the possibility would have occurred to you.”

Goldenfawn and Spellbinder launched into a digressive argument, while the rest of the table debated what to do about the “Urlish insult to elfin honor.” Sagaius decided the time to act was now.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said.

No one listened. They were all shouting too furiously. He raised his voice.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said again.

This time most of the table turned to him. He waited for the rest to follow. After a moment, those still speaking noticed it had gotten quieter and turned to see why. When they saw the expectant look on Sagaius’s face, they fell silent.

“I am shocked,” Sagaius said. “I am shocked a single Urlander could so easily manipulate elves.” He had to suppress a smile. Accusing Wolf of his own crime was too delicious. “Don’t you see what is happening? This infidel came to us with a mad plan for settling our differences, and now, as a result, we’re all shouting at each other and calling each other names. He completely sundered any hope of unity.”

Sagaius paused and let that sink in. The loudmouths at the table wouldn’t care, but he knew Spellbinder would. Her goal was to create a unified government. His entire speech was aimed at her.

“Obviously, something must be done about Her Majesty’s appointment of a Shadow to represent her interests, if indeed Mr. Dasher was even properly appointed. We have a complaint, and I will travel to Urland and press it.

“But that doesn’t help us now. We have to stand together. There are so many forces trying to break us apart. The Urlanders seek to manipulate us into giving them more of our country. The Sons of Frey would destroy us outright and subjugate us under the stifling yoke of Jifan. Our land is dying around us while we are helpless to do anything but watch.

“We cannot give in to these destructive forces. We are Alfar’s guardians. We must stand strong in her defense.”

“What do you suggest, Ambassador?” Spellbinder said. He had her right where he wanted her.

“I believe we must go forward with our plans for the Feast of the Revelation. We must stand together as one unit against tyranny. There, we can renew our commitment to the people of Alfar on the holiest day of the year.

“We also denounce Urland for its underhanded negotiating tactics. We don’t need to make any demands of them at this time. We just condemn what they attempted to do.

“Finally, we denounce the Sons of Frey and other insurgents for attacking our people. We are all elves. Elf-on-elf sectarian violence is not only foolish; it is contrary to the teachings of Frey.

“What we need to do this Revelation Day, my friends, is inspire our people. They are downtrodden; they are weary; they lack hope. We need to show them a government unified and committed to serving their needs. We will not stand for improper treatment from any foreign power, and we will not suffer terrorism from radical insurgents. With this message, we can give our people hope and perhaps start the healing of our desperate land.”

He fell silent and waited. He knew he would get the response he wanted. Spellbinder looked enraptured. Lumendrake beamed. Waterdown was nodding respectfully. Sagaius gave everyone a little piece of what they wanted. They would fall in line.

“Ambassador,” Spellbinder said, “you continue to remind us why your appointment was so wise. You have a way of seeing the truth of things and bringing it out.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Ambassador Silverleaf has shown us what we need to do. I therefore move we adopt his suggestion with the utmost support.”

“Seconded,” Lumendrake said.

It took only seconds for a vote to be called and a unanimous decision to be rendered. Sagaius smiled. Everything was in place. By this time tomorrow, he would be King of Alfar, and Jifan would be falling. Alfheim would be reunited, Frey and God would be pleased, and the land would begin to heal.