“When we lost, they did not have great numbers,” he said. “But our siege had prevented many various houses from joining Arthur’s side, plus Kaide’s forces could not appropriately arm or train themselves. But surely you received the same notices I did on my march here. The Marylls have pledged their swords to Arthur, as have the Cranes and the Elliots. Not the most fearsome of houses, but together they’ll prove formidable. Our loss emboldened our enemies.”
“You mean your loss.”
“I did,” Gregane said, swallowing down his pride. “Forgive me. But a safe bet puts them with around a thousand, and five hundred at minimum.”
“We should be able to crush them,” Sebastian said. He turned to his desk and began rolling up the long parchment he’d written. “Here in our castle, even a thousand isn’t enough to breach these walls. If we hold out long enough, perhaps until the winter, the snows will drive them back. Those wretches with Kaide won’t have the stomach for a lengthy siege, not like…”
“Milord,” interrupted Gregane. “If we hold out for the winter, then all is lost. Time is no longer on our side. Either we defeat Arthur, and soon, or we’ll face an army ten thousand strong.”
Sebastian looked up, and there was panic in his eyes. Gregane recognized it well. It was a man staring at death and knowing there was no way to escape its touch.
“Explain,” he demanded.
“That thousand strong will swell with each passing moment you appear the weaker. More minor houses will ally themselves with Arthur. Those still loyal to us will prepare for your downfall by ignoring our requests for aid when the siege begins, so they might more easily befriend Arthur when he comes to power. But worst of all will be the commoners, the peasants, the farmers…they’ll join by the thousands, especially should a siege begin. They’ll see us as the cowards, the frightened, the ones destined to lose. By the end of winter, they might be twenty thousand strong. Our few hundred will mean nothing to that.”
At first Sebastian said nothing, only nodded his head as he sucked on his teeth in thought. Then he flung himself to his feet, hurling his chair to the other side of the room where it broke against the wall.
“Why?” he screamed. “Why this betrayal? Why are the people I have protected, the people I have lawfully ruled, so willing to see me ruined?”
“The people love Arthur,” Gregane said. “They love Kaide. They do not love you.”
That was it, the whole truth, and why Gregane had hurried his siege against Arthur weeks ago. Arthur and Kaide were a wildfire, one that, if unchecked, would consume them all. And because of Luther’s interference, a sure victory had turned into a disastrous defeat, allowing that wildfire to steadily burn its way south. But saying these things to his vain, cruel lord was dangerous, and he knew it.
The tension in the room thickened until it was suffocating. Sebastian refused to meet his eyes, instead standing there, breathing heavily, the rolled parchment in hand. And then he tossed it to Gregane, who smoothly caught it.
“I have no faith in Karak,” his lord said. “I know it looks otherwise. I’ve enforced the prayers. I’ve memorized the various litanies and scriptures. A lot of it makes sense. A lot of it is wisdom the world needs. But the priesthood…they’re not satisfied. I send them a fortune in gold, and they are not satisfied. I drag men, women, and children before their priests to hear their words, and they are not satisfied. I’ve let my rule be governed by them, my laws crafted by them, my advisors chosen by them. But it is not enough. It’ll never be enough. Get your things, and prepare to leave. I want you to take that letter to my brother.”
“Milord, this letter isn’t sealed.”
“I know,” Sebastian said, walking over to his bed and sitting down on the edge. “That’s because I want you to read it first.”
The defeat in his lord’s voice sent a chill up Gregane’s neck. Still standing before the door, he unrolled the parchment and began reading. As he did, his shock grew. The letter was addressed directly to Arthur, and lacked any sort of wordiness or pomp that Sebastian’s official decrees often carried. Instead it made Arthur an offer, and a simple one at that: spare his life, and Sebastian would cede control of all the Hemman lands to his brother. The only other condition was that Arthur protect him from the wrath of Karak’s priests.
“You’re surrendering,” Gregane said, feeling stupid even as he said it. But he had to hear it for himself.
“Never enough,” Sebastian said, staring out the window from his bed. “All I’ve done, and it’ll never be enough. That priest, Luther…he came to me yesterday, just before you returned. He wants me to put all the North into their hands after my death. They don’t want puppet rulers anymore. They don’t want loyalty. They want to be everything, priest and lord and king. All that our father once owned, all that I now control…gone. Out of our family line forever.”