The Kinstrife

Part 6

In which Doronil and friends still do not improve; Brand and Pimm tour the inns and Taverns of Pelargir looking for Amlaith; Ragnor and Aerin interview the families of the victims; Ragnor receives an object lesson in political ambition; and Brand reveals he has traced a document that might help an assassin locate Eldacar.

April 1^st 1441:

Perhaps it's some misplaced sense of guilt or maybe he's just frustrated with his pupil's lack of dedication but today Brand decides to put in a day's work with the Loremasters, cataloguing or whatever it is a junior loremaster does. We walk down together but part to go our separate ways as I repeat the now familiar early-morning ritual of visiting Doronil in the Houses of Healing.

Bainien, the principal carer for all three patients, reports exactly what I had expected; no change. They continue to sip gruel and water when offered but remain essentially unconscious.

In possession of the latest medical report on all three survivors, I drop past Neithan's town house to collect Aerin as today we will visit the remaining families of the several victims.

Having seen him off just a scant half-hour before, I'm surprised to bump in to Brand again outside her door. He's trying to locate another loremaster by the name of Amlaith. It seems this Amlaith was taken by Brand to sniff for magical taints at the crime scene a couple of days ago and has now gone missing. Perhaps it's a coincidence; or perhaps not? Having spoken with his housemates, Brand believes Amlaith may be on a bender and has come to recruit Pimm to reconnoitre the taverns and gambling houses.

There's no sign of Ilvrin and with Pimm gone with Brand, I escort Aerin to interview the first of our worried relatives. We find Tegilbor's house being emptied of valuables and everything being mothballed on the orders of his uncle, Orthelion, who runs a mercantile business (don't we all) down by the quay.

Orthelion greets us with a sneer, "…so at last, it's only taken you three days to get around to visiting the poor people". Yes, he has a chip on his shoulder and suddenly I feel conscious that my Serni token that I wear so proudly may be less appropriate than I'd hoped, but I get the feeling that this is genuine grief speaking.

He is grey-haired and middle-aged, looking older than I know him to be. His nephew is all his family and Orthelion clearly had high hopes for the boy, observing that their many connections with Umbar might have been useful, making up for the lack of nobility in their bloodline. I feel for him; I hope and pray all the lads recover. I suppose I should remind him of his station but I just don't have the heart. Instead I merely tell him the truth, that he is the first to be visited, and I think our manner mollifies him somewhat.

Aerin questions him and Orthelion tells us that Tegilbor came straight from Umbar and went straight up to the palace with but the briefest of stops to see his uncle, saying only that a letter should have come explaining a plot against Menelmir, the Captain of Ships of the South Fleet at Umbar. Orthelion thinks the non-arrival of this letter most significant.

The old man remains bitter but I hope my promise to advise him of the results of our investigation alleviates his sorrow to a degree but of course he won't be himself again until Tegilbor recovers, which I hope he does as soon as possible.

Next on the list are Merethin's parents, of the House Linton. Their demeanours could not be more different to Orthelion's. They chatter away about this and that conspiracy theory (their debate coming down in favour of a plot by evil hobbits - whatever they are - out of Mordor). Aerin can hardly get one straight answer to her questions. In the midst of their flood of nonsense, we hear only one thing of note – that Merethin's friends have told them that they "weren't surprised" surprised to hear of his 'accident'.

Eventually extracting ourselves, we elect to enquire with these friends to see what they meant.

Cemendur and Hunthor are dark-haired, grey-eyed, young and fit; archetypal young Dunedain, in fact. They explain their words to Merethin's parents. It seems Merethin was a closet 'loyalist' (as in loyal to Eldacar) and in his cups was prone to wax loud in terms critical of Castamir, our beloved and rightful king. It seems it was his idea to woo Telerien, believing that as her husband he would somehow be in a position to strike a blow, metaphorically or actually was not made clear, in favour of his hero.

Of course, Cemendur and Hunthor were expecting Merethin to receive a beating at the hands of the Cor-Aran or something, but, though they obviously regarded him as a friend and hope for his recovery, they were expecting something to curb his tongue. Though fond of him, they think him daft, hardly a credible revolutionary.

And so, after a light lunch, on to the families of the dead: Nastarthil's home, like Tegilbor's, is being mothballed, this time by the Garrison, who we meet for the first time. However, they are not investigating, merely taking Nastarthil's effects in to Royal ownership, since he died intestate and without kin. In lieu of anyone else, they direct us to his offices, saying they will be along later to take over that as well.

In Nastarthil's business premises, we find all deserted save for a single employee, Grindor, hoping to keep his job under new ownership but suitably philosophical on hearing our bad news about the imminent visit from the Garrison.

To Aerin's ubiquitous questions regarding enemies, Grindor reveals that Nastarthil was not liked by his competitors, for his success was due to his ruthless business practises. Grindor also claims he was not kind to his employees, either. Since he was also advanced in years, he seems an unlikely candidate for the hand of a young princess and it occurs to me his courtship of Telerien was entirely out of cold-blooded ambition.

As Grindor gets in to repeating the wild conspiracy theories of the Lintons, we make our apologies and leave. I did consider offering him a post in father's organisation, but on reflection I don't think I could ask father to be that generous.

Our final call is the one most sensitive: House Lintoron, whose heir apparent, Valadan, was among the casualties. Gilraen Lord Lintoron meets us personally and immediately makes it clear that he's accepting this investigation by a 'neutral party' (Aerin) on sufferance and will bring in the Garrison if not satisfied. He asks if we know who might have committed the murder and I reply that, yes, we have a suspect, and, no, we will not reveal names until our investigation is complete.

Aerin asks Lord Lintoron whom he thinks may have been responsible for the death of his son. He sees Telerien's hand as the most valuable thing the King has in his possession and believes the mass assassination attempt was entirely political; his money is on House Alcariale (due to Hirluin's early departure) or the Lebennin nobility, aware that Valadan might be on the point of securing Telerien's hand in marriage.

He then goes too far, accusing father of possibly poisoning Doronil in a clumsy attempt to remove his competitors! As with Orthelion, I feel this is grief (and paranoia) talking, but in the case of Lord Lintoron, such an insult cannot go unchallenged. I point out that, whatever else father is, he is neither clumsy nor stupid, and that his words 'come close to an insult'. Remarkably, Lord Lintoron apologises, even going so far as to admit that he and father think alike on this matter, that both want the true name of whoever is responsible, not a mere scapegoat.

Once he has a name, Lord Lintoron says the matter of revenge can be left to him. I ask what he will do if the culprit is someone who is currently invulnerable and replies that he has already agreed to with father to work together to encompass the revenge they both crave. We neither of us mention Khoradûr but I'm sure he understands whom the veiled reference is aimed at. However, as a parting aside, he mentions that, should the assassination prove to be from an outside threat, as opposed to internal politics, then things will be very different and he expects all the various parties currently eyeing each other up as suspects will then work together to avert the threat. But he makes it clear he thinks this is a long shot. (But I wonder if it might not be both?)

Aerin has no further questions so we take our leave. As we depart, I find myself having received an object lesson in political ambition. Lord Lintoron, despite his insult, seems to regard father as a kindred spirit. It is revealing, and I wonder how father would seem to me were I not his son?

Lord Lintoron does not see the assassination as the work of a madman or even as particularly clumsy. Political ambition is what makes him so sure the mass-poisoning was a deliberate attempt to remove all senior rivals to Telerien's hand. That it was only partially successful he puts down to people such as himself (he sees the ultimate culprit as someone very much like himself, which no doubt explains his reference to father, which in turn may reveal it to have been less of an insult than it might seem) having to delegate executive action to less reliable underlings. On hearing of his son's death, he immediately looked to who would benefit from the joint deaths of all five or six men (depending on whether you include Hirluin). Lord Lintoron also believes the culprit was happy to show Royal security in a bad light.

I escort Aerin back to Neithan's house where we find a merchant, a Southron by the name of Morsûl (which translates 'Black Wind', if I recall Brand's lectures correctly). He knows Aerin has an acquaintance among the loremasters and asks if she could discretely enquire where to find a loremaster willing to sell a particular document relating to genealogy? It transpires that this loremaster is none other than Amlaith, whom Brand is looking for.

When Brand and Pimm return, long after Morsûl's departure, he reveals that he has traced the document concerned via a reference in Amlaith's logbook. It seems the genealogy is that of Eldacar (late of the Winged Crown) on his mother's side and Amlaith was seeking to auction it to the highest bidder. Brand has taken it upon himself to hide it elsewhere. He's also noticed that a beggar of his acquaintance (does father know the sort of person he's hired to teach his son the High Tongue?) who would almost certainly have seen any incident outside Amlaith's rooms, has also disappeared.

Brand seems to think this document might help an assassin to track down Eldacar's current whereabouts. Myself, I can't help thinking it would take an army, rather than a lone knifeman, to ultimately dispose of Eldacar and his bloodline. Perhaps this document has other information? At any rate, Brand sensibly claims to want to forget all about it. Let's face it, with the wages he's getting from father, he probably doesn’t need the cash.

So we return up the hill to the palace. Surveying today's efforts, I find us no nearer either uncovering the culprit or finding a way to succour Doronil and company.

With Lord Lintoron's thoughts in mind, I try to put some objective framework around the victims.

Victim condition status who gains from death?

Doronil comatose middle ranking but influential lesser suitors

Hirluin alive major player lesser suitors

Nastarthil dead minor player the Crown gains the estate

Merethin comatose minor player the Crown removes a critic

Tegilbor comatose very minor lesser suitors

Valadan dead major player any other suitor for Telerien

Additionally, anyone lower down the list of likely candidates for Telerien's hand (assuming the King would be prepared to go with her choice instead of his) would benefit from the blanket removal of so many competitors provided that they are not found out.

Our list of suspects is shorter:

Hirluin of House Alcariale based entirely on the fact that he's the lone survivor and, as a member of a major house, presumably steeped in ambition

Khoradûr, the Queen's Steward he had the opportunity and means (access and alchemist skills) but we know nothing of motive

I think we need to discretely investigate Khoradûr. It may also be time to talk to the Queen.