"Shocking." Jarod stared at the bed where Karl was last seen. "And you say there is no trace of them except this burned reliquary and the Ghal Mharaz?"

"None, my lord." The three High Priests' eyes wandered, once again, to the Hammer on the floor.

"Shocking." He slowly lifted the reliquary and held it in front of him as he examined the slag remains of the latch. "I trust everyone believes that, if this relic caused my brother's disappearance, Helene had no knowledge of its power or malice intended in bringing it?"

The priests shuffled their feet.

"Helmut's moving awful slow if he intended to take the Empire from Karl with this."

"Exactly," Jarod smiled at him. "You are a perceptive man."

"I'm a Silver Hammer, your Highness."

Yes, even despite that. "You do your order credit, Gundar. A man like you was made to lead."

Gundar followed his glance down to the Ghal Mharaz and bristled. "Sigmar leads. I will advance no farther than he orders."

"A commendable spirit of service," Jarod smiled and put down the reliquary. "This should be put away for the safety of everyone else in the palace - perhaps in New Altdorf. It seems sealed, but it seemed harmless when Helene brought it. Has the Empress expressed any desires about what to do with it?"

"I think she would like it forgotten, your Highness."

"I quite agree." He motioned them out before him and caught Torsten by the elbow. "Ask Her Majesty if she will deign to see me today."

**********

"Your Majesty." Jarod bowed low.

Helene looked up from the windowseat where she watched the sun setting over New Altdorf. The city smelled like newly hewn wood, all piled up into boxy, unadorned buildings now black against the sky. She trailed her gaze down and back up Jarod's long, handsome body before sitting back and looking him directly in the eye.

"Oh, stop it, Jarod. Your lugubrious antics don't fool me one bit."

"Is that any sort of welcome for the man who can keep that crown on your head?"

Her voice tightened. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

"Then forgive my impudence." He lounged into the space beside her. "It just seems to me that a lady who comes bearing magical devices to do away with her betrothed..."

"I did not 'do away' with Karl!"

He pressed a finger to her thin lips. "We are in private now, Helene. There is no need for theatrics."

She glared at him and leapt away. "Get out!"

He sighed. "I am not your enemy, Helene. Quite the contrary. But if you command, I shall go."

Jarod took his time, but she continued to point toward the door until he was on the other side of it. He smiled to himself as much as to the serving girl who tried to appear busy with cleaning the floor as he stepped into the shadows of the corridor.

Konrad intercepted him at the next intersection.

"Your Highness, may I have a word with you?"

Jarod nodded.

"In private?"

Jarod motioned him down the hall and they closed the door to his chambers behind them.

"The harvests are good in your realms, your Highness?"

Jarod nodded again.

"I do not ask idly, sir. Marienburg is, well - thin this year. Karl frowned on doing business with your merchants, but as he is no longer here to handle this problem and we are..."

"The markets of Marienburg will open to the Enlightened Empire?"

"Yes, your highness."

Jarod sat down and folded his hands in his lap.

"It hardly seems just, though. Wouldn't you agree?"

Konrad's eyebrow twitched. "Those were Karl's embargoes, not ours."

"Embargoes?" Jarod looked confused then laughed. "I can see my brother has given a false impression of me. I was not referring to Karl's ideas of justice, Konrad. I put all that behind me long ago. No, I meant that selling grain to a starving people - well, it's quite an opportunity for price gouging, isn't it?"

"Err ... Yes." Konrad felt uncomfortable spelling out the obvious advantages.

"Yes," Jarod agreed. "And that is unforgivable." He stood and searched for a quill and some ink. "As it happens, my lands were blessed with more than enough food for my people and we can afford to be very generous with our less fortunate neighbors. How much do you need?"

Konrad faltered, caught completely off guard by this gesture of benevolence. Jarod took matters into his own hands.

"Will this do?" He handed the paper to the shocked Baron, whose jaw dropped when he read the amount to be sent.

"That is not a gift, your Highness. You could buy a portion of the city for the value of all that grain!"

Jarod laughed again. "It's always trade with you, isn't it Konrad? My men will ensure that none of it is sold and that it will be distributed fairly among your people." He folded the paper and tipped a candle to begin sealing it. Konrad reached out to stay him.

"And what do you expect of me or Marienburg?"

"I expect you to make bread and fill your stomachs when the snow comes."

"I meant what do you expect in return? Forgive me, your highness. I'm a blunt man."

"On the contrary, I like a man who speaks directly." Jarod laid a hand on his shoulder and peered into his eyes. "I want nothing in exchange for this. Had brigands stolen all when my father lived, he would have found one way or another to feed the people of his Empire and borne the cost of it on his shoulders alone - as I will now. Think of this as the only way I have left to honor him and walk in his footsteps."

One by one the Barons all came to him after that. Petir's old eyes shone with the memory of the glory of the old Emperors. Dierk promised a rash flurry of fealty and oaths. Raimund took it as all he really deserved from the Emperor, but his servingmen thanked Jarod with grateful looks.

"What is he getting in return?" Mikhal watched the merchants' quarter swarm.

"A magnanimous reputation and a foot in the door," Jehenne frowned. "This is not the brother Karl and Errol described to me."

"No, nor Brigid. I always felt like Karl was her only option - not perfect, but better than the others."

"Yes, that's what Errol wrote in his Chronicles. When the met the eldest one, Thomas, he accused Jarod of attempting to kill him in order to shorten the succession to the throne. That was before the plague, of course. And they didn't hear much from Jarod during the war. I suppose it was only a matter of time before he appeared."

"The Hand never met Jarod?"

"Never that I know of."

Mikhal scratched his beard. "They could have been mistaken in him, and I hate to suspect such generosity."

"But it is suspicious, is it not? He has much to gain from winning favor here - particularly while Karl is missing."

"Exactly. It's too convenient for him." His eyes narrowed and his voice rumbled down to a growl. "And he may be behind whatever happened to Brigid."

Jehenne recognized that look. Brigid often wore it in times of particular single-mindedness, as opposed to the general single-mindedness usually reflected in her silver eyes. Much alike, these two, she had remarked to herself over a year before and considered what a stubborn force they could be if they ever found common agreement. And then she wondered if the world really needed that kind of force. It might get it anyway. Though this was the first time she had seen that look when one of them talked about the other, she recognized the source of it.

"I wish we could look at that relic," she sighed.

Mikhal shuffled his feet. "Well, I haven't gotten very far with it, anway." He opened one of his leather bags and pulled out the orb.

"How did you...?"

"Very quietly. I reached Karl's door just after Brigid. Although they were all nowhere to be seen, this was sitting out and still cooling off (so to speak)."

"You sealed the reliquary."

"Ulric sealed it, actually. I only did as I was commanded."

"And you've had it all this time without saying anything?"

"Don't be angry with me, Jehenne. I haven't the faintest idea how this thing works and if it's powerful enough to steal away the Emperor's Hand along with their Emperor, I'd rather not put anyone else in danger of it."

Jehenne focused her attention on the orb.

"Hardly a flutter from it." Mikhal frowned down at it. "What were you trying to do?"

"Only a detection. It's old and has been around magic, but it is not magical itself."

"Well, that might explain why the Empress thought it harmless."

"Did she?"

Mikhal thought about that. "I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"First rule of court," Jehenne crossed her arms and gave him a stern look. "Never give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Women are romantic and volatile creatures. If she loves someone else, even an Emperor is a poor substitute."

She wondered what she could have said to cast such gloomy shadows over his face and quickly changed the subject.

"If this is not magical, how could it be, as you said, cooling down?"

"I don't know. You didn't notice anything unusual when you cast on it a minute ago?"

"Nothing. I might as well be looking for magic in an agate."

"It doesn't make you ... uneasy?"

"No. Should it?"

"It gives me the willies."

Jehenne held out her hand and Mikhal handed over the orb.

"Hugh and Muna have Errol's love of research. May I give it to them?"

Mikhal hesitated. The twins were barely of age and children do rash things. But he had used nearly all his self-control to keep the orb by him recently and if the mages felt nothing perhaps it was better in their hands. He nodded.

Jehenne called the apprentices and turned the orb over to them with clear instructions to study it and put it away with the other dangerous things when any spells might be cast. Hugh took it into another room and Muna followed closely at his heels.

Mikhal turned back to her as the door clicked shut. "Now what?"

"Discovering the trick of that relic may not be enough. The relic may not even be the key. We have to uncover what Jarod is doing."

"Taking the throne?"

"Obviously. But that's his goal. How much of this did he plan beforehand and how many allies does he have? That's the question."

Mikhal felt a little like a rooster wearing socks. "How many allies do we have?"

"That is what we work on first."

"It won't be easy. Jarod's giving them everything they want."

"No, Jarod is giving them what they need. Rather convenient for him that he happens to have it on hand."

Their eyes met. "It is, isn't it?"

"Mikhal, can you find anything about these brigands?"

"I'll do my best. It means leaving New Altdorf for a day or two."

"Do so, then. Perhaps you can also look for any word on a wanderer named Rokan. Errol knew him and thought... Thinks he might be able to help us."

"You'll be alright alone?"