Chapter 55. Malicious Compliance, Now with a Sponsor and a Giant Sword

Chapter 55: 55. Malicious Compliance, Now with a Sponsor and a Giant Sword

We all turned. Eveline had put her hand up, like a student in a classroom.

She lowered it a little when everyone looked at her, then raised it again... out of sheer panic.

"The northeastern road," she said. "That’s the one!"

"That’s the exact road I saw the convoy on! The one with no banners, and yes...! The one at Greywater."

Sharon grunted. "Then somebody... wants us on that road."

"They didn’t just pick a route," I said. "They picked THE route."

"The same one their shipments use... Whatever is waiting at Greywater, they’re not worried about us finding it, because they expect us to be dead or captured when we do."

"Or that we’ll be... too far away to matter," said Laura.

She was silent for a moment, and I saw her face change, the way a woman’s face changes when a memory slips into the right place.

"The knight at the gate," she said. "The one in black armor, who spoke to the guard..."

"I asked the guard about him afterward... when we were waiting for the second officer to bring the warrant."

"He wasn’t very coherent, but he gave me the name that the man had used. " She turned to Hallis. "Knight-Lieutenant Dray Corvane."

Hallis was already reaching for a thick ledger on the shelf behind him. He flipped through it with a trained thumb, running down the lines, and then went through it a second time... more slowly.

"No Corvane," he said at last. "Not in any regiment, not in any rank, and not in any roster in the last thirty years."

"Which is what we expected."

"I know... I wanted to hear it said out loud."

"So the man who threatened our witness at the gate," said Alicia, "is the same man who knows our escort route before we’ve even agreed to it."

"Which means," I finished, "that we’re not going to be surprised on the road."

"We’re going to be expected."

I looked around at all their faces, tired and tense under the lamps, and I thought about how strange it was to be sitting in a room full of people who had all independently decided to trust me.

A few days ago, I’d have been the one who needed convincing... But now... I seemed to be the one with the plan.

I don’t know whether that should have scared me more than it did.

"I’m going to say something that sounds like a terrible idea," I said, "and I want you to hear me out before anyone starts shouting."

Sharon grinned. "That’s my favorite way to begin a plan!"

"We obey the order."

The grin vanished. "Excuse me..."

"We obey it exactly! To the letter, to the comma, and to the very last syllable on that pale gray page. "I leaned forward. "Garrick goes to the capital, in a wagon, with an escort."

"The escort includes Roland Ravenshield and Alicia Ainzfield, just like it says... We go by the northeastern road and cross at Greywater Ford, just like it says as well."

"We don’t skip a single instruction."

"That’s... the opposite of a plan," said Laura.

"It is, if you only read the part that’s written..." I nodded. "But think about what isn’t written!"

"Does it say we can’t bring other people along? Does it say we can’t keep our eyes open? Or... Does it say we can’t prepare for an ambush before anybody springs one?"

Alicia’s mouth began to curve. It was a slow, calm, wicked smile, the sort she wore when she’d spotted a loophole in a game and was already counting the spoils.

"It doesn’t," she said. "Not a word about it."

"If they want a nice obedient little escort, we’ll give them one, alright." I crossed my arms. "We’ll be the most obedient escort in the history of the kingdom!"

"I’ll put it in the report," said Alicia sweetly. "The escort was exemplary!"

Hallis was rubbing his mustache, and I saw the first real spark of interest in his tired eyes. "Go on."

"We’ll need more than two knights."

"Laura... you have that royal investigation writ, right? The one you used on the officer at the gate?"

Laura blinked. "It’s still valid, yes... It names me as the official examiner in the case of the crystal thefts."

"And a prisoner who is a witness in that case would normally be accompanied by an examiner... The writ gives you the right to travel with him."

"As long as the Council doesn’t cancel it."

"They can’t," said Hallis, who had already reached for another book.

He flipped it open, ran a finger down a column, and read aloud. "A royal investigation writ may be revoked only by a hearing before a panel of at least three senior officers, with notice served in person."

"Yes, see... It hasn’t been revoked."

"They’d have to do it publicly, and they’ve been careful so far not to do anything public."

"Then you’re coming," I told Laura.

"Well, obviously." She said it as though it were the weather. "I was going to follow you anyway."

"I know... I’m just making it legal."

"I appreciate that."

"Next, Sharon."

She raised an eyebrow. "Me? I don’t have a writ!"

"No, but you have a very large sword and a very loud voice!" I smiled. "Is there any way for you to come along without getting flagged?"

For a second, she looked blank. Then she began to smile, in a slow, crocodile way that made the hair on my neck stand up.

"Sponsor’s Accompaniment," she said.

"Uhh... Sponsor’s what now?"

"It’s an old Order custom! It’s nearly dead."

"A knight’s sponsor is allowed to accompany them on their first official assignment outside the city, as a gesture of confidence and a kind of living guarantee."

"It was meant to keep nervous new knights from embarrassing the Order."

"Nobody’s invoked it in about forty years." She tapped her chest. "I sponsored you and Alicia, and so this is your first mission outside Elarion."

"I can claim it."

"Can the Council refuse, though?"

"They can try... But the minute they do, they’re breaking a tradition that every senior knight in the kingdom can quote from memory."

"It would look terrible! And they’ve been trying so hard to look respectable!" She barked a laugh. "I’ll be the ceremonial escort commander!"

"And you know what that means... don’t you?"

"What?"

"I stand at the back and look terrifying!"

"That seems... well... within your range."

"It’s practically my whole personality!"

Alicia was writing something on a scrap of paper, and I realized she was already drawing up a formation. Her pen moved in quick, neat strokes, and every few seconds she crossed out a name and wrote another.

She’d found her element.

"And what about me?" said Eveline.

"You’re coming with Sharon," I said. "You’re the only person who’s actually seen their convoy and their seal, and you saw both with your own eyes."

"You’ll be Sharon’s aide, and also an official witness."

"If anyone asks... you’re recording the details of the mission."

"I am?" said Eveline.

"You are," said Sharon, in a tone that suggested this had been decided long ago, in some secret council of senior instructors. "I’ve been planning it for months! It’s a surprise."

"Oh wow! I’m very surprised."

"You should be."

Hallis set his pen on the blotter and folded his hands.

"I’ll stay here," he said. "Somebody has to keep an eye on the walls and the barrier, and I won’t leave Martin alone."

"He’s the last person in the kingdom who can testify to the original shipments, and I’d like him to keep breathing." He paused. "I’ll also take every original document we have."

"The manifests, the ledger, and the shipping order... all of it! Nothing leaves Elarion in your packs."

"If you’re robbed on the road, they’ll have nothing to burn."

"That’s smart," said Laura.

"It’s cowardly... But it’s practical." He reached into the drawer again and drew out something small and wooden, wrapped in a strip of cloth.

He unrolled the cloth and laid it on the table.

It was a tally stick, about as long as my hand, with a row of notches cut along one edge. Somebody had split it right down the middle, lengthwise, so that each half had a ragged inner face, and he had given us one half.

"There’s a man at the Greywater depot," Hallis said. "A storekeeper named Bram."

"He’s been there for thirty years, and I’d trust him with my own daughter, if I had one..."

"He has the other half of this... If you ever need help, a place to hide, or an honest answer, show him the stick."

"The two halves will fit together, and he’ll know you’re mine." He passed it to Alicia, along with a sealed letter. "That’s an introduction... Don’t lose it."

"I’ll keep it on me," said Alicia.

"Keep it somewhere clever! The barrier is flickering again, a little, and I’d like you all back as fast as you can manage."

"Don’t let the road turn into a vacation!"

"I’ll try to be efficient about being ambushed," I said.

"I’d appreciate that."