Free Valdemar 06 - [Exile 01] - Exile’s Honor by Mercedes Lackey

and isn’t going to be influenced by her, you’re very much mistaken.:
    :You have a point. And I’m sure the thought has crossed her father’s mind as well,: he admitted.
    He sensed Taver’s amusement. :There you have it. If you take that line with the Council, it will be clear that Sendar believes Selenay can handle the responsibility.:
    :True. . . . : That would be all to the good.
    :And if you point out it was her idea, it gives her more validity in her own right.:
    :Also true.: He was glad that Sendar was seeing to it that Selenay was brought along as the Heir-in-fact as well as the Heir-in-name, but it meant a lot of work. Still, better a lot of work now than trying to bring her up to the job later, in a crisis. Because kings, even the kings of Valdemar, were mortal, and no matter what the circumstances, King Sendar’s death would precipitate a crisis.
    â€œNow, is there any sign of a repercussion down there along the Karse Border from this incident?” Sendar asked, and Talamir gladly turned the subject to the simpler one of espionage reports and troop movements. Well, relatively simpler.
    â€œAt the moment, the best guess is that the incident has been completely suppressed,” Talamir replied. “There are no reports, not even rumors, from what our informants can tell us. We don’t even really know which little village Kantor won him out of, they’re keeping it so quiet. We think it’s Sunsdale, because that’s the only one that recently beat off bandits, but there’s no word of anyone escaping the Fires from there.”
    â€œIt must be an acute embarrassment to them,” Sendar speculated. “Good. Let’s hope it stays that way. I would rather they didn’t have any more excuses to prod at us down there.”
    â€œYou have a talent for understatement, Majesty,” Talamir replied, rubbing his brow absently with one knuckle. “‘Prod’ is not precisely how I would put it. But the mission you sent me on in the first place is a complete success; Joyeaus has got a Border-watch based on the old fire-watchtowers everywhere along the Border except on Holderkin lands—and there’s enough overlap that nothing larger than a bandit troop is going to slip past, even there.”
    â€œThen the damned, stiff-necked Holderkin can fight off their own bandits,” Sendar growled, “And may they wallow in their pride until they choke on it!”
    Her father’s outburst caught Selenay by surprise, and she directed a look of shock at Talamir. Talamir just raised his eyebrows in a silent signal that promised I’ll tell you later. She nodded very slightly.
    â€œJoyeaus promised that she can have word to Haven of real troop movements within half a day at the worst,” he continued. “It isn’t just on our side of the Border that those old watchtowers exist. We can see theirs, and they can see ours, and there has been unofficial cooperation among the foresters for generations about alerting each other to forest fires.”
    Sendar snorted. “Fire doesn’t stop at the Border no matter how many guards you post.”
    Talamir nodded. “The point is, of course, that we can see their watchtowers, and now ours will be manned in or out of fire season. And we’ve got one more safeguard in place. If one of our informants has a message too urgent to be sent by hand and he can get to one of the fire towers, he’ll light a fire beacon or flash a mirror—on their side. Not a big one, or for long, but it will be a signal. That will warn the local highborn that something is coming, and from what direction, which means we’ll have even earlier warning, if not the specifics.”
    â€œRemind me to find some appropriate way to thank my idiot South-Border highborn for having the sense to cooperate with each other for a change,” Sendar growled, though to Talamir’s ears, the “growl”