Chapter 15: The Prisoners' Dilemma

Paene shifted in his seat, trying to maintain a straight posture. He was not overly comfortable with the meeting that the Sunset Knight's counselor had proposed. He was concerned as to how Lito Laeth had even discovered Kopak Arthem in the first place. He was worried that the Sunset Knight had some trick that she was yet to reveal.

When the counselor had said that she, herself, would be Laeth's representative, that had dropped his suspicions somewhat. Unfortunately, Crick had started to come up with schemes and plans involving the counselor-- he wanted to capture her before or after the meeting, and hold her as a prisoner, probably torture her, and so on. Paene had put a stop to that as soon as he could.

If all went well in the next week, Crick Hasting would be ruling the city of Caeledonia and, by extension, the island. The weeks after that would be critical to keeping control of the populace. If word got out that the Carpenter had captured and tortured an innocent third party, especially a priestess, who was offering to meet in good faith...

No, Paene Umber had decided that anything other than an honest treat was a terrible, horrible idea. And because he couldn't really trust anyone else to act with honor, he had volunteered.

The meeting had an odd sort of symmetry to it, Paene had decided. Lito and Crick had been waging a silent war against each other for some time-- this meeting would be a treat of seconds. The counselor was sworn by holy vows to be impartial-- and Paene was a man of honor. It would be a bloodless and informative meeting for all.

The door opened, and the counselor walked in, flanked by two guards. Paene wasn't surprised or worried. He had his own guards just outside the door. It was a terribly unsubtle move on her part, and betrayed her fear and uncertainty in the meeting.

Paene motioned towards the stone chair opposite him. The counselor dismissed the guards, who went to stalk in the corners of the room.

“Good morning,” Paene said.

“Good morning yourself,” the woman said. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and continued. “We appreciate you meeting on such short notice.”

“It was my pleasure,” Paene said. This woman was being damned polite about the bloodthirsty conflict behind their two sides. The least that Paene could do was play along. “I am honored to converse with someone so esteemed and lovely.”

“I'll cut to the meat right away,” she said.

“Please don't,” Paene said. He stood up, and offered his hand. “I'm Parish.”

“Is that your real name?” The woman arched an eyebrow.

“It's what my friends call me,” Paene said.

She laughed at this, without warmth or humor. “I am no secret. I am Elaene Alkalae, counselor to Lito Laeth, the Sunset Knight. I have no stake in this conflict, except the welfare and safety of the general populace.”

“There, we agree,” Paene said. Elaene took his hand, and gave it a brief shake. They sat down a moment later. Paene motioned that she continue.

“We received a package from Ard-Abthen down the waterfall,” she said. “With some disturbing news. The prisoners have broken out.” Her eyes narrowed, looking at him intently.

“Words cannot express how truly sorry I am to hear that,” Paene said. He tried to keep an impassive face-- in truth, this news disturbed him too. Paene and Crick hadn't heard anything from the normal channels about progress at the Drain-- he knew that messages travel faster down the river than up, but he was nervous that they had the information at all. He needed to let Crick know, they needed to start preparing quickly.

He thought quickly, as Elaene talked about the danger to the towns in the Island Below. He was well aware of the danger.

Ard-Abthen must have known once the fresh water had stopped from the Screw. They would have sent down a team to confirm... but by the time a group could get down the mountain and back, word should have been able to get to Invercard and Caeledonia, especially with dedicated couriers. So either the Elders were assuming the worst and firing off messages preemptively, or there was something else at work here.

“Neither of us wish to see the island torn apart by these madmen,” Elaene said. “You spoke earlier on of having the people's best wishes at heart. I hope you truly mean that.”

“I do,” Paene said. He didn't say anything else. At this point, he still wasn't quite sure what Elaene's game was, and he didn't want to give her any cues.

“It's like this,” Elaene said. “We could send down an army, which could hold Invercard with certainty. But if we do that, Lito is afraid that you and the Carpenter will rise up and take the city.”

Paene did not nod. “I understand,” he said. It made sense-- that was what they were planning on doing, after all.

“If we don't send down an army, the Island Below will probably burn, unless the farmers are hardier than we think. But based on the events of the farmers' uprising... the Sunset Knight doesn't believe that is likely. The Island will burn, but we will not yield the city to you.”

Paene continued to sit still, but the blood was chilling in his veins. Elaene was elegantly describing the precise gambit that the Carpenter had planned-- was this simply a very, very good guess? Was there a spy the Carpenter didn't know about? If it was the latter, Paene was willing to bet a lot of his possessions that it was Dane Wrickon. He made a mental note to warn Crick and have him handle Dane as soon as this meeting was over. Or was one of his men captured? He tried to recall who he had not contacted recently.

“I wish you would say something,” Elaene said-- almost petulantly.

“What would you like me to say?” Paene said. “I cannot threaten you, given your stature. I'm not even sure I can treat with you in the first place-- do you have the authority to make agreements for the Sunset Knight? All I promised was that I would listen to what you have to say, and possibly take action as a result.”

“I can make promises on her behalf. And we would like you to help,” Elaene said. “We cannot hold Invercard without emptying most of our guard, and we cannot do that without losing the city. But if we both agreed to send some troops down, together we could hold the valley, and keep the status quo in the city.”

“Do you think our-- sorry, the Sunset Knight's and my-- soldiers would work well together? I suspect not.”

“If they knew what was at stake, we hope that they would,” Elaene said.

Paene raised a hand to quiet her. “Let me see if I can understand what you are proposing. You know that you cannot, without our assistance, both hold this city and Invercard. And because you do not trust us to not revolt in an empty city, you cannot simply send your men down the river. Your solution is to have us assist you in the defense.”

“If you hope to rule, you can surely see the benefit,” Elaene said. “You assist in the protection of the Island in its desperate hour. The people will appreciate that, if you rule them in the future. We priests and priestesses will appreciate that.”

Paene was not swayed. “And if we refuse?”

Elaene didn't answer at once. “I am a not a part of this conflict,” she said, which Paene was having more and more trouble believing. “So let me try to summarize this from both your positions.”

“If you both decide to send troops down, you both win, to an extent. The Island is not torched, her people aren't slain. You won't have this golden chance to take the city-- but then again, the prisoners breaking out is coincidental to your original plans. Surely you will continue with your original plans, and then we will see who is stronger and better prepared.”

Paene marked that as a questionable assertion on Elaene's part-- she and the Sunset Knight knew this much, they may have figured out that the Carpenter had planned the break out too.

“If the Sunset Knight sends all her troops down and you stay, you win it all. The Island is not torched, you take over the city. You can imagine that Lito would prefer that this not happen. If the Sunset Knight sends down some of her troops... everyone loses. It is unlikely that Invercard will hold, and it is unlikely that you will take over the city. And then the prisoners murder their way up the Rush.”

“We cannot assume that you will send down more troops than us, so I will not consider those potentialities. So this is where we stand.”

Paene cocked his head slightly to one side. “So if we refuse to send anyone, what will the Sunset Knight do? Does she value her own regime so much over the fate of Olean?”

“We could, and do, ask you the same thing,” Elaene said. “Are you so determined to overthrow the King Enclosed that you will let Olean burn?”

Paene considered this. Crick had counted on the Sunset Knight sending down at least some of her forces in an attempt to hold the prisoners in the mountain valleys.

Would Crick care about this? Probably not. Crick was growing more and more desirous for control of the island, he would let the rest of the Island burn.

Suddenly Paene was very glad that he was presiding over this treat, and not Crick Hasting.

“Why would we send anyone?” Paene said, slowly. “Are you making this same offer to the bakers of Cael Proper?”

“They, um, don't have an army?” Elaene said.

“You presume we do,” Paene said. “You presume we have both the manpower and the infrastructure to aid you in this.”

“You do,” Elaene said. “Help us-- help the Island. Hundreds of people will die if you don't.”

Paene considered this. “Tell me, Elaene,” he said. “What is the King Enclosed's job? What are kings for?”

Elaene narrowed her eyes.

“Answer the question, counselor. As a neutral party. What are kings for?”

“To protect the people,” Elaene said.

“Yes,” Paene said. “And the King Enclosed goes a step further-- he tries, in his own oppressive and ineffective way, to make his people happy. Tell me-- what kind of a king would Altor Caeton be if he did nothing to protect his people in their time of need?”

Elaene did not reply.

“You see, Elaene, the King Enclosed-- and he alone-- has the moral obligation to defend Invercard. We do not, and will not.”

He stood up. “I appreciate your impartiality in this. Perhaps, as the neutral third party, you can treat for the Sunset Knight again. Please do deliver our message back: we regret that we cannot assist in the defense of Invercard, but we will pray for the success of your troops and for the safety of the Island.”

Elaene stood up too. “Thank you, Parish.” She cleared her throat. “Guards,” she said. “Take this man into custody and bring him back to the cells. The Sunset Knight will want him for questioning.”

Paene Umber knocked his chair back, and yelled for his guards. Too slow, too slow-- Elaene's men had already had their swords drawn and were ready for his men the instant they rushed in the room. They had the initiative-- damn, damn, damn.

It was over in a matter of minutes. His two men were dead on the floor, their blood pooling onto the dirt floor. One of Elaene's guards was clutching his side, but both were standing.

As they led him away, Elaene had a wild and nervous look about her, and would not meet his eyes. Paene snarled, and allowed himself to be roughly led away by the neutral, fair-minded, and impartial third party.

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