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Kate Heasleroad glared at Abel Heuisink as he pushed his son?s wheelchair through the door. The conference room was large; the long oval of the mahogany table was enough for a score of seats, but it stretched beyond that to tall windows that showed the hilly streets of Dubuque and a glimpse of the Mississippi beyond that. A pot on a sideboard gave off the rich smell of real coffee, only slightly cut with chicory, and a tray of pastries rested beside it; the scent mingled with city smoke and the cut grass of the lawn outside. Nobody had bothered with the amenities yet. The former Bossman?s wife hadn?t even sat down, and her guards bristled behind her. ?You?re not taking what belongs to my son, Colonel!? she snapped.
The elder Heuisink shrugged.?I can?t take what you think belongs to your son, Kate,? he said.?You just fixed it that way, you and your friends.?
Rudi kept his face calm, but there was a grin behind it at the expression on the face of the Bossman?s widow. Then it turned shrewd; she stared at the spare seamed face of the older man, and she nodded slowly. The armed men behind her relaxed infinitesimally, sensing that it wouldn?t come to blades and blood on the parquet floor, not just yet. Some of the politicians did too, and others looked at each other in puzzlement. ?Thank him for pointing it out,? he went on, and nodded to Rudi. ?Though I like to think I?d have thought of it. But that might have taken too long, and a day?s a long time in politics. Especially politics conducted with sharp pointed things.? ?You?re serious,? she said.?But you?ve been an enemy of ours forever. Matti said you would be reasonable, but-? ?I was an opponent, not an enemy, but leave that aside. Iowa has an enemy now, and we can?t afford to fight among ourselves. I didn?t kill your husband, Kate. I tried as hard as I could to stop it. Hell, Jack here got himself busted up fighting for you, remember.?
The younger Heuisink nodded, then winced and touched his bandages; the splinted leg was outstretched on a support rigged to the pre-Change wheelchair. Kate looked at Mathilda, who stood cradling her bandaged arm and tight-strapped ribs. The very slight nod she got seemed to relax her a little further. ?That?s true, Colonel… Abel,? she said.?What do you have to propose?? ?A coalition, and you as…?
This time the elder Heuisink looked at Mathilda himself. ?Kate will be Regent until her son?s majority,? Mathilda Arminger said.?I?m familiar with arrangements like that. A Regency with you, Colonel Heuisink as… well, might as well call it Chancellor. And offices and hon ors divided between your factions… parties, you call them… according to a mutually satisfactory plan. Or equally unsatisfactory plan; there isn?t enough land and offices to satisfy all the claimants, and never will be. With a war coming, you?re going to need your unity.?
Young Tom Jr. murmured and turned in his mother?s arms. She stood and handed him to his nursemaid.?Take him away, A
Mellow evening light came through tall windows. He passed a cup of the coffee to Rudi; they were alone in the room now.
Rudi shrugged, sipping at it and nibbling a cookie rich with walnuts. Sitting in a room full of politicians and helping keep their mutual fears, hatreds and spiteful greeds from boiling over was work, just as sure as ski
Unfortunately it didn?t give you the honest weariness that real labor did. His stomach felt sour, and the muscles of his neck stiff and tense, in addition to the fading but still sharp pain of bruises and cuts. ?Not this year, I think,? he said.?It?s too close to winter.?
The Iowan landholder nodded; the season of mud was coming, and the blizzards after that. Iowa?s railroads and roads were vastly better than most, but that could do only so much for moving and supplying armies inside the Provisional Republic?s boundaries, and nothing outside them.
And besides which, the preparations to build an army will take time. But not an hour of my time here in Iowa and over the river has been wasted, mad though it drove me to stay when the Sword calls ahead. For now I?ve found allies here, and powerful ones with armies at their commands, bound to me by both honor and policy. When I return, those bonds will be iron chains for the curbing of Corwin and the Cutters.
The Mackenzie went on aloud: ?And Corwin?s domains are far away, though they may move local allies against you. But next year, almost certainly, in my judgment. Fortunately it?ll be a war against a foreign foe, not amongst yourselves, and Iowa is very strong.? ?Not as strong as you might think,? Heuisink said grimly.?Tom Heasleroad was always more concerned with a possible coup than he was with making the National Guard… the army… effective. The units are un derstrength and scattered, and a lot of the officers are more concerned with lining their pockets than anything else. Plus the National Guard Reserve-the farm militia-is a joke and a bad joke at that, on most of the Farms. Barely even police, much less soldiers.?
Rudi blinked.?That?s, ummm, less clever than I?d have expected, from the man?s reputation, which was that he was no fool, whatever else his failings. Ni neart go cur le cheile.?
At the older man?s puzzled look he rendered the Gaelic into English: ?No unity, no strength.? ?No, it was very clever indeed,? Abel Heuisink said.?From Tom?s point of view, if not the whole State?s. He was always most worried that someone would do to him what he and John Denson… and I, I was in on it too, let?s be honest… did to the Governor right after the Change. Killed him and took over, no point in weasling about it.?
Rudi looked at him.?But that was necessary, wasn?t it?? ?I thought so. Tom too, but he wanted to do it and I was reluctant. But do it once, and get away with it, and there?s always the chance someone else will give it a try. For reasons they think are good. Possibly just a little worse than the ones you had. And after that another, and another, until it?s just for whatever they can grab, for no better reason than they think they?ve got a tougher bunch of thugs. We did what we had to do, but we broke things doing it. Broke barriers.?
Rudi nodded.?And that?s another reason you should keep your promise to Kate… to the Regent,? he said.?Not that I doubt your honor, Colonel. But for the good of your land, too. Iowa is strong.. . if it can learn to use that strength, the which requires years of good lordship. And while I wouldn?t wish a war for the purpose, still fighting one together against outsiders who deserve it can be a powerful bond.?
Heuisink looked a little surprised, and the Mackenzie went on: ?Men will bow to a naked sword; but that makes your back feel very naked too, and everyone has to sleep sometime. They need a story as well, a story that tells them the ruler has a right to rule, and tells the ruler how to rule: by right, and not by whim.? ?Well, Tony certainly didn?t know that one.? ?No, he didn?t… and you?ll notice that he?s become somewhat dead the now. Such a tale is no fancy; it?s as needful as air if men are to live together as men, not like crabs in a bucket devouring each other. The which is not a good thing! You may not like the House of Heasleroad, sir, but here they are. They did bring Iowa through the Change. And this Heasleroad heir is very young indeed, and need have no feud with you, you and yours being guiltless of his father?s death. If you?re Chancellor, and his mother the Regent is your friend, you?ll have a hand in the shaping of him. And of this land.?
The pouched blue eyes were shrewd as they regarded him.?You?re young but no young fool, are you, Mr. Mackenzie??
Rudi gri