Despite his friendship with St. Hilda’s, Woburn said grace in some different Christian fashion. Ian used the Catholic form, which would be convenient if things went well; after all, the Historian had been a Catholic, and a minority of Dúnedain were too. Ritva tried to imagine one of the more austere varieties of Protestant living as a Ranger, boggled instead and abandoned the effort. Instead she signed her plate, invoked the Valar, and fell to with a will. They’d been on trail food for quite a while, not pausing to hunt or caring to risk a fire; St. Hilda’s had been rather Spartan as well.

Nobody’s more than three days from being very hungry indeed, she thought. Which means no lord or ruler is more than three days from very bad trouble.

She took another chop; the fat at the edge was just as she liked it, slightly crisp.

Dad said that was something rulers should keep in mind, I was young but I do remember that. People get really cranky when they don’t have enough to eat.

At last Astrid leaned back in her chair, turning a glass of wine in her long-fingered hands. “You’re prepared to take the risk?” she said.

“I’m not taking a risk, I’m trying to avoid it,” Woburn said. “I’ve got two sons with the army. I want this damned war stopped before too many mothers’ sons die in it. And Martin Thurston . . . Yeah, I was angry with his father for taking land from us ranchers, but at least he had a real reason. Not just to keep his supporters happy. He’s not fit to rule.”

“No, he isn’t,” Hanks said. “He killed his father.”

A mirthless smile. “That’s why I’m in hiding. Eventually it got back to the National Police that I was one of the ones telling the truth. Sorry, spreading subversive slanders and libels.”

Alleyne leaned forward, his hunter’s face keenly interested: “How would you estimate the numbers who believe each version?”

“Hard to say. Nobody’s conducting public opinion polls these days.”

What— Ritva thought. Then: Oh, going around asking people what they think. I wonder how they did that without getting chopped up or shot?

Hanks went on: “Assuming I’m controlling my confirmation bias, in Boise city it’s maybe half and half. Outside it, patchy. But nobody’s talking about it much, either. There’s no proof either way and Martin still has a lot of supporters who aren’t shy about suppressing slanders, as they put it.”

The Dúnedain leaders looked at each other. “So it’s evenly balanced,” Astrid said. “The High King was right.”

“What is it exactly that you want to do?” Woburn asked.

“We want to rescue the captive and tell the world the truth,” Astrid said.

“Well,” Woburn drawled, “to do that you’ll have to pull the wool over their eyes first.”