D’Ath shook her head. “The things one learns. Beyond that, I am fairly sure Mary was lying; but about what and how is harder to determine and, as per your instructions, my lady, I did not use rigorous methods. Much of her motivation appears to have been an effort to balance the books as she saw fit.”

“Spite is a luxury,” the Regent said thoughtfully. “Like sweets, one should control one’s indulgence for the sake of health.”

The Grand Constable nodded. “I wish that Alex Vinton had not died under interrogation. I suspect he is . . . was the key to our twined two conundrums. Is this a religious conversion or an opportunistic using of tools to hand, and did they seek the CUT or did the CUT seek them?”

“It might well have started as opportunism and segued into something else,” Sandra said. “That often happens; we wear a mask, and the mask becomes our face.”

The Grand Constable fell silent and relaxed against the wall.

The Regent tapped her foot thoughtfully. A waiting silence fell over the chilly room. Yseult shifted her balance minutely and felt Huon’s hand come to hold hers, hidden by the voluminous folds of her wool sideless surcoat.

“The problem,” the Regent said suddenly, “is, as the Grand Constable says, twofold. While we have nominal freedom of religion in the land of the Association . . . since the Protector’s War and the peace treaty . . . the Church is very much part of our identity and we tolerate the other religions not least because they remain inconspicuous and do not openly proselytize. What the CUT seems to have in mind here is invasion by conversion, followed by conversion after a successful invasion. It is possible. It has happened. Even if it fails of its main object, it is a formula for civil war, and that I will not tolerate.”

She looked at Huon and Yseult. “Religion is as real as rocks, as a political factor. And yet . . . there is the little matter of the blown special operation last month in Pendleton. All the reports I’ve received suggest something more than simple logistics and superiority of forces were in play.”

“Yes, my lady,” Tiphaine said; she’d been in command of the Protectorate’s contingent there. “And the Prophet Sethaz was personally present when the Dúnedain attacked the Bossman of Pendleton in his stronghold during that party. The reports indicate that the operation would have been completely successful except for his presence, and that he did some . . . quite remarkable things in his own person. We are still analyzing those aspects. I’d find them very difficult to believe except that Lord Alleyne Loring was the author of the report. And he’s extremely realistic, usually.”

The as opposed to his spouse, who refers to her enemies as orcs and may very well see them that way went unspoken.