The Warden Threat

  ~*~

  Chief Adviser Barter dismissed the last of the various department heads from his study. They would carry out their instructions, and the diplomatic caravan the king had ordered would be ready and equipped on time.

  Barter felt displeased, not because the king made a decision without consulting with him, but because he did not anticipate he might do so. It surprised him. It was an uncomfortable and unfamiliar feeling. He planned for a diplomatic envoy to Kartok, but his timetable called for it some weeks from now. He needed to advance it. He had selected Snyde for the mission months ago and had already briefed him. The man gave him pause at times, but he exhibited a dispassionate intelligence not unlike his own. Barter felt confident his special ambassador could improvise in the event anything unforeseen developed.

  Young Prince Donald presented a completely unexpected complication. Barter had previously ignored him as a variable. Until today, he was not one. The boy seemed to be taking an unmanaged interest in Gotrox and the Warden now, though. An unfortunate and extremely unlikely series of coincidences had caused the young man to form opinions on the matter, and these might prompt him to try to interfere. This created another risk factor he would need to mitigate. What would be the best way to handle this?

  He searched his memory for what he knew of Donald. His personality, his beliefs, his fears, his ambitions, anything that might give him a clue as to how he could handle the young man to make sure he would not disrupt the plan Barter meticulously advanced over the last year. He found little. He intended Donald to have only a minor function—to satisfy the queen’s need to be maternal, which helped keep her occupied and therefore less likely to interfere in important matters or have too much unregulated influence over the king. Other than this, what was the boy like? He had seen him occasionally in the corridors over the years, but he seldom had paid him much attention. What could he recall about the young prince that might help? Ah, yes. The library, where the boy often sat and read whenever he seemed to have a chance. Donald read storybooks, those predictable adventure tales in which the hero always saves the day. Yes, this could do.