Wren's little outburst killed the meeting. I was able to heal her hand and then I cast a cleaning spell to disappear all the blood. The queen then invited Wren to sit to have her portrait done. I believe this was an excuse to talk with Wren in private. Magrat went with them. I was invited by Generalissimo Gargle to look at more detailed maps down in his office.

I had a pleasant afternoon with the hobgoblin. Not only did I see a wonderful array of maps and pictorial renderings of the local topography and villages. He also had a squad of hobgoblins demonstrate the seven-hobgoblin shield-and-lance formation that made a turtle of shields over the person it was protecting. I did point out that three of the elves were too tall to be protected by just seven shields.

The Generalissimo paid attention to what I said and sent a flurry of orders off to the waiting armed escort waiting at the outer wall. Then he asked if I might be too big to cover with seven hobgoblins. I agreed with him and then showed him my invisibility spell. He had a good laugh over that and then pointed out that I couldn't vanish if I was unconscious. He had a point so I got to do some live practice on being covered by hobgoblin shields. It took ten shields because I can't curl up as tightly as a two-footed. My back is too long with respect to the length of my paws.

The hobgoblins, by the way, all wanted to pet and scratch me. I let them, though it was such a burden to get that much wonderful scratching, especially under the chin.

After that, it was time to go home to Magrat's place. The queen invited herself over for dinner. She came in her own transport. A second vehicle followed hers with eight waiting staff from the palace. They brought dinner plus a lovely haunch of fresh venison for me.

"So," the Queen began speaking as the two-footeds started dessert, "the transcript my staff provided me from the Bishop's quarters indicates that he's up to no good. He directed one of his three staff to do away with one or more of your party. He told them to implicate my sister in your demise. If Wren had not already given the man his walking papers home, this would have done it for me. We don't need this human malefactor in Gorgurak."

"What are you going to do?" Cloud Eye was immediately concerned, and rightly so. This did constitute grounds for our party to pick up and go home.

"Well, I propose that my staff take you out through the under passage built into this house to one of our safe houses. As a warranty for your safety, I will go with you and will stay with you tonight, along with Magrat and Gragoy. The waiting staff that I brought with me are all trained agents. They will sleep in your spots in this house tonight along with other agents who have already secreted themselves throughout and around the house. If we can lay hold of one of the Bishop's men, I will have grounds to expel him from Gorgurak with an invitation to never cross our borders ever again." She smiled so sweetly.

"It raises the possibility that the Prince and the Duke are also aware of the Bishop's activities. None of my intelligence networks have uncovered anything in their surveillance of those two. The Bishop's men joined the troop after the Bishop invited himself to accompany the hunting party. If we didn't have a wyvern problem, I would send them all home right now."

"How do you know so much?" Cat gave the queen a measuring gaze.

"We do not trust the regent of Nordweg," Queen Margo sighed. "You should know since you are more familiar with her character than most. When she took power, we worked to place assets in Tammerhof and elsewhere to monitor her activities. We wanted plenty of warning, in case she planned any mischief toward Gorgurak. When your father was well, we did not worry so much since he proved to be an honest dealer who kept his agreements with us."

"Despite polite fiction to the contrary, I am not an elf," Cat's had a deadpan on his face, and his tone was perfectly neutral. "How do you know you can even trust me since I am human?"

Margo and Magrat both laughed. Queen Margo shook her head and smiled, "I know you are trustworthy, young elf not born an elf. If you had proven deceitful, in any way, you would not be alive today. Storm Eagle would have quietly seen to your death. The elves are very intolerant of that sort of thing.

"Elven intolerance of bad character was amply demonstrated by Wren this afternoon when she threw the Bishop's animosity back in his face. It is one of the elves' best and worst traits, and it is why the humans consider elves to be tactless, stuck up, and maladroit at diplomacy."

"Huh," Cat was thoughtful. "I never gave it much thought. I found the honesty and the plain speaking of the elves a marvel and embraced it without looking back. I often wondered why my race couldn't be more like elves. Living with elves was such a relief compared to what I endured after my sister died."

One lonely tear made its way down his face. He wiped it away and withdrew into himself. He was always sad when reminded of her.

"I am interested in whether you plan to remove your brother and claim your position as Crown Prince?" Magrat inquired. "He is here right now, and you can kill him with a spell."

"I am not interested in doing that," Cat replied. "My problem is not Willam. My problem is his mother, who just happens to hold the reins of government. My stepmother would label me as an imposter, and I would not live out the year. My stepmother would then place my little sister on the throne. Assassinating Willam is a death sentence."

Cat rider stared at the flood, "Besides, this is moot because I have no desire to be King. I will step in only if Willam is unworthy to rule."

"Do you not want revenge?" Magrat studied Cat Rider.

"To what end? To satisfy my personal desire? That's selfish. To remove Griselda as Regent? That is tempting but still selfish.

"Would it not be better for the kingdom to remove its corrupt regent?"

"That's a nasty question, Lady Magrat, because it assumes I care about the fate of Nordweg. I do not. I feel no loyalty to the place. My only tie is my father, and he is likely dead.

Someone running came up the stairs. The hobgoblin soldier saluted and gave a message to the queen.

"Oh my," Queen Margo raised one dark green eyebrow, "this is interesting. Three of the Bishop's agents from Willam's troop are in the tunnels right now. This is much earlier than we expected. Now we can't use the tunnel for this row for houses to leave. Suggestions, anyone?"