«Ask,» the King of Kings said. «We are your sovereign; we are not obliged to answer.»

«I understand this, Majesty,» Abivard said, bowing. «What I would ask is why, if you were not dissatisfied—not too dissatisfied, perhaps I should say—with the way I carried out the campaign in the land of the Thousand Cities this past summer, did you recall me from my army to Mashiz?»

For a moment Sharbaraz did not look like a ruler who used the royal we as automatically as he breathed but like an ordinary man taken aback by a question he hadn't looked for. At last he said, «This course was urged upon us by those here at court, that we might examine the reasons behind your failure.»

«The chief reason is easy to see,» Abivard answered. «We saw it, you and I, when you sent me out against Maniakes last spring: Videssos has a fleet, and we have not. That gives the Avtokrator a great advantage in choosing when and where to strike and in how he can escape. Had we not already known as much, the year's campaign would have shown it.»

«Had we had a fleet—» Sharbaraz said longingly.

«Had we had a fleet, Majesty,» Abivard interrupted, «I think I should have laid Videssos the city at your feet. Had we had a fleet, I—or Mikhran marzban—could have chased Maniakes after he swooped down on Pityos. Had we had a fleet, he might never have made for Pityos, knowing our warships lay between Pityos and the capital. Had we had a fleet—»

«The folk of Makuran are not sailors, though,» Sharbaraz said—an obvious truth. «Getting them into a ship is as hard as getting the Videssians out of one, as you no doubt will know better than we.»

Abivard's nod was mournful. «Nor do the Videssians leave any ships behind for their fisherfolk to crew for us. They are not fools, the imperials, for they know we would use any ships and sailors against them. Could we but once get soldiers over the Cattle Crossing—» He broke off. He'd sung that song too many times to too many people.

«We have no ships. We are not sailors. Not even our command can make the men of Makuran into what they are not,» Sharbaraz said. Abivard dipped his head in agreement The King of Kings went on. «Somewhere we must find ships.» He spoke as if certain his will could conjure them up, all difficulties notwithstanding.

«Majesty, that would be excellent,» Abivard said. He'd been saying the same thing since the Makuraner armies had reached the coasts of the Videssian westlands. He'd been saying it loudly since the Makuraner armies had reached the Cattle Crossing, with Videssos the city so temptingly displayed what would have been an easy walk away… if men could walk on water, which they couldn't, save in ships. Wanting ships and having them, though, were two different things.

Thinking of ships seemed to make Sharbaraz think of water in other contexts, although he didn't suggest walking on it He said, «We wish you had not loosed the waters of the canals that cross the land of the Thousand Cities, for the damage the flooding did has reduced the tax revenues we shall be able to gather in this year.»

«I regret my failure,» Abivard said for the third time. But that wooden repetition of blame stuck in his craw, and he added, «Had I not arranged to open the canals, Maniakes Avtokrator might now be enjoying those extra tax revenues.»

Behind him one of the assembled courtiers, against all etiquette, laughed for a moment. In the deep, almost smothering quiet of the throne room that brief burst of mirth was all the more startling. Abivard would not have cared to be the man who had so forgotten himself. Everyone near him would know who he was, and Yeliif would soon learn—his job was to learn of such things, and Abivard had no doubt he was very good at it. When he did… Abivard had found out what being out of favor at court was like. He would not have recommended it to his friends.

Sharbaraz' expression was hooded, opaque. «Even if this be true, you should not say it,» he replied at last, and then fell silent again.

Abivard wondered how to take that nearly oracular pronouncement. Did the King of Kings mean he shouldn't publicly acknowledge Videssos' strength? Or did he mean he thought Maniakes would keep whatever Makuraner revenue he got his hands on? Or was he saying that it wasn't true, and even if it was, it wasn't? Abivard couldn't tell.

«I did what I thought best at the time,» he said. «I think it did help Maniakes decide he couldn't spend the winter between the Tutub and the Tib. We have till spring to prepare the land of the Thousand Cities against his return, which the God prevent.»

«So may it be,» Sharbaraz agreed. «My concern is, will he do the same thing twice running?»

«Always a good question, Majesty,» Abivard said. «Maniakes has a way of learning from his mistakes that many have said to be unusual.»

«So I have heard,» Sharbaraz said.

He said nothing about learning from his own mistakes. Was that because he was sure he learned or because he assumed he made no mistakes? Abivard suspected the latter, but some questions not even he had the nerve to put to the King of Kings.

He did press Sharbaraz a little, asking, «Majesty, will you grant me leave to return to the land of the Thousand Cities so I can go back to training the army I raised from the troops you had me gather together last year? I must say I am also anxious at being so far from them when one of my commanders does not enjoy my full confidence.»

«What?» Sharbaraz demanded. «Who is that?»

«Tzikas, Majesty—the Videssian,» Yeliif answered before Abivard could speak. «The one who helped alert you to unreliability before.» To Abivard's unreliability, he meant.

Sharbaraz said, «Ah, the Videssian. Yes, I remember now. No, he needs to remain in his place. He is one general who cannot plot against me.»

Abivard had had that same thought himself. «As you say, Majesty,» he replied. «I do not ask that he be removed. I want only to go and join him and make sure that the cavalry he leads is working well with the infantry from the city garrisons. And just as he keeps an eye on me, I want to keep an eye on him.»

«What you want is not my chiefest concern,» the King of Kings answered. «I think more of my safety and of the good of Makuran.»

In that order, Abivard noted. It wasn't anything he hadn't already understood. In a way, having Sharbaraz come right out and own up to it made things better rather than worse—no pretending now. Abivard said, «Letting the army go soft and its pieces grow apart from each other serves neither of those purposes, Majesty.»

Sharbaraz hadn't expected his army to amount to anything. The King of Kings had thrown him and the garrison soldiers at the Videssians in the way a man throws a handful of dirt on a fire when he has no water: in the hope it would do some good, knowing he'd lose little if it didn't. He hadn't expected them to turn into an army, and he hadn't expected the army to seem so important for the battles of the coming campaigning season.

What you expected, though, wasn't always what you got. With Videssian mastery of the sea, Maniakes was liable to land his armies anywhere when spring brought good weather. If he did strike again for the land of the Thousand Cities, that makeshift army Abivard had patched together would be the only force between the Videssians and Mashiz. At that, Sharbaraz would be better off than he had been, for he'd had no shield the year before.

When the King of Kings did not answer right away, Abivard grasped his dilemma. An army worth something as a shield was also worth something as a sword. Sharbaraz did not merely fear Maniakes and the Videssians; he also feared any army Abivard was able to make effective enough to confront the invaders. An army effective enough to do that could threaten Mashiz in its own right.

At last Sharbaraz King of Kings said, «I believe you have officers who know their business. If you did not, you could not have done what you did against the Videssians. They will hold your army together for you until spring comes and the general is needed in the field. So shall it be.»