A Mighty Fortress Read Online Free PDF

matter. Except for Siddarmark, of course.”
    It was Green Valley’s turn to snort. The Republic of Siddarmark’s army was widely acknowledged—with good reason—as the most effective armed force in Safehold’s history. On land, at least. Siddarmark’s navy was virtually non ex is tent, and the Royal Charisian Navy had reigned supreme upon Safehold’s seas even before Merlin Athrawes’ arrival in Tellesberg. Anyplace a Siddarmarkian pike phalanx could find a place to stand, though, it reigned supreme. Which explained the Republic’s successful, sustained expansion southward towards the Desnairian Empire over the past hundred and fifty Safeholdian years or so. That expansion had been halted only when the Knights of the Temple Lands guaranteed the frontiers of the Grand Duchy of Silkiah, in the Treaty of Silk Town, in 869.
    Silkiah was at least nominally in de pen dent, although its grand duke paid a substantial yearly tribute to Desnair. He also paid one to the Knights of the Temple Lands every year, although that one was called a “tithe” and, until very recently, had been paid by every Safeholdian ruler. Not officially to the “Knights of the Temple Lands,” of course, but that was only because the Knights of the Temple Lands all just happened to be members of the Church of God Awaiting’s Council of Vicars, as well. Their dual role as both secular and temporal rulers gave them a significant unfair advantage, yet it imposed certain disadvantages, as well. Especially now. The Knights of the Temple Lands had been nervous for a long, long time about that magnificent Siddarmarkian Army just on the other side of their shared frontier, and over the years, they’d used their power as princes of the Church to help discourage any adventurism on the part of a succession of the Republic’s lords protector. The Treaty of Silk Town might be the most flagrant example of their intervention, but it was scarcely the only one. That hadn’t exactly helped the Church’s relations with the Republic, although it had scarcely seemed likely to provoke an open breach, what ever some of the vicars might have thought, given the Church’s unassailable supremacy.
    But now . . . now that the Church’s supremacy had been assailed, all of the anxieties which had been entertained by de cades of Church chancellors had just acquired an entirely new point. There was no real evidence of any general movement of Siddarmarkians to embrace the Church of Charis, yet that didn’t keep the Group of Four—the quartet of powerful vicars who truly ruled the Church—from worrying about what might yet happen.
    I wish it would happen, Merlin thought more than a bit wistfully, but however much Stohnar resents the Church—or the Group of Four, at least—he’s not about to climb out on a limb with Charis. I don’t think it’s because he disagrees with Charis’ accusations of Church corruption or because he has any illusions about the “sanctity” of the Group of Four and their motivations. But he’s pragmatic as hell, and as well aware of the balance of power as anyone. In fact, he’s better aware of it than almost anyone else. Besides, from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t think any move to break with the Church would find general support in Siddarmark. And, for the moment at least, it looks like he’s right about that .
    “The thing that impresses me most about the Chisholmians, to be honest,” the seijin continued out loud, “is how readily and smoothly they seem to be adapting to the new tactics.”
    He raised one eyebrow at Green Valley, inviting comment, and the baron nodded.
    “You’re right about that,” he agreed. “It seems to me that their officers are grasping the reasons behind the new tactics even faster than our troops did. And they’re not just going through the motions in order to keep Their Majesties happy. For that matter, they’re not even just duplicating what we’ve got to teach them, either. Instead, they’re