Chapter 79: The Interrogation Cellar
"Bankrupt?" Konrad repeated, "He spent his entire treasury on a mercenary company... and they are sitting on our border?"
Isolde nodded gravely. "Yes. My shadow-walkers saw the encampments hidden deep in the Savoyard pine forests. Thousands of hardened sell-swords. Pikemen, heavy cavalry, and veteran halberdiers... they aren’t flying the Duke’s flags, but they are eating his grain."
It didn’t make any sense... Duke Charles of Savoy was notoriously cautious.
For him to empty his entire Duchy’s wealth on a massive, hidden army meant he was preparing for a definitive, all-or-nothing strike.
But why now? And why right on the Swabian border?
"Wait." Konrad muttered, his brow furrowing. "We only just decided to target Savoy for our casus belli seven days ago. We haven’t even leaked the fake Fugger silver route yet. If they have been massing for weeks, they were planning to attack us before I even looked at their border on the map."
"Unless..." Isolde started, her face suddenly losing a fraction of its usual arrogant confidence.
"Unless they knew," Konrad finished the sentence, his eyes narrowing into cold slits. "Is that mean there are spies inside this very keep?"
After hearing such words, Isolde crossed her arms defensively. "That is impossible, my internal counter-espionage is flawless. No one gets in or out of the lord’s wing without me knowing exactly what they had for breakfast."
"Then explain the math to me, Isolde." Konrad snapped, keeping his voice low. "If Savoy knew we were looking south, someone told them. But how? Only three people in the entire Holy Roman Empire knew about the casus belli plan. Me. You. And Elise."
"Elise doesn’t talk to anyone but her ledgers and her abacus," Isolde pointed out logically. "She hasn’t left the keep in months. And you certainly didn’t ride down to Savoy to announce your intentions. Which leaves me."
"Did you?" Konrad demanded, "Did you leak the plan to your spies?"
"..."
"I didn’t tell my shadow-walkers about the fake silver convoy... i only gave them strict orders to assess the Savoyard economy. The iron, the coal, the timber. Nothing more."
However, Konrad’s mind was already dissecting her statement.
Isolde was brilliant, yes, but she couldn’t be everywhere at once, especially while recovering from childbirth... she relied on a hierarchy.
"Who exactly did you give those scouting orders to?" Konrad asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous register. "You didn’t hobble down to the tavern yourself to brief the shadow-walkers. You relayed the order."
Isolde swallowed hard, "...I gave the operational orders to my spymaster in the lower town. The head of the southern network. He is the one who dispatched the scouts."
"And this spymaster," Konrad continued, "Is he a smart man?"
"He is the smartest whisperer I have," Isolde admitted reluctantly. "He knows how I think."
"Then he didn’t need you to explicitly tell him the plan," Konrad concluded, rubbing his aching temples. "If you suddenly order your chief spy to meticulously map out the raw resources of a peaceful neighbor, a smart man instantly deduces that his Viscount is preparing for an invasion. If he deduced that, and he has been bought by Savoy gold... he sold us out."
Even so, Konrad didn’t let the anger consume him.
He grabbed Isolde by the elbow, pulling her out of the shadows and marching her back toward the heavy doors of the keep. "I want this man. Do whatever you have to do to get him inside these walls without spooking him."
Isolde nodded, "If he is the mole, I will skin him alive myself. Nobody corrupts my network."
"Just get him here." Konrad said, pushing the doors open.
Three days passed in the keep... Konrad forced himself to maintain his usual calm routine.
He inspected the new batch of twelve-pounder cannons in the armory. He drank his black coffee. He watched the gunners happily eat their sugar-glazed barley bread.
He made sure the entire realm looked completely normal, just in case other spies were watching. But behind closed doors, he was quietly shifting his military assets.
He ordered Marshal Eckhard to double the night watches on the southern star-forts. He moved three additional artillery batteries to the timber line facing the Savoyard borders, hiding the bronze cannons beneath piles of cut pine branches.
If the Savoyard mercenary army decided to launch a preemptive strike, they were going to march directly into a meat grinder.
On the evening of the third day, Konrad was sitting at his large wooden desk, meticulously cleaning the internal gears of the brass clock he had built.
The door suddenly clicked open.
Konrad didn’t look up, carefully oiling a tiny brass cog. "I specifically asked not to be disturbed, Elise. The ledgers can wait until morning."
"It isn’t Elise, My Lord."
Isolde stood in the doorway. She was dressed in her finest dark silk, looking every bit the lethal, aristocratic spymaster she was born to be.
Flanking her were two of Konrad’s most elite, black-armored Reiters.
"He came," Isolde said simply.
Konrad stood up, pulling his leather doublet over his shoulders. He checked the firing mechanism on his saddle-pistol, making sure the powder pan was fully primed, before sliding it back into his belt.
"Where is he?" Konrad asked.
"Waiting in the lower interrogation cellar," Isolde replied, stepping aside to let him pass. "He thinks he is here to receive a massive bag of Fugger silver for a sabotage mission in Bavaria."
"Let’s go see what thirty years of loyalty is actually worth." Konrad muttered.
The walk down to the cellars was long and silent.
The von Frundsberg keep hadn’t used the torture cells in years but the iron chairs and chained hooks were still bolted to the floor.
Two more guards stood outside the door at the end of the hall. When they saw Konrad approach, they quickly unlocked the deadbolt and pulled the door open.
Konrad stepped inside the dim room.
Sitting in a chair was a surprisingly plain-looking man... he didn’t look like a master of shadows or a dangerous assassin.
He looked like an incredibly average, slightly balding merchant. He wore a simple wool tunic, and his hands rested calmly on his lap.
When the man saw Konrad enter, he immediately stood up and offered a respectful bow.
"Viscount von Frundsberg," the spymaster said, his voice polite. "It is the highest honor to finally be summoned to your private chambers. Lady Isolde tells me you have a task that requires my... unique set of skills."
Konrad slowly walked around the man, he looked at the man’s plain clothes, his unassuming posture, and the lack of fear in his eyes.
Isolde stepped into the room right behind Konrad, she quietly locked the door from the inside.
"You have served my family for a very long time, Master Heinrich," Isolde said softly.
"Thirty-two years, My Lady." Heinrich replied proudly, offering her a warm smile. "I bounced you on my knee when you were but a child."
