"Excellent," Herndon said.
Oversk remarked, "You saw the Secretary of State, I suppose. Not Krellig himself."
"Naturally. Would Krellig let someone like me into his presence?"
Herndon's ears rose at the mention of his enemy's name. He said, "What's this about the Seigneur?"
"A little deal," Benjin chortled. "I've been doing some very delicate negotiating while you were away. And I signed the contract today."
"What contract?" Herndon demanded.
"We have a royal patron now, it seems. The Seigneur Krellig has gone into the starstone business himself. Not in competition with us, though. He's bought a controlling interest in us."
Herndon felt as if his vital organs had been transmuted to lead. In a congealed voice he said, "And what are the terms of this agreement?"
"Simple. Krellig realized the starstone trade, though illegal, was unstoppable. Rather than alter the legislation and legalize the trade, which would be morally undesirable and which would also tend to lower the price of the gems, he asked the Lord Moaris to place him in contact with some group of smugglers who would work for the Crown. Moaris, naturally, suggested his brother. Oversk preferred to let me handle the negotiations, and for the past month I've been meeting secretly with Krellig's Secretary of State to work out a deal."
"The terms of which are?"