Chapter 19: Tyrwick Visits the Dungeon

The guard at the south tower's lower entrance was a man named Besswick, and he had been, in his professional estimation, bribed by some of the most accomplished practitioners in the kingdom. Lords who pressed coin with the casual authority of men transferring ownership of their own property. Merchants who produced it in quantities calculated to make refusal feel like a financial crime. Ladies of quality who managed the transaction so thoroughly beneath the surface of polite conversation that Besswick was frequently uncertain, in retrospect, whether a bribe had technically occurred or merely a very warm exchange of seasonal regards.

Lord Tyrwick Lanneth pressed coin with the practised ease of a man who has long since concluded that the theoretical distinction between bribery and gratuity is a puzzle for philosophers, and that pragmatic men on both sides of the transaction are best served by declining to examine it too closely. He also, with the same hand and in the same motion, produced a letter bearing the Queen's household seal, which he presented with the mild interest of a man consulting a note he has almost but not quite forgotten the contents of.

"The First Counsellor's family," Tyrwick said, "are naturally anxious. Her Majesty has graciously indicated that a family representative may confirm Lord Stark's situation and convey her assurances of his comfortable treatment." He paused. "I am, in the relevant genealogical sense, connected to the family's interests."