I was allowed to stay in the sitting room after breakfast, and thus to hear much of Murtagh’s concerns and his business in Bernatha. Principally, his purpose seemed to be to prevent Glimmering’s clumsy intrigues from making matters in Caloxa worse than they already were. Glimmering— and his supporters in Corambis— wanted to make Bernatha the seat of Caloxan government; thus he had moved his headquarters here, brought cows, attempted to form an alliance with Clara Hume. Because of the rather peculiar laws pertaining to the Corambin army, Glimmering, as the conquering general, maintained considerable autonomy until the civil government was restored, thus Murtagh could not order Glimmering to move his headquarters to Wildar, nor could he compel him to do any number of other things, including releasing Gerrard’s body for burial. And he could not countermand Glimmering’s standing order that all matters pertaining to the Insurgence were to be dealt with in Bernatha.
