Elder Isles 2: The Green Pearl by Jack Vance

His spies are everywhere; they would know my clever plots before I know them myself!”
    Dhrun made a sound of outrage. “Can we not identify the spies and drown them all in the Lir?”
    “Nothing is ever simple. Naturally, I want to identify them, but thereafter I prefer to make their life easy and befuddle them with false information. If I drowned them all, Casmir would merely send over a group of strangers. So I make do with the lot I have and try not to cause them anxiety.”
    “This ‘befuddling’ seems a clever plot in itself,” said Glyneth. “Is it effective?”
    “I will know better after I identify the spies.”
    Glyneth asked: “Certainly our own spies keep watch on Casmir?”
    “Not as carefully as he watches us. Still, we are not utterly overmatched.”
    “In some ways, it seems an interesting business,” said Glyneth. “I wonder if I would do well as a spy.”
    “Beyond a doubt,” said Aillas. “Beautiful girls make excellent spies! Still, they must be dedicated to their work, and take the good with the bad, since the choicest items are usually told to them in the dark.”
    Glyneth made a scornful sound. “And these are the spies you befuddle all night long, and make their lives easy, rather than hanging them on the gibbet!”
    “Ha! No such luck! Casmir is not so considerate! He subverts one of my close counselors instead. Needless to say, impart this knowledge to no one!”
    Dhrun said: “It must be a strange feeling to look from face to face and wonder which conceals the spy.”
    “It is just that, indeed.”
    Tristano asked: “How many are the suspects?”
    “They are my six august and irreproachable ministers: Maloof, Langlark, Sion-Tansifer, Pirmence, Foirry and Witherwood. Each is a lord of the realm! In all logic each should be as faithful to me as the moon to the sun. Nevertheless, one of the lot is a traitor. I say this with embarrassment, since it grinds at my self-esteem.”
    “And how will you find him out?”
    “I wish I knew.” For a period, while the stars moved across the sky, the party discussed schemes for exposing the traitor. At last, when candles guttered low, they rose yawning to their feet and took themselves off to bed.

III
    THE VISITORS MADE READY to return to Domreis. Glyneth and Dhrun, as they watched the preparations, became ever more restless; Watershade would seem quiet and lonely when the company had gone. Also, both had become intrigued by the mystery of the highly-placed spy. At the last minute, the two decided to join the group returning to Domreis, and hastily made their own preparations.
    Across the Ceald rode the party, now five: up to Green Man’s Gap where, as was the custom, all turned for a final glimpse of Watershade, then down Rundle River Valley to Hag Harbour and a night at the Sea Coral Inn. Then: an early departure, with harness jingling loud in the pre-dawn chill and up over Cape Haze with the first red rays of day shining wan on their backs, and, early in the afternoon, arrival at Domreis.
    Aillas was not deceived as to the purposes of Dhrun and Glyneth. He took them aside and cautioned them to the most extreme discretion. “This is far from a game of quick wits and good-fellowship! There are lives at stake and Casmir cares nothing of how he spends them!”
    “He must be a strange, harsh man!” said Dhrun.
    “He is indeed, and one of his spies watches us at close range, as we might watch chickens going about their affairs in the barnyard.”
    Glyneth asked in perplexity: “This spy of course is a traitor, but what could be his purpose? Where is his gain?”
    Aillas shrugged. “Perhaps he spies from caprice, from the thrill of playing a dangerous game. Certainly he will be the most suspicious of men, alert to every glance and whisper, so be subtle!”
    “I think that you can trust us,” said Dhrun with dignity. “We are not absolute fools; we do not intend to glance and nudge each other, or peek quickly, then whisper