Anguin's Yule Coup at Vorone

Anguin's Yule Coup at Vorone was the clandestine seizure of the Alshari summer capital by the Orphan Duke on Yule Eve. Anguin II, then about seventeen, rode in at the gates with the Orphan's Band mercenary company, declared himself Duke to a drunken interim lieutenant, and took the city without a single battlefield casualty.

The plan

The plan had been laid in Enchanter by Pentandra, Count Angrial, and Count Salgo: Anguin would not contest the rebel-held Enultramar but would instead quietly seize Vorone — his only surviving Alshari summer capital — at Yule, when the gurvani mud-aversion gave him a clear winter window to consolidate. Pentandra was selected as his Court Wizard. The Orphan's Band, the elite mercenary company recruited from Tyndal and Rondal's Bransei migration, served as the muscle.

The gate

The seizure itself was bloodless. Anguin arrived at the gates of Vorone on Yule Eve in winter snow, and identified himself to Ancient Randaw, the gate-warden:

Aye. This is the summer capital, is it not?
Aye! Aye, Your Grace, but . . . pardon me for saying it, but is this not the eve of Yule?
Summer is coming, my friend. For all of the Wilderlands. Now, in my own name to my own sworn man in my own city, will you please open that godsdamn gate and let us in before we freeze on the spot?

— Duke Anguin II at the gate of Vorone

Randaw rang the bell twice. The drunken lieutenant on the inner wall refused to believe Anguin was the duke until forced to recognise Father Amus at his heels. Anguin and the Orphan's Band entered the city.

The Stone Hall

The first act of Anguin's reign was the public trial and execution of Baron Edmarin, the corrupt interim warden under whom Vorone had been allowed to rot. Anguin convened a midnight court in the Stone Hall on his father's dusty throne. After coaxing Edmarin into a courtier's self-defence about the value of a baron's honest counsel, Anguin ran him through with the traveling sword at his hip:

He also said that foolish and unwise counsel should be ripped out ruthlessly. . . . In my opinion, Baron Edmarin, that was very bad counsel you just gave me. My father may have depended upon the advice of his great nobles, but he is dead now. I am not.

— Duke Anguin, executing Baron Edmarin

By ancient Alshari custom the duke holds power of life and death over his vassals; failure of service equals treason in war. The Stone Hall judgment was the moment the Orphan Duke ceased being a captive symbol and became a sovereign.

The court

Within hours Anguin had appointed his court:

• Lady Pentandra — Court Wizard.
• Count Angrial — Prime Minister.
• Count Salgo — Minister of War / Warlord.
• Father Amus — Court Steward and ducal chaplain.
• Captain Arborn — Master of the Wood (the office created for him later in the book).

By dawn the palace was secured. By midmorning the city was Anguin's. The Orphan Duke had a sovereign court for the first time in his life.