Choosing the cap put her in mind of a light helm, with a mail drape that could be let down if needed. She remembered seeing a set of mail armour outside. It had belonged to some ancient female ruler of Haven, one whose name had been lost in The Burnings of the plague. It was made of star metal and when she tried on the helm it fitted her perfectly. As she picked up the helm she again had the feeling that it was magical in some way. She decided that it was all she would take of the armour—the rest would weigh her down too much.
She decided that, equipped in a fashion that would provide the money for a mercenary company of high repute for a year, she had reached the limits of what she could expect to take even with her letter. She bowed with her hands in a respectful position and thanked the officer and the other people who had been helping her and, still wearing her new padded armour she gathered up the porter, who now had added her clothes to his basket and set out again for her family home.
Rani wished that she had time to seek an information mage to find out what the magic was that hung on her armour and helm. She herself was a battle mage, she killed people, and it seemed that she would have to find out what the magic on them was the hard way. Information mages specialised in knowledge. They were thorough, but they were also very fussy and took a long time to get their spells set to their satisfaction. In particular they were notorious for their lack of any sense of urgency. The afternoon was drawing on and she still had to select what else to take and to face her parents. Despite her grandmother’s assurance, she was not sure how they were about to react.
~~~
When she returned home she found that the answer was—badly. Her father was ready to rush out and ask an elderly widower friend of his to marry her to prevent her leaving. She knew him. He was an ancient man, but he was of the right caste. Her mother had burst into tears. She had fought against the tradition of Rani becoming a fulltime mage working in Haven. She had wanted more grandchildren and believed this should be what Rani did to the exclusion of anything else. It took the use of the Maharajah’s note waved under her nose to restore some semblance of order, and even then her mother tried to tear it up—luckily it was written on vellum. It was well past dark before she could get away and pack and she left with her grandmother still arguing her case.
Luckily she could not take much, her magical equipment, a couple of changes of clothes, money, toiletries, a little food to still urgent hunger and sleeping gear. She decided that she would get a horse to ride and a packhorse at Garthang Keep so, after packing two saddlebags, she included enough other things to half fill two horse packs. She would add other things later as she needed them. She hoped she would be able to get a servant later. While she could brew powerful magic, she knew that she was a total loss at cooking or caring for animals—and it would be wrong for her to even try these things. As a Kshatya someone had always done these things for her and so it should be. At least she would not have to worry about such minor matters for a week or so.
Having finished packing Rani went to sit on a stone seat in the family garden for a while to smell the jungle and ocean scents that meant home to her. The rock under her was familiar to sit on and to her hands as they lay on it. Generations of her family had sat on this worn seat in the warm winter evenings listening to the rustle of the bamboo in the slight breezes and to hear the songbirds concealed in the bushes—kept in cages there by a succession of special gardeners just for this purpose. She might never do so again. Now as she was going away she started to have regrets—but it was now too late.
Around midnight, having left instructions for the morning, she went to bed to be woken only a few short hours later. Having eaten and dressed in travel clothes she put on her weapons belt and strapped a wand to each arm in a small sheath made for the purpose. Going downstairs she found her whole family there to see her off and escort her to the dock. Grandmother, parents, brothers and sisters, their partners, even her nieces and nephews were there. Her parents were barely reconciled to what was happening and goodbyes took longer than she had allowed for and the boatmen had to work hard to get her to the military station at the southern end of the road to Shelike and the north on time. She discovered that a royal courier chariot was waiting for her there with a cavalry escort.
It was noticeable, from the curious looks she was receiving that the troops had been given instructions, but no explanation of this mysterious trip. Her baggage was transferred and strapped in place. She took a seat under the umbrella on a wide leather seat hanging from side to side across the chariot, a seat she knew from experience would soon get very uncomfortable for her, despite being the best that the chariot could do. The chariot started across the cobbles on its journey. Rani felt the jolts over the cobbles as a continual series of short shocks and she hung on to the grips that were there for the purpose. She knew, as she took hold of the soft leather covering these grips, that she would soon grow to hate them and the straps and indeed the whole conveyance.
Dawn was just breaking to the east over the paddies and distant jungle as she emerged from the last buildings of Pavitra Phāṭaka on Pūrvī Taṭa, the eastern shore of the Rhastaputra, and the end of the cobbled road of the city onto the hard-packed earthen road to Garthang Keep well to the north. The chariot sped north against a constant stream of farmers bringing produce into the market and once it had to swerve quickly to avoid a cow that wandered out into the roadway and sat down.
~~~
It took two and a half days to reach the keep through the dense wet jungle of Haven and past the towns of Shelike, Vinice and Peelfall and their many lesser villages and extensive farmlands. It was two and a half days that Rani would forever try and forget, in which horses and escort were changed every two hours, drivers every four hours and, in Peelfall, even the chariot was changed when the last driver to use it decided he didn’t like one of the wheels. The only thing that did not change was the passenger.
Despite a short hammock strung across the rear of the chariot, one far too short for her to do more than miserably curl up in, Rani had only been able to get short snatches of sleep—usually when the chariot was stationary for a few minutes for a change of some sort. The changes did not take long as she discovered that a series of even faster riders had preceded her announcing her coming. A trip that would have taken weeks at a normal pace was over very soon.
She arrived at Garthang Keep having just crossed a river on a ferry exhausted, sweaty and irritable, sweeping through the outer gate and then around the waterfront that curled around the fortress itself. Seeing the layers of ancient walls—so different from what her people built now that many thought that another long-vanished people had built it. She reflected that this was the first real touch of the alien for her. It drove home that she really was leaving behind the familiar. The chariot took her through the outer gatehouse at the end of a spit of land and then took a hard left turn over a drawbridge, one not much wider than the chariot team, and into the drawbridge gate. Waiting inside, in front of the gate to the central keep, were the governor of the keep and some of his officers.
After a brief formal exchange of greetings he said, “I have only recently received instructions to expedite your trip to Evilhalt, but I have been given no explanation as to why.” His face and voice both clearly showed his displeasure at being ordered around like a servant without explanation.
“I am not sure that I can tell you,” Rani replied. “I only know part of the reasons myself—those that related directly to me—and have not found out why the Kingdom is so keen to get me there when it now seems they have known of the reasons for my leaving for a very long time. It seems that the good grace of the Maharajah has placed many things at my disposal, but I have been told little in the way of explanation.”
“I did not think I would find out,” said the governor sorrowfully. “I set my seers to seek more knowledge, and all they told me of were ‘difficulties’ or ‘a fog clouding the future’. Why are they always useless when you need them most?” he added rue
fully.
He may not like his orders, but was carrying them out.
“I have two ways for you to proceed from here to Evilhalt. The first is by a River Patrol proa. As you can see,” he indicated to his left where two large canoes were docked, “these are large, and they are fast but, while the people of Erave Town are happy for us to travel as far as their town, they do not like us to cross the lake to Evilhalt in our own military boats. The other is to send you with a patrol of cavalry up the river and to the east of Lake Erave, crossing the river at Evilhalt, which is the first ford on the Rhastaputra since the sea. This will be slower, but less likely to cause us problems in the long run. The choice is up to you.”
Rani thought for a moment. “I would like to obtain a pair of good horses, one for riding and one a pack animal. I can ride, but I am not an expert in buying horses, and I assume that someone here would be. I would also prefer to get good ones here where I can trust the seller. I think that I can assume that the River Patrol would not like to carry them in their boats, so I suppose I must travel by land.”
The relief on the face of one woman officer was quite evident. “Before I sleep I wonder if some things could be arranged.”
The Governor nodded.
“Firstly I am in need of cleaning and, before I leave civilisation, depilation. Please arrange for a bath and a supply of tahlin unguent.”
The governor clapped his hands and a servant ran off.
“Next, these clothes will need to be cleaned and ready for me to take tomorrow and I would like to wear something tonight that I do not have to pack tomorrow.”
Again the governor clapped his hands and another servant ran off.
“After I have bathed, I would like to see a couple of horses for me to take.” This time the Governor nodded in the direction of an officer who nodded back and quickly moved off. “Lastly, if it is possible, I would like to hear from your patrols and officers of anything that seems strange or unusual that they have seen or heard of over the last month or so. I am not sure what I am looking for; it could be anything. We could do this over our evening meal or after, at your convenience.”
A battle mage was automatically an officer of Haven’s army, but Rani had rarely felt comfortable giving orders as a right. For once it seemed right to do so, even to the governor of a major fortress town. What is more he seemed more than happy to accede to someone who seemed to know what was happening.
“Over dinner is fine,” he said, “until then...” he waved for a servant to escort Rani away before turning to confer with his officers and the senior servants.
~~~
After a proper massage and then luxuriating in this final touch of the pampering she was leaving behind, Rani emerged from her bath clean and smooth skinned, smelling faintly of roses and cinnamon. She was dried and assisted into a clean silk sari by a pair of servant girls. After the trip north it felt wonderful against her skin. She strapped two wands onto her forearms, a touch slightly at variance with the setting and the clothes, but she was entering a realm where anything could happen. She decided not to wear any other weapons to dinner, as it would diminish the reputation of the mage caste with the other Kshatya to be seen as unable to cope with anything that may happen here in a fortress with just her magic. While she was doing this one of the girls ran on ahead to acquaint everyone with her movements.
The second girl showed her down to where a cavalry officer waited with two grooms, each of whom held a horse by a lead.
“Shri Rani,” he said respectfully, “I believe these horses may be what you need.” He indicated a large black mare on his left. “This is Lakshmi, she has been in many combats, but is not a warhorse. We traded for her with the Khitan and under them she became inured to the larger reptiles. Under us she has grown used to working with elephants. I understand that you are only a fair rider.”
He paused until Rani reluctantly nodded.
“She is both surefooted and intelligent and has good stamina.” Rani had a look at Lakshmi, unsure if checking too closely would be seen as an insult. She decided it would and so just nodded. The officer then turned to the other horse, which was a huge grey animal of a breed she had not seen before. It seemed closer to an elephant in size rather than any horse she had ever seen and it towered over her.
He continued, “This is Juggernaut. He is a horse of the Latins of Freehold and they rarely allow his kind out of their land. We also obtained him from the Khitan and they may have stolen him. The Freeholders use his breed to pull their large ploughs and for heavy hauling—as we would use elephants.”
Rani looked from the hooves up at the head of the horse towering over her. Its hooves and lower legs were covered in hair and such a huge animal would be able to carry anything that she wanted.
“Do they meet with your approval?”
“They appear to be suitable for me,” Rani said, “and since you are the expert I defer to your far superior judgement in this case.” She moved up to each of the horses. They snuffled at her and did not seem to object to her smell. Both seemed to be of a gentle nature—at least in this circumstance. With a nod from the officer the grooms were dismissed to take the horses back to the stable and the man indicated that Rani should walk beside him.
“I am Subadar Sanjeev Dahl,” he said, “and I will be in charge of your escort to Evilhalt. You said to the governor that there was much that you could not say. Is there anything that you can say to me less publicly, that I might need to know to get you to your destination safely?”
“No, not really,” replied Rani. “On my part I know only that I have to go north. Some people think that this may be to Evilhalt and once I arrive there, then I will work out where to go from that point. It is fair to say that there may be at least one attempt made to stop me going. There may be more. I do not know this as being definite, but it does seem reasonable. Now, as to why the Maharajah, may Lord Krishna smile upon him, should act as he has I do not know. He seems to think that I am so important—or dangerous—that I must be hurried from Haven as soon as I found out I had a destiny.”
She took a cylinder from a small pouch that she had concealed in the folds of the sari—she was not letting this out of her reach. From the cylinder Rani removed the now rolled up note and showed the roll to the Subadar. “Seeing that you are in charge of my escort, I must trust you. Do not mention this to anyone. It may either make things clearer, or else it will completely confuse them.” She smiled and then handed the note over.
Sanjeev read the short note and handed it back. “It is dated a long time ago, and yet they only just gave it to you and hurried you here. Even for the army this is very odd. We can only assume that the Maharajah, may Lord Krishna illume him, and his advisors know what they are doing. However, it does make my orders clearer and more serious. I thought, and please forgive me for this, that you, as a mage, had decided to just travel for some strange reason—to gather herbs or something and we were being detailed to care for you as one would care for a small child for their parents. We plain soldiers do not always understand the ways and motives of mages—even of battle mages.” He smiled to show he meant no malice with his words.
The pair arrived at the dinner room deep in conversation. They entered a room with a large table taking up most of the space as a hollow square with a gap near an entrance. The governor sat opposite the gap. He beckoned them over and seated them. Musicians played softly in another room as the governor introduced Rani to the officers of the garrison. As is usual in such cases Rani promptly forgot all of their names and remembered them by their jobs: senior battle mage, River Patrol commander, elephant Subadar, garrison infantry and so on.
Rani was not the only woman present. There was the river patrol officer she had noted before, as well the elephant Subadar was an older, small and wiry woman with grey hair and a placid smile and one of the infantry commanders looked incongruous and uncomfortable in a sari. She was taller and weighed more than most of the men present and she was not fat. She would o
bviously have felt more at home if she were dressed in some form of armour and ready for a battle.
The meal was typical Haven fare, although better cooked than Rani thought it would be away from Pavitra Phāṭaka. It was made up of rice, some flavoured and coloured with saffron, hot dishes of goat, different types of giant lizard and chicken, often hard to tell apart in flavour, naan bread, chapattis and various chutneys, yoghurts and so on. Chilled wines and cordials were served with the meal. Musicians played softly behind a screen. As a dinner party it was a huge success and Rani enjoyed it, complete with the inevitable shoptalk, immensely. Once the meal was finished and cleared away, glasses were refilled and cool ices were brought. The governor clapped his hands and nodded to the senior servant who dismissed the musicians and moved the servants away, closing the doors to the room behind him as he left.
“Except for those on duty,” said the governor to Rani, “this is the entire command of the garrison.” He turned and looked around his officers. “As you know, Shri Rani is on a mission, sent by the Maharajah, may Lord Krishna bless him. She wishes to know if there is anything, no matter how minor, that you have noticed that is strange lately in your duties or otherwise. Please start,” and he indicated an officer on one side of the gap.
Starting with him, officers gave a report as to what was happening in their area of operation. It could all be summed up as ‘nothing much’ or ‘all is quiet’. This continued until half way down the second side, where the female infantry officer was seated.
“I don’t know if this is important,” she said in a surprisingly soprano voice, “but several trade caravans are very late and well past their expected return date. Not one caravan has come in to the keep for over four weeks that was supposed to come across the plains by the northern route or from the far north.”
Intimations of Evil (Warriors of Vhast Book 1) Page 24