by Aldus Baker
“These are my twin nieces, Crisa and Sesen,” says the Mistress. “They are new apprentices. With all this commotion there is even more to do. My most experienced apprentice has left to open her own shop. It has thrown everything into chaos, but I wish her well. If we are fortunate, these two will be half the seamstress Jillnie was.”
The two girls lay out shirts, jackets, pants and two caps across a table and two chairs before giving a slight curtsy and exiting.
“They are so cute,” confides Mistress Treana. “Don’t you think so, captain?”
Jalan thinks about how his mother would answer. The girls have a strong family resemblance to Mistress Treana. He’s not sure if women like to be called cute. But, he knows his sister, Vee, likes it. “Yes,” he says while hoping he is not asked any more questions about girls. It is bad enough to have to try on clothes, but if he has to talk about girls too then he will be wearing rags before anyone can drag him back here.
Mistress Treana gives Jalan a bright smile and indicates one of the sets of clothes as she simultaneously unties the stay of a curtain that falls across one corner of the room and says, “You may change into the first uniform behind the curtain and then we’ll have a look at you.”
By the time the fitting ends, Jalan is sure he would rather go on one of Master Enmar’s runs. Mistress Treana assures him his uniforms will be ready tomorrow afternoon. There are two field uniforms for everyday use and one formal dress uniform Jalan hopes he never has a reason to wear. In addition, there are two capes. One for cold weather in the field and the second to go with the dress uniform.
Jalan decides to stop at the new cobbler’s shop. Not because of Mistress Treana’s observation about his shoes being unsuitable for a formal occasion, but because he needs new riding boots. And, the shoes Master Enmar had made for him are a bit worn. It would be a good idea to have a replacement pair made. He sighs as he also adds dress shoes to his mental list. If he does not do it now, someone will make him do it later anyway.
His discussion with the cobbler reminds him that he will have to pay for his uniforms and foot wear and likely several other things. The morning is gone. If Jalan wants to get anything done with his men he needs to see Darla right way and ask for help managing his lancer pay.
Lady Darla is set up in the Business Room right off the manor house parlor. Jalan goes to the parlor hoping to drop in on his sister and quickly speak with her. When he walks into the parlor he finds that it has been transformed from a comfortable meeting and entertaining room into a waiting room to see Lady Darla. There are comfortable chairs, but they are no long arranged around the fireplace. Instead they face more toward the doorway to the Business Room. Next to the doorway is a desk with a chair. A young woman, maybe Darla’s age, sits in the chair. Her brown hair is tied back with tan and blue ribbons. She looks up from the bound set of papers she is reading.
“May I be of service, young gentleman?” Her voice sounds very pleasant and she finishes her words with a little smile. Jalan notices that her eyes are dark like her long hair.
“I am here to see my sister. Er, I mean, Lady Darla,” says Jalan.
“Oh, you must be Captain Jalan. I am Jacey, Lady Darla’s assistant. Might I ask about the nature of your visit? Perhaps there is something I can help you with?”
Although Jacey seems nice, Jalan is uncertain about talking to her. “I think I would rather speak with Lady Darla, please.”
Jacey frowns slightly and says, “Very well. The lady is meeting with someone now, but if you wait she will be able to see you next.”
“Well, I suppose, that is, I imagine it would be all right to talk with you,” says Jalan. He does not really want to, but would not mind seeing Jacey smile again.
She rewards him with another little smile and says, “Please, tell me your concern.”
“I’m a captain. Well, you know that. I mean because I’m a captain the lancers pay me.” He stops, uncertain what to say next.
“Yes?” says Jacey with a clear sense of expectation in her voice.
“I don’t know what to do with the money,” he confides.
Jacey giggles. She is laughing at me. Normally this would bother Jalan, especially if it was Vee laughing. But when Jacey laughs, it is different. He is not sure why it is different. He just knows that it is.
“That is the best problem I have heard all day. That is a wonderful problem to have,” says Jacey. “And, you were right. You do need to speak with my lady. You have a family issue and I cannot help with those.”
“Why not?” says Jalan.
“Because, I am Lady Darla’s assistant. I’m not family. There are some matters that should be private.”
“Oh.” Jalan recalls things about The Ability that he and his mother have kept private even from the rest of the family. It makes sense to him that Jacey might learn of things that are kept within the family while working closely with Darla.
“But if you are working with Lady Darla, what difference does it make?”
Jacey seems to consider her answer before saying, “Perhaps it is a matter of degree. Have you ever kept a diary?”
Jalan shakes his head and says, “No.”
“Well, I have. A diary is a journal of one’s personal thoughts. If I think something, it is private. No one else knows about it. And, if I write it in my diary because I want to remember it or think about it more, then it is still private. The diary can be told things, but it will not do anything with what it is told. It is just a book. But, people are not diaries. The more private things you tell them, the more chance that they will do something with one of those things and it will not be private any longer.”
“You tell others things told to you in confidence?” asks Jalan. He is a little shocked to think Jacey might do such a thing.
Jacey giggles again. “No. Never!” she says with mock seriousness. And then with her face set in an earnest expression and looking Jalan right in the eye she adds, “It is not always what people say that matters. If someone knows something they can act on that knowledge even if they never tell anyone else what they know. Someone else watching them might guess at the secret because of the way the one keeping the secret acts.” Her face relaxes and her eyes sparkle as she adds, “It is easier not to know. Then there is nothing to hide and nothing to accidentally reveal.”
“If only more people felt that way, I would not be plagued with questions,” says Major Erida as he steps out of the Business Room with Lieutenant Goss behind him.
Jalan automatically straightens his posture and focuses on his commanding officer.
“Captain Jalan is there anything we might need to discuss before you see Lady Darla?” says Erida.
“No, sir. Just a family matter,” says Jalan.
“Very good. As you were.” Major Erida walks across the parlor and exits the room with Goss trailing behind him.
Some of Jalan’s tension slips away when the Major departs. He turns back to Jacey.
She rises from her seat behind the desk and holding up one finger to Jalan she says, “A moment. I will announce you.” Then she steps into the Business Room.
At the instant Jalan thinks he should take a seat and wait, Jacey returns and escorts him into the Business room where Lady Darla sits in her own chair behind a large worktable covered with documents. Darla looks so busy that Jalan is almost sorry to interrupt until he recalls everything else he needs to do today. It seems they are both very busy. He decides to be as brief as possible.
“I hope you’re not going to ask me to assign tasks to any more lancers,” says Lady Darla as she looks up from the papers laid out before her to speak to Jalan. Her smile tells him she is teasing.
He smiles back and shakes his head. “I need to speak with you about my lancer pay.”
“Jacey indicated you have a concern about how to handle the money?”
“Yes, my lady.”
She pauses and says, “Please call me Darla. I’m not ready for my little brother to be so grown u
p. This war, if that is what it is, is making us older much too fast.”
“Yes, Darla.”
Darla laughs. It has been so long since he heard her do it that Jalan laughs too.
“All right,” she says once her mirth subsides. “If you are going to make my name sound like that, you might as well call me lady. Now explain your concerns so that I can understand how I might help.”
Jalan tells Darla of the conversation he had with Master Enmar concerning saving a portion of his pay. And, he explains the items he is purchasing from Mistress Treana and the cobbler.
Darla brings up even more items Jalan will need including a field chest to carry his personal effects on campaign, provisions that he will be required to purchase for himself and any extra he might wish to share with his men. If he wants something more than the common issue tent, as most captains do, he’ll have to buy it. Jalan’s head begins to swim with all the details, but Darla simply makes a list containing each item they discuss and does not appear alarmed in the least by its ever increasing length. When she caps it off with 50 golds for a fine war horse, Jalan begins to have trouble breathing.
“But, my pay is only 2 silvers a day,” protests Jalan. “It would take...”
“500 days,” says Darla
“What?”
“It would take 500 days for you to earn 50 gold,” says Darla. She looks up from the list she is writing. Her eyes widen and in a voice of concern she says, “Jalan? What’s wrong?”
“500 days,” says Jalan. “That’s, that’s, well, almost two years!”
“Close to one and one half. But, why does that trouble you so?”
“How will I ever have enough money for all this?”
Darla sits back in her chair and blinks a couple of times. “I see. Mother never discussed money with you did she?”
“No,” says Jalan.
“So you don’t know anything about the house finances?”
“Ah, no. I though you and mother took care of it.”
Lady Darla closes her eyes and begins to massage her forehead with the fingertips of her left hand. It is a familiar gesture that Jalan remembers from several childhood lectures on behavior. The feeling that he is in trouble again settles over him, only he cannot think of anything he has done wrong this time.
Darla sets her hands in her lap, takes a deep breath and slowly exhales, and then opens her eyes. “I don’t have time to explain it now, but you have the money. Anything you earn as a captain you can spend or set aside as you wish. I’ll arrange to have your captain’s pay held back in the family accounts. You need to take this list and speak to the quartermaster. Anything he cannot supply you will have to find. I suggest you trade with one of the crafters or any of the merchants that now frequent the estate. Have them apply to Jacey for payment. You may meet with her to verify the purchases. If you want to buy anything more expensive than the war horse, see me first.”
That is definitely Darla’s behavior lecture voice, but Jalan feels relief rather than chastisement. He is curious as to how he could possibly have money. However, the meeting has taken so long he has no time to ask questions and Darla has no time to answer them. He thanks her, takes the list, and leaves wondering how he will ever find time to acquire everything on it.
As he crosses the parlor on his way toward the hallway door he hears a man say, “Finally!” from somewhere behind him. “I can’t believe I was kept waiting because of some boy.”
Jalan begins to turn around. He is not certain if he is upset or feeling guilty. At the very least he wants to see the man speaking.
“That is Captain Jalan Yen, sir,” says Jacey in a matter of fact tone that gives up nothing to Darla’s lecture voice. She stands and walks around the desk to place herself directly between the man and the door to the Business Room. “He is a lancer officer and a member of the Yen family. You will take this opportunity to apologize to him or we can reschedule your appointment with his sister for a time when you are more contrite.”
Somebody’s in trouble. Jalan is greatly relieved that it is not him. He watches the man step back from Jacey. The man turns toward Jalan, straightens his short gray dress jacket and runs his hand through his equally gray hair.
“I sincerely apologize for my outburst. I have allowed my impatience to get the better of me. I hope that a young gentleman of your obvious quality will grace a foolish merchant, for such I am, with, if not your forgiveness, then your forbearance. I am truly deeply sorry for any insult I have given you.”
“You’re a merchant?” says Jalan.
“Yes,” says the gray man.
“What do you sell?”
“All number of things. I am here to offer my services as a supplier to the lancers, captain.”
Holding out his list, Jalan asks, “Can you supply these things?”
The gray man takes the paper and scans the list. “Why, yes. Our caravan has all this and more.”
“I need to buy those things.”
“I am sure we can settle on a fair price, captain.”
“Then I forgive you,” says Jalan.
Δ
All five lancers have reported to Sergeant Sedic by the time Jalan returns. Jalan passed through the manor’s kitchens on his return trip. He is just finishing an apple he was eating during his walk back. He also ate a thick slice of bread and a small cheese wedge. He drank water from the well when he passed it on his way. Feeling refreshed, Jalan is now ready to inspect his men.
Jalan tells Sedic to have the men form a line. The first in line is Serks. The lancers do not take anyone in until they are 15. Serks is 16 and a former stable boy that knows how to care for his horse and tack. He is a good shot, but even without Darla’s special assignment Sedic thought Jalan would get Serks because the other captains would pick older, more experienced lancers. Even though Serks was no taller than Jalan he was clearly more heavily built and more muscular.
The next man in line is Miltrip who stands head and shoulders taller than Serks and is four years his senior. Sedic claims Miltrip is an all-around good lancer, equally skilled with the bow, sword and lance. Jalan hopes that Miltrip is a good leader and able to handle his own fist. He holds that same hope for all five of his lancers. If he can assign four recruits to each of them it will give him more tactical and training options.
Harna stands next to Miltrip and is nearly as tall. He is 19, a year younger than Miltrip. Lancer training has made them both strong. They could easily be mistaken for brothers except that Harna’s hooked nose and prominent brow ruin the imagined resemblance. Before joining the lancers, Harna did whatever work he could get in Falloak. Sedic praised Harna’s ability with a knife. Jalan knows that makes Harna a dangerous opponent in close quarters. Sedic and Harna should be able to assist anyone in Jalan’s company that needs to improve their knife work.
Forth in line is Reest. Not as tall as Miltrip and Harna, he is still at least a head taller than Serks. Sedic told Jalan that Reest is the son of a lancer captain with House Olin. Reest does not talk about his father or family and has never explained why he is not a lancer with House Olin. It does not matter to Jalan. Whatever secrets Reest has, he is welcome to keep. Jalan has enough of his own. Like Miltrip, Reest is a balanced fighter with good skills. Sedic called him disciplined and said he gets along well with the other men.
Dost is the last man in line. He is nearly as old as Sedic and has the look of a veteran lancer. He stands straight and relaxed as though there is nothing else in the world that needs doing except following the next order. Confidence seems to surround him like a cloak. Jalan is glad to have him because he knows Dost and Sedic have the experience he lacks. He hopes to rely on their judgment to keep him out of trouble.
“Lancers!” says Jalan, “I learned today that there are many items a soldier requires. Rather than drill during the daylight remaining, you will all spend the next hour sorting your belongings for inspection at Barracks Three. I do not know when we will be sent into the field, but it could
be at any time. We are going to be ready. Any equipment that needs attention gets it. Anything we have to acquire will be found. You five lancers are the experienced core of the company. When the recruits want to know how things are done, I expect you five to be their best example. Let’s get squared away. Dismissed.”
Sergeant Sedic and Captain Jalan go to the Officers’ Workroom in Barracks Three. Jacey made a copy of Jalan’s equipment list before he left the parlor. She kept the original in order to negotiate prices with Trader Grom, the gray haired merchant. Jalan and Sedic study the copy and create a second list of standard items each lancer in Jalan’s copy must have. Some things never included in Jalan’s original list, such as weapons, are added to the standard lancer equipment list and others are left off or modified as appropriate. They number each item on the list. At the end of the hour, they start the inspection.
Jalan starts with the condition of uniforms, boots and small clothes. Weapons are next. Each man has a good curved saber for fighting from horseback. Dost also has a short sword, a longsword, two daggers and two stout recurved short bows. All the others are similar but each tends to have an item less or more. Each man’s armor is checked to verify the condition of the metal, leather and bindings. After the larger items are inspected, Sedic and Jalan look at mess kits, water skins, tinder boxes, bedding. Anything lacking is noted by writing the item’s number from the list next to the lancer’s name on a new sheet of paper.
The inspection continues until Sedic declares, “We’re done. That’s everything from boots to bowstrings.” The captain and sergeant return to the Officer’s Workroom and compile a written list of items Jalan will take to Quartermaster Chander tomorrow morning. Sedic will have the men prepare their horses and all related items for inspection. Once the equine inspection is over, the lancers will take their various items that require repair to the appropriate craftsmen. In the afternoon, Jalan plans to have the men drill at the practice fields where he anticipates new recruits will begin to report for duty. With the schedule for tomorrow complete, Sedic heads for his pallet in the barracks and Jalan returns to his room in Yen Manor.