"Yes, sir."
"You have my leave, Captain."
"Oh, yes, sir." Yusalt bowed and hurried out of the study.
Alucius managed a quick reading of Overcaptain Sanasus's file before the graying overcaptain in charge of communications and logistics appeared.
Sanasus sat down, forward on the edge of the wooden chair, pursing and pursing his lips, waiting.
"I'd be interested to know, Sanasus, if you ever saw the ledgers for the supplies."
"No, sir. Not after Colonel Weslyn took over. He said he was reorganizing things, and he put all the disbursements and payroll receipts under Shalgyr. Brought him in from Fiente. Never served before. Made him a captain right off, then last summer, promoted him to overcaptain. Wasn't right, I said, but the colonel said that times were changing and that the Lord-Protector wanted logistics and disbursements separate. Wasn't much I could say to that. Especially not with but a few years before I could get a stipend. This golds business in his house… I never knew. I thought maybe he was taking a few… but not hundreds."
Alucius could sense the absolute truth behind the overcaptain's words, and that was both a relief and a worry. "I think that, once we go over the ledgers, you'll have to take over both functions once more. I doubt if there's anyone else in headquarters who knows what's required."
"What about the Lord-Protector's requirement?"
"So far as I can tell, there never was such a requirement. Even if there happened to be one, my orders and mandate allow me to change any procedures that are not working. I don't know everything that happened, but the golds, and Colonel Weslyn's reaction and Overcaptain Shalgyr's flight, suggest that things are not as they should be."
"No, sir. Couldn't prove it back then, but I felt we were paying too much for supplies. Then there's the payroll. The colonel decommissioned those two companies, but we were still getting the same payroll from Tempre, and no one's pay that I know of was increased."
Alucius cleared his throat gently. He'd spent more time talking in the last day than he did in weeks on the stead. Or in several days as a majer in charge of a few companies. "You can advise me on how you think the ledgers and accounts should be set up so that any irregularities can be quickly and easily caught."
"I can do that. That was the way Colonel Clyon had it, sir. Fine officer, and a better man."
"He was."
"You'd best be real careful, sir. Leastwise, until you get everything out in the open. I don't know who they are, not for sure, but there'll be more than a few in Dekhron who won't want the Lord-Protector to know."
"That's one reason why we already sent out an interim report."
"Might not be a bad idea to let folks know that."
Alucius smiled. "I can't say much about that, but I certainly wouldn't complain if that word got out."
"I can see that, sir, and, well, it just might." Sanasus offered a grin, the first warm expression on his gaunt and grizzled face.
When the overcaptain finally left, Alucius turned to the window. The snow had stopped, leaving a fine dusting on the roofs of the compound and on the courtyard itself. Then he turned back and picked up the file on Komur.
After he met with the undercaptain, he needed to get Feran and Sanasus together and undertake a count of what was left in the existing pay chests in the strong room, then have Sanasus develop and provide him with a budget for at least the next few months. He also needed to see if the accounts and ledgers provided any clues as to exactly what Weslyn had been doing to amass all those golds.
He still needed to read all the recent reports from company and outpost commanders, and to update himself on where all the current companies were stationed and what the command structure was. For some of that, he could read at night, and he would have to—for longer and later than he'd ever imagined.
Chapter 108
Dekhron, Iron Valleys
« ^ »
Tarolt looked up as the door to his study opened, and a round-faced trader in a heavy dark blue winter cloak marched in, halting a mere yard from the desk.
"You look rather… disturbed, Halanat."
"You said everything would be fine." Halanat glared at the white-haired Tarolt. "You said that he'd fail or get killed in the revolt, or by that spear-thrower. He didn't. Now he's here, and the whole city knows—"
"He's only just taken command—and, as I recall, the initial idea of having him recalled to duty was yours."
"You aren't the one that they'll be looking for."
"Oh… and just what will Colonel Alucius do? He has no power over anyone who is not in the Northern Guard. He cannot touch you. There's no proof of anything, except Weslyn's stupidity. Stupidity on two counts. One never draws a weapon on a warrior. It's far better to have someone else do it. Or push him into a situation where he cannot win or where he kills the wrong person. One also should never underestimate an honest man. Especially an honest Talent-steer."
"That's easy for you to say. Word is already all over Dekhron that Weslyn was lining his own pockets and that others might be involved. This… Colonel Alucius even found a chest with three hundred golds in the strong room in Weslyn's house. How could he have been so stupid? Where does that leave us?"
"What you do is have Halsant send a letter to the new colonel, welcoming him and promising him the greatest cooperation in providing goods at the lowest fair price, and suggesting that the colonel's reputation for honesty and directness will serve him well."
"Within weeks, he'll see right through that."
"He may do so within glasses or days. What can he do? Call Halsant a liar? The colonel is direct, but far from stupid. He will not do anything that is public and direct without proof. If we do not provide it, he can suspect all he wishes, but he cannot act, except to insist on better prices, and that should not be a problem, not for the short time he will be colonel."
"Weslyn would take great comfort in your words."
"You're not Weslyn, and you're not in the Northern Guard. Every trader and factor, and even the larger crafters, will be watching this Alucius. He's too young. He's arrogant, and he's a nightsheep herder. None of those traits will endear him to those who must supply him and who are tariffed by the Lord-Protector to support him and the Northern Guard. His high-handed search of Weslyn's house will be the first of many actions that will cause him trouble."
"He can do much damage in a short time."
"That's to our gain. Already, people in Hyalt are beginning to murmur that the True Duarchy doesn't sound so bad considering the problems they have now. The same is true in Southgate and Zalt, and Dimor and even Arwyn. If our new colonel drives a hard bargain for supplies, that will increase the anger and unrest. If he does not, he will lose favor in Tempre, because the Lord-Protector is hard-pressed to find coins for his wars."
"And then what?"
"We wait for him to make a mistake. Young and brilliant officers always do. That is their greatest failing, and one that is inevitable. One cannot gain wisdom except by making mistakes. Young and brilliant officers get promoted too quickly and before they can make those mistakes where the consequences are not so great."
"Just what mistake will he make? "
"What particular mistake?" Tarolt smiled. "I have no idea, but it will be one that lies in his failure to understand that brilliance and skill do not address every problem. Sometimes, there is no substitute for subtlety and treachery." Tarolt paused. "Did you have something else?"
"Something else…?" Halanat stood speechless for a moment. "Something else?"
"If not, you should return to your own dwelling and consider how best to make the new colonel look unbending and unsympathetic to the needs of the oppressed traders and factors of Dekhron."
Halanat's eyes lifted to the purpled orbs of the white-haired trader, then dropped. "Ah, yes, sir."
Chapter 109
« ^ »
On Quinti, Alucius and Feran spent much of the day just digging out information and supervising the asse
mbly of records from various places. Weslyn had clearly tried to keep information as fragmented as possible so that he was the only one who had access to everything. Again, that was just another indication that far more was wrong than Alucius had yet seen, but there was so much information that Alucius had decided to set that aside for a time and get back to assessing the state of the Northern Guard as a fighting organization and determining what he could do immediately.
By Sexdi morning, Alucius and Feran were in the commander's study trying to sort out the strategic situation from dispatches and maps, outdated as they might be. Alucius could only hope that he'd get updated reports from Majer Lujat in the west. His dispatch to Lujat had offered his full support and his admiration for Lujat's effectiveness under difficult conditions.
Alucius looked to Feran. "No wonder Majer Lujat is barely able to hold any positions. Half of the officers are captains that Weslyn appointed over the past three years. None of them had any real experience. "
"I told you that," Feran said.
"You did. That was before I knew I'd have to fix the problem."
"Makes a difference, doesn't it, most honored Colonel?"
"Yes, it does, most honored about-to-be Majer."
"I haven't said yes."
"I won't take 'no.'" Alucius took a long deep breath. "Do you know any of the senior squad leaders of those companies?"
"Some of them."
"We can make Egyl a captain, if you think he can handle it, and if he'll accept it," Alucius said. "Give him Seventh Company here, and, in a week or so, send them to Sudon for training before posting them somewhere west."
"Egyl would be a good captain," Feran agreed. "Faisyn could handle senior squad leader of Fifth Company for a while, and they could train out of here. Wait a few months and make him captain, and move Zerdial up to senior squad leader."
"More like a few weeks for Faisyn. We don't have much time. That's two companies. That leaves sixteen, eighteen when we re-form the Nineteenth and Twentieth."
"You've got a couple of decent captains. Koryt still has the Third. And Cavalat with the Sixth."
"What ever happened to Vanas?"
"Matrites got him early on in that first campaign. Dysar sent the Thirteenth against three Matrite companies."
Alucius looked at the Thirteenth Company roster. "Zaracar's the captain now." He went through the stack of officers' files, not all that many, and quickly leafed through Zaracar's file. "He's another one that Weslyn appointed—just last year. He's from here in Dekhron." Alucius wrote down the name and the company number on the tally he was keeping.
"Haven't heard of him."
"Is Estepp still around?" Alucius frowned, then answered his own question. "I thought I saw his name somewhere. The training company at Sudon, maybe?" He went through the rosters. "Yes. I thought so. He's still a senior squad leader. He should have been made a captain years ago."
"Maybe he didn't want to be."
"And maybe Weslyn needed someone to train lancers…"
"Good lancers, but captains who aren't that bright?" suggested Feran.
"That's what it's looking like, isn't it?"
"What about Overcaptain Culyn?"
"He's not on any of the rosters, and there's no file on him. The head of training at Sudon is Overcaptain Dezyn." Alucius paused. "I remember him. He was here at Dekhron when we came back."
"Oh… the blond captain. He was like Yusalt—didn't seem to know that much."
Feran and Alucius exchanged glances.
"Maybe we should promote Estepp to captain and leave him in charge of training for a while," suggested Alucius.
"That might be better. He knows what he's doing. With the Regent still in power in Madrien, we're going to need more and better lancers."
"We aren't going to get that many more," Alucius pointed out. "Let's hope Estepp can keep giving us better ones. And some more foot troopers. Weslyn pared down the foot to just three companies, and they're all split into squads for basic stationkeeping at the outposts."
"They're useless that way." Feran snorted. "Like a lot of those captains. It probably took Yusalt years to figure out which end of a rifle to use."
"He's a nice young man who has no business being in the Guard." Alucius had originally thought that Weslyn had just been trying to squeeze all the coin he could from the Guard, but now he was getting a far darker impression, and one that suggested to him that Weslyn had been used, either as a tool or directly, by the ifrits to weaken, if not to gut, the Northern Guard. But that wasn't something he could say, not about the ifrits. "It's almost as if he were trying to destroy the Guard."
Feran nodded. "It looks that way. Do you think that the traders were paying him off?"
"There's not much doubt about that. It might be hard to prove, and we don't know why." Even if the ifrits did want to weaken the Guard, why would they want the Matrites running all over Dekhron? "It doesn't make sense for them to weaken the Guard so much that the Matrites would take over the Iron Valleys and Dekhron."
"Maybe they don't want either side to win," Feran suggested. "So long as the righting goes on, no one will be looking at how they operate."
"That does make sense." In more than one way, Alucius realized. "But we can't let them keep doing it."
"Stopping them will be hard. You're just the Guard commander. You've got your hands full fixing the mess Weslyn left you."
Alucius grinned. "What do you mean by putting it on me? We have our hands full."
"I was afraid you'd say something like that, most honored Colonel." Feran shook his head.
"I think the next item is your promotion. You're getting the grief; you should get the coins."
Feran snorted. "They're not enough."
"They never are. Now… about that promotion…"
Chapter 110
« ^ »
In midafternoon on Septi, Dhaget rapped on the doorframe to Alucius's study. Alucius looked up from the draft of the Northern Guard reorganization plan he and Feran had worked out. "Yes?"
"This just came, sir," said Dhaget, extending an envelope.
"Thank you." Alucius took the envelope and opened it.
Dhaget slipped back out of the study.
The envelope held a formal dispatch, with a small square of paper folded inside the dispatch. Alucius read the short dispatch.
Colonel Alucius—
In Captain Dezyn's absence, I am reporting that the training company at Sudon has been informed of the change of command in the Northern Guard. I have informed all squad leaders and trainee lancers, and we await any orders that may be forthcoming.
The signature was that of Estepp.
Alucius nodded and unfolded the second sheet. It had but a few words and no signature.
We're behind you. Take care of this group of brigands like you did the last.
His smile was rueful. Those words were the Estepp he recalled, but the formal dispatch was all that Captain Dezyn would see. Of that, Alucius was certain. He was also certain of the message that Estepp was sending. He pocketed the second and unsigned note. Feran would certainly want to see it.
He glanced out the window at gray skies that seemed to be lifting. He hoped so. Then he went back to the plan on his desk. The plan itself wasn't that complex, but figuring out which transfers to make in what order and what officers' resignations to ask for first were still things he needed to work out. He had decided that he wanted to complete the reorganization in two steps. He'd thought about doing it all at once, but Feran had pointed out that having more than half the companies without captains or captains in transit at one time was likely to be too unsettling.
Then, too, he still had to deal with the logistics problems. Although Sanasus had implemented a new set of ledgers, reconciling the accounts was going to take days, if not weeks.
Another knock on the door interrupted his concentration, and he looked up.
"Sir… there are some folks to see you." Fewal was grinning as he stood in the do
or. "I thought you'd want to know. They've come a fair piece."
Alucius could see a feminine figure, holding an infant, and an older man. He scrambled to his feet and through the doorway past Fewal, who was still smiling broadly. For a long time, how long he couldn't even tell, Alucius held Wendra and his daughter. He could sense how three lifethreads almost intertwined in a swirl of green. His eyes blurred, and she reached up and brushed away the tears.
"I'm so glad you're here," he murmured in her ear.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
Kustyl cleared his throat.
Alucius flushed as he released his wife. Tears streaked her cheeks as well as his. Alendra merely gurgled.
"Couldn't tell that the man missed you or anything," Kustyl observed.
Wendra said, her voice low, "Do you have quarters here? Grandpa Kustyl said you did. I can go up there and feed Alendra. You need to talk to Grandpa. He says it's important."
Alucius nodded. "Fewal… if you could escort my wife to the quarters…"
"Yes, sir. I'd be pleased to."
Alucius and Wendra exchanged smiles before she stepped back, and Alucius nodded to the older herder. "I understand you have some information for me."
"That I do, Colonel. That I do." Kustyl's eyes twinkled, and there was the slightest emphasis on the word "colonel."
Alucius watched for a moment as Wendra left, then stepped into his study. Kustyl followed and closed the door. Alucius gestured to one of the chairs.
"Hope you don't mind if I stand, Alucius, but it's been a long ride, and I'm not so young as I used to be."
The younger man laughed. "Not if you don't mind if I sit. I'm still sore in places." He eased into the chair behind the desk.
"Wendra didn't say, but you were hurt pretty bad, weren't you?" Kustyl's eyes narrowed.
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