Cadmian's Choice

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “Yes, sir,” replied all five officers in unison.

  “Let’s go.”

  Dainyl let Undercaptain Hyksant tell first squad before he headed back to rejoin Galya and her pteridon.

  “Submarshal, sir…”

  “Yes, Galya?” Dainyl stopped short of her and the pteridon.

  “These rebels…they’re really alectors?”

  “We don’t know if all of them are alectors, but most are. The Marshal of Myrmidons has been aware that something was happening for a time, but until we had firm reports of forbidden weapons, he felt he needed to defer action.”

  “Sir…if I might ask…” ventured the petite alectress. “Forbidden weapons?”

  “Like your skylance, without a pteridon. They’re forbidden because they deplete lifeforce.”

  The Myrmidon nodded.

  “Mount up!” ordered Undercaptain Hyksant.

  Dainyl slipped into the saddle, far more stiffly than the lithe Galya. He’d be sore, very sore, by the time they reached Hyalt, yet once he had flown day after day. But being sore was going to be the least of his difficulties. Of that he had no doubt.

  66

  It took Mykel almost a glass to ride back to the compound. He had barely dismounted and blotted his forehead when he saw Undercaptain Loryalt heading across the courtyard toward him. Despite the cooler air and the breeze, the ride back had been hot, and parts of his back stung where sweat had gotten to the burns, despite the dressings.

  “Sir? I’ll take your mount.” One of the Seventeenth Company rankers—Eisent—appeared.

  “Thank you.” Mykel handed over the roan’s reins.

  Undercaptain Loryalt continued to cross the dusty courtyard toward Mykel. The majer waited.

  Loryalt stopped. “Sir.”

  “Undercaptain. What happened?”

  “It was Sacyrt, sir. He was off-duty, and he slipped out sometime last night. He met one of the tavern wenches and took her off. He’d even paid for a room in one of the…houses.”

  “What passes for the local brothel? Or one of them?”

  “Ah…yes, sir.”

  “Then what?”

  “Her man—we don’t know if he was actually her husband—he followed them and surprised them. He demanded coins.”

  Mykel shook his head. “That’s an old trick.”

  “Sacyrt thought so, too. He laughed at the fellow.”

  “And?”

  “The idiot pulled a knife. There was a fight. Not much of one. Sacyrt killed him and then…he had his way with the woman. She didn’t like that much. He beat her some, and the women in the house called for the patrollers. Sacyrt barred the door. They came down here…”

  “Wait a moment,” Mykel said. “He left last night. I didn’t hear anything when I left this morning.”

  “No, sir. He checked in last night, then slipped back out. He didn’t meet her until maybe two-three hours before dawn. They were drinking some in the room. Probably wasn’t until close to dawn when all this happened. The patrollers took their time. They decided he was crazy, and they waited. They didn’t know, not then, that he’d killed the other man. The body was in the room. The patrollers got to the compound just after you and Fourteenth Company left. I didn’t know Sacyrt had killed anyone then.”

  Mykel nodded. He didn’t like it, but the timing made more sense. “I heard there were some injuries in the duty squad.”

  Loryalt did not quite meet Mykel’s eyes. “Yes, sir. They had to break into the room. Sacyrt tried to take Siliast’s weapon. Siliast didn’t want to shoot. Somehow, Sacyrt broke his arm. The squad leader clubbed Sacyrt, and they tied him up and brought him back. We’ve got him in the gaol below. It took some doing to get him tied up there. The patrollers took care of the locals.”

  “Were they sure Sacyrt killed the man?”

  “Yes, sir. Dartyl made sure of that. Stabbed right through the eye. The body was cold.”

  “We’ll have to deal with this quickly. We’ll hold the court-martial in the town square tomorrow morning, beginning a glass after muster.” Mykel looked squarely at Loryalt. “You are responsible for making sure all witnesses are there, and that Sacyrt is there as well. Under no circumstances must he escape. If you have trouble with the patrollers or anyone, let me know immediately.”

  “In the town square?”

  “I want every person in town to be aware of what happens.”

  “You sound like you think it’s all his fault, sir.”

  Even knowing what he had felt about Sacyrt, Mykel wasn’t all that certain. He forced a pained smile. “There are two possibilities, Undercaptain. He is guilty, or he is not. If he is not guilty, everyone in Hyalt must know that and must understand why. Do you see why?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “If we hold a private court-martial here, and he is not guilty, what do you think will happen? Do you want your men going into town alone or late?”

  “No, sir.”

  “The same is true if he is guilty. The townspeople must see that we will punish our own.”

  “Yes, sir.” Loryalt nodded reluctantly. “You’ll preside?”

  “Yes, but I’d like you to request that the town justicer sit beside me.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mykel could sense the undercaptain’s confusion. “It’s a gesture of respect. It doesn’t change anything. Now…you have a great deal to do.”

  “Yes, sir.” Loryalt nodded, then turned.

  Mykel walked slowly toward his quarters. In a way, he wished that Sacyrt had just knifed someone in the tavern, but like everything else, neither the court-martial nor the situation with the locals was going to be simple. But the sooner he addressed it, the better. Things could only get uglier and worse.

  67

  The way station was hardly adequate, but it had a spring, and enough shelter under roof for the twenty-three Myrmidons. Still, Dainyl was stiff when he rose on Quattri. Even stretching and bending didn’t help that much. It had been years since he’d slept on a way-station pallet, and he hadn’t missed that experience in the slightest. He also did not enjoy the field rations that much, but since the plan was his, he had no one else to blame. Before eating, he studied the maps a last time to refresh his memory of the area.

  After eating, he turned to Fhentyl. “I’ll be taking Galya and one other flier to pay a call on Majer Mykel.”

  “Just two pteridons, sir? You think that’s safe?”

  “Two. We won’t be going anywhere near the RA’s redoubt. Not until I confer with the majer. There’s also a fairly high line of hills just to the north and east of the compound. Directly north, the hills are too rugged. The compound is at least five vingts west of the town.”

  “Strange, that is.”

  Dainyl silently agreed, but that was the way it was and had been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. “When I get back, we’ll meet with the undercaptains and go over what comes next.” He paused. “If…just in case, I don’t come back, take the entire company and find Majer Mykel and learn everything you can. Leave the RA alone. Then take the entire company straight to Elcien.”

  “Not back to Dereka?”

  “No. To Elcien, and report directly to the marshal.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Who else would you suggest accompany Galya and me?”

  “Undercaptain Hyksant has suggested Dyrmant, sir. He’s quite good with the lance. So is Galya.”

  Dainyl nodded and went in search of Galya and Dyrmant. Not surprisingly, they were ready, their pteridons away from the others, to the north of the waystation, facing into the light breeze from the west.

  “Submarshal, sir.”

  “Ready to fly?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We’re heading south to Hyalt. I’d like you to fly fairly low, no more than a hundred yards above the high road. Just follow it to the town, and we’ll set down in the old garrison or as close as you can.”

  Both Myrmidons nodded.

  Galya m
ounted, and Dainyl followed, after cinching his flying jacket closed, taking the silvery saddle behind hers and checking the harness and strapping in.

  The pteridon leapt into the light wind, its leathery blue wings spreading. Dainyl could sense the burst of Talent energy required as the pteridon climbed, turning southward in a slow arc before steadying on a course just to the east of and parallel to the high road that led into Hyalt.

  Below, the grass appeared greener from the air than it had merely underfoot. A faint haze clouded the southern horizon, suggesting warmer air might soon be approaching. There were few huts or steads on the rolling hills to the north of Hyalt, but almost immediately, they passed over a ridge that held a narrow road that hugged the ridge and headed eastward.

  Dainyl followed the road with his eyes and noted that it ended in a small hamlet below a modest wood on the north side of the ridge. After a time, he looked forward again.

  Ahead was Hyalt, looking from a distance more like a hodgepodge of reddish and brown buildings clustered randomly around the high road. Below, Dainyl could see clearly the walls and buildings of the new Cadmian compound on a knoll just to the north of the town and east of the high road. Majer Mykel had definitely picked a spot that was designed for defense, and from the stream on the east side, one with water as well. That didn’t surprise Dainyl, not where the majer was concerned.

  Because of what he had seen in the Table at Lysia, Dainyl could pick out the town square. He frowned. There were a goodly number of Cadmians, mounted and in ranks, on one side of the square, as well as townspeople. Should he land there?

  He decided against it. He had no idea where the majer was, and it was probably better to start with the garrison.

  “That must be the garrison there, on that rise to the west.” Galya gestured. “It’ll be tight setting down there.”

  “Set down in the road outside, then.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Dyrmant continued to circle, skylance out, as Galya brought her pteridon down into a flare. The long wings barely missed the walls of the garrison.

  As Dainyl dismounted, he could see that Galya also held her skylance at the ready. “Just wait here.”

  Galya nodded.

  Dainyl took a score of steps toward the gateless entry.

  “Sir…Marshal?” stuttered the sentry.

  “Submarshal Dainyl. Where’s Majer Mykel?”

  “Sir, he’s not here….”

  “Submarshal, sir!” called a stronger voice.

  Dainyl saw a familiar captain’s face, but had to search for the man’s name for a moment. “Captain Rhystan.”

  “Yes, sir.” Rhystan came to a halt short of the submarshal and stiffened slightly. “You’re looking for Majer Mykel? He is holding a court-martial. One of the rankers killed a local who was trying to get coins from him. The majer felt the locals should see the process.”

  Dainyl glanced through the gap where the gates had once been into the near-ruined courtyard beyond.

  “The court-martial is in the town square, sir,” continued Rhystan. “The majer felt that holding the proceeding here would not have been appropriate, for a number of reasons.”

  “I can see that. I’ll ride down there, then. I’ll need a mount.”

  “I’ll send a squad with you, sir.” The captain gestured to the sentry. “Tell Wholent to mount second squad and report here with a spare mount for the Submarshal. On the double.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  Dainyl surveyed the captain. Unlike Mykel, he clearly had no Talent, and he seemed slightly older than the majer. “How have matters been going here, Captain?”

  “Did you receive the majer’s dispatch to you, sir? I wouldn’t want to cover what you know.”

  “His report is one of the reasons I’m here. His wording was cautious, but he seemed to suggest that matters were anything but what might be expected.”

  “Submarshal, sir, that is a fair statement. The majer has often been known for his directness. When he is not…so direct, that is always for a reason.”

  “What might that reason be, Captain?”

  Dainyl could sense Rhystan’s discomfort, but he looked down at the Cadmian officer, waiting patiently.

  “There have been strange creatures in the quarry,” Rhystan finally went on, “and the flying beasts like small pteridons. In addition, at least one member of the former garrison here may have been killed with a weapon resembling your sidearms, sir. With that, and with what the majer saw of the troopers in strange uniforms and weapons similar to the skylances, he was most concerned.”

  Dainyl nodded slowly. There had been nothing about a death in the garrison with a lightcutter, but his best guess was that someone, perhaps the Cadmian killed with the lightcutter, had observed and recognized the rebel alectors, and enough of the garrison had seen the killing that all had to be silenced. “He and you were right to be concerned. There are rebel forces, and they may have control of the Regional Alector’s compound.” He looked up at the sound of hoofs on the pavement of the courtyard. The captain must have had a squad on ready standby.

  “I’ll need to check with the majer.” Dainyl walked over to the spare horse and mounted.

  “Yes, sir.”

  As he rode past the pteridon, looming above even the mounted Cadmians, Dainyl looked at the grounded pteridon and its flyer. “Just hold here.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The street down to the high road and the high road itself were nearly empty, although several indigens stared openly at the alector riding with a squad of Cadmians. When they neared the square, Dainyl surveyed the area. Two full Cadmian mounted companies were drawn up—one on the east side of the square, one on the west side.

  Dainyl rode slowly up the west side, behind the ranked Cadmians, until he was abreast of the center of the square. There he dismounted and handed the reins to one of the Cadmians. He made his way through a gap in the mounted riders, then stopped.

  In the space south of the statue of the duarches was a small table. Behind it sat the majer and a gray-haired local. The local was slightly to one side, in a position suggesting that he was merely advising the majer.

  Three benches were set facing the table. On the single bench to the east sat a lone Cadmian, his wrists bound before him, with five Cadmians standing behind the bench, but facing the majer. On one of the other benches on the west side sat a woman with a bandaged and bruised face, and two other women. On the other bench sat two men in patroller’s tunics, and a Cadmian with a heavily bound arm in a sling.

  Dainyl had to use his Talent to hear the proceedings.

  One of the patrollers had just stepped forward. “Cormer, sir.”

  “…what you saw on Quattri morning?”

  “…well, at first, wasn’t much at all to see. The girls in Wurlua’s place, one of ’em came running to the post, said there was a crazy Cadmian in one of the rooms…”

  Dainyl listened as first one patroller and then the other told his story. Next came the older woman, whose hair should have been white, but was an orangish blonde.

  “…seemed nice enough…polite…two coppers for the room for the whole night…came in with Fylena…she don’t usually go with fellows, but you don’t know…Didn’t see it, but heard steps later, heavy ones, and it was Oskart, fellow who’s usually with Fylena. Went upstairs in a hurry. Heard some loud talking. Someone laughed. There was a lot of moving around, and then everything got real quiet. Didn’t hear nothing, not at all—”

  “No cries? No screams?” asked the majer.

  “None that I heard. Not until later. Must have been a glass later. Fylena screamed her head off…things like ‘Killer!’ Other things, too….”

  After the older woman—Wurlua, Dainyl gathered—the next witness was Fylena, the battered woman.

  “…asked me to meet him at Wurlua’s for a drink. Gave me a half silver.”

  “Why did you go?” asked the majer.

  “Tavern closes after midnight…he said he had to
check in, but that he’d be back, and that he had a bottle and a room at Wurlua’s…seemed nice enough…promised me another half silver…anyway, he met me outside Fusot’s place, two glasses past midnight, something like that…went up the back way…he had some more of the brandy…so did I…he started to take off my clothes…told him I wasn’t that kind of woman…thought he just wanted company…” The woman shuddered, then went on. “I screamed, but I guess no one heard….”

  “How loudly did you scream?” asked the majer.

  “Loud, sir. I did. Oskart heard me, and he came through the door. The trooper there, didn’t even give him a chance, just took his dagger and ran in through his eye. Then, he barred the door, and gagged me…and…he…well…he did what he wanted…more than once…it was.” She shuddered again. “When I could get a hand free…got the gag off…that was when I really screamed….”

  Dainyl nodded, wondering how the majer would handle the evasions and misstatements.

  “Could you explain why no one in the house heard you, but a man who was outside could?”

  “He did, sir. He did, and he killed him.”

  The majer asked several more questions, enough that it was clear to Dainyl that he knew the woman was lying.

  Then came the Cadmian on trial. Dainyl could sense an ugliness of aura about the man and wondered if Mykel could as well.

  “…wasn’t like that at all, sir…. Me and the girl were talking at the tavern. I told her that I had to go to the barracks and check in, but I could get back and spend some time with her, if you know what I mean, and she asked what I meant. I gave her half a silver and said I’d like to enjoy her, and that she could have another later. Now, that’s as clear as you can get, sir, and she said I could get a room at Wurlua’s…. When I came back…she had the bottle I’d bought, and we went up the stairs. I was in no hurry, figured I had three-four glasses, and she was a pretty thing….”

  Dainyl frowned. So far, from what he could tell, the Cadmian had been telling the truth, at least as he saw it.

  “…she starts taking off her apron, and then her skirt, and hangs ’em on the peg on the back of the door…must have slipped the bolt on the door…well…she’s not bad-looking, wearing just a shift…but the door busts open and this fellow’s there with a dagger. He asks what I’m doing with his woman. Frig! I been set up. You expect that in Northa, but not in a sow-town like Hyalt. I just laughed at him, told him to get lost…he said he might—if I left first and handed over my purse, seeing as it was his girl. No sheeplover’s going to do that to me. Told him that, and he came after me with the knife…. Didn’t know how to use it…I took it away from him…would a just tossed him out, except he kneed me in the balls…stabbed him…didn’t have much choice…went into his eye…”