by Pam Uphoff
"I've just done you a serious disfavor." He sat at the captain's gesture. "I hadn't realized that my nephew, Crown Prince Rebo, was in the rotation. Everything you feared about me after finding me assigned here, start fearing again. Rebo's a good rider and fighter, but he doesn't like being ordered around, and he knows he's report proof. My recommendation is to keep sending him out to scout, with a couple of people under him. One order per day, so to speak."
Robanik sighed. "Thanks for the heads up."
"He may have done some growing up since I was around him much—the old gods know I improved with age." Garit shrugged. "Hopefully he's had as good an example to follow as I did." He ducked out before Rebo tracked the captain down. Assuming Rebo would do such a thing.
Which he hadn't. Garit introduced them around the dinner table. With the colonel absent, Captain Robanik presided, and put them all at ease.
"So, Garit, you decided you liked this life?" Rebo eyed him curiously.
Garit nodded. "It suits me better than I thought it would. This is your second posting, isn't it? Or have I lost track and you're almost done?"
"Barely started, and it wasn't my idea. Old Gods! Finally found a noblewoman worth pursuing and Uncle Rufi throws a fit and sends me off to Banic for a couple of months, then I come back and learn that I have a choice between a two year rotation or being sent off to Uncle Byson. Until Eden's married off and I'm safe from her father's ambitions." He hunched down and glowered.
"Damn." Garit frowned. "What's wrong with the father? I think I met him once. Why do they think he'd have so much influence?"
"Lord Matthew Gallery. He's new to the city, well, two and a half years ago he was new. Now he's a filthy rich patron of the arts." Rebo snorted in disgust. "Uncle Rufi tried to feed me a line about him being a powerful wizard, and how I absolutely could not marry his daughter."
Garit scratched his chin. "I wish I was free to go talk to some people. They might give me more information on the man. Possibly even defuse Rufi's worries." Except Colonel Janic will have asked Xen, first thing. But . . . this is a bit odd. Surely Rebo hasn't been wooing a lady for over two years? "I'll see if there's anything I can find out, that might help."
Rebo looked a bit cheered, to have someone on his side.
"If nothing else, if the young lady, Eden? Yes, if Lady Eden is two years older, she'll also be two years less emotionally dependent on her father. You can try that card, too." Garit glanced up toward the head of the table. "I was surprised when you showed up. This is awfully late for a second posting."
All the youngsters nodded. Rebo snickered. "We were chasing the Gold Gang. Had a hot trail, and it kept coming and going. So we kept after it, long after we ought to have headed back to Fort Oven. So we got out of there a good six weeks after we ought to have." He sniffed. "Not that Rufi appreciated our diligence. In fact he was steamed, carried on about us dashing all around the desert like a pack of wildmen."
"Did you catch them?" Garit tried really hard to wish Rebo'd had the success every officer in the army had dreamed of.
"Not a hope. I think they were having fun, leading us around in circles." One of the other young lords grumbled.
"And some people are gullible." That comment was very soft. Rebo's mouth tightened, but whoever had said it must have proven himself able to defend himself against princely retaliation.
They finished their meal in silence.
Captain Robanik took his company out the next day.
A very smug colonel got back from his honeymoon a few days later.
Garit had trouble keeping a straight face while he brought the colonel up to date.
"Damn, I forgot all about the rotation." The happy glow faded slightly, then returned. "But I'm sure you handled it all. Why were they late? Weather?"
"Chasing bandits at the end of a long patrol. It delayed their start, and I suspect they had to go easy on their horses."
"I see." The colonel eyed the papers on his desk. "Well, it looks like they're all ours until spring."
Chapter Twenty-eight
Summer 1391
Ash, Foothills Province, Section Two
Azure juggled Halo and sighed.
The older witches were still furious.
Even her mother was ticked, although she'd defended her against the Dark Crescents.
Not that she'd expected anything else. But damn it, if she wanted to get married, why not? She lived in Karista, not this little witch's enclave. She was a part of Karista's social scene and she was going to make Tanner proud, not ashamed of her, and, well, Halo, if they could pull off acting like she was a year younger than she actually was.
The next tap at her door was Lady Rustle. Her mother glared.
Her mother's arch rival just grinned. "Goodness, you've stirred them up worse than I did when Xen was born. Congratulations!"
The older witch at least looked friendly.
"It occurred to me that I have something that might make life easier for you. Has Colonel Trick announced the birth of his daughter?"
"No. We figured we'd wait nine months. By the time he's reassigned and we make a public appearance, well, there's not that much difference between a two year old and a three year old." Azure shrugged, a bit defiantly.
"You should be able to see this." Rustle brought out a stone widget with something attached. Azure frowned, trying to focus on it.
"A stone thingy. How thoughtful of you, Rustle." Mother curled a lip.
The stone handle was actually two stone handles. Pulling them apart opened up a . . . cradle. "There's almost no time in there. The baby will think you closed the lid, then immediately opened the lid, no matter if you experienced a night, a week, or ten years."
"What?" Mother stared down at it. "Like Hell's whole house. I used to do that to all the girls, so we could go out for dinner."
Rustle nodded. "They're so very handy. Almost as handy as these corridors are going to be. I just dragged one all the way from Gemstone. We'll see how many gold miners are willing to use it . . . I've half a mind to just go ahead and take it to Wallenton, but Wolf wants to keep an eye on it."
Mother snorted. "So if any bandits come through they'll be in the middle of the village, instead of the middle of Wallenton?"
Rustle grinned. "The other end is inside Gemstone, so it's more likely we'll end up going there to help them. Anyhow," she tapped the handles. "You don't want to overuse it, or you'll dry up your milk. But I'll bet you can whittle away at the time, and produce a three month old baby a year from now."
Mother frowned at the cradle. "You could keep your milk by helping Inky. Old Gods! The stories about that wine, and growing up around Hell! You'd think she'd have known better."
Rustle nodded. "That's got to be the scariest combination of disasters I've ever heard of." She sighed. "I envy you your granddaughters, though, Trump. Even if they came a bit overabundantly and all at once."
"Careful, Rustle! The God of Just Deserts is downstairs." Trump smiled cattily. "You could end up with a dozen little firebug granddaughters just like Quicksilver. She was quite impressive as a child. I trust she's learned control."
"Oh yes. I'm not hardly worried about her burning down Karista."
***
Tanner hated to admit it, but the Crown Prince was a disappointment after almost a year of Garit's cheerful competence. He and Captain Robanik took Garit's advice and kept him out in the field and with his own little scouting command as much as possible. And after a word from one of the scouts, on the east side of the mountains where he was less likely to find a young woman to offend.
He'd gotten a missive from General Negue. Under the watchful gaze of the military and the government, magicians were opening things called corridors, sort of like the gates, but they just went from one place to another in the same World. Rather comforting, actually. However delightful an intellectual idea the Parallel Worlds theory was, he himself was happy to have these nice physical constructs that just sat there and acted like bridges.
This was the kind of magic he could 'believe' in. Engineering. Not some mystical nonsense.
It was going to change the movements of ores incredibly, bypassing the mountains. At first they had to go from Gemstone to Ash via Corridor, and then either pass the fort and continue down the Old Road, or go the other way and take the public corridor from Wallenton down to the city. They were studying the effects, and would, eventually, extend the corridor further. Wise of them to make the changes incrementally.
The best part about it was that he needed to get into Ash very regularly.
Or at any rate he had yet another excuse.
Azure was back in her parents' house, but they had it almost to themselves. The other 'sisters', a courtesy group term, not always a blood relationship, had taken their babies back to Karista. Sandy and Heliotrope had stayed for a while, and then Indigo and Fuchsia had come for some 'lessons' with the 'witches.'
"I can't believe how fast she's grown." Tanner curled up around his two girls, snuggled up to Azure and reaching around her to let Halo grab his finger in her fist.
Azure chuckled. "That's because you see her at two week intervals. It seems very slow to me."
"I'm going to have to be away a bit longer this next month. we've gotten reports from Fort Iceberg that they evicted their bandits, but the bulk of them escaped and headed south. I'm going to run some long sweeps up the valley and into the mountains. I don't want them getting down this far." He shifted uncomfortably. "I wish Ash had walls. You could barricade yourself long enough for a force from the fort to get here, even if there are as many bandits as reported."
Azure chuckled. "I love you, Tanner. I am perfectly safe."
He worried all over again when he looked at the corridors. On this end there was supposed to be an illusion hiding it—rather a poor one, in his opinion. Those foggy areas did not look like the side of the barn. On the other end of one, the Mayor of Gemstone, a very well organized and intelligent man, had requested the builders to place the corridor against the rock face of a cliff. He had built an ingenious big door, covered with a solid layer of thin cut rocks, to close across the corridor. It was very well hidden, and shifting some handy loose rock could make it even more unobtrusive very quickly. The other corridor was to a place called Rip Crossing, where a number of the local youngsters had moved and built the only other successful colony in Desolation Province. Their winter quarters were impressive, but for more than half the year they were virtually abandoned, and the corridor vulnerable to misuse.
He started running small scouting parties through it regularly. After some thought he'd decided it was a good job for the Crown Prince, since the probability that someone would cross the New Lands to use the corridor really was quite small. Prince Rebo had stopped complaining and volunteered to keep an eye on the place even after all the colonists returned for the Winter.
"If I was a bandit, that's where I'd like to sit out a winter."
Tanner nodded. "Good idea, actually. Check about secure quarters and take a small patrol with you."
"It'll have to be very small, sir, they really do get packed in there." He bit his lip. "Perhaps just Maco and Fisi. They get along well with everyone there."
Tanner nodded. "All right. I'll have Robanik release them to you." He made a note to find another officer to take over in the spring, when the Crown Prince would move on to his next assignment.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Fall Equinox 1391
Karista, Kingdom of the West
Xen held the chair for Heliotrope as she sat down in her assigned place, next to him. He waited until Lady Justina on his other side was seated, then seated himself. It was a nice break from watching Oners, both here and there, but it made him itchy to be away. But Janic wanted him here, so here he was.
"Did you enjoy your summer in the country, Lady Heliotrope?" He asked politely.
She smiled, "The temperatures are very pleasant in the mountains, but really, no shopping!"
Lady Justina smiled snarkily. "I understand one of your sisters had to get married."
"Had to? Oh, Lady Justina, we witches just don't get married. Everyone was furious with her. You'd have thought she'd just sold every witch alive into slavery, the way the older witches carried on. But Azure was adamant. She said that she and Tanner were in love, and were going to spend their lives together. Really, it was maudlin enough for one of those summer plays we missed. They got married, and I think poor Tanner spent the whole summer riding back and forth from Fort to Village."
Lady Justina sniffed dubiously. "A Land Grant Holder marrying without pomp? Without even waiting long enough for his family to attend?"
Xen snickered. "According to Garit, Colonel Trick was afraid to give the older witches time to make Azure change her mind. She said yes, and ten minutes later the deed was done."
Heliotrope giggled. "Exactly. But I'm afraid the hoity toity gossip circuit is going to put the worst interpretation on it."
Lady Justina's eyes narrowed at Heliotrope's breezy dismissal of the upper class.
"Ah, no doubt. Juicier, that way. The Fort's not a family posting, is it?" Xen nodded.
"No. And Tanner's got two more years there. I think Azure will be back in the city for the winter season, moping, no doubt."
"I can't imagine any of you sisters moping." Lady Hanna said from the far side of the table. "Do you think the rest of you will marry, after all?"
"Certainly not! When we feel the need to enlarge the Pyramid, we'll either have babies or see if there are any young witches in Ash who want to move here."
"So husbands have no place in your lives?"
At the familiar voice, Xen leaned around Heliotrope. "Baylor! Haven't seen you in ages. How is Havwee? Lady Heliotrope, have you met Lord Baylor Treham?"
"Lord Baylor, a pleasure to meet you. No, husbands are an impediment to our power and advancement. I think my sister has made a very unwise decision."
"I'm sure Colonel Trick will be able to keep her in the fashion to which she is accustomed." Baylor chuckled. "After all, witches' huts come cheap. No?"
That brought a few snickers from nearby. Xen and Heliotrope, after a long stunned silence, just shrugged at each other.
"Personally," Xen dropped his voice. "I think Baylor's building up to such well deserved deserts that a mere insult to your family's wealth will just make the Hell Hounds snicker and sit back and wait for him to do it to himself."
Heliotrope's lips twitched a bit at that. "Oh, you must tell me the gossip about him. Some other time." She raised her voice a bit to carry. "You're posted in Havwee? I've heard you've been having trouble with bandits?"
"Heh." Baylor sounded a bit sour. "They keep slipping away. I think we've harassed them enough that they've moved on."
"Don't like hearing that! Did they go north or south?" Male tones from further up the table.
Xen leaned and spotted Governor Newry, up the table with the old folk. Thought I recognized that voice. Yeah, we don't need a couple hundred bandits chased up into our province. Even Ash might have problems with that large of a gang.
"South. We think. Wouldn't be the first time we'd been fooled by a false trail."
"Is it magic?" A woman on the far side of the table looked eager. "I heard there was a witch! A white haired hag leading them."
Xen froze.
Baylor growled. "Some woman with pale hair's been reported a couple of times. A witch? Bah. No such thing."
Heads turned toward Heliotrope.
Xen snickered. "Lady Heliotrope is . . . um . . . seventeen? And startlingly un-hag like. I doubt she's been running a bandit gang for the last . . . when did the rumors start? Twenty years ago? I remember them from when I was a kid."
That got some laughs, and people's attention turned to their neighbors.
Xen surveyed the table. Rally and Rena were attending. Their baby boy must be about two months old, but Rally wasn't showing any sign of coming to his senses. Hoon won't let him go. Asti and Keith were both
here, across and down the table. Good looking, well mannered bachelors were much in demand for dinner parties. Xen had quickly realized that he fell into that category himself. He looked back up the table. His host and hostess had a collection of important people; Xen recognized Duke Benni from Farofo sitting across from the Governor. A man he thought was Duke Bannic from Dry Hills Province was up there, and Lord Matthew Gallery. Apparently the God of Art was still hanging around Karista.
Lady Justina had apparently decided she needed to know more about Xen. "Why have I never heard anything about you, until you showed up a few years ago?"
"I grew up mostly in the country, but decided to do my two year rotation in the Army. I met Prince Garit there and we hit it off. I started getting invitations simply by proximity, now I get invited to balance tables."
"No, Xen, you get invited because all the daughters want you to come." Heliotrope grinned around at Justina. "His father is a colleague of Lord Hell's, very well to do. Really Xen, you should drag your parents into town and show them off. Perhaps at the Royal Ball the day after the Winter Solstice."
"There speaks a young woman who hasn't heard my mother's opinion of high society. Great Grandfather Rufi tried to give her a glimpse of high society when she was sixteen. It was pretty well disastrous. They didn't try it with her sisters, too daunting."
Heliotrope grinned. "I've heard all about it, and the scandal when she had a son."
Lady Justina had apparently been dredging up old gossip from memory. "Wait, you are Lady Rustle's son?" She looked him up and down, clearly calculating his age.
He sighed. She was, just barely, old enough to have heard all about it. "Don't worry, I have a very strong resemblance to my father.”
She blushed to have her suspicions read so easily. Down the table a bit he could practically see the pricked ears.
“Dad is the Land Grant Holder of section two, Foothills, which I expect is what you really want to know." Xen caught a twitch from Governor Newry. Oh drat. I hope Dad hasn't signed me up as a proxy for Provincial business. Having authority over the Wolf Company is bad enough! He turned back to the young witch. "So, what did you think of spending the summer in Ash? Was it nice to be around so many other, unrelated witches?"