Before long, Yusalt appeared at the door to the study. He stiffened. “Sir? You requested my presence?”
“I did. Come on in and sit down.” Alucius settled into the wooden chair behind the desk. He waited until the junior officer seated himself, then studied him for a time. There was no sign of ifrit presence. “You’re from Fiente, I see. Your family has been there a long time, I take it?”
“Yes, sir.” Yusalt looked at Alucius only briefly.
“What do they do?”
“Ah…well, my father has the seed-oil works.”
Alucius kept his nod to himself. That explained a great deal. “Do you have any brothers?”
“Yes, sir. Four.”
“You’re one of the younger ones.”
“The youngest, sir.”
“Did any of the others serve in the militia or the Guard?”
“Yes, sir. Aluard, he’s the next to oldest. He was a conscript about ten years ago, when Clyon was the commander. He does some growing these days and helps with the oil works.”
“Tell me what you recall about the fights around Pyret when you were with Sixth Company.”
A brief expression of confusion crossed Yusalt’s face. “Ah, yes, sir. That was a number of years ago…”
Alucius waited without speaking.
“We were ordered up there. I was the undercaptain. Captain Tregar was in charge. Majer Dysar headed the whole militia force. We were all crowded into this holding in Pyret. It snowed all the time. I remember that. The Matrites had this spear-thrower, and it just cut people down…like they were overripe oilseeds. I guess that was how they pushed the other companies out of Soulend and farther south. We had this big assault on their camp, except it had been a militia outpost, and we lost a lot of lancers. But we were lucky. When it was all over, their spear-thrower had exploded. Some of the lancers said there were sanders there, but I never saw any. That could have been because I was on road duty, making sure the Matrites didn’t have reinforcements coming in from the west. After that…well, it got colder and snowed more, and they didn’t do so well in the cold, and we pushed them back to the edge of the Westerhills before winter ended.” Yusalt shrugged. “Then it got warmer, and the Matrial sent more lancers. That was when Captain Tregar got it, and Captain Cavalat took over. They pushed us back to Soulend, and nothing much changed for almost a year. We fought some, but not a lot, and then they pulled back. That was when everyone thought the Matrial died. But no one knew for certain.”
“Didn’t Majer Dysar have family or friends near Fiente?” That was a guess on Alucius’s part.
“Yes, sir. Both he and Colonel Weslyn visited my family several times. They knew some of the larger growers, too, like Dhafitt and Guiral.”
“What did Sixth Company do after the Matrites pulled back?”
“We moved west to the border post—that was the old stead just short of the Westerhills—and we ran patrols through the hills and along the high road. We never saw any Matrites then, though.”
“After you served with Sixth Company, you were promoted to captain and took over Seventh Company. How did that happen?”
“I can’t say that I know. It was after Colonel Weslyn—except he was a majer then—became the deputy, and I remember that he signed the orders.”
“Then you knew Colonel Weslyn fairly well.”
“No, sir. I only met him a few times before he became deputy commander. I’d have to say that he was a friend of the family, but it was more business. He was a buyer for one of the old factors—Ostar, I think—and then maybe Halanat, except I think he doesn’t run the factoring anymore. Anyway, we sold oil through the factors. Still do, but I don’t have anything to do with that.”
Alucius nodded. From what he could tell, and what his Talent reinforced, Yusalt was exactly what he seemed—a not-too-bright younger son who’d been placed at headquarters for exactly that reason—and to placate or do a favor for his father. “Thank you, Captain. I appreciate your forthrightness.” Alucius stood. “Just carry on with your duties for now. We’ll probably be making some changes, but I’ll let you know.”
Caught off guard, Yusalt belatedly rose. “Ah…yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Ah…can I…I mean, what can I say…about Colonel Weslyn?”
“I’d tell the truth. Right now, all we really know is that the Lord-Protector wanted to replace Colonel Weslyn, and Colonel Weslyn had some golds and goods that belonged to the Guard in his dwelling, and he tried to kill his replacement. Why? That’s a good question. That would suggest that there was something wrong that he didn’t want known, but at this moment, we don’t have all the answers.” Alucius offered a wry smile. “As soon as we know, I’ll let you know. There’s no harm in saying that Overcaptain Feran and I were sent to take over and find out what was wrong, and that both the Lord-Protector and Marshal Frynkel were well aware that there were problems here.”
“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.
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.”
109
On Quinti, Alucius and Feran spent much of the day just digging out information and supervising the assembly 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 t
hrough 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.”
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