“I’ve mentioned that, but they’ve ignored it. They claim I don’t have the authority.”
Abruptly Quaeryt smiled. “I think Vaelora and I might have the answers.” He eased out the leather case he’d carried all across Lydar, then extracted the credentials document. He stood and walked around the table to lay the document before Skarpa. “Read this part.”
Skarpa studied the words, then frowned and said, “You’re empowered to make anyone comply with terms of allegiance to Lord Bhayar of Telaryn. The only restriction is that whatever you do can’t limit the existing powers and authorities of Lord Bhayar…” He shook his head. “The High Holders will claim…”
“It doesn’t matter. Vaelora is Bhayar’s sister, and she has the same credentials, word for word … and you now have seven imagers.”
At that, Skarpa laughed. “So how would you recommend we proceed?”
“Send a message to the nearest High Holder, saying that a special envoy from Lord Bhayar will be visiting the hold, say at midday on Mardi, to receive the High Holder’s allegiance, and that his absence, given his reluctance to meet with Lord Bhayar’s dutifully appointed submarshal, will be regarded as proof of failure of allegiance.”
“And what will failure of allegiance result in?” asked Skarpa.
“I’m thinking the destruction of the entire hold house and outbuildings. Bovarian High Holders don’t seem all that inclined to respond to anything less than death or destruction.”
“You don’t think we should spell that out in the message?”
“No. Lord Bhayar shouldn’t have to do that. Courtesy, respect, and allegiance shouldn’t be withheld until destruction is threatened.”
“But that’s what you’re doing…”
Quaeryt shook his head. “The destruction is for failure to show respect. If it goes that far, we bring down the first hold … and send a message to the second, just like the one to the first.”
“They’ll all agree after that.”
“I’m not so certain about that. The accounts aren’t clear, but some few functionaries indicated to Bhayar’s clerks that they weren’t certain that some of the southern High Holders had paid tariffs in years.”
“With Bhayar’s crossbowmen after them?”
“They each have small armies, no roads, forests like jungles, and Kharst really didn’t have much of a governing structure away from the rivers.”
“You think that they’ve been providing a buffer between Kharst and Aliaro?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me.” But then, the way things are going, nothing would.
“What do you think Aliaro will do? That’s the question, isn’t it?” Skarpa paused. “You’re thinking of invading Antiago, aren’t you?”
“Only if necessary, and only if it appears likely we can conquer it.”
“I wasn’t dispatched here for that, you know?”
“I know. You were ordered to deal with any threats raised by Aliaro and the southern High Holders. But … what if the only way to deal with both of those is to eliminate Aliaro?”
“Do you think it will come to that?”
“I’d be surprised if it didn’t. I’d also be surprised if Bhayar would be terribly astonished. After all, you’re no longer under Deucalon’s command, are you?”
“No. I’m to report to Lord Bhayar directly. How did you know that?”
“I didn’t. But it has to be that way if you’re to be effective. Neither Deucalon nor Myskyl wants you to be too successful, and Bhayar knows that.”
“You’re wasted as a commander, Quaeryt.”
Quaeryt shook his head. “Bhayar can’t afford to recognize a scholar and an imager in a position much higher than a commander.” After a moment he added, “And I can’t afford to be recognized, either, especially at my age.”
“You can’t keep what you are a secret.”
“Unfortunately not. But so long as I’m perceived to be under the control of and subordinate to officers like you, it will only make the High Holders and other senior officers uneasy, rather than having them unite in opposition to Bhayar and to me.” Quaeryt managed a smile. “Shall we draft a letter?”
“I suggest that we draft letters to all five of them, setting a date for meeting the second High Holder as well, and telling the others that you and Vaelora will inform me of the dates of their meetings.”
“That makes more sense,” agreed Quaeryt. “Otherwise, matters will drag out.”
“They will anyway.”
Quaeryt nodded.
46
Lundi morning, Quaeryt first met with Subcommander Alazyn in the smallest of the inn’s plaques rooms.
“What have you been doing?” asked Quaeryt as soon as Alazyn settled into the chair on the other side of the battered circular table.
“Having the companies ride patrols. It’s been quiet. Don’t think the locals have seen this many troopers ever.”
“What about the High Holders? Have you seen any of their men?”
“About a week after you left, we saw a squad of riders in gold and green. They saw us and took to a path through the woods. Haven’t seen anyone in a uniform since. Neither have any of the submarshal’s regiments, either, even when they tried to visit some of the high holdings.”
“That’s what the submarshal said. It’s likely things will change in the next week. I’ll be doing some scouting today with first company. Now … give me a report on all your battalions.”
“Yes, sir. First battalion…” Alazyn offered concise and thoughtful reports on the readiness and strength of each battalion.
When he finished, Quaeryt went to find Zhelan and to inspect first company. Then, at two quints past seventh glass, Quaeryt and the imager undercaptains, as well as first company, rode out of Geusyn with Skarpa’s scouts. Less than half a mille outside the town, the rutted road they followed to the east-southeast narrowed to a clay track barely wide enough for a single wagon or two horses abreast.
Quaeryt frowned. According to the map Skarpa had provided the nearest high holding was that of one High Holder Chaelaet, and it was some three milles east of the east river road.
“Undercaptain Horan, forward.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’d like you to clear the area on each side of the road, so that there’s ten yards beyond each shoulder. Do it in whatever way requires the least effort on your part. Begin by clearing with a stretch some twenty yards forward of us on each side.”
“Yes, sir.”
Horan concentrated.
After a moment a wave of cold air swept across the front of the column, and a thin misty fog filled the air to the east. As the light breeze carried it away, Quaeryt could see that Horan’s imaging had removed anything that had been growing taller than a few digits and dumped the refuse into a packed mass against the remaining trees, effectively creating a barrier nearly two yards high that extended almost thirty yards ahead.
“How do you feel?” asked Quaeryt.
“I could do a few more of those, sir.”
“I’ll have you alternate. That way you can do more over the day. Undercaptain Threkhyl, forward!”
Threkhyl rode forward, and as the column moved down the road, somewhat smoothed out by Horan’s imaging, Quaeryt explained what he wanted done once more. Threkhyl cleared the next fifty yards, and first company moved on. Even so, it took more than a glass to clear the first half mille, and Quaeryt ordered a short break after that.
The second half mille took a good glass and a half. To clear the shoulders and smooth road for the entire three milles and the hundred-odd yards up the side road to the rough stone pillars marking the hill lane leading up to Chaelaet’s hold took until well after second glass of the afternoon. That wouldn’t have been possible had Quaeryt not cleared several hundred-yard stretches himself.
As the weary undercaptains rested and drank from their water bottles, Quaeryt studied the area to the east. The gray-walled hold was more like a chateau fort, sitting on the top of a
narrow ridge composed mainly of light gray rock that rose some fifty yards above the surrounding forest. The walls themselves didn’t seem that high, perhaps three yards, but they had been constructed at the top of a steep rocky slope a good fifty yards long that had been cleared of vegetation and soil. The hold and the outbuildings weren’t that extensive, making it possible that the other imagers might be able to flatten all the structures without assistance from Quaeryt.
Although Quaeryt couldn’t be certain, the lack of trees on the far side of the lower slopes of the ridge suggested that large expanses of fields and meadows lay to the east on the north side of the road. That made sense, because anyone from the west-and the River Laar-would have to pass the fortified hilltop to reach the more productive lands. The narrowness of the road and the closeness of the trees-before the imagers had changed that-would also have made any attackers on the hold vulnerable to continual assault. While a regimental-sized force could have survived such an attack, the casualties would have been significant in dealing with just one High Holder.
Quaeryt nodded. That was important, given that Skarpa had identified five High Holders within a day’s ride to the east, all located just north of the border with Antiago.
Zhelan eased his mount up beside Quaeryt’s mare. “The scouts have found some tracks on the road. They’re not that recent, and they’re all headed away from Geusyn.”
“Yesterday?”
“Late yesterday, most likely.”
Quaeryt nodded, his eyes still on the rocky hill and its hold.
“There’s a good half mille of narrow lane up to the lower gate, sir, and the lane to the upper gate is walled.”
“I thought it might be. That’s why I wanted the road cleared.”
“Will you have to have imagers do that for the next holding?”
Quaeryt shrugged. “I don’t know. The next nearest high holding is more than ten milles from here. I suspect we’ll have to do some clearing in dealing with other High Holders, but how much and when will depend on what happens tomorrow.”
Zhelan studied the hill hold for a time before speaking. “That hold looks like it has never been taken.”
“It probably hasn’t. Rex Kharst was a sovereign in name only in parts of Bovaria. That makes matters harder for Lord Bhayar.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but it makes things harder for you, the submarshal, the undercaptains, and the troopers.”
“I stand corrected, Zhelan,” replied Quaeryt with a soft laugh. “But if word gets out that any group of High Holders can defy Lord Bhayar…”
“I understand, sir.”
“For your information,” Quaeryt said softly, “I’m not planning on risking troopers unless we’re attacked on the road. Nor will there be an attack or a siege on fortified positions if a holder refuses allegiance to Lord Bhayar.” He took a deep breath. “That may be hard on some Bovarians who are innocent, but I see no point in risking men unnecessarily.”
“That was why you cleared the roadway today?”
“Yes.” And also to start building up more strength in the imagers.
“You don’t think that this Chaelaet will pledge allegiance, do you?”
“No. He’ll either evade pledging, or withdraw from his hold, or close his gates and defy us to do our worst.” Not understanding what that might be.
“There are some who will not learn.”
“No,” replied Quaeryt sadly, “there are some who have never had to learn until it is too late.”
47
Early on Mardi, with sky barely graying, Quaeryt pulled on his uniform and then his boots. From the bed, covers pulled up around her shoulders, in the dim light of a single oil lamp, Vaelora watched.
“You don’t like doing this, do you?” she finally asked.
“No, but the High Holders here aren’t any better than Kharst was. They might be worse, and letting any of them defy Bhayar will lead to more and more trouble. Our forces are spread out, and we need to end this defiance quickly while losing as few troopers as possible.”
“People will say Bhayar’s worse than Kharst.”
“So long as it’s only High Holders who say that, your brother can live with it.”
“Dearest … what if the High Holders here were what kept the Autarch from taking over this part of Bovaria?”
“I’ve thought about that, but Bhayar still can’t afford to have them making trouble. Or do you think I’m wrong?”
Vaelora shook her head. “But to establish his rule … especially with imagers…”
“I know. We’ll be the ones feared, especially by the High Holders. That’s why we’ll need a safe enclave, and a lot more imagers, when it’s all over.” Quaeryt offered a rueful smile. “But we’re also what he needs to rule, independent of the High Holders.”
“You’ve never liked the High Holders.”
“I’ve liked more than a few,” Quaeryt replied. “I don’t like the present systems of High Holders, either in Telaryn or in Bovaria. The Khellan High Council is better, but I’d worry that something like that would eventually deteriorate into something run by factors or their equivalent.”
“Why? The councilors aren’t factors.”
“Because the factors are the future, and they’ll control more and more of trade and golds. It’s already happening in Telaryn and Bovaria, in different ways. High Holders who are into trade and shipping are coming to dominate Telaryn while the wealthy factors in Bovaria control many of the towns and cities. The council system will fall to wealth. The imagers won’t.”
“That’s only if you’re successful,” Vaelora pointed out.
“Then we’d best be successful.”
“And I’d best get dressed,” replied Vaelora.
“Alas…”
“Enough of that, you lecherous imager.” But she did smile as she eased herself from the covers. “We also need to eat.”
By seventh glass, the force escorting Vaelora and Quaeryt to meet with High Holder Chaelaet was assembling on the main road just to the south and east of Geusyn. Skarpa and Quaeryt had decided that a single regiment and first company were more than enough. Quaeryt hadn’t wanted to bring Vaelora, but there was always the off chance that Chaelaet was more intelligent than his previous behavior suggested and that he was willing to meet with Quaeryt and Vaelora and pledge allegiance to Bhayar.
By two quints past the glass, the scouts were headed out. Quaeryt, Skarpa, and Vaelora rode behind the vanguard, a company from Sixteenth Regiment, with the imager undercaptains and first company immediately behind them.
Two quints later they arrived at the point where the imagers had widened the road and the open space. Skarpa looked at the road ahead, then at the cleared area beside it, and finally at Quaeryt. “You’ve had the imagers busy.”
“They didn’t have much to do in Khel, except drills. The track they called a road was too narrow.”
“What about you?”
“Some, but not enough. I was busy yesterday as well.”
“You widened it all the way to Chaelaet’s holding? Why?”
“To his gateposts. As for why … this part of Bovaria needs better roads, both for the safety of the troopers and for the future.”
“After seeing this, Chaelaet certainly won’t be there now.”
“He might not,” replied Quaeryt, “but he’s more likely to be there if he happened to be there yesterday. I suspect he left earlier.”
Skarpa offered a noncommittal nod.
A glass later they reached the end of the widened road, and Skarpa called a halt.
“It looks mostly empty,” observed Vaelora. “It’s winter, but only a few chimneys show any sign of smoke.”
“He’ll have left his retainers. He may have even left defenders.” Skarpa looked to Quaeryt. “Do you still want to go ahead with your plan?”
Quaeryt nodded. “We can shield a company from attack for a short while … long enough to withdraw. Then we’ll clear the road”-as well as anyone close
to it-“and the regiment can advance to a point below the gates. From there, the imagers can destroy the hold, wall by wall, building by building.”
“I’m wagering the woods are empty.” Skarpa’s smile was wintry.
“I wouldn’t take that wager, but here in Bovaria, who can tell? If they don’t attack, we’ll approach the gates. What happens after that depends on what they do.”
“Or don’t,” replied Skarpa.
Quaeryt turned and looked at his wife.
“Be careful,” murmured Vaelora.
“I will,” he promised, then ordered, “First company! Forward.”
Quaeryt wasn’t that surprised that he and first company were not attacked on the ride up the curving road to the bridge that crossed the depression between the road and the chateau gates, a space some fifteen yards wide and roughly that deep. He was surprised that the bridge was not a drawbridge and that the chateau gates were open.
Two guards stood at the far side. They appeared to be waiting, as if they’d expected Quaeryt and his men. Between them stood a white-haired man in green and gold livery. His face was pale.
Green and gold…? Abruptly Quaeryt nodded. Then he studied the bridge. From what he could tell, it looked solid.
“Welcome to Laetor, Submarshal. You may enter as you wish,” called the older man.
“First squad,” suggested Zhelan quietly.
Quaeryt nodded.
“First squad! Forward!”
Quaeryt watched as the troopers eased their mounts past him and the scouts and then across the timbered and lightly railed bridge barely wide enough for two mounts abreast or a small wagon. The bridge creaked slightly, he thought, but he could see no movement of the timbers as the troopers crossed the span.
Still maintaining shields, Quaeryt followed them, with Zhelan beside him and the remainder of first company behind him.
The white-haired man had retreated to the far side of the stone paved space inside the walls and gates, gates that did not appear to have been closed in some time. Once first company was re-formed inside the courtyard, Quaeryt rode forward, reining up short of where the speaker stood before the ironbound doors to what appeared to be the main keep.
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