"General," Turbery said to bis superior, "what the seer is telling us isn"t altogether fresh information."
"Dammit, it isn"t," the old man said. "But he doesn"t have to sound so d.a.m.ned gleeful about it!" They were talking as if neither of us were in the chamber.
"As he said, these are harsh days," Turbery said. "I"m of a mind to do as he suggests. After all, the Rule of Ten have seldom expressed much interest when we move our soldiers about, so long as they themselves are well-guarded."
Protogenes nodded, like a great, wise bear.
"Yes," he said. "I despise judgments of the ; of the moment, fear- *ing them to be based on the heart"s summons. But I sense the seer is telling something very close to the truth, General Turbery. We shall follow bis suggestions."
Tenedos only smiled a bit, but knowing him as I did, I could feel the pure joy radiate.
"Still further," Protogenes went on. "I am of a mind that this seer, whether he"s using magic or just common sense, is giving us far better insights than our other advisers and staff. "Seer, I would like you to give up your teaching duties, at least until the present situation clarifies itself, and work directly under myself and General Turbery. I don"t know what the position might be called, but I"ll give you full powers, in writing, to do whatever you think is necessary, and I meananything. Just one favor: Before you start moving my whole d.a.m.ned army about, at least do me the favor of telling us." He chuckled, but there wasn"t much humor in the laugh. "I"m not sure what else to order, but as the days pa.s.s I"m certain there"ll be changes made. Will you serve us, sir?" Tenedos rose.
"There could be no greater pleasure or honor, sir, than to serve you... and all Numantia."
"Very well. Is there anything you need?" "Yes," Tenedos said. "I"d like to have Captain a" Cimabue detached from his regiment and a.s.signed to me." "Done. Captain, will you need anything?" "No, sir."
Then I thought. "Or, rather, yes, sir. Not for me, but for the seer."
Tenedos frowned, but I continued. "Sir, I"ve served under the seer for more than two years, and I think he"s a great man. I shouldn"t be saying this in front of him, I suppose, for it sounds like I"m sucking up.
But it"s the truth. He has one monstrous flaw, though. He won"t see when he"s in jeopardy, and I know, right now, he is in the greatest danger of his life, as great a one as Numantia herself."
I don"t know where these words were coming from-I was not generally gifted with the ability to make speeches. But now they flowed easily.
"I think that"s a reasonable a.s.sumption," Turbery said. "So what would you have us do?"
"Order him to find safe living quarters, sir. Right now it"d take no more than one or two Tovieti, creeping in at night, and..." I stopped.
"The captain exaggerates," Tenedos said. "I"m sure my magic would warn me." I felt like responding that at least twice before he hadn"t been able to foresee an action of Thak"s, but kept my mouth closed.
"Your suggestion is excellent," Turbery said. "As it happens, we have just the place, not half a mile from this palace. It was used to house hostages who were in fact prisoners, and is hence easy to guard and hold. Seer Tenedos, I order you to move into these quarters."
"Very well, sir."
Protogenes was studying me closely.
"Seer Tenedos," he said, "is this man to be trusted?"
"Absolutely, sir."
"It strikes me," the old man said, "remembering my own days as a junior officer, how h.e.l.lish hard it was to get anything done if it didn"t coincide with the interests of my superiors.
"The easiest solution would be to promote you, Captain a Cimabue. Just as it"d be easier for you, Seer, if you held the rank of, say, general. But I"m not prepared to do that, at least not yet. General Turbery, when you have Seer Tenedos"s orders drawn up, also include the captain"s name in that.
"You, sir, are now empowered to do anything you think necessary to not only save Numantia, but to keep the seer alive."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." I saluted.
"That"s all," General Protogenes said. "We shall be in almost daily contact, I"m sure. Now, we have set ourselves a task. It is time to go to work."
"Thank you, sir," I said as Tenedos and I rode away from the palace.
"I"m not sure I was right in asking for you to attend this*meeting, which I did not only because I wished you to share the honor, but because I shall need your clearheadedness in the days to come."
"Why not?"
"Now it would appear I have acquired a nursemaid. Hmmph."
I laughed, then asked, "Sir. Your opinion. Will this save the day?"
Tenedos considered for a long time before he answered.
"I don"t know. Certainly the generals said all the right words and supposedly gave me complete powers. But they are as much a part of the system as the Rule of Ten. They rose to their present positions under it, so I wonder if they"re able to question things as deeply as they should."
"I noted you said nothing about it being time for the Rule of Ten to be replaced."
"Of course not." Tenedos snorted. "I"m mad... but I"m hardly a fool."
Three hours later a messenger from the Palace of War came to report that the "orders in question" had been dispatched, and that theTauler and six of the other fast packets had been requisitioned by the army for "special purposes."
Now all we had to do was hang on until some real soldiers arrived, and we could move to the next step: going into the warrens of Nicias and winkling out the Tovieti.
Domina Lehar liked it little when I told him of my new a.s.signment. He said he"d been counting on me to help rebuild the regiment, and I almost felt sorry for him. But what the h.e.l.ls did he think his badges of rank were given him for-to impress the other rice planters at a formal ball? I"m sure he was even less happy when I informed him I"d be stealing certain of his warrants. The Golden Helms may have been a useless formation in my eyes, but there were certain men I"d noted as being worthwhile.
The first, after Troop Guide Karjan, was Legate Petre, of course. He grumbled that he"d not joined the army to be a warden, but when I told him how important it was, and would he rather be teaching his men just why the inside of their buckles should be polished when they went on parade, he gave in.
Quite joyously I put away the Helms" dress uniform for a simpler fighting dress of a helmet with plain reached crest, nosepiece, and cheek plates; mail waistcoat over a flaring silk blouse; tight pants; boots with sideplates; and a cloak. Instead of a shield I laced a steel guard to my left forearm. I ignored the normal cavalry lance and saber, and carried a plain straight sword of the style I preferred, a dagger shorter than the one I"d dueled Malebranche with, and, unstrung and kept in a saddle-carrier with war-arrows, a short compound bow.
My first task was to make sure Seer Tenedos"s new quarters were completely secure. The building was just as Turbery had said, a four-story circular tower with a moat on the outside and a small keep on the inside. It had sat disused for years, so the first order of business was getting it cleaned. As one of my last duties with the Helms, I"d set my own troop to the task. The "Silver Centaurs" howled complaints about being no better than housemaids when I turned them out with brooms, mops, and orders to clean the building until it shone like their helmets. I refrained from agreeing that was about the limit of their abilities.
I wished I"d not been so cavalier as to loan Legate Yonge to Maran"s friend. I could have used him and his friends, but my word had been given. When I thought of Amiel, Maran"s face and body crashed into my mind, and I was swept away for an instant, thinking of her. But then I came back, and hoped she was lying tanned, lithe, and lazy on the deck of her husband"s yacht. I also, idiotically, hoped she was celibate, and that her husband had acquired an acute shrinking disease in his private parts.
I fought my mind back to duty and the job of protecting Tenedos. I wished the Lancers would hurry and arrive-I planned to loot them thoroughly for Tenedos"s bodyguard.
The best I could manage at present was to select men from the units around the capital, not accepting volunteers for obvious reasons, and then a.s.sign them to their details randomly. Even if there were Tovieti among them, and I a.s.sumed there were, they would have little time to plan an attack and, since I teamed up the soldiers arbitrarily, the chances of everyone on a detail being conspirators was unlikely. Each day I reshuffled the details as well, and once a week returned the men to their units to be replaced with fresh soldiery.
As senior warrants I used Karjan and the other warrants I"d stolen from the Helms. Karjan, even though he gave me a dark look from time to time, proved an excellent leader, and I found myself depending more and more on him.
But all this was no more than putting a plaster on a scratch while the patient was bleeding to death from a hundred wounds. I wondered what would come next, how this unrest in Nicias would be permanently ended.
Kutulu was also rea.s.signed to Tenedos, and with him came his stacks and boxes of cards. He also brought some a.s.sistants.
I don"t know what duties Tenedos put them to, but when I asked the warden if I could borrow a few of his men to instruct my guards in the fine art of security, he snapped that I could not-he was casting for far greater fish.
I saw little of Tenedos during this time. He was closely guarded in his travels by specially picked guards who worked directly for the Palace of War. I didn"t trust them entirely, but could do little until my own escorts were chosen and ready.
He came back to the tower late one night, and came into my quarters.
"I would dearly appreciate a small brandy," he sighed, "and the h.e.l.ls with the state of emergency. There are times you"ve got to cheat on yourself."
I kept a flask for exactly these times, and poured him a drink. He sipped at it. "In case you have ever wondered, the singularly most stubborn, selfish, thickheaded people who walk this earth are magicians."
I said I was alreadyvery well aware of that, thank you. "Have you heard of the Chares Brethren?" I had not. He explained they were a group of the most influential magicians in Nicias. They weren"t a secret order, but were quite comfortable with few people knowing of their existence.
"They were created," Tenedos went on, "as a sort of mutual aid society. They"ve also become a very powerful political group in Nicias. I"ve been trying to woo mem and I"d just as soon try to seduce ten temple virgins at once, or herd a flock of rabid sheep."
"Might I ask why?"
"I won"t be specific, Damastes, because my idea might be a foolish one. Perhaps you know that magic is the most selfish of all the arts." I did not.
"A magician works a spell to benefit himself or, grudgingly, a client, for which he expects to be richly rewarded. The more selfish the deed, the more likely it is to be granted, or so it seems to me. Perhaps that"s why there"s more talk of black magic than white. Certainly spells that have been tried, altruistically trying to spread a blanket of peace over the world, or ending famine, seldom seem to take.
"Or perhaps the G.o.ds are happy seeing us squirm in misery. "At any rate, I had a thought on the matter, and am trying to get these raving fountains of all knowledge to help me test it.
"But so far all they"re doing is talking, and don"t seem to notice that the world is in flames around them."
I was wandering around the outside of the tower, trying to think like a Tovieti intent on breaking in and how I could thwart the villain, when the messenger found me. He was a Golden Helm, and with the adjutant"s compliments, could I find the time to return to the Helms" cantonment on what I might consider personal business?
I couldn"t imagine how I had any personal business at all*these days, but grudged the time, telling Petre where I was going.
Sitting outside the regimental headquarters was a for-hire pony trap. I dismounted, pulled off my helmet, and entered.
Maran was sitting on a bench, just inside the door. She came to her feet as I entered, and gladness lit her face. Then it vanished, and I saw that look of an innocent who"d somehow sinned without knowing it and expected to be punished.
She rushed into my arms and I held her, my helmet clanging to the floor unnoticed. I did not know what to say or do. Looking over her shoulder I saw a leather valise sitting by the bench.
We stood in silence for a s.p.a.ce. Then she said, her voice a bit m.u.f.fled against my shoulder. "This is the first time I"ve ever hugged anybody wearing armor."
"I hope not the last," I managed.
She stepped back, and we looked at each other wordlessly.
"I left him," she said.
"When?"
"Three days ago. We docked at some island, and we were supposed to have a big banquet with its governor. And... and I couldn"t do it. I couldn"t do any of it. Not anymore.
"I threw some things in that bag, found a sailor who had a fast boat, offered him gold, and he took me back to Nicias." She smiled a little. "He was old enough to be my grandfather, but I still think he hoped I"d think him young and l.u.s.ty."
"Idiot," I said fondly. "You could have been sold to the pirates."
"Would you have come looking for me if I had?"
Of course the notion was quite absurd-I had a far more serious duty here. But I knew enough to lie, and as the words came I knew they weren"t lies at all, but the raw truth.
"Always and forever."
I kissed her, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Captain Lardier peer out of his office, look shocked, and vanish.
"Are you sure of what you"ve done?" I asked her.
She nodded. "I"ll never go back to him. Not even if you and I... not ever." She stepped away from me.
"I came here as soon as we landed. Now ... I guess I"ll go to our... my house. I"ll have his things moved out, I suppose. My family will be too busy screaming for a while for me to go near them." She looked wistful. "I wish I could stay with you. But I guess that"d be scandalous."
"Worse than that," I agreed. "Forbidden by law." I didn"t like the idea of her going back to that house, even if every sign of Count Lavedan was stripped away. Also, more logically, I a.s.sumed that others might know of our affair, and see Maran as a way to me, and through me to Seer Tenedos.
But there was no other choice.
Then the idea struck. For the first time, and one of the few times thereafter, I used a trust dishonestly.
And by the G.o.ds I"m glad I was brave enough to do it. I felt that men, and I feel it now, even knowing what came later. If I had unlimited powers, by Jaen I was now going to use, or rather misuse, them.
"But you aren"t going back to that mansion," I said firmly.
"Then where?"
"You are going to live in a nice, safe tower, surrounded by men who"ll do anything to ensure you"re safe. With me. That is, if you wish."
Maran looked at me, and again I fell into the dark, warm depths of her eyes.
"I wish," she whispered. "Oh, Damastes, how I wish."
"This is most irregular," Tenedos said. "But I can see your point. I don"t think you could be blackmailed even if the countess were a hostage, but there is no point in taking the chance."
"Thank you, sir." I was vastly relieved.
Tenedos shrugged.
"Since it"s already done, it would look even stranger if I countermanded your orders."
"Might I suggest you consider doing the same with Baroness Rasenna? There"s more than enough room."
"No," Tenedos said firmly. "First, because at the moment I have no time for anything personal. Secondly, she is in no danger whatsoever."
"Are you sure?"
"If it makes you feel better, know that I cast a certain spell using, among other things, some of my own blood. Rasenna is very safe, very invisible, even if Thak himself came seeking her. Now, please remove your long Cimabuan nose from my business!"
"Yes, sir."