Arms-Commander (Saga of Recluce)

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “Yes, ser. We’ll even have some spare mounts. Not many, but enough.”

  “Weapons?”

  “We have enough. Daryn shortened many captured long sabres. They cut well enough, and the balance isn’t bad. They cannot be thrown.”

  Saryn nodded. “I need to find the regent. We had to fight three companies of rebels in Tryenda. Our casualties weren’t bad, but the rebel lords are on the march. I’ll get back to you shortly.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  Saryn strode across the courtyard, into the palace, and up the stairs to the third level.

  Lyentha met her outside Zeldyan’s study. “She’s meeting with the clerk of the trea sury. She asked not to be interrupted.”

  “You can interrupt her, Lyentha. Or I can.”

  The armsman at the door put his hand on the hilt of his sword but got no farther before Saryn’s blade was at his throat. “This is urgent. More urgent than either of you knows.” Saryn nodded to Lyentha.

  The lady-in-waiting swallowed, then rapped on the door. “The arms-commander, Lady, with most urgent news.” Lyentha opened the door and stepped back.

  Saryn walked swiftly in, blade still in hand.

  “You may wait outside, Tregarn,” Zeldyan said politely to the small, gray-bearded man who rose from the circular table, picked up a heavy ledger, and scuttled around Saryn and out of the study.

  Behind Saryn, Lyentha closed the door.

  Zeldyan did not rise from where she was seated at the table. Behind the regent’s polite words, Saryn sensed anger. She really didn’t care, not after another day on the road thinking over what she’d missed and what she should have done—and what Zeldyan had not. But she did sheathe the short sword as she stepped forward.

  “You seem… agitated… Commander. Perhaps… we should defer this meeting.”

  “It could be that I am. The day before yesterday I lost more guards, and ended up killing another few hundred or so young men of Lornth because of the little power games your local lord-holders are playing. The forces of both Rherhn and Mortryd were waiting in ambush. So we ended up ambushing them. We did finally find the bodies of both lords and managed to capture an undercaptain, who didn’t know very much, except that they’d been ordered to dispose of any regency forces before riding north.”

  “You obviously kept them from attacking Lornth. I believe that was the goal, was it not?” Zeldyan’s voice remained chill. “I even believe that happened to be as much your idea as anything I expressed.”

  “Goal or not,” Saryn said smoothly, “they were not heading to Lornth or anywhere close. Lord Rherhn said something to the effect that Lornth was an empty symbol. Now, why were you informed about Jharyk’s problems… and then Mortryd’s—all con ve niently here in the south?”

  “That is where most of the rebels are. And the Jeranyi.”

  “Indeed, they are.” Saryn paused. “But one company, if not more, of Kelthyn’s men was already headed north of Lornth. And another of Henstrenn’s has been loitering in the north for several eightdays, and possibly even one of Lord Jaffrayt’s. Unless you’ve heard something since we left, no one has seen Henstrenn’s forces, or Keistyn’s, anywhere in the south, and my guards are the only force likely to be able to stand against them.”

  “You forget my sire.”

  “Lord Gethen may well be the best commander in all Lornth, Lady, but can he stand against all the forces that have already gathered against him… particularly if he has no time to call together his and your supporters? His holding is not a fortress, and he cannot withstand more than a short siege.”

  “How would you know that?”

  Saryn just looked at Zeldyan for a moment before replying. “I could take The Groves with two companies. There are far more than that already headed there.” Unless I miss my guess, and this time I don’t think so.

  “You know… I am the regent for my son. Not you. Not anyone else. And I will decide. Not you. Not anyone else.”

  Saryn forced herself not to answer. She was acting more like some of the lord-holders than like Ryba, who was always cool and calculating. Another set of angry words wouldn’t help, furious as she was.

  “You don’t contest that, now, do you, Commander?” pressed Zeldyan.

  “No.” Saryn shook her head, then offered a sad smile, because she felt for Nesslek, spoiled as the boy might be. “I don’t. I had hoped that by helping you and Lord Nesslek, we could make this part of Candar a better place. But everything I’ve done has made matters worse for both of you. By supporting you, I’ve raised the worst fears of the southern lords and pushed them into an attack on The Groves.”

  At those words, Zeldyan’s irritation was replaced by concern… and a different and deeper anger. “You knew this?”

  “Of course not,” Saryn replied. “Not until after the attempted ambush in Tryenda.” Not until after seeing the old Cyadoran house and hearing Klarisa’s words about the white demons. “That’s why I pressed to get back to Lornth. That’s why I used a blade to force my way in here. I wasn’t raised here. It took me a while to see what was happening.” You should have seen it sooner, but maybe you didn’t because you were raised in the north.

  Anger and puzzlement warred within Zeldyan.

  “On the way back from Tryenda, I heard some of the old southern stories about how female demons had to be chained… and they see me as a demon.” That was a guess on Saryn’s part, but not one requiring any great leap of faith.

  Zeldyan froze, if but for a moment. “They can’t honestly think that…”

  Saryn shook her head. “I doubt for a moment that the lord-holders believe that. But it makes a most con ve nient rationale for overthrowing you and the regency… and even for killing your son on the grounds that he has been fatally tempted by a woman and a female demon. Because it is a southern legend, I suspect it’s not something that you or your sire, or most of the northern lord-holders, would even think about. But that’s likely what they’re using to motivate the lord-holders involved in this rebellion. And it’s why I would strongly suggest we take all the forces we can to The Groves without any delay.”

  “I did not want to abandon Lornth. That would have shown weakness and encouraged more unrest.”

  “Without you and Nesslek, Lornth means nothing, and holding it now means a company you cannot use against the rebels. Or, if your father and Nesslek are under attack, to save either.”

  “You see no other choice?”

  “No. Do you?”

  “Then we must leave immediately.” Zeldyan finally did stand.

  “There’s another issue we need to discuss, Lady Zeldyan.”

  “What else is there to discuss? We need to save Nesslek.”

  “So far, hundreds of men and women from Westwind and Lornth have died. Westwind attacked no one. You, so far as I can see, attacked none of the lord-holders. Let us say that we do succeed in putting down this rebellion, and your son succeeds the regency. Then what?”

  “He becomes the Overlord of Lornth.” Zeldyan’s voice was somewhere between matter-of-fact and dismissive, behind which was irritation at Saryn, probably for stirring up things, then bringing up an irrelevant question.

  “So that he can pursue the same course as his grandsire and so that we end up fighting each other for years to come? So that women who no longer want to be slaves to men flee Lornth for Westwind, and men in Lornth, especially in the south, get angrier and angrier until they force him into another war?”

  “I cannot change what men feel. Neither can you,” Zeldyan pointed out. “Sillek tried that. Much good it did him. Had he stood fast, he would have faced revolt as well.”

  Saryn could see that there was no point in pursuing that issue—for the moment. She had raised it, and that was all that she could do for the moment. “You’re right… for now. We need to move to The Groves. I have my guard captain readying all the guards.”

  “I will send for Maerkyn, and we will be ready shortly.”

  Saryn inc
lined her head. “By your leave…”

  Zeldyan raised her eyebrows, as if to ask whether her permission mattered.

  “I will let you know when we are ready, Lady.” Saryn stepped back, then turned and left. As she hurried down the staircase, she heard Zeldyan calling for Lyentha.

  Hryessa was in the courtyard, with six others—all squad leaders, Saryn decided, as she slowed and let the captain finish her instructions to the six. Only then did she step forward.

  “How long?” asked Saryn.

  “Two glasses. It could be less. I wouldn’t press it, though. That will give your mounts some rest.”

  “True enough.” Saryn paused, then asked, “What about Daryn and the children?”

  “He’d already worked out something with the local smith. He’ll work for nothing except food and keep the children there. They’ll be out of the palace and away from the fighting.”

  “You knew this would happen.”

  “Sooner or later, ser, it had to.”

  “We’re the demons, you know?” Saryn kept her voice conversational. “The ones who are out to upset all their traditions.”

  Hryessa spat on the courtyard pavement. “Men like that have a reason for anything. It is never a good reason. But they have it.”

  How many of those reasons are just rationalizations for holding power? Is Ryba any different? Are you? “We all have reasons.”

  Hryessa laughed. “Always! But ours are better. Especially if we keep them to ourselves.”

  Saryn smiled, if momentarily. “I want to see what they’re loading in the wagons.” She turned and walked toward the stables. Outside the main doors, Dealdron was organiz ing the loading of the five wagons lined up in a row—none with horses yet in the traces.

  “The spare blades and shafts at the rear. If the guards need them, they cannot wait for us to dig them out. The barrels in the middle…”

  She couldn’t help but smile as she watched him. He’d definitely been wasted as an assistant ostler in Gallos… or even in Westwind.

  As if he had sensed her presence, Dealdron turned. “Commander, ser?”

  Although she knew what he would say, Saryn couldn’t help but ask, “Who will be in charge of the wagons and teamsters?”

  “You are the commander, Angel,” he replied.

  “But you intend to be the one I give the orders to?” She managed not to smile.

  “Who else will take care of the wagons and so many mounts? You would not waste good guards on the mounts, would you? I will be safer with you than staying in an empty palace in Lornth, where I could do nothing to help.”

  Saryn had her doubts about his safety, but she didn’t want to argue… and he was a good teamster and the best they had with the horses. She couldn’t help but smile. “How long before the wagons are ready?”

  “We started readying them right after you rode into the courtyard, Commander. If all goes well, we will be loaded in less than a half glass. I did not want to put the drays in traces until we knew…”

  She glanced at the seat of the first wagon, where two sheathed blades rested.

  Dealdron followed her eyes.

  Saryn looked back at him.

  He shrugged. “I would prefer not to use a blade, but I would prefer to have them in case some armsmen might come upon us.”

  Still smiling, Saryn shook her head. “I can’t imagine you’d drive a wagon after any armsmen. I won’t keep you from your duties. We are leaving as soon as possible.” She started to turn, then stopped. “I am glad you’ll be with us.” Then she walked back toward the barracks, feeling Dealdron’s eyes on her back, half-surprised that she didn’t mind the feeling. But then, she knew he was concerned about her and didn’t think she was a white demon.

  LXXIX

  By noon on eightday, Saryn was wondering if there was a harvest season in Lornth, or if the people there just called the last half of an endless summer harvest. Zeldyan and the Lornian guards under Maerkyn were leading the way up the road. While Saryn had spent much of the time riding with the Lady Regent, for the last glass Saryn had ridden at the head of first squad, beside Hryessa.

  “You’ve had a long face all day, ser,” Hryessa finally said.

  “A lot on my mind,” replied Saryn.

  “You worried about the guards, ser?”

  “How couldn’t I be? We’re fighting in a civil war in a land where neither side is truly to our liking, just to prevent those who would be worse from taking over. To one side, we’re a necessary evil. To the other, we’re the horrible demons out of a near-legendary history.” It’s all to preserve something that’s not that good from something worse. It’s not building anything, not really, and fighting to preserve the less bad… Does it really accomplish anything?

  Saryn glanced to her right, across the summer-dried marshes that separated the road from the River Yarth. She hadn’t seen a single boat or barge on the water all day. When they had ridden south from The Groves to Lornth, there had been all manner of craft on the river, headed in both directions. Now…

  “Ser… do you see any of the new guards complaining? Even those in second squad where some got killed?”

  Saryn laughed softly. “They wouldn’t complain to me.”

  “They see us, and they see you… as something better. Almost all of the women with us here are from Lornth. Those from Gallos and Analeria aren’t complaining, either, and they’re not complaining behind my back or yours.”

  Saryn offered a brief smile. “Do you really think we’ll change anything for the better? Here in Lornth?”

  “If you save the Lady Regent, do you think she’s going to cross you?”

  “She might not, but every time she does something that’s less traditional, or that might make things better for women, some lord-holder will complain.”

  “Not if we get rid of the troublemakers now.”

  Hryessa had a point, but it was a blade’s point, deciding by force. Saryn shook her head. Had any change in any society ever been accomplished without some form of force? “I don’t know. I worry about young Lord Nesslek. He still seems to think that men and size are what count.”

  “Men are always impressed with size. Especially if it’s their own. In all manner of blades, it’s how it’s used, not how big it is.”

  Saryn laughed in spite of her worries.

  “Ser?” Hryessa’s smile vanished. “What will you do if the worst has already occurred?”

  “We’ll have to find some way to destroy whoever did it. We can’t let a lord-holder who believes as the southerners do take power.”

  “We have but one true company. We are worth two or three of theirs, but…”

  “If… if that happens, we will have to see if some of the northern lords will join the fight. Otherwise…” Saryn shrugged. “We will have to try something else.” And who knows what that might be.

  “You will find a way.” Hryessa nodded.

  What sort of a way? At what cost? Saryn feared that Hryessa was all too likely to be proved right, but to speak of that to Zeldyan would suggest that Saryn had known early enough to prevent what might already have occurred. And a grief-stricken mother was all too likely to turn on Saryn if matters turned out for the worst and if Saryn had suggested it before the fact.

  She might anyway, Saryn reminded herself.

  LXXX

  Slightly past midmorning on a oneday that seemed even hotter than the days before, Saryn was riding with Zeldyan behind the squad of Lornian armsmen who served as the vanguard of the force. Zeldyan kept shifting her weight in the saddle, easing her mount out to the shoulder of the river road and looking ahead, then returning to the center of the road under the warm morning sun. Ahead of them, both the road and the river swung to the north, angling through a low line of hills. Before that long, the road and river would twist back to the northeast toward Carpa, some twenty kays ahead.

  Sensing the tension and concern that permeated the regent, Saryn said little, not wanting to make Zeldyan worry mo
re and also not wanting to offer false encouragement.

  “Why?” asked Zeldyan abruptly, speaking for the first time in over a glass. “Why have they turned against Nesslek? Why now?”

  That question Saryn could answer. “Because they think they can, Lady, because the Suthyans are paying Henstrenn and others to do so, and because your presence reminds them of how wrong they have been. By overturning the regency and removing your son, they can blame you rather than their own failings. It has often been that way in many lands on many worlds.”

  Zeldyan looked sharply at Saryn. “At times, I almost forget that you are an angel who has seen many worlds. Tell me, Angel, what awaits us.”

  Saryn ignored the slight sarcastic edge to the regent’s question. “Other than lord-holders with bad judgment and a lust for power, I cannot say, Lady. I do not know when they left their holdings, how they proceeded, or how they intend to make their desires known. I do know that, whatever happens, Lornth will suffer far more than had they let the regency stand. I also know that is something that they will deny to their dying day.”

  “May those days be soon.” Zeldyan tightened her lips and paused, before adding, “I still wish you angels had not come to the Roof of the World.”

  “It was not our wish, either. We harmed no one until we were attacked. We took nothing of value, and nothing that anyone was able to use before we arrived. We were attacked because Lord Nessil and Lord Karthanos were too proud and too unwilling to let us hold land that no one wanted until we came. Each attack has cost those who attacked more, and wounded their pride more, and still they lash out where they can.”

  “Your truths are cold comfort, Angel.”

  “Truth has never offered comfort, Lady,” Saryn replied.

  Once more, Zeldyan did not speak for a time. Then she said, “Have you ever loved?”

  “Truly loved?” asked Saryn. “No… not really.”

  “Has anyone truly loved you? Truly?” Zeldyan paused. “Sillek loved me that way, you know.”

  “You were most fortunate in that.”