The Mage-Fire War

by Modesitt. Jr. , L. E.

  “I know, but will it ever end?” Tulya sighed.

  “We’ll always have to be on our guard,” Beltur admitted.

  “I worry about you,” Tulya went on, “especially now.”

  “I can’t afford not to do it,” replied Beltur. “You two can’t afford for me not to do it. It took all three of us to stop this last force. If we don’t send a message that the Duke of Hydlen can understand personally and clearly, the next army will be even bigger.”

  “Don’t get yourself killed to deliver the message,” said Tulya. “That would be even worse.”

  “And don’t tell us you have no intention of getting killed,” added Jessyla tartly. “Intentions don’t count. We need you. Haven needs you. If you can’t do what you have in mind without getting killed, don’t do it!”

  Beltur smiled wryly. “You both have made that very clear.” He stood. “I understand. I also agree. But I have to see if it’s possible. Would you like another ale?”

  “I would,” said Jessyla, “but don’t dismiss us. Think of it this way. If you don’t think I could do it, then you’re not to do it. That just might make you cautious enough.”

  That just might make you cautious enough. The love and concern underlying those words tore at Beltur. Yet he knew that Massyngal was mad enough to attack until he was stopped.

  LXXIII

  Much of threeday, Beltur and Jessyla spent with Tulya while the three of them went over what Tulya had drafted as the possible laws for Haven—Fairhaven to be at some time in the future, once the three were convinced that the time was right. Later in the afternoon, Raelf brought Squad Leader Daaskin to the house to go over the duties and responsibilities of the squad remaining in Haven.

  On fourday, Beltur, Jessyla, Tulya, and Taelya were up very early and rode to the East Inn to see the departing companies off on their return to their home posts … and to see Raelf off to report to the Duchess and Korsaen in Vergren.

  As Beltur dismounted and tied Slowpoke outside the stable, since none of them planned to remain there long, Daaskin appeared.

  “Ser, the morning scouts report no sign of Hydlenese anywhere.”

  “Thank you, Squad Leader. The longer it stays that way, the better.”

  “I’d be surprised if any of them want to come near Haven again, ser.”

  “The ones who were here may feel that way. Those who haven’t likely won’t believe those who have.” Which is another reason why you have to deal with the Duke.

  “That may be, ser.”

  “You say that because you’ve been here, Daaskin. Tell some of your friends or people who aren’t troopers once you get back to Weevett and see how much they believe. And, by the way, the more senior an officer, the less likely they are to believe. At least, that’s what I’ve seen.” Beltur laughed ironically.

  Daaskin tried, and failed, to hide a grin. “Might be, ser.”

  “Keep up the patrols. We both might be wrong.”

  “Yes, ser. Besides, it’s better than garrison duty.”

  “And it will give us time to train some troopers and town patrollers.”

  “You’re going to use Hydlenese?”

  “Those who don’t want to return to Hydlen and whom we can trust. One advantage of being a black mage is that we can usually tell when someone is lying. That makes it a little easier.”

  “Oh … I can’t say that I knew that.”

  “We’ve already determined that some of the wounded and captives aren’t suitable. That means, if they don’t want to go back to Hydlen, they’ll have to go to Certis or Lydiar.”

  “Don’t know as the Viscount or Duke Halacut would like that.”

  “They may not, but Haven’s too small to keep possible troublemakers here, and there just might be better places for them. If not, we at least give them a chance.”

  Daaskin nodded slowly. “I can see that, ser.”

  “I don’t like it any better than you do, but they were the ones who attacked us, not the other way around. I know most of those troopers likely didn’t want to fight, but we’re giving the honest and hardworking ones a chance. If they’d won, their orders were to kill everyone they could.”

  “I’d heard that.” The squad leader shook his head, then looked past Beltur. “Here comes the majer, ser. I’d best be back to the squad.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jessyla, Tulya, and Taelya moved closer to Beltur as Raelf approached.

  “Good morning,” said Beltur. “We thought we’d come to see you off.”

  “I’m glad you did,” replied the majer. “Otherwise I’d have had to seek you out.”

  “We came because no one else could have handled the battle and everything else as well as you did,” said Jessyla.

  “I wish I could have handled it better,” replied Raelf, looking directly at Tulya. “If I could have, I would have.”

  “I know that,” said Tulya. “You did the best you could. It was more than anyone could have expected.”

  “We wouldn’t have prevailed without your sacrifices. It was that close.”

  “I know.” Tulya’s voice was low.

  Raelf handed a heavy-looking leather bag to Jessyla. “I was given a supply of golds for our time here. This is most of what remains. You’ll need them.”

  “Won’t the Duchess…?” began Jessyla.

  “I was told to spend them carefully and as necessary. I see supporting Haven as very necessary. I’ve also seen enough to know that none of you will waste anything. Daaskin has enough to pay for his men and their lodging and what food they need.”

  “We thank you,” said Tulya. “You’ve been very thoughtful.”

  “I’d like to think I would have been anyway, but Lord Korsaen also instructed me to leave you all with every resource possible.”

  “Thank him for us,” said Beltur. “Personally, if you would.”

  “He did ask me to report to him first on my return.” There was what might have been a twinkle in the majer’s eye when he replied. “Is there anything else you need from me?”

  “I think you’ve given everything possible,” said Jessyla.

  Raelf grinned. “I do hope so.”

  Even Tulya smiled in return, if faintly.

  The majer nodded, then turned and walked to where a Montgren trooper held his mount.

  “If there were more like him, we wouldn’t have had to fight,” said Tulya.

  “Most of the officers in Montgren were good,” replied Beltur. “It’s just that neither Massyngal nor most other rulers favor thoughtful and fair-minded officers.”

  “Or even sensible ones,” added Jessyla acidly.

  “That’s usually because they’d have to listen to what they don’t want to hear,” Beltur pointed out.

  Within half a quint, the last wagon, which looked almost empty, had rolled westward on the main street, and the four untied their horses and walked them over to the patrol/quarters building.

  As usual, Gustaan came out to meet them. “It looks like we’re more on our own.”

  “There’s one squad left. A full squad,” said Beltur. “They’ll stay for two eightdays, possibly a little longer. Did Julli tell you when the uniforms would be ready?”

  “She said to tell you that yours are ready. Some of the others are done. They’ll all be finished by sixday afternoon.”

  “And those maps I asked for?”

  “I’ve got them inside. They’re rough, ser, but between all of us, we got most of the names and places on them, leastwise those on the way or close to it.”

  “Thank you. I thought a Hydlenese captain ought to know some of them, at least so I don’t look surprised when someone mentions a place.”

  Gustaan nodded.

  “How much time do you need with the half squad you have before you’re comfortable with them?”

  “They’re all veterans. A few days at most. I can work with them on the road as well. I doubt there will be any Hydlenese troopers around for the next few days.” Gustaan p
aused. “What do you intend to tell the people in Hydlen? What we’re doing?”

  “I’d thought to say that we’d been dispatched to look for stragglers.”

  Gustaan snorted. “I don’t know that the Duke cares, but it’s the sort of thing folks would believe.”

  “Isn’t that what counts?”

  The squad leader nodded, then said, “There is one thing, ser.”

  “Yes?”

  “Your forehead. More than a few Hydlenese troopers had to have seen you. It might be better if you had a dressing across it, like you’d taken a cut there.”

  “You’re likely right, especially once we get close to Hydolar.”

  “I can make up some dressings,” said Jessyla. “You’d better wear them.”

  “I will.”

  Beltur turned back to Gustaan. “We should leave early on sevenday.”

  “We’ll be ready, ser.”

  Jessyla swallowed.

  “The sooner we leave, the less they’ll expect anything … and the sooner we’ll be back.”

  From Jessyla’s expression, Beltur knew exactly what she was thinking and would not voice. If you come back.

  LXXIV

  Late on fourday evening, well after Jessyla and Beltur had counted the nearly two hundred golds that had been in the leather bag and placed them in the hidden and order-protected iron box, the two sat across the table in the darkness of an unlighted kitchen. “Nearly two hundred more golds.” Jessyla shook her head. “Two hundred golds, but the Duchess wouldn’t put a post and troopers here.”

  “Raelf calculated it out, remember. It would have cost her five to seven hundred golds a year, and probably more than that.”

  “She’s likely spent more than that by now.”

  “It’s close,” agreed Beltur, “but without us, she would have lost Haven, and all of Montgren would have been threatened. By giving us Haven, even if she has to help us in the future, it will likely cost her less. She and Korsaen are wagering that we’ll make Haven prosperous again.”

  “It might not be a wager. Maeyora may have foreseen a prosperous Haven.”

  “That’s still a gamble of sorts. The dead white wizard had a vision, too. His vision of a great white city rising from Haven might well be accurate many years from now, but … his interpretation of what he saw didn’t include us.” Or his death. That was something Beltur wasn’t about to mention at the moment.

  “I still worry about your going to Hydolar.”

  “So do I, but I feel strongly that it’s absolutely necessary.”

  “Didn’t the white wizard feel the same way?”

  “He was convinced that he’d overcome everything. I just want to sneak into Hydolar, deliver a forceful message, and sneak out. I’ll avoid any direct armed confrontations. I have no interest in being a hero.”

  “That’s one thing I love about you,” Jessyla said softly. “You do what’s necessary, not what makes you look good. When others are better at something, you let them do it, and help them if you can.”

  “That only makes sense.”

  “To you, and sometimes to me, but not to people like Duke Massyngal or Sarysta or most of the blacks still in Elparta.”

  “Sometimes to you?”

  “I like to be recognized when I do something good. I’m not proud of wanting that, but I know I do. I think I want that more than you do.”

  Beltur had to think about that for a moment. “I like it recognized when I do something well. I think everyone does. I also want to make a place where everyone can do good things … where Jorhan and I can make beautiful objects out of cupridium and not worry.”

  “You miss him, don’t you?”

  “Some. If I’m honest, I miss more what we could create together. Except he did the creating. I just made it possible.”

  “Maybe that’s what you do best … make things possible.”

  “Like making possible a huge battle that killed thousands?”

  “And saved thousands of others from being killed and conquered.”

  Neither spoke for several long moments.

  Finally, Jessyla said, “Sevenday … that’s … so soon.” She swallowed. “You’re just now getting back to full strength, and not all the bruises are even gone.”

  “If we don’t act soon, while the Duke isn’t expecting it … there won’t be a good time again. Also … with Daaskin here, you’ll have more support than if we wait.” Not wanting to dwell on that obvious worry, Beltur said, “You’ll do fine dealing with the patrollers and Daaskin. They all know what you can do.”

  “That’s true … but it’s hard not to worry about you. I can’t not worry about you.” She reached across the table and took his hands in hers.

  “Then I’ll just have to make sure that you don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “You’d better,” she said firmly. A ragged laugh followed her words.

  Beltur squeezed her hands, then released them and stood. “We’d better get some sleep.”

  She stood and wrapped her arms around him. “In time.”

  LXXV

  Beltur didn’t sleep that well and woke up early on sevenday, stunned at how quickly the previous two days had passed, what with preparing for the “recon mission” and watching closely on each day as Gustaan drilled the ten men who would be accompanying them. The squad leader had been right about the troopers. They were definitely veterans, and Beltur couldn’t help wondering at the outcome of the battle—even given what he, Jessyla, and Lhadoraak had done.

  He was still wondering on sevenday morning as he pulled on the uniform of a Hydlenese captain, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind in the deep gray light before dawn.

  “You look every digit a distinguished greencoat captain,” said Jessyla. “I almost hate to put this dressing on.”

  He stood still while she adjusted the cloth dressing. “It’s not too bad, and it might help keep the sweat from my eyes.”

  “Be careful when you take off your cap. It might stick to it if it gets really damp.”

  “I’ll try to remember that.”

  “You need to eat. Gustaan and the others will be here soon.”

  Beltur nodded. The squad leader had pointed out the afternoon before that there was no need for Beltur to ride east to the patrol building, only to turn around and ride back west.

  Breakfast was oat porridge, bread, ale, and fried apples and eggs, and Beltur ate every bit that Jessyla had ready for him … after he had saddled Slowpoke and fastened his gear behind the gelding’s saddle, which included the better captain’s uniform. His saddlebags held a fair amount of travel food, and both water bottles were filled with ale.

  Beltur had barely finished eating and had just downed the last of the ale in the beaker when Jessyla said, “I can sense them turning off the main street.”

  He immediately stood and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Remember. You’re to be careful.”

  “How could I forget?” You’ve made it very clear over the past eightday.

  “Just don’t. I need you. We need you.”

  His lips found hers, and he held her tightly for several more moments before he let go.

  Then the two of them left by the rear door and walked down to the barn. Jessyla stood waiting while he led Slowpoke out. Then he embraced her once more before mounting and riding toward Gustaan. Behind the squad leader were the ten rankers in double file, with the last rider leading a spare mount loaded with packs largely containing travel rations.

  “Good morning, Captain.”

  “The same to you, Squad Leader. I take it that we’re ready.”

  “Yes, ser.”

  Without another word, they turned and headed back to the main street under a sky that was still gray. One of the reasons for leaving early was so that no one would notice the color of the uniforms they all wore and another was to travel well into Hydlen before anyone watching might ask what greencoats were doing coming from Montgren so long after the
fighting had ended.

  Once they were back on the main street, Beltur asked, “Is Dussef comfortable as acting head patroller?”

  “He’ll do fine. He’s heard plenty about what the mage-healer did in battle, and he knows he can call on her if there’s something he can’t handle.”

  “What about the new patrollers?”

  Gustaan laughed. “Ser … every one of them saw what at least one of you did. None of them want to disappoint any of you. The only reassurance any of the troopers behind you needed is your presence.”

  Beltur felt almost as though massive weights had been dropped on his shoulders, and he didn’t quite know why. It wasn’t as though the same thing hadn’t been true before the battle. But no one said it quite so bluntly. He not only had to be careful of himself, but also of the men who followed him, believing that he’d keep them from harm as well. He was still thinking about that after they rode past the defaced kaystone and approached the Weevett road, which, early as it was, happened to be empty.

  The sun peered over the eastern horizon, or the low hills above it, about the time the half squad rode past the hill where the fighting had started when Beltur and the Weevett company had ambushed the Hydlenese scouts. It was hard to believe that first skirmish had been more than three eightdays earlier, or that the battle that had finished off the Hydlenese had been more than an eightday ago.

  Beltur shook his head, then looked to Gustaan, still riding beside him. “Vaarlaan is the first town on the map you made. Are there any hamlets before then?”

  “There are some groups of houses you can see from the road. One place had to be abandoned. All the roofs were missing. The others? Elshon—the white wizard—he only had us stop where there were inns. He got a room, and so did the other mage. We got haylofts, just like when I was last a squad leader.” Gustaan shook his head. “Never thought I’d wear a green coat again. Even as a disguise.”

  “Let’s both hope it’s the last time.” Beltur looked at the hills to the east and then at the long road ahead curving slowly in a more westerly direction. Another five days, at least, just to get to Hydolar, and who knew how long to deliver the message.