The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “Actually I do. I asked Laryn about Cryslyn. She’s a woman about forty-five years old who has lived at the castle most of her life. Her mother was one of the cooks until she married a local farmer and moved away. Cryslyn has worked as a housekeeper, a cook, and the manager of the storeroom. She was named Head of Housekeeping about ten years ago.

  “Neiven has lived here off and on since he was in his teens. He first worked as a stable boy. Then he left to apprentice with a dwarf blacksmith somewhere up north. When he came back, he asked Badec to hire him as the castle blacksmith. There never had been one before, but Badec liked the idea, so he set Neiven up in a shop near the stable. One thing led to another, and eventually Badec asked him to supervise all the stable, livestock, and grounds work. He’s been doing that for about seven or eight years now.”

  Kevin shook his head and asked, “You got all of that from Laryn last night?”

  “No, she told me about Cryslyn, but I met Neiven while we were unpacking. He told me most of what I just told you, but Laryn was the one who told me that he was in charge of the grounds. Nice guy, easy to talk to. Seems sort of laid-back and easygoing,” Chris paused to sip his coffee. “I haven’t met Cryslyn, so I can’t tell you any more about her.”

  “Is there any particular reason that I’m inviting them to join us?”

  “So that you can tell them that you realize the next week is going to be rough, that you know it will play havoc with their schedules and routines, and that they should feel free to ask for extra help whenever they need it. Again, this is mostly formality.” Chris paused and then added, “I imagine a lot of the things that you’re going to be doing for a while are going to be ‘formality’ types of things.”

  “Also known as politics,” Kevin agreed. “What comes after breakfast?”

  “Laryn wants to talk to you. From what she said, I think the two of you are going to discuss what will be happening over the next few days and what you’ll need to do. That should take most of the morning.”

  “I want you to be at that meeting too, Chris. And take good notes.”

  Chris nodded as he picked up the two empty coffee mugs and headed for the door. “It’s about time to head down. We don’t want to be late for your first speech.”

  “Have I ever mentioned that I hate public speaking?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Chris replied with a chuckle. “But something tells me that you’re going to get plenty of practice. Come on, let’s go.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After breakfast, Kevin, Chris, and Laryn went to what was now going to be Kevin’s office. As soon as they walked through the door, both of the pages who were there that morning stood up as if awaiting instructions. Laryn shook her head and the two young men sat back down at the table where they had several sheets of paper with lists on them spread out between them.

  Laryn opened the door to the inner office, turned back to the pages and said, “We’re not to be disturbed unless there is a dire emergency, and by that I mean lots of blood or smoke.”

  The two pages grinned and the tension that had been in the air seemed to ease. The older one nodded at Laryn and said, “Understood.”

  The inner office was smaller than the reception area, but it was still larger than any office Kevin had ever worked in. Across the room from the door was a large executive-style desk, with a high back captain’s chair behind it and three armchairs in front of it. Off to the side were two small secretarial desks with straight back chairs. One large table and several small tables were scattered around the walls.

  Laryn motioned for Kevin to sit in the captain’s chair behind the large desk. Chris sat at one of the small desks and Laryn collapsed into one of the armchairs.

  “I suggest, for a while at least, you conduct business from this office and let Chris and the pages handle the outer office. It’s quieter in here,” Laryn said.

  “But isn’t this your office?” Kevin asked.

  Laryn shook her head. “Not anymore. I cleared my stuff out last night.”

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Kevin protested.

  “Yes, I did,” Laryn answered. “You’ll want to go through the letters in the top right-hand drawer soon, but they’ll keep until after the funeral. Some of those letters have been in there for a year. Another week won’t make any difference.”

  Kevin nodded. “When will the funeral be held?”

  Laryn sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Next Saturday, the twenty-third of March. It’s customary to have funerals within three or four days, but since Badec was the Master Sorcerer, we have to give people about a week’s notice. I added the date of the funeral to the messages as I got them ready to go out last night.”

  “Where will the funeral be held?” Chris asked. “And what’s involved?”

  “The funeral itself is more like a procession than anything else. Sister Agnes has taken Badec’s body to the chapel to prepare it for burial, and the body will remain there until Saturday. Neiven made a coffin for him a couple of months ago and it’s already down there. Sometime around 10:00 next Saturday morning, the family will go down to Milhaven. By the way, Chris, as Myron’s assistant, you’ll go with us. At noon the coffin will be placed on the back of a wagon and we’ll escort it to the family burial site, which is in the forest, about three miles from here. Mourners will be lined up on both sides of the road to watch the procession pass, but the only people allowed in the procession will be family, close friends, provincial sorcerers, Federation representatives, and district emissaries. When we get to the burial site, only family members will go in. I’ll take you there sometime this week to make sure everything is ready.”

  Kevin nodded again. “How many people do you think will attend?”

  “I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a couple of thousand,” Laryn said with a shrug.

  “Do we need to do anything about housing or food for all those people?” Chris asked.

  “No. The people of Milhaven will play host to the emissaries from the districts. The council sorcerers and Federation representatives will arrive that morning and leave shortly after the burial. The only ones we’re going to play host to are family and close friends, and Housekeeping already has a list of those,” Laryn explained. Then she took a deep breath and said, “I don’t really know of any way to break this to you gently, so I’m just going to say it. By the day of the funeral, your people have to be ready to take over. While we’re escorting Badec’s body to the burial site, Governor Wrenn’s personal belongings will be moved out of the governor’s house and the new governor’s belongings will be moved in. Captain Lawrence’s things will be moved out of the guard barracks and the new captain’s belongings will be moved in.”

  “So, I need to name a new governor and captain during the next week, right?” Kevin asked.

  “No, you need to name them today.”

  “Today?! Why so soon?” Kevin felt panic begin to take hold.

  “Because you only have seven days to make the transition, counting today. Governor Wrenn will need as much time as possible to bring the new governor up-to-date on matters that have not been settled. He’ll need to discuss each of the eighty districts, the ministers, their concerns and problems, records of taxes collected, taxes due, who gets how much, finances for everyone on the government payroll, and probably a dozen more things that I don’t even know about. And I imagine that Jana will want to meet with the new governor’s assistant, too. She’s been Governor Wrenn’s secretary for the last ten years, and probably knows more about the mechanics of running his office than he does.”

  “Do you mean that as of next Saturday the new governor will be on his own?” Chris asked.

  “Yes and no. The responsibility will be his and he’ll have to make the decisions, but Wrenn’s new house is right outside Milhaven. I imagine if you and your governor ask him to serve as an advisor for a year or so, he’ll agree, but you need to make it a paid position, maybe pay him a certain amount for
the entire year, or for each month, or maybe even for each consultation. I don’t know how he’ll want to set it up, but he’s an honest man. He’ll be fair.”

  “Okay,” Kevin said slowly. “Should I approach him with that idea today, or should I wait and let him get to know the new governor first?”

  “I’d wait until after the funeral. If your governor and Governor Wrenn hit it off, he might even volunteer his services, you never know. You might be able to make a similar arrangement with Captain Lawrence, but that will depend on where he ends up. I’m sure he’ll have quite a few offers over the next few days.”

  “I know that General Crandal wants Captain Lawrence to take over as his aide. If he does that, he should be in the area.”

  “If he takes that position,” Laryn replied. “He’ll probably decide what he’s going to do within the week,”

  “What about you? I’m going to need a lot of help.”

  “I’ll be around. I’ll move into one of the family rooms for a month or so, and then I’ll probably move into the guest wing, but I have no plans to leave the castle.”

  “Thank you,” Kevin said, relief washing over him. “Now I’ve got another question. A few minutes ago you mentioned a Federation. What’s that?”

  “I wasn’t going to say too much about that until you got past the April meeting of the Council of Sorcerers, but you represent the human race on the Federation. The Federation of Terah meets twice a year, usually on the first day of spring and the first day of fall. I filled in last spring and last fall, but they voted to wait until the humans had a functioning Master Sorcerer for this year’s spring meeting. Since everything had to be settled one way or the other by the April meeting of the Council of Sorcerers, the Federation meeting was postponed one month, until the twentieth of April.”

  “Who’s on the Federation and what’s it for?”

  “I’ll go over all of the names and tell you a little about each one later, but each race and all magical animals have representatives. The main concern of the Federation is to preserve harmony and peace among the various groups. Humans can fight amongst themselves and the Federation won’t interfere, but if it threatens to involve anyone else, or to destroy any of the lands, the Federation will take action. It was an informal group until the great magic war. After that, they took on the role of watchdog.”

  “I guess that makes me responsible for making sure the humans behave, all over Terah.” Kevin was daunted by the enormity of the idea.

  “More or less, but the other sorcerers on the council will help along that line. No one wants a war with the dragons, and the dragons see themselves as the final line of defense against destruction. They’ve agreed not to meddle in human affairs only as long as the actions of humans do not threaten anyone else. Even the slavers aren’t willing to risk the ire of the dragons by trying to capture other races,” Laryn explained.

  “I guess you’ll brief me on the council sorcerers before I go to that meeting, right?”

  Laryn nodded. “And at some point I’ll fill you in about each of the eighty sorcerers that you’re supposed to supervise and help. Some of the ones from nearby districts will probably come to the funeral. We’ll need to start going over all of that soon, probably tomorrow, but right now …”

  “Yes, I know. A governor and a captain.”

  Laryn nodded. “The directors of Milhaven and a few of the other nearby towns will probably drop by sometime today to offer you condolences, as well as their help with housing and feeding the funeral guests. And don’t be surprised if a couple of the local sorcerers come by to talk about Badec and welcome you to Camden. It’s going to be that type of week.” Then she stood up, stretched, and said, “I think I’ll go get some sleep. You don’t need me for what you have to do right now, and I haven’t been to bed yet.”

  “Thanks, Laryn.” Kevin nodded.

  “See you at dinner, when I hope you can introduce me to the new Governor of Camden and the new Captain of the Guard. Good luck.”

  After Laryn had closed the door behind her, Kevin stood up and walked around his office to stretch his legs. “Do we ask Karl first and then tell Steve what we’re doing, or should we talk to Steve first?” he asked Chris.

  “You’re afraid that Steve will be insulted, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about there, but if it would make you feel better, let’s find Steve and tell him what you have in mind.”

  “Would you go find him? I hate to send one of the pages.”

  “Be back in a few minutes,” Chris said as he headed out of the office.

  While Chris was gone, Kevin sat back down at his desk and began looking through the various drawers. In the small center desk drawer, he found paper, pens, ink, envelopes, and a wax seal that must have belonged to his father. It had a crest of some kind on it, probably the crest of the House of Nordin. He’d have to ask Laryn about that later.

  A second drawer, the top right-hand drawer, held correspondence addressed either to the Sorcerer of Camden or to the Master Sorcerer of Terah. The ones that were in envelopes had not been opened. He felt sure that those were the letters that Laryn said he’d have to handle soon, but not immediately.

  A third drawer held a stack of papers, covered in writing. As he looked through them, he decided that these were notes from the council meetings for the past few years. He decided to give them to Chris, let him read through them, and then Chris could tell him what he needed to know.

  A fourth drawer held a bound book. When Kevin opened it, he realized that it was his father’s diary for the past couple of years. He put it back in the drawer, but planned to take it to his room that night to read.

  After he finished checking out the desk, he decided to look around the outer office. When he opened the door, there was only one young man left in the office and he quickly stepped forward to see what Kevin needed. He looked to be about seventeen years old. His blond hair was shoulder length with bangs that nearly hid his eyes and his facial skin looked so smooth that Kevin wondered if he’d started shaving yet. He wore a dark green tunic, black leggings, and black boots, just like most of the household staff that Kevin had seen so far. Kevin shook his head, and the young man walked back over towards the table where he had been working.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name,” Kevin said.

  “Ariel, sir,” the page answered.

  “How long have you worked here?”

  “Pretty much all of my life, sir. I started out helping my mother clean the guest bedrooms. Then when I reached ten, Badec let me start working in the stables. He asked me if I wanted to be a page when I turned thirteen, and I’ve been doing that ever since. He even let me go with him on a couple of trips,” Ariel said proudly. Then, in a more subdued tone, he said, “I really liked him, sir. I hate that he’s gone.”

  Kevin was quiet for a few minutes, not sure what to say. “I’d like for you to continue working in the office as one of my pages. Would you like to do that?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Kevin nodded and stepped back inside his office. Then he turned back towards Ariel and asked, “How many pages do I have?”

  “Four, sir. Elin, Isak, Cameryn, and me.”

  “Are all of the pages boys?”

  Ariel laughed nervously and said, “No, sir. Isak and I are the only boys.”

  “Do the four of you work here everyday, or is there some kind of shift rotation?”

  “During the week, all four of us work everyday, but over the weekend there usually isn’t as much going on, so only two of us work. We alternate weekends. I work with Elin, and Isak works with Cameryn.”

  “Where are the others today?”

  “Earlier this morning Laryn asked the girls to go over to the aviary and help out with the falcons. We sent them out last night so they’ll be returning this morning. Isak left a few minutes ago to go get the messages that have come in so far,” Ariel answere
d. “I stayed here in case you need something, like coffee or food.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’m going to have a couple of conferences this morning, and I’d like to have something available for people to drink. Maybe they have some coffee left in the kitchen.”

  “Certainly, sir. Is there anything else you’d like? Maybe some pastries?”

  “If they have some already made, but I don’t want to put anyone to any extra trouble. If you don’t see any, don’t ask.”

  Ariel grinned and nodded.

  Kevin hadn’t been back in his seat for more than a couple of minutes when Chris and Steve walked in. Steve sat down in one of the armchairs while Chris took his seat at the small secretarial desk again.

  “Kevin, I’m sorry about your father,” Steve said. “From everything we’ve heard, he was a fine man.”

  “Thank you,” Kevin said as he nodded. “Steve, there’s something I want to ask you to do.”

  Steve held up his hand for Kevin to stop. “Kevin, before you go any farther, I need to say something. Tyree told me that you’ll have to name a new Governor of Camden. I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but I really do hope you aren’t considering me for that position.”

  “I’ll admit that I’ve thought about it, a lot. You’re better qualified to put a government together than any of us. You understand politics, economics, legal systems, all that stuff. You could definitely handle the job, but I’m going to be selfish here. I need you as my personal tutor, and I don’t want you so tied up with your own duties that you don’t have time to help me with things I don’t understand.” Kevin paused and then said, “Later today I’m going to ask Karl to serve as governor. I don’t know whether he’ll be willing to do that or not, but if he does accept the position, I’d like for you to serve as his advisor, too. We could inadvertently do some real damage here out of ignorance. Right now, I’ve got a lot of bits of information in my head, like pieces of a puzzle, but there are so many missing pieces that I can’t get the big picture. Would you be willing to help us get a handle on things?”

  Steve’s relief was almost tangible. “I’d be happy to. Is there anything in particular that you want me to do?”