Imager's challenge ip-2

by L. E. Modesitt

  When I heard Seliora’s steps, I immediately stood and walked toward the archway at the bottom of the staircase. She was wearing deep green trousers, a paler green blouse, and a jacket to match the trousers. Her earrings were silver studs with green stones, and she wore a silver chain with a pendant that looked to be jadeite, matching the earrings.

  She gave me a hug and a warm kiss, then wrinkled her nose. “You smell . . . like smoke.”

  “I’m certain I do. I think I’m going to need even more help. I’ve just come from the factorage. Last night, someone set a fire there. . . .” I explained as quickly as I could what had happened there-and in Kherseilles.

  “It has to be Ryel,” she said. “Who else would have the golds-or care that much?”

  “I know that, but there’s not a shred of proof. Even the card with the silver ribbon couldn’t be traced.” I stopped. “There’s one other thing. On Meredi night after I talked to Horazt . . . Oh, I need to tell you about that as well . . . but, first . . . I was walking back down South Middle, and I felt this flash in my head. That’s what it felt like, and I saw flames leaping from a hole in a brick wall-”

  “You had a farsight flash?”

  “Is that what you call it? I feel so stupid. I didn’t even recognize what I was seeing, I mean, where it was. But it’s been a good ten years, if not longer since I’ve really looked at the back of the factorage, on the north end away from the loading docks. There’s nothing there, just plain old grimy bricks.”

  She shook her head. “Rhenn . . . you may be an imager master, but you need help. What do you plan on doing?”

  “Nothing . . . not until I learn enough to know what I can do and how. For the moment, I need at least a rough map to High Holder Ryel’s estate-the one here, north of L’Excelsis, and a way to get there. According to what Maitre Dyana has said, Ryel won’t do anything for a while now. He’ll drag it out so that he can be sure that I’ll suffer and yet not be able to do anything. That’s the way they work. Also, if something happens too soon . . .” I shook my head. “I’m just guessing. If I act too soon, I’ll end up in trouble I can’t escape, and if I wait too long, I’ll run out of time.”

  She nodded. “He’ll be expecting you.”

  “I’m certain he will be, but he can’t very well stop everyone passing by his grounds and gates, and I may find a better approach, but I need to look.”

  “We can take you there in one of the wagons. We’ve often delivered things on Solayi.”

  “Not to Ryel?”

  “No, but no one cares what tradespeople do, especially if we look to be working.” She looked at me more intently. “You’re pale. Have you eaten?”

  “No,” I admitted. “Not since breakfast.”

  “We can go over to Terraza. They’re open all afternoon on Samedi. It will be quiet. Then we can come back here and discuss what you need and how we can help.”

  That was fine with me.

  17

  I arrived at NordEste Design at half before noon on Solayi. I carried a bag inside which were exercise clothes and the field boots that went with them, as well as more than a few sheets of drafting paper, some marker pencils, and a small drawing board.

  Seliora was the one to greet me. She wore faded heavy blue trousers and a jacket of similar material. Her hair was up and covered by a dark blue scarf. She looked at the bag. “Working clothes?”

  “Such as I have. Exercise clothes and field boots. I need somewhere to change.”

  “Methyr can show you one of the guest chambers. It’s likely to be one of the few times you’ll see one.” Her smile was sad.

  I understood her feelings, because she’d learned early on that imagers could sleep only in lead-lined rooms-or in places well away from anyone else-not for their own health, but for the safety of others.

  “Oh . . . I have some good news,” I announced, thinking it might cheer her up. “I’ve worked it out so that I can paint your portrait. We can even do it in my studio at Imagisle.”

  “You’re not placating me, are you?”

  “No. I just managed to get approval on Vendrei, and with everything that happened yesterday . . . I forgot to tell you. We could start next Samedi afternoon, and then go out to dinner . . .” Was she upset at coming to Imagisle? “Odelia can come, if . . .” I flushed slightly.

  Seliora laughed. “I wouldn’t need her in the studio.” A more pensive expression followed. “It might be best if we traveled together, at least on those occasions when you aren’t with me.”

  “You think Ryel . . . ?”

  “Not yet, but . . .”

  I understood that, as well. I was also getting even angrier. Ryel’s eldest son Johanyr had been a total bastard, and exactly what right did his mightiness High Holder Ryel have to attack someone who had stopped his son from continuing abusive ways? My lips curled. I knew the answer-the right of power. And the only way to stop such abuse was to remove that power in a way that did not lead back to me . . . and the Collegium.

  “That was a rather cruel smile, Rhenn.”

  “I’m sorry. I was thinking about Ryel.” I shook my head. “Thoughts don’t count. Actions do.”

  The sad smile returned to her face. “There’s more Pharsi in your background than your mother could ever know.”

  “And it’s the side you don’t like,” I said gently.

  “It’s necessary,” was all she said.

  Necessary? That was a bit cruel. What choice was I being given by either Ryel or the Collegium? If I did nothing, my family would likely be destroyed, and eventually I’d end up dead. I wanted to bring up what Mardoyt had said about Seliora . . . but now wasn’t the time. I was too angry to be objective.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “I’m angry. Not at you. I feel like I’m being pushed into doing things I’d rather not do because the alternatives are worse.”

  “Sometimes, that’s life.”

  “I know.” But I didn’t have to like it.

  “We’d better get going,” she said, turning to beckon Methyr from where he was sitting reading on a settee near the back of the hall.

  I followed Methyr up the side staircase to the third level and to a chamber next to the passageway leading to the east terrace, where Seliora and I had often sat and talked over the late summer and harvest. I changed quickly and hurried back downstairs, carrying the drafting paper, markers, and drawing board.

  Seliora was waiting. “You look less like an imager.”

  “My wardrobe is rather limited, since all my work clothes got burned in the fire at Caliostrus’s place.”

  “No one will look that closely. Shomyr’s in the courtyard getting the wagon ready. I’ll be with you in a bit.”

  I had to look embarrassed. “How do I get there?”

  Seliora laughed. “I forgot. You’ve never gone that way. Methyr!”

  Once again, Methyr led me to my destination, although it wasn’t that difficult-to the south end of the foyer and down a set of steps hidden behind a false panel, then along a narrow corridor with doors every so often.

  “Those lead to the different workrooms,” Methyr said casually.

  “Which one do you work in?”

  “I like the woodworking best, but I’m supposed to learn something about them all.”

  At the end of the narrow corridor was another door, which he unlocked and opened.

  I stepped out onto a narrow stoop at the top of a set of five steps leading down to the narrow northern end of the courtyard opposite the stables, outside of which Shomyr was checking harnesses on the two mules hitched to the wagon, a simple oblong box, with a frame above, covered with oilcloth that had once been a dark brown, but now appeared mottled with various shades of brown.

  After I crossed the paved courtyard and neared the wagon, Shomyr turned from the mules and their traces and surveyed me. “You look more like a factor’s son playing at being a workman.”

  “It doesn’t matter, does it? So long as I don’t
look like an imager?”

  He smiled, then walked to the back of the wagon, reached inside, and tossed me a worn, stained, and patched leather jacket. “That should help. Boots are boots, and yours are well worn, and no one looks at trousers.”

  I set the drawing board on the wagon seat, on top of the paper, and pulled on the jacket, a trace snug, but I didn’t need to fasten it.

  “You’re broader than you look,” Shomyr said.

  I had Clovyl and Master Dichartyn to thank for that. I glanced into the interior of the wagon, empty except for a single chair, wrapped heavily in cloth.

  “One of the sample chairs,” explained Seliora, coming up behind me. “In case anyone asks. That’s unlikely.”

  A temporary bench seat had been wedged in place inside the wagon, but just behind the driver’s seat. That was for me.

  “We might as well get rolling.”

  Shomyr vaulted up onto the driver’s place, and I clambered up and inside, settling onto the bench, in the middle, where I’d be able to look out between Seliora and Shomyr. I set the drawing materials beside me as Seliora vaulted up into her seat with grace.

  Shomyr drove the wagon down Nordroad and then turned northeast on the Boulevard D’Este.

  “How long will it take?” I asked.

  “With the wagon this light, a little more than a glass,” offered Shomyr.

  “Have you ever been at Ryel’s?”

  “No. We’ve driven past the grounds. High Holder Tierchyl’s chateau is on the west side of the road a bit farther out.” Seliora paused. “Will his family keep it now that he’s dead?”

  “It depends on what’s left after Ryel extracts his pounds of flesh. Tierchyl’s family is probably still there for now.”

  “Not for long, from what we’ve heard of Ryel,” suggested Shomyr.

  “What do you recall of Ryel’s estate here?” I asked.

  “It’s near the top of one of the hills to the north, the ones between the higher ground and the valley, but not at the top. At least, the chateau isn’t . . .”

  I listened until Seliora and Shomyr could say no more, and then we talked more about family. I did tell Seliora that her aunt Staelia was very much her partisan.

  While we conversed, Shomyr drove on, through the Plaza D’Nord and along the boulevard for another mille before turning due north on an unmarked but well-paved road.

  “To find those with golds, just follow the best roads,” Shomyr said cheerfully.

  “Or the worst roads with the deepest ruts,” countered Seliora.

  Before all that long, as the wagon began to head down a gentle slope, Shomyr nodded. “There it is, on the hill ahead, the right side, in the middle of the walls.”

  I immediately put a sheet of paper on the drawing board and began to study the grounds framed by the wall. The chateau was set on the east side of the road, and dominated the gentler slope just below the hilltop, the building itself a good three hundred yards from end to end. It made the Council Chateau look tiny by comparison, and I would have guessed that it well might be smaller than Ryel’s chateau on his main holding north of Rivages. A gray stone wall a little more than two yards high extended around the grounds.

  I began to sketch, not wanting to waste a moment, since I was imposing on both Seliora and Shomyr.

  From what I could tell as we approached, the structure was laid out in a “Y” shape, with the base of the Y running parallel to the road. The southern extension ended at what looked to be a cliff-one created artificially by digging away the hillside and running a solid stone foundation straight up. A squarish tower was set on the southern-most section of the terrace overlooking the gardens and valley. It appeared no more than five yards on a side, but rose another three levels above the roofed and pillared but otherwise open terrace.

  “You could see all the way to Imagisle from the top of the tower,” I observed.

  “I’m certain that’s the point,” replied Shomyr. “The terrace offers almost as good a view, and the extensions of the roof allow one to sit there in the late afternoon without getting that warm. They’ll doubtless have shades or screens for the time around sunset.”

  I kept sketching as quickly as I could, trying to put in the various buildings in a quick diagram of where everything was located in respect to the walls and the gates, and the curving drive from the gates leading to the covered front portico looked as though it fronted a gallery or a grand salon stretching across the west side of the chateau.

  Shomyr let the mules take their time plodding up the relatively gentle, if long, slope. Neither he nor Seliora spoke as I drew.

  Once we passed the gates, I scrambled to the back of the wagon and continued my work. The gates were simple but heavy iron grilles, without even a crest or coat of arms on them. Two heavy iron bars on the inside secured the gates. The stone pillars anchoring them rose almost a yard above the top of the adjoining wall. There was no exterior gate house, but I could see the shape of one against the wall and just inside the gates. The paved drive was wide enough for two carriages abreast and curved northward to the portico, then circled back eastward to rejoin itself. In the middle of that circle was a miniature garden, with a fountain statue in the center, although I could not make out the figure in any detail. The ground to the north continued to slope upward. Against the northern wall, some four hundred yards uphill, was a curved stone structure that puzzled me for a moment, until I realized that it had to be some sort of cistern or water reservoir, feeding both the chateau and the fountain, and the water source was probably a spring or a stream even farther uphill.

  “There’s a turnout at the top of the hill. I can stop there for a bit. That would seem natural,” Shomyr said.

  “I’d like that.”

  I couldn’t see all of the chateau from the turnout, but since the wagon was barely visible from below, I took my time-almost a glass-before I told Shomyr that I had what I needed.

  He turned the wagon back around and headed slowly downhill-as would any teamster.

  I kept drawing and filling in all the details that I could. In fact, I drew all the way back. When we pulled up in the courtyard of NordEste Design, it was just past fourth glass. Dark clouds were massing to the northwest, and the wind had turned chill.

  Once the wagon stopped and Shomyr set the brake, Seliora turned in the seat. “Could I see?”

  “Of course.” I showed her the first sketch, which was almost a diagram of where all the buildings were, then the others in turn.

  Shomyr looked at the sketches as well, then shook his head. “I didn’t see half of that.”

  “It takes practice. Master Caliostrus would put an arrangement of fruit or something on a table, and tell me to look at it carefully. Then he’d remove it all, and make me draw it from memory. He got most upset if I left something out. You practice like that for seven years, and you get very good at noticing details.” Unless it was something that I hadn’t looked at that way, or hadn’t known how to study when I’d last seen it-like the back of the factorage.

  “Can I help with the wagon?” I asked.

  Shomyr shook his head. “You need to change and get back, don’t you?”

  “I have some time.”

  “That’s all right.” Shomyr nodded to his sister.

  Seliora took my arm, not saying anything until we were farther away. “He’s happy to be able to help. He’s also pleased that you offered to do what you could with the wagon, but he likes to handle things in his own way.”

  I could understand that.

  “You go change,” she added, “and then we can talk, can’t we?”

  “For a little,” I admitted.

  She used a heavy key to unlock the door at the top of the steps, then locked it behind us. Once we were in the main foyer, she turned to me. “Go change. I’ll wait here.” She took off the scarf and shook out her hair.

  For a moment, I just admired her, then headed for the stairs, carrying the drawing board and all the sketches. When I fin
ished changing and made my way back down to her, carrying my bag filled with exercise clothes and the sketches, she had two mugs of hot tea and a plate of biscuits waiting on a side table flanked by two chairs.

  “How did you manage that so quickly?” I asked, settling into the chair across from her.

  “I didn’t. Mother did. She was watching for our return.”

  “You and your family . . . you’re all remarkable.” I paused. “Thank you for today. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” I took a sip of the tea, a small sip. It was hot, very hot. “If I could ride, it would have been easier.”

  “You can’t?” She grinned. “We should teach you.”

  “You can ride as well?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be able to? I used to ride messages for Papa when I was little.”

  “I should learn . . .”

  “Good. Next week, we’ll put you on the mare.”

  “Just like that?”

  “You can’t ride without getting on a horse, Rhenn.”

  She had a point there.

  Her eyes met mine, and she smiled, if briefly, before asking quietly, “After today, what will you do?”

  “Keep trying to find out enough to know how to deal with an arrogant High Holder in a way that threatens no one else.” Or overtly involved the Collegium.

  “If anything happens to Ryel, won’t his son . . . ?”

  “And his nephew. The possibility that they might is part of the problem.”

  “That’s like Pharsi revenge. Sometimes it never ends.” She looked at me. “Unless there’s no one left to carry on.”

  “I hope it doesn’t have to go that far.” I didn’t want to think about that for the moment, or about Pharsi revenge . . . or even bring up the pistol incident. “The biscuits are good.” I paused. “Do you want to start on the portrait next Samedi? Can you?”