The Spark

by David Drake

  “Louis?” Welsh blurted.

  “I brought him enough stuff to cover anything you want,” I said. “But I want to talk with him while I’m sober. And I sure want to be sober when I talk to the Leader, and that’s next.”

  “Pal, just a word to you,” Garrett said, frowning into his mug. “The Leader’s in a pretty grim mood these past couple days.”

  “Right, the Baran business,” said Welsh. That didn’t mean anything to me, but he went on, “Baran had been seeing one of the Consort’s maids, Berenice. He caught her with another fellow—a servant, actually, nobody that matters. Baran couldn’t even call him out, you see. It’d just be murder.”

  “Well, that’s a bad thing,” I said. “But I guess it happens pretty often in Dun Add, doesn’t it? It did in Beune.”

  “Yeah,” said Garrett. “Only Baran’s blaming Jolene, saying that Berenice takes after her slut of a mistress.” He shook his head and added, “Listen, I can’t say from personal experience, but I’ve heard stories. Berenice didn’t have anything to learn about horizontal exercise from a long time before she came to Dun Add and joined the court.”

  “And it’s the same problem,” Welsh said. “If Clain—or the Leader—comes down on Baran, then it’s proof of the stories, you see? So Clain’s heading off to God knows where, and Jon’s hoping that it’ll all go away.”

  “Hoping that Baran breaks his neck, more like,” Garrett said morosely. “Who can blame him? Just don’t be surprised if the Leader bites your head. It’s not about you.”

  I got up from the table. “I learned a long time ago that most things aren’t,” I said. “But I also know that it can be hard to remember when somebody’s screaming in my face.”

  * * *

  I’d been planning to go up to Guntram’s workroom and ask him to take me to Jon, as he’d promised, but Louis said he’d take me himself. We’d finished our business—he’d agreed to outfit Garrett and Welsh, showing no more concern than he might have done in deciding whether to have pork or beef at table—and he’d shown me his—his team’s—progress on boosting the power of the weapon from Not-Here.

  I wanted to view that in more detail when I had time, but I knew I’d be too nervous to do the job justice until I’d spoken with the Leader. That would’ve been true even before my friends warned me about Jon’s mood. The sooner I had the interview over, the happier I’d be.

  “He’s in his chamber with Lord Clain,” an attendant said as we entered the Leader’s suite. I expected us to wait, but the attendant rapped on the inner door, called, “It’s Louis, sir,” and opened the door for us. I’m not sure he’d even waited for a response from Jon.

  “Clain, finish your business,” Louis said. “My young colleague here wants to discuss something with Jon, and I said I’d ease him through the door.”

  Clain looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read; it was sort of like having a cat look at me. A really big cat.

  “Your colleague?” Clain said. “He’s Pal of Beune, isn’t he?”

  “Yes sir,” I said, my back as straight as I could make it. “You knocked me silly a couple months ago.”

  “You made me work to do it,” Clain said with a grim smile.

  “And he’s my colleague, or Guntram’s, really, as well,” said Louis. “He’s brought us a haul of artifacts from the Marches, some of them which I’ve never seen before. But really, go on.”

  Jon got up from the desk at which he’d been sitting. “I’m afraid we’re done here,” he said. He turned his head toward Clain and said, “Unless you can think of anything I could offer to get you to change your mind?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Clain said. He bowed.

  Clain walked past me and Louis toward the door. “I’m going to find a region that hasn’t had any attention,” he said. “And then I’ll probably move around my estates for a while. I trust my vicars, but it’s always good to check.”

  The door closed behind him.

  Jon sat back down and rubbed his forehead with his hands over his eyes. He looked very tired.

  “What is it you need, Louis?” he said. His hands were still in front of his face.

  Louis nodded to me. “Sir,” I said. “It’s Pal of Beune. I’ve captured a castle in the Marches. I’d like to hold it in your name but appoint two vicars to actually run it.”

  Jon nodded. “Clain said you’d liberated a castle,” he said. “He said it was close to Catermole, is that correct?”

  “Yes sir,” I said. I’d told a clerk—the same Toledana who’d given Baga directions to Catermole in the first place—what I’d found. I hadn’t realized that the information had risen as high as Clain; let alone to Jon himself.

  “He recommends that Catermole be attached to your castle—what’s it called?”

  “Castle Ariel, sir.”

  “To Castle Ariel with a garrison of thirty troopers from the army, to be maintained from the estate,” Jon resumed. “Does that seem reasonable to you?”

  “Yes sir,” I said. It was reasonable beyond anything I could have organized myself. “Sir, whatever you decide is fine. I’m just a kid from Beune.”

  “Who killed a monster from Not-Here which had been preying on humans for decades,” said the Leader, with a touch of humor on his face. “Don’t worry, lad. I’ve been learning to put people and things into the right pigeonholes for longer than that spider was at its business.”

  His expression melted again. “Oh, Louis,” he said, “what am I to do without Clain here?”

  “Surely you can find a chancellor until Clain returns, Jon,” Louis said, frowning.

  “I’ve put Morseth in the job,” the Leader said. “He was Clain’s suggestion and he can certainly do the work, but Louis—”

  He looked up at the Maker. I might as easily not have been in the room—and I’d have been happier not to be.

  “Clain and I came to Dun Add when we were boys and it was no more than a nest of villains, us and a couple handsful of farmers who believed in us,” Jon said. “You remember that. And we cleaned it out and started building the Commonwealth on that foundation. I don’t want a chancellor, Louis, I want Clain!”

  He took a deep breath and shook himself. “Well, Clain will be back,” he muttered. Looking at me again he resumed, “Find Morseth and tell him to assign thirty troopers to Castle Ariel. And clerks. What’s the population of Catermole, Lord Pal?”

  “Sir, I’m not sure,” I said. “I’d judge maybe a thousand, but it’s growing fast.”

  “Three clerks, then,” said Jon. “The first thing they’ll do is get us better numbers. Then we’ll see. Now, you say you’re appointing a vicar?”

  “Two, sir,” I said. “Welsh and Garrett who’ve been Aspirants here. They’ll have better equipment shortly.”

  “Well and good,” said Jon, “but what will you be doing yourself?”

  “Well, sir,” I said, “I hoped you’d find another job for me. As a Champion of the Commonwealth, I mean.”

  “The first one worked out all right,” said Jon, smiling again. “Would you like a few months in Dun Add to sample the good things of life first, though?”

  “Truly sir…” I said. My eyes were on the floor in embarrassment; I forced myself to raise them to meet the Leader’s. “I’d really rather go out as soon as I could. Dun Add doesn’t agree with me.”

  “Or me either, much of the time,” Jon said, shaking his head. “Well, stick around court for a while and I’m sure we’ll find something suitable.”

  I bowed. I followed Louis out the door.

  Behind us, the Leader was rubbing his forehead again.

  CHAPTER 26

  New Horizons

  In fact it took more than a week. I had Baga run Welsh to Catermole in the boat and then guide him to Castle Ariel. That way Welsh could lead the whole contingent there in turn.

  While they were gone, Garrett was getting to know the troops the Leader was providing as a garrison. I spent my time with clerks, learning—o
r at least being told—what my duties were as Lord of Ariel and Catermole, which ones I could delegate and which I couldn’t.

  Mostly my duties seemed to be to support the clerks in collecting taxes, to keep order, and to refer all capital crimes to Dun Add. Given the distance from Ariel to Dun Add, sending prisoners back under escort was going to be a difficult enough process to discourage classifying things as capital crimes.

  That suited me. There’d been several manslaughters in Beune since I got old enough to notice things. Generally it was too much to drink on all sides and solved with a payment of what we thought was fair to the wife and children.

  In the case of Disch, he had the devil’s own temper. We stripped him of everything he had and told him to leave Beune and never come back. I was on that jury myself, and I can tell you that all the neighbors were glad of an excuse to see the back of him.

  I didn’t see why that wouldn’t work on Catermole nine cases out of ten. For the tenth one, there was the garrison’s manpower to haul somebody back to Jon to judge.

  The boat returned. I shook hands with Garrett and Welsh, gave a little talk to the troops about how they were advancing humanity, and waved good-bye as the convoy set off from landingplace.

  I’d felt myself blushing as I talked about this great duty they were carrying out. It’s what I believe, true enough, but I knew most of those professional soldiers thought it was bumph. That was all right so long as they did their duty; but I still thought I ought to tell them what I believed.

  There was quite a gang of people besides the soldiers. Most of the troops were taking women and sometimes children besides. There were a lot of civilians too, folks who thought there’d be a better life for them in the Marches, and weren’t afraid to travel there so long as they had a strong escort.

  It was just like I’d told Welsh and Garrett, only until now I’d had secret doubts that it’d work. Secret even from myself. I watched them saunter out of sight onto the Road. A little girl was shrieking from on top of the supply cart where she was being carried.

  I turned to Baga and said, “Well, I’m off to court. It’s about time for Jon to give judgment on today’s cases.”

  “I wonder, boss…?” Baga said, keeping his face toward the Road rather than looking at me. “It was Maggie asking, you see, and I didn’t know the answer.”

  “Well, ask then!” I said. There was no question that was as likely to get my back up as him wasting my time with nervous mumbling.

  “You see, Maggie was wondering if you’d seen Lady May since you been back from Castle Ariel?” he said.

  “I have not.”

  “Only, you see, Maggie says she hasn’t been seeing men in a long while,” Baga said. “Lady May hasn’t, I mean. You know how women talk.”

  “I know that I’m not talking to a woman now,” I said. I’d been facing the castle, but I turned now to Baga.

  “That’s none of my business,” I said, hearing my voice get louder. “Lady May is an estimable person who fits in very well with the way things are done on Dun Add. For myself, the sooner I’m away from this place, the happier I’ll be. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, boss,” Baga said. “Sorry, boss.”

  I was already striding up the slope toward the castle.

  * * *

  I was in the courtroom two days later when the Herald called a fellow named Boyes to state his case. He was a slender fellow, not bad looking except for his hair. That was a dirty blond and hung from his scalp like seaweed.

  “I am Prince Boyes of Farandol,” he said. “When my father Prince Lorcan died, my sister and her husband deprived me of my share of Farandol and its lands. I ask that you restore me to my rightful rank and lands.”

  Jon looked up from the folder he’d been poring over. “Boyes, styled Prince Boyes,” he said. “I have read the docket my clerks have prepared for me. I decree that you, your sister Liufa, and your brother-in-law Lang will appear before me for determination of the case on its merits. Due to the distance to Farandol I have set the hearing for ninety days, with the option of moving it forward if possible.”

  Jon surveyed the room. “Is Lord Pal present in court?” he called.

  I jumped up, startled. “Sir?” I said. “I’m here!”

  “See me in chambers after I’ve completed these proceedings,” Jon said. “Dismissed, next petition.”

  * * *

  There were two more matters for the day’s session. One caught my attention: representatives from Westervale—it seemed to be ruled by a group of nobles together, but the delegation here was of clerks—claimed that bandits from the Waste were preying on their herds. If that was true, then I’d be interested in learning what was going on.

  I was at the door of Jon’s chambers as soon as I could get there after the session closed, but there were already six people ahead of me. The door opened and Toledana stuck her head out. She called, “Lord Pal, please,” and I slipped past a suddenly glum official from the supply office.

  Toledana, Jon at his desk, and I were the only people present. He said, “Well, Pal, do you still want to go out immediately?”

  “Yes sir,” I said. “I listened to the Westervale request. I’d like to look into it.”

  “You’d find that one of the oligarchs is at the bottom of it if you did,” Jon said, glancing at the folder. “Probably the one whose lands are nearest the Road. I’ll send Kimber to sort it out.”

  He looked up at me. “You’ve got a boat,” he said, “so I’d like you to take Boyes out to Farandol and bring his sister and brother-in-law back. That will save months.”

  “Yes sir,” I said. I hoped I didn’t sound as disappointed as I was, though I doubt Jon cared about my feelings when they were in the balance with the needs of the Commonwealth. “If that’s what you want, sir.”

  I hadn’t thought much about owning a boat before now, but I suddenly had a vision of being sent to all the most distant problems regardless of how interesting they were. If I offered Kimber the use of my boat—and Baga, of course—would Jon send him to Farandol instead?

  Probably not. Besides, I’d said I would go where Jon ordered me, and right now that was Farandol.

  “Farandol is well within Not-Here,” Toledana said. “I’ll give the full route to your boatman, of course, but I thought you might be interested in the situation.”

  “Yes, very much,” I said. She gave me a warm smile in response. I guessed that most Champions were too focused on the immediate job to listen to what Toledana thought was fascinating.

  “There’s a string of nodes—thirty that I know of, but probably hundreds—out beyond Oak and Provence, what we think of as the Marches in that region,” she said. “They’re islands, enclaves, that weren’t absorbed when Not-Here expanded there. The traffic on the Road there is almost entirely non-human.”

  “Beasts?” I asked.

  “Yes, but other creatures as well,” Toledana said. “Creatures which have never been described anywhere else. Perhaps not all of them sentient.”

  “The Road beyond the Marches is dangerous even for armed groups,” Jon said. “Boyes was lucky to have made it to Here, let alone Dun Add.”

  He glanced at his file, then looked at me and grimaced. “Look, Pal,” he said, “I don’t like Boyes—or trust him, if it comes to that. But if this is a real chance for the Commonwealth to get a foothold into Not-Here, we have to take it. I want a base that we can patrol the Road from, to take it back from the Beasts and whatever else threatens human beings now. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir,” I said. What I didn’t say is that I wasn’t sure I agreed. There was plenty of unoccupied territory that was Here, and it seemed to me that it wouldn’t hurt to leave Farandol to itself.

  But I suppose if there were people on Farandol and in the other places beyond the Marches, then they had a right to be part of the Commonwealth too. And anyway, it was Jon’s decision.

  “I told you that I didn’t like Boyes,” Jon said. “But I’m tryi
ng to build a government of laws, and even smelly little swine have rights under the law. Can you remember that, Pal?”

  “Yes sir,” I said. I shrugged. “I’ll treat him as a job, the way I would an artifact I was rebuilding.”

  Jon gave me a slow smile. “I see why you get along so well with Guntram,” he said. “Well, go and good luck to you.”

  * * *

  I met Boyes at the boat the next morning, the first time I’d seen him close up. He smelled sour.

  Now, farming means manure, and I don’t know anybody on Beune who bathes in the winter: either you (literally) freeze or it costs more in fuel than anybody can afford. Dun Add had different standards.

  But that’s not what I mean. There was something wrong about the way Boyes smelled. It was more like what you smell in the bedrooms of sick old people, but Boyes was young and moved like he was perfectly healthy.

  “We’ll be ready to go as soon as you get your luggage aboard, sir,” I said.

  “I have all I require,” said Boyes, reaching over his shoulder to touch the small pack he wore. He had a pleasant voice, but it seemed lifeless.

  “Well, you can get aboard, then,” I said. “Take any of the rear compartments. Baga and I will be in the forward pair. It won’t be long.”

  “The voyage will take a week, I’m told?” Boyes said.

  I grinned. “Not on this boat,” I said. “More like three days, I believe.”

  That was what the boat itself had told me. Baga would probably say the same.

  “Very good,” said Boyes. He went aboard.

  I found myself frowning, but it didn’t matter. Boyes would spend the voyage in his compartment or, if he didn’t, I could spend it in mine. And it was only three days.

  I’d seen Baga and Maggie approaching. They stopped twenty feet away and embraced briefly. Maggie turned and had almost reached the woodline before Baga joined me.

  “Our guest’s aboard,” I said. “He seems a quiet sort.”

  “Good enough,” Baga said. “Do you know anything about this Farandol?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” I said. “Toledana asked me to bring her as much information back as I can.”