Darknesses

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

“Yes, sir.”

  Alucius dismounted.

  The graying captain stepped down to meet Alucius. “Captain Alfaryl, Overcaptain. Captain-Colonel Ratyf asked me to escort you.”

  “Thank you.” Alucius glanced up. While not quite so large as the Landarch’s palace, the structure was still imposing, at least five floors, and stretching a good two hundred yards from east to west. “Has anyone ever gotten lost?”

  “We try not to let that happen, sir.”

  “I can imagine.” Alucius followed the older captain through the double stone arches and inside into a square, vaulted entry hall that rose a good ten yards overhead and measured fifteen yards on a side. Light poured through the high clerestory windows on the south side. The floor was polished granite, inlaid with long strips of what appeared to be blue marble, creating a blue-edged diamond pattern.

  Captain Alfaryl crossed the entry hall, leading Alucius through the middle of three square arches into a corridor that stretched a good forty yards, but after about twenty yards they turned left into a short corridor, not more than ten yards long. At the end was a set of high double doors. In front of the doors were four more of the guards in blue and silver. Without a word, the guard in the center opened one of the doors, holding it as Alucius and the captain stepped through and closing it behind them.

  Alucius found himself in a large chamber, with a number of settees and upholstered armchairs, and with blue-and-cream hangings, and heavy carpets, in blue and cream, laid over the granite floor. On the light-wood-paneled walls hung several portraits, all of men, and presumably of past Lord-Protectors. Except for Alucius, Captain Alfaryl, and the captain-colonel who walked toward them, the chamber was empty.

  “Captain-Colonel Ratyf,” said Alfaryl, “Overcaptain Alucius.”

  “Ah…yes, sir. The Lord-Protector was wondering…Since you’re here early, I’ll check. The Lord-Protector might wish to see you sooner…” The captain-colonel vanished through a small doorway.

  Captain Alfaryl looked at Alucius, then around the chamber. “Most unusual…”

  “The Lord-Protector seeing someone early?”

  “He has many demands on his time, sir.”

  “Usually there are many people here?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  That didn’t help put Alucius any more at ease, not when the captain-colonel returned and beckoned. “He’d like to see you now, sir, since you’re here.”

  Alucius turned to Alfaryl. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, sir.”

  Alucius followed the captain-colonel’s gesture, stepping through the larger door in the rear of the waiting chamber.

  Ratyf held the door and announced in a deep voice, “Overcaptain Alucius of the Northern Guard.”

  Alucius stepped into the audience hall, hearing the door click shut behind him.

  The hall itself was not that much larger than the corridor leading to the waiting chamber, but the goldenstone walls were draped with rich blue hangings, and light-torches were everywhere, giving the chamber an impression of airiness. The floor was polished white marble, patterned with the blue stone Alucius had seen in the outer entry hall, but the pattern was that of smaller oblongs, not diamonds. He could sense neither apprehension, nor fear—but there was a vague sense of purpleness that he had not felt before.

  The Lord-Protector stood before a white onyx throne, a slender dark-haired man in a blue-violet tunic without decorations or ornamentation. The throne’s high stone back rose into a spire, a good three yards high, and at the tip of the spire was a shimmering blue crystal star. For a moment, Alucius caught his breath, but let it out as he sensed that the jewel was merely a jewel and not a focus of power the way the crystal of the Matrial had been.

  “Overcaptain.”

  “Lord-Protector.” Alucius bowed. As he straightened, he caught sight of a figure to the right and to the rear of the Lord-Protector—an older-looking man in silver vestments. But the silver-garbed man did not feel old to Alucius, and his lifethread was black and purple…with the tinge of evil that Alucius had only felt with the pteridons and the Matrial.

  Before Alucius could more than perceive that, silently and quickly the man in silver vanished through a side door half-hidden on the right side of the dais. Alucius knew that he had missed something beyond the evil, but not what.

  “Please join me.” The Lord-Protector gestured to a simple chair set on the wide step below the throne-chair, then seated himself on the cushion—the sole softness within the onyx.

  Alucius took the chair, noting that he was a perfect target for the marksman who was concealed in the left gallery, and whom he could sense but not see. His eyes did flicker upward. He also worried about the man who had left so quickly.

  “Yes,” the Lord-Protector said with a smile, “there are guards there. It’s a pity, but they have proved necessary in the past. I’d expected you would find them immediately. From what I’ve heard and seen reported, you miss very little, Overcaptain Alucius.”

  “I try not to, Lord-Protector.” Alucius grinned, hoping it was self-conscious. “There was a minister or someone in silver, who was leaving as I entered…”

  “Oh…the Recorder of Deeds, one of my oldest advisors.”

  What the Lord-Protector said was true, but far from all that he might have said, Alucius knew, from the combination of both acceptance and surprise felt by the Lord-Protector.

  “Is he your secretary…I had heard…”

  “No.” The Lord-Protector laughed. “Majer Suntyl is acting as secretary today. That is a position, not an individual.” Before Alucius could ask another question, he continued. “You are younger than I had thought, and yet somehow much older. I suppose that follows from all that you have been through. Tell me…what was it like to wear a Matrite collar?”

  “It made me extremely cautious, Lord-Protector. When someone can kill you without touching you and without an obvious weapon, you try to be very careful.”

  “Cautious?” The older man smiled. “That is scarcely a word most would apply to you. Yet it fits. What may seem foolhardy to some may be in fact most cautious to a man prepared for the worst. I had heard that when you discovered that you would be facing pteridons, you immediately devised a moving target on which your men could practice. Was that true?”

  “Yes, Lord-Protector. I fear it did not help so much as we had hoped.”

  “I also understand you were a Matrite squad leader in Zalt. I assume that required you to kill Southern Guards.”

  Alucius didn’t hesitate. “Quite a number, sir.”

  The faintest smile appeared. “Yet you risked your life to save Southern Guards and Lanachrona?”

  “When I wore a Matrite collar, my actions were not totally free. Without a collar, I could choose, Lord-Protector.” Alucius had to wonder exactly where the audience was headed.

  “How did you feel about the union of the Iron Valleys and Lanachrona?”

  “I cannot say I was pleased. I felt the Council had acted so unwisely in the past that there were few choices left. From what I have seen, I would rather have the Iron Valleys ruled from Tempre than from Hieron or Dereka or Lyterna.”

  “That is not the most enthusiastic of replies, Overcaptain,” replied the Lord-Protector, a tone of amusement in his voice.

  “I am usually better at honesty than deception, Lord-Protector.”

  “Usually…an interesting word, there.” The Lord-Protector laughed before continuing. “You are a herder, and you would like to return to being one, I assume?”

  “I had hoped to, Lord Protector. I had never planned to remain in the militia, and then the Northern Guard, as long as I have. When I was captured…the term was two years, but when I returned, it was four.”

  “And that term ends at the turn of winter, as I recall.”

  “It does,” Alucius agreed. Unless something else happened.

  The Lord-Protector leaned back, as if musing, but Alucius sensed only calculation, not speculation. “Some of t
he best officers have come from the herders, few as you are. Herding is a very special way of life.” He leaned forward. “Everyone has told me that. How would you say that it is special?”

  Alucius did not reply immediately, sensing the need for care in responding. Finally, he said, “That is hard to describe, Lord-Protector. A herder needs to understand the nightsheep, the quarasote, and the land. He needs to be comfortable by himself. There are so few herders that I could not say whether we make better officers.”

  “It would be a shame if the Iron Valleys lost the herders, and yet it could happen so easily.”

  “It could,” Alucius admitted. “The Council came close to destroying us. They only saw the price of finished nightsilk and not the costs of producing it.”

  “They tried to set the tariffs too high?”

  “And they conscripted too many herders. My grandsire is well over twelve quints, and my father is dead. I am the only child, yet they judged that I should be conscripted.”

  “They did not allow a buyout of some sort?”

  Alucius laughed, if gently. “It was set at half the golds received from the sale of nightsilk each year. A herder is fortunate if he retains a tenth part after expenses. Some are fortunate to break even, especially in the dry years.”

  “Stupidity…” murmured the Lord-Protector. “Truly unwise.”

  Alucius felt the honesty of that judgment.

  The Lord-Protector straightened in the onyx throne. “I have read all of the reports of all of the senior officers who have questioned you since you arrived in Tempre. No one disputes that you accomplished what you and others reported. There is too much evidence about the number of nomads and about the destructiveness of the pteridons. Yet…no one has been able to explain to my satisfaction how you accomplished this remarkable feat. I would hear it from you.”

  “I will tell you as best I can. Once we arrived in Dereka…” Alucius went on to relate everything he had told everyone else, without adding or subtracting anything that he had stated before, and concluding with his awakening in the officers’ quarters in Dereka. “…and that was how it came about.”

  “Truly remarkable,” mused the Lord-Protector. “You make it seem as though any thoughtful officer should have been able to do what you did.” He laughed once more. “We know that for an officer to do what needs to be done in the heat of battle—and when he is not in command—that is most rare. I have perused many reports over the past few years, and many have had good ideas and been unable to carry them out. Yet you, Overcaptain, have always carried out your tactics. Why are you different?” The Lord-Protector focused his entire being on Alucius.

  Alucius met his glance and did not look away. “Because, Lord-Protector, I am a herder, and because my grandsire trained me as well as he possibly could. Because I was a trooper and a scout, then a captive, then a Matrite squad leader, and because my men have always trusted me and followed me.”

  The Lord-Protector nodded slowly. “And because there are no other officers who have been through what you have been.” He straightened and smiled. “You are indeed unique, Overcaptain Alucius. More unique than either of us can possibly say.” The emphasis on the last word was barely there, but it was certainly there in the feelings of the Lord-Protector.

  “I have been fortunate, Lord-Protector, and for that I am thankful.”

  “I notice that you are not wearing the Star of Gallantry.”

  “No, sir. I didn’t feel it was right to wear it. Every trooper there at the battles in Deforya deserved it.”

  “I see.” The Lord-Protector fingered his chin for a moment. “I had requested your presence for several reasons, Overcaptain. First, I had to meet you. It is seldom that one gets to meet a true hero. And second, I wished to reward you myself, because your accomplishments saved Lanachrona from what eventually could have been a most difficult situation, and I wished that you understand that personally.” The Lord-Protector lifted a medal—a star, blue enamel over gold, with the gold showing at the edges. “This is the Star of Honor. The last one was bestowed over a generation ago. It may be a generation more before another is bestowed.” He smiled. “This is your honor, and if I must, I order you to wear it on all formal and ceremonial occasions.”

  “Yes, Lord-Protector—”

  “‘Sir’ will suffice.” The Lord-Protector pinned it on Alucius, smiling, and whispering, “Nightsilk vest?”

  Alucius nodded.

  The Lord-Protector laughed. “I see why you have survived. For such a comparatively young officer, you leave little to chance. My Recorder of Deeds worried that you would not serve Lanachrona well, but you have served far beyond what anyone could expect of any officer. Would that he understood.”

  Alucius caught something, but could not read the message.

  “I have tried to do my best in all situations, sir.”

  “And I trust that you will continue to do so, both here and when you return to the Iron Valleys.” Once more there was the slightest emphasis on a word—“here”—but so slight that anyone not as close as Alucius could have caught it. “As part of our appreciation for your efforts, I will be sending back orders to the Northern Guard, ordering your release and return to being a herder, within two weeks of your arrival back in Dekhron.”

  Alucius managed not to drop his jaw. That—that he had not expected.

  “You will have to remain here for a few days, while the marshals and the clerks write up those orders, but it will not be that long.”

  “Thank you, sir. I deeply appreciate that. Very deeply.”

  “You have the ability to put things to rights, Overcaptain, even when not directly ordered to do so. I hope and trust that you will continue to do so, both here and in the Iron Valleys. It would be a shame to lose herders and their ability to see the right and accomplish it when it is so needed.” The Lord-Protector stood.

  Alucius stood as quickly as he could. “I will do my best, sir.”

  “That is all any could ask.” The Lord-Protector smiled, then asked, almost as if it were an afterthought, “Would you like a tour of the palace, Overcaptain?”

  Alucius understood all too well that it was anything but an afterthought.

  “I would, indeed, Lord-Protector, if it would not be a problem. It is most unlikely that I will be returning here, and I would like to be able to relate to others what I have seen.”

  The Lord-Protector gestured, and a majer appeared to the left of the onyx throne. “Overcaptain, this is Majer Suntyl.”

  Alucius inclined his head.

  “Majer, it would please me if you were to provide the overcaptain with a complete tour of the palace, excepting only my private chambers and the actual chamber of the Table.”

  Chamber of the Table? Another phrase…where had he heard it?

  “As you command, Lord-Protector.”

  “My thanks a last time, Overcaptain,” said the Lord-Protector.

  Alucius bowed, then retreated down the steps, backward, to avoid turning his back on the Lord-Protector. Majer Suntyl followed.

  Once the two men were outside in the corridor off the audience chamber, Alucius turned. “You’re weren’t required for other appointments?”

  “Most times, I would be.” The majer shifted his weight, as if uncomfortable.

  Alucius tried to project both friendship and openness. “But this morning, he’s going somewhere?”

  “He canceled all his other appointments this morning, and so…” Suntyl shrugged.

  Alucius smiled, pressing with his Talent the idea that he needed to know and that the Lord-Protector wanted Alucius to know.

  “His consort, you know…”

  “How badly is the Lord-Protector’s consort ailing?” Alucius said in a low voice. “I had heard…”

  The majer paused. “Ah…I do not know…but…words…rumors…there had been no heir, and then everyone was smiling…and then, on the end days…they were not…I fear…she did not hold the child…”

  “That is m
ost unfortunate. I know I would be most distraught if that happened to my wife.” Even as he pressed reassurance at the majer, Alucius tried to think of a way that he might be able to use the information, but then tucked that thought away. He needed to concentrate on the tour and the palace, because Feran had been right. The Lord-Protector wanted something. Even without saying anything directly, effectively, the Lord-Protector had requested that Alucius put something to rights in Tempre—and the only thing that seemed not right was the Recorder of Deeds. Did the Lord-Protector suspect the evilness of the Recorder? If he did, and Alucius believed he did, the man was incredibly perceptive, because the Lord-Protector had no Talent. Of that, Alucius was absolutely certain. So he had brought Alucius to Tempre in a way that the Recorder could not find terribly suspicious.

  Alucius smiled faintly.

  “I suppose we should start with the Hall of Portraits,” Suntyl began. “You’ve never been here before, have you?”

  “No. I haven’t. I could be wrong, but I think I’m the first Northern Guard officer ever to visit Tempre. I think the Lord-Protector wanted me to, shall we say, carry back a strong impression of Tempre.”

  Suntyl smiled. “That sounds very much like him. Very well—the Hall of Portraits. It’s the other large hall here on the main level. Most of the chambers here are work spaces. Each of us who serves as his secretary has a space where we write out the records. It’s very important that they be accurate…”

  Alucius nodded, listening as they turned back into the main corridor and continued to the left they reached another short corridor, again with double doors.

  “All of the portraits in here are relatives…the first on the left, that is the great-grandsire of the present Lord-Protector…”

  From the Hall of Portraits, they retraced their steps, and saw working spaces, several other receiving halls, a small enclosed garden, and a library holding all the laws of Lanachrona. Then came the lower level, with the kitchens, storerooms, wine cellars, even a small cooperage and carpentry shop. From there, they proceeded down a long and much older corridor toward another set of steps.

  They moved past an archway, beyond which Alucius could sense…something…that purpleness, he thought, although it was so faint that he could not be certain. Alucius had no doubts that he needed to seek out the Recorder of Deeds. Even his momentary sight of the man had made it clear that the Recorder was a danger to both Alucius and even possibly the Lord-Protector, who appeared a more honorable ruler than either the Landarch or the Council, and certainly than the Matrial.