Arms-Commander

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  Below Zeldyan’s clear and flowing signature was her seal.

  After a moment, Saryn walked toward the entry to Tower Black. She did not replace the parchment in its envelope, but opened the heavy door one-handed and stepped into the tower.

  Ryba was standing in the foyer, alone. “The Lady Regent has requested you go to Lornth.”

  Saryn crossed the distance between them and handed the Marshal the single sheet.

  Ryba read it, then looked up. “Politely worded.”

  “But a definite reminder of my pledge.”

  “Do you intend to keep it?” asked Ryba. “You are not strictly obligated to do so. It was made under duress.”

  “That doesn’t matter, does it? If I do not go, no one will trust the word of Westwind except when backed by force of arms, and that will require that every pledge be so backed.”

  “That is true. Did you think of that when you pledged your assistance?”

  “I did. That was why I pledged only my personal aid.”

  Ryba shook her head. “Zeldyan knew you would not come alone. No matter how we try, we end up enmeshed in the affairs of the others. That’s the way of the world—on all worlds.”

  “I’m not asking for great support. A squad would be enough, and there must be that many guards who would be willing…”

  “You will need two,” affirmed Ryba, “and Hryessa. A good second-in-command will be vital for you.”

  “Are you sure you can spare two…and a good captain?”

  “We can’t afford to have you fail, and you’ll need two squads for you to have a chance at succeeding.”

  “Why two?” Saryn knew that Ryba had foreseen something, and Saryn wanted to see if she could get Ryba to reveal more of what might be.

  “Two squads aren’t threatening enough for any of those holders opposing Zeldyan to claim that Westwind is invading Lornth, but our two squads are worth a company or more of the lord-holders’ armsmen, especially under you and Hryessa. You also may be able to recruit and train some Lornian women…that is, if you’re there a while, perhaps two more squads, and that would give you a full company. You may be there that long, unfortunately, because internal unrest is not something that is quickly or easily resolved, as you will discover.”

  “We might need some spare mounts,” suggested Saryn.

  “You can take ten of the captured Gallosian mounts. We might have trouble enough with fodder this fall and winter.”

  “What else do you suggest?” asked Saryn.

  “Additional blades. We can’t spare many, but we can spare an extra for each guard.”

  “You’re saying that I’m likely to be there a long time,” Saryn replied with a wry smile. “How long, do you think?”

  Ryba shrugged. “What I foresee doesn’t come with dates attached. You’ve seen that already. Nor do I understand exactly the context of the images. I’ve seen you in snow and cold rain, though. That suggests you won’t be done with what you need to do by the end of harvest. I can spare but twenty golds, and half that because you were so careful on your last trip. You will have to make certain that the regents support your guards with food and fodder. At that, you will be far cheaper than any other armsmen.” Ryba’s smile was cold, yet wry. “You can take two of the wagons for supplies and spare equipment, and two of the drays. Since one wagon fell apart, and we had to rebuild it, and since you are coming to the aid of the regents, that is only fair. Also, the Suthyans will only supply or bribe a few Lornian lord-holders. That is because they wish the revolt to be long and bloody, so that Lornth will fall easily into their hands. Do what ever you must do, wherever that may lead. I would that it were otherwise.” Ryba shook her head. “When will you leave?”

  “We can leave by eightday, if that is agreeable to you.”

  “That’s likely for the best. From what you have said, the Lady Zeldyan would not request your assistance unless matters were truly urgent. You are her last hope, and possibly our best chance for keeping hostilities from our western borders.”

  The Marshal’s words carried resignation and sadness, Saryn could tell, both from the feelings she could sense and from the tone of the Marshal’s voice. “Then it will be on eightday.”

  Ryba nodded.

  Saryn offered a wry smile, then turned and headed out to find Hryessa.

  From Ryba’s comments and suggestions, and the fact that Ryba had allowed Saryn to take Hryessa and the two squads of her own choice, Saryn was well aware that not only would she have a long and hard struggle in trying to preserve the regency from the greed and the chauvinism of the lord-holders of Lornth, but that even Ryba was uncertain as to where matters would lead or exactly how long Saryn would be away from Westwind.

  Lornth

  XLII

  Saryn had started down the steps to the main hall before dawn on eightday, when she heard Ryba’s voice from above her on the stone staircase. “Saryn…I’d like a word with you…”

  Saryn headed up to the top level of Tower Black, where Ryba waited, fully dressed.

  “Come in and close the door.”

  Saryn did so. Ryba stood by the circular table and looked at Saryn. “I have not said too much to you about what you must do in Lornth. That is because I do not know so much as I would like. I cannot tell you how vital it is that you do not hazard yourself unnecessarily. You can sacrifice guards if you must, but without you, Westwind will have nothing.” Ryba’s lips quirked into an ironic grin. “Needless to say, such an unnecessary sacrifice would not benefit you, either. One way or another, Lornth will not survive in its present form. The old lord-holders who will not abandon their male-only traditions will have to be crushed, or they will destroy the regency. The regency may not last in any case, but whoever or what ever rules Lornth must not include the tradition-bound holders, or we will be at war within a handful of years.”

  “Even with the devastation there, and what is likely to come?”

  “If they survive, they will seek to blame us and plunder Westwind for what crumbs they can find. We do not need another war.”

  “So…you’re sending me as much for Westwind as because I pledged.”

  “More for Westwind. I respect your honor, but my goal has always been to change Candar so that there are places where women have at least equal rights and power compared to men. Without Westwind and what you must do, that cannot happen.”

  Ryba’s words scarcely surprised Saryn. “I think I always knew that.”

  There was a moment of silence before Ryba spoke again. “Saryn…no matter what you think, I do wish the best for you.”

  Those words and, even more, the clear feeling of truth behind them did surprise Saryn. “Thank you.”

  “You’d best get something to eat. You have a long journey ahead of you.” Ryba paused. “One last thing, and it is advice you will not like. To succeed you will need to be more ruthless than any man, for only then will they respect you.”

  “I hope it does not come to that.”

  “It will. It always does.” Ryba stepped forward and opened the door.

  Saryn nodded, then departed, heading down to the main hall to eat.

  Less than a glass later, she was mounted and at the head of her small force, reined up on the road outside Tower Black where it met the causeway.

  “Is everything set?” Saryn looked to Hryessa.

  While Saryn would have liked to have checked every guard’s gear personally, she knew that doing so would have undermined her subordinate—unnecessarily, since Hryessa was every bit as meticulous as Saryn herself. The arms-commander glanced back at the wagons waiting behind fourth squad. Both were in far better condition than when she had brought them back to Westwind, as were the two drays pulling them.

  “Yes, ser. We’re ready to head out. We made the transfers you approved for the two with small children, and that took care of anyone who shouldn’t really be going to Lornth.”

  Saryn nodded. She’d told the guard captain that they might end up stuck in Lor
nth over the winter if things did not go well. “How does Daryn feel about your going to Lornth?”

  “He hasn’t said. He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t like it. I can tell.” Hryessa shrugged. “I told him you needed me, and the Marshal said so. That means he has to stay and take care of Elaya and Ryntyr. He’s good with them. That’s not a problem. He’s tended some of the other young ones, too, when it was necessary. He’s a good man.”

  Saryn looked across the causeway. Standing just outside the door to Tower Black was a small group of people, among them Daryn and Hryessa’s son and daughter, and four other familiar figures—the three silver-haired girls and Dealdron. Ryba was not among those seeing the detachment off, but Saryn would not have expected that of the Marshal.

  Elaya and Ryntyr waved to their mother, and Hryessa blew them each a kiss, then flicked the reins of her mount. “Company! Forward!”

  Saryn took a last glance at Tower Black and the handful of people standing before it on the causeway.

  Dealdron looked at Saryn, his gaze steady, but she could not sense what lay behind his eyes, only that it was not hatred or anything like it. Wistfulness? Why would he be wistful? She offered a pleasant smile, then eased the chestnut gelding forward, wondering how long it might be before she saw the tower again.

  XLIII

  Unlike her last travels, when she returned from the battle with the Gallosians, Saryn found the descent from the Roof of the World to the hills of eastern Lornth both quick and uneventful. Less than five days later, she and her detachment rode into Henspa just before sunset. Essin the innkeeper was waiting on the porch of the Black Bull.

  “I thought we’d not be seeing you again so soon, Angel.”

  “I didn’t think so, either. How is your mother?” Saryn asked Essin.

  “Much better, and I thank you for that. She would like to talk to you, I’m certain, once you’ve seen to your guards.”

  “I’d be happy to.”

  “And she’d be pleased. There are not that many who come to Henspa these days.”

  “Have you seen any more Suthyans?” asked Saryn.

  “Not a one, and only a sole Jeranyi trader, taking the long way back, telling tales of how the Great Forest grows vaster day and night, swallowing up whole towns, but leaving a village here and a village there.”

  “Why was he there?”

  “Like all Jeranyi, he was a thief. Like as not, he hoped to glean riches from the ruins, and two fine wagons he had. Jersen said that he had a pair of cupridium blades.”

  “Cupridium?” Saryn had never heard that word.

  “Silvery metal harder than cold iron and more flexible than copper. That’s what the old Mirror Lancers used, back in the time of Lorn the Mighty and his son, Kerial.”

  “Lorn the Mighty? Was Lornth named after him?”

  “So they say. Anyway, Marleu wouldn’t let her father even think of purchasing the blades. Said cupridium belonged to the past and wouldn’t stand up to the black iron of the angels. Smart woman she is.” Essin shook his head.

  “I’d best tend to my mount,” Saryn said. “Then I’ll be back to talk to your mother.”

  She flicked the reins and rode slowly past the inn and up the narrow lane into the rear courtyard and the stables. More than half a glass passed before she’d finished grooming the gelding and going over matters with Hryessa and could make her way back through the inn to put her gear in the room she’d share with the guard captain.

  When she came down the steps, Essin was waiting in the foyer. “Ma’s on the front porch. She says it’s cooler there.”

  The white-haired Jennyleu turned her head as Saryn stepped out onto the covered porch. “You’ve changed, Angel.”

  “Not that much,” demurred Saryn.

  “Your eyes are silver, like they’d reflect what’s inside folk, and there’s a seriousness there. Why did you come back?” A smile lingered on the old woman’s face as she shifted her weight on the chair beside the bench in the twilight.

  “The regents requested that I return,” Saryn said, settling onto the bench, facing Jennyleu.

  “The Lady Zeldyan needs you, as does her sire, but all the other lord-holders will fear you. Especially the Lord of Duevek.”

  “We will take the longer route to Lornth and avoid Duevek. I do not wish to create more problems for the regents.”

  “Ah…but you will. Even an old woman such as I can see that.”

  Saryn laughed gently. “You see it because you are a woman of much experience.”

  The white-haired woman snorted. “Doesn’t take much experience to see that the old lord-holders’d be looking for a ruler who’d let them line their own purses. Young Nesslek like as not would be following his mother and his grandsire once he becomes overlord, or he’d be questioning the lord-holders as to why he shouldn’t. Neither would they like.”

  Saryn nodded, although she wasn’t that certain about young Nesslek’s integrity, particularly if he were flattered and promised great glory. “How did it come to that?”

  “Generations back, Lornth was a province of Cyador. You knew that, did you not? Then, the Mirror Lancers withdrew to the west and south, but the Protector of the Steps to Paradise still demanded his tariffs, and they were not light, and many that were levied were not paid. Before long, one of the officers of the Mirror Lancers and his company returned. He took over the town of Lornth, then others, until all acknowledged his superiority. Then he proposed a treaty with Cyador where but a quarter portion of the tariffs went to the emperor in Cyad, and half went to him. The other quarter he returned to the holders. Any holder who complained was killed and his family thrown off their lands, and those lands were awarded to a follower of the Lord of Lornth.” Jennyleu smiled enigmatically.

  “And that was how the house of Lornth was founded?”

  “That has also been how it has maintained its position, by power alone. When the black and flame angel destroyed Cyador, they destroyed any fear the holders had of the great and ancient kingdom. They also weakened the house of Lornth so that the regents had not the golds nor the armsmen to put down the stronger holders who did not pay their tariffs.”

  “Such as the Lord of Duevek?”

  “He is one of those, but only one, Angel.”

  “You know all of this because of your daughter in Lornth?”

  “My niece, Haelora.”

  “The one who has the inn there? I never had a chance to meet her.”

  “It’s right off the square…the Square Platter. She says you can’t miss it. I couldn’t say. We never got so far as to Lornth. You know, Vernt staked her and her consort.”

  “I remember. You told me, and she writes good letters.”

  “Ah, yes. Letters.” For a moment, Jennyleu’s eyes twinkled. “Tell me about Westwind, Angel.”

  “What would you like to know?”

  “What ever you care to tell me.”

  Saryn nodded. “Westwind sits in a small valley on the Roof of the World…where the Marshal and the guards live is in Tower Black…and every stone in it was cut from the rock in a single year by Nylan, the black mage you met…”

  XLIV

  Two glasses after sunrise on sixday, Saryn’s detachment was headed due west, ten kays out of Henspa, under a high haze that turned the morning sky a silvery greenish blue. Early in the morning as it was, the day promised to be the hottest that Saryn had yet experienced in Candar…or anywhere else, for that matter, and it wasn’t even near the height of summer. She hadn’t even bothered with her riding jacket and certainly wasn’t looking forward to the heat of the days to come, not at all.

  Inside her tunic was a letter introducing Saryn to Jennyleu’s niece Haelora, which Essin had handed her just before she had mounted to leave the inn. That introduction Saryn intended to pursue. An innkeeper in Lornth had to know things that the regents would not, and even from what little Saryn had heard about the land of Lornth, it was clear she’d need every bit of information she could find or dig up
.

  She shifted her weight in the saddle and looked along the road before the column of guards, riding two abreast. The lands to the west of Henspa—and the river—consisted of low, rolling hills that looked to get flatter the farther they were from the river. While some of the land was pasture, and there were a few orchards and woodlots, most was cultivated. For what ever reason, the road on the west of the river did not follow the watercourse at all but headed away from it for almost fifteen kays, then turned north at the town of Ornath and continued onward for another twenty kays before rejoining the river some fifteen kays to the northwest of Duevek.

  Saryn squinted to make out what was causing the dust in the road a good two kays west of the outriders. As she watched, she could see, headed toward the Westwind riders, a large high-sided and roofed wagon, the kind merchants and traders often used, its wheels churning up dust. Less than half a kay from the outriders, the driver turned his team and wagon onto a side road southward and whipped the pair of drays into something like a fast trot.

  “Poor fool,” observed Hryessa from where she rode beside Saryn. “He’s only hurting his drays. If we wanted to catch him, there’d be nothing he could do.”

  “Are we that fearsome? Forty-odd women, two wagons, and ten spare mounts?”

  “Forty-odd armed women, ser, from a place that has slaughtered thousands of their men.”

  “We may have to trade on that fear,” prophesied Saryn.

  “What does the Lady Zeldyan want from us? Beyond your counsel?” An amused and knowing smile crossed the captain’s lips.

  “You know as well as I. She wants us to preserve Lornth for her son to rule, though she has not said that in so many words.” In any words, in fact, but what else could she desire?

  Hryessa turned her head toward Saryn. “Is that possible?”

  “We’ll find out, and before too long.”