Cadmians Choice (2 page)

“We had two
choices—either go and do patrol duty in Iron Stem ...” Mykel paused. “... or
what we got, and that’s another bunch of rebels in the hills, this time in
Hyalt.”

“From what I heard
from Clensdyf about the Iron Valleys, the colonel was kind.”

“Fourth Battalion is
going to Iron Stem.” Mykel stopped and gestured for Culeyt to enter the study.
Behind him were the three undercaptains. He waited until all five officers in
their maroon-and-gray uniforms were seated in the small study that had once
been Majer Vaclyn’s and was now assigned to him. In the center was Rhystan. To
his right was Culeyt, who had been recently promoted from undercaptain and
transferred from Fourth Battalion to take over Fourteenth Company. Loryalt,
Fabrytal, and Dyarth were all undercaptains. Fabrytal was the most junior, a
former senior squad leader from Fourth Battalion, but he was commanding
Fifteenth Company, Mykel’s former command and the only company besides
Sixteenth Company that had come out of the Dramurian campaign largely intact.
Fourteenth Company had been left with a core of some forty seasoned rankers,
but Thirteenth and Seventeenth Companies had been effectively wiped out,
necessitating their re-formation with a majority of recruits and only a handful
of experienced rankers pulled from elsewhere in the regiment.

Mykel waited for a
moment. “First off, I’m changing the drills for the next week. We’ll be moving
out to the broken-ground training area from now on. We’ll be working on tactics
against irregulars.”

The red-haired
Loryalt raised his eyebrows, but did not speak.

Rhystan saw the
expression, and the faintest smile crossed his thin lips.

“I can see you have a
question, Loryalt,” Mykel observed.

“Ah... no, sir.”

Mykel laughed.

So did Rhystan.

“You’re wondering why
we’re moving onto broken-terrain training when Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
Seventeenth Companies still are not up to standards in field drills.” Mykel’s
words were an exceedingly charitable assessment of the three companies, mainly
troopers barely more than recruits with squad leaders who had mostly been
rankers promoted earlier than what would have been normal. “First, the break
will do your men good. Second, we’ve gotten orders.”

“So soon?” murmured
Fabrytal almost inaudibly.

“The Myrmidons smashed
some rebels in Hyalt, but not all of them. We’re being sent to finish the job.
That includes training some local Cadmians in Southgate and on the ride from
there to Hyalt. They’ll be manning a new garrison in Hyalt, and in addition to
running down the remaining rebels, we get to supervise building the garrison
and setting up the local structure there.” Mykel shook his head. “I know. They’re
calling it a local garrison, but they’re taking recruits from Southgate.
Officers and squad leaders, too.”

‘The hardasses,
probably,” suggested Rhystan.

“Almost certainly,”
Mykel agreed. “The colonel emphasized that Third Battalion was in charge.”

“When do we leave,
sir?” asked Culeyt.

“A week from Octdi,
from Elcien....” Mykel went on to explain the schedule. As he did, he could
only hope that he and his captains could make the next two weeks as effective
as possible in improving the readiness and skills of Third Battalion.

Submarshal Dainyl
looked out through the window of his study, out across the front courtyard of
Myrmidon headquarters in Elcien. For a Londi, the first day of the week, the
weather had been less than promising all day, and by midafternoon a light and
cold spring rain fell from low gray clouds. His right arm and left leg still
ached slightly, a reminder that they had not healed fully. Through Talent, both
his and Lystrana’s, in another few days he would be close to being completely
healed, but he was not going to be staying in Elcien so long as he would have
preferred.

The rain continued to
fall heavily enough that he could not see beyond the walls of the compound to
the towers that flanked the Palace of the Duarch to the east. When he’d been a
colonel and the operations chief, he’d had a study with a view of the rear
courtyard, and the flight stage where he’d been able to see the pteridons take
off and land. He still missed being a flying officer. He supposed he always
would.

His eyes dropped to
the stack of reports on the polished wood of the table desk before him. Colonel
Dhenyr had brought them in less than half a glass before, just when Dainyl had
thought he’d managed to get current on everything. He slowly picked up the top
report and began to read. He needed to get through the stack, because he would
be leaving on Tridi morning on his trip to Alustre. That gave him just two days
to catch up on everything. The topmost quintal report was from Captain Fhentyl,
the commanding officer of the Myrmidon Fifth Company in Dereka.

Dainyl hurried
through the text, looking to see if any more skylances had vanished, but
Fhentyl’s report stated that all weapons and equipment were present and in
working order. Dainyl nodded. The last thing he wanted to discover was that
more skylances—or pteridons—had vanished. For the moment, at least, the
ancients remained quiet. How long they would remain inactive was another
question.

He set aside the
Fifth Company report and lifted the next one—Sixth Company at Lyterna. All was
satisfactory there as well. As he set that report atop the Fifth Company
report, a tall figure appeared in his study doorway—Marshal Shastylt.

“Dainyl... if you
would join me in my study.” The marshal was a typical alector in general
appearance, somewhat over two and a half yards in height, with shimmering jet
black hair, deep-set violet eyes that dominated, a strong nose, and an
alabaster complexion.

“Yes, sir.” Dainyl
set aside the report and rose, following his superior officer out of the study
and down the corridor to the end. He did close the study door behind him after
he entered. Shastylt always preferred complete privacy when addressing his
subordinates. Dainyl had learned that quickly years earlier when he had been
promoted from command of First Company to the head of operations.

As usual, Marshal
Shastylt studied Dainyl as he entered Shastylt’s spaces. The marshal’s violet
eyes were unblinking, his alabaster face smooth and pleasant, and a faint smile
played over his lips. He seated himself and gestured for Dainyl to take one of
the chairs across the table desk from him.

“Are you ready to go
to Alustre on Tridi? The Highest asked about that this morning.”

“Yes, sir.” Dainyl
kept his Talent shields tight and high, as he always did with the marshal and
the High Alector of Justice. Once he had returned from resolving the rebellion
in Dramur, he had hoped for more than a few weeks with Lystrana before heading
to Alustre, since he and his wife had had little time together over much of the
last year. Yet he knew that spring was the best time for him to be away from
headquarters, since the indigens and landers usually were more occupied with
their own affairs, especially those in the outlying regions where trouble
seemed to brew. “After Alustre, I’ll visit a few other eastern areas,
unannounced, as we discussed. While I’m there, is there anything else you’d
like me to look into?”

“No. Don’t spend too
much time in the other cities, Alustre is most important. Tyanylt had planned
to visit Alustre before his untimely death and the ... difficulties in Iron
Stem and Dramur. High Alector Zelyert has always been concerned that those in
Alustre might develop a different interpretation of the plans of the Archon for
Acorus. Unfortunately, the Recorders of Deeds can only use the Tables to view
landers and indigens or physical events. Periodic visits to alectors and
frequent personal communications remain one of the few reliable keys to
assuring that all alectors are working toward the same goal in the same
fashion.”

The skills of the
Recorders had only been revealed to Dainyl after he had become a submarshal,
and he was just as glad they were unable to view alectors—or he had been until
he had discovered some very real disadvantages for him personally. He nodded. “I
remain concerned about the losses of pteridons—and about the loss of the
Cadmian company on its relocation from Scien. Isolated losses of pteridons in
high and cold areas where the ancients still have their portals—”

“We don’t know that
those are portals, Submarshal, not for certain.”

“No, sir.” Dainyl
offered an agreeable smile. He wasn’t about to reveal the extent of his Talent,
not after years of keeping that hidden. “But I did observe the cave with the
stone mirror in Dramur from a pteridon, and upon two occasions, there was an
ancient present. When I landed, no one was there. There was no exit from the
cave, and the mirror was placed where it would have been difficult if not
impossible to climb down, and especially without being observed.”

“They might have
other abilities.”

“That is certainly
possible, sir. But when in doubt, I tend to follow the Views of the Highest.”

“Ah, yes. Well... I
will be spending much of the next few days with the High Alector and possibly
the Duarches. Because I may not be here immediately before you depart, convey my
best wishes to Submarshal Alcyna, and, should you see him, to High Alector
Brekylt.”

“He’s been the
Highest of the East for as long as I can recall.”

“Twenty-some years.
It may be time for a change, but that is the decision of the Archon and the
Duarches. He is one of the oldest alectors outside of Lyterna.”

“He must know a great
deal.” Dainyl briefly thought about asking, Just as Submarshal Tyanylt was? But
the question would have served no purpose except to reveal that Dainyl knew
more than Shastylt thought he did, particularly about the circumstances of
Tyanylt’s death ... and Dainyl was well aware that Shastylt already harbored
suspicions about Dainyl.

“That he does. He is
cautious, and he and Submarshal Alcyna have worked closely together over the
past ten years.”

That was all Shastylt
really had to say to confirm what Dainyl suspected—and why he was being sent to
Alustre so soon after having been promoted to submarshal.

“Did High Alector
Brekylt ever serve as a Myrmidon?”

Shastylt laughed. “That
was not one of his qualifications. He was the High Alector of Trade in Ludar.
His predecessor suggested that the Duarchy in Ludar be moved to Alustre, but
nothing came of that after Viorynt’s Table accident, and Brekylt was appointed
the High Alector of the East.”

“I remember something
about that.” Dainyl recalled that the Highest of the East had suffered a fatal
translation mishap using a Table to return to Elcien. That had occurred years
ago, when Dainyl had been a junior captain in Lysia. With what Shastylt had
just revealed, Dainyl doubted that the “mishap” had been coincidental in the
slightest degree. “I can see why you feel communications with Alustre are most
important.”

“I thought you might
once I mentioned the history.” Shastylt’s tone was dry. “Distance and time have
a way of blurring matters.”

“Does Alcyna have a
husband? I don’t recall anything about that.”

“No. She has always
steered clear of obvious personal commitments.”

And that was
doubtless how she had become a submarshal, reflected Dainyl, before he went on.
But then, Shastylt had separated from his wife years before, long before she
had removed herself to Sinjin, and the marshal had followed that same pattern
of avoiding deep personal commitments.

“I’ve met Captain
Josaryk before,” Dainyl said. “He seems straightforward enough. What about
Majer Noryan? Is there anything I should know about him?”

“He’s been in command
of Third Company for almost five years. He was transferred from Seventh Company
in Dulka something like seven years ago. Alcyna promoted him to majer three
years ago, insisting that his value merited that.”

“You had some
concerns about that, sir?”

“I did discuss it
with the High Alector of Justice, but we decided that Alcyna had a valid point,
although no one really knew much about Noryan.” Shastylt’s increasingly drier
tone suggested to Dainyl that the decision had not been the marshal’s, but that
of the High Alector.

Abruptly, the marshal
stood. “It’s getting late, and the High Alector is expecting me to join him to
brief the Duarch on the situation in Hyalt.”

“You don’t think we’ll
need to send a squad of Myrmidons back down there?” Dainyl rose quickly.

“I think the Cadmians
will be sufficient.” Shastylt shrugged. “If not, we can have a squad there in
less than two days.” He smiled. “I probably won’t see you much in the next few
days. I wish you well in preparing to visit Alustre.”

“Yes, sir.” Dainyl
returned the smile, then turned and left the marshal’s study.

Although he’d already
briefed Colonel Dhenyr on what the operations chief would be covering for him,
Dainyl still had another six quintal reports to read before he felt he could
leave headquarters for the day. He was still struggling to get matters in order
before he left, and wondering if two days would be enough.

Dainyl sat in the dim
warmth of the corner of the sitting room on the main floor of the house, his
half-sipped brandy on the side table that separated him from Lystrana. He
shifted his weight, then settled back into the large upholstered chair that
would have swallowed even die tallest of landers. Once the serving girls had
left for their quarters after cleaning up the evening meal, Lystrana had blown
out the wall lamps. The green carpet looked more like dark gray, even to the
night-sight of an alector.

He glanced at his
wife. In the dimness, the alabaster skin of her face shone below the shimmering
black hair that was the mark of all alectors—except the truly ancient ones.