Soarers Choice (52 page)

Instead,
he summoned Adya.

He
waited until she was seated before he spoke. “Several matters came up this
morning at the petitioners’ hearings, but one suggested that we have a much
larger problem.”

“Yes,
sir?”

“One
of the smaller cotton factors was fined for being short on measure. He insisted,
and he clearly believes this to be true, that the larger factors are often
short, but are never fined.”

“That’s
very possible, sir. The inspectors are landers and indigens. They can be
bribed, and they probably are. For a time, High Alector Zelyert enforced a more
stringent effort in dealing with such.” Adya shrugged. “As fast as he removed
the old inspectors, and sent them to the gravel quarries, the new ones would
soon end up taking bribes. Those who were honest either had great misfortunes
befall them or soon left for other occupations. The High Alector attempted to
raise the stipends of the inspectors, but that did little except increase the
price of cotton, and many factors closed their warehouses and moved to Ludar or
Southgate.”

Dainyl
said nothing for a moment. Adya believed what she said.

“Were
you here when that occurred?”

“It
was the first task I undertook for High Alector Zelyert.”

Dainyl
had the sudden feeling that Adya had asked for the task, perhaps for the same
reasons that he had been interested in the matter. “How long did the effort go
on?”

“Five
years, sir. We lost a third of the cotton and wool factors, and a fifth of the
other factors, and the merchants of Elcien sent a petition to the Duarch. They
did not address the bribery outright, but they did say that under the
conditions imposed by the High Alector, they could no longer do business in
Elcien.”

“And
everything went back to the way it had been?”

“Not
quite. The worst cases disappeared. The factors know that if there are too
great a number of abuses the High Alector can always make matters hard on them.
It has become a tacit compromise. Minor shading of the standards and rules, if
done quietly and if products are not adulterated, is occasionally accepted.
More than that risks greater costs and oversight.”

“I
see. I trust we do not accept such ... laxity in goods for Myrmidons and
Cadmians.”

“No,
sir. That’s understood. One beef supplier provided maggoty meat. The High
Alector had him flogged to death on the main wharf.”

Yet
they would cheat each other?

“What
we buy is little compared to what they sell to each other,” explained Adya,
understanding his unspoken question. “They can accept our standards because we
pay well and punish severely. They do not pay each other well, and they do not
wish to be punished severely.”

That
was a balance of sorts, but not one of which Dainyl approved. Still... until he
understood more, it would be best not to try to change matters. “Thank you.”

“You
are welcome, sir.”

“I’ll
doubtless have more questions, although I hope they’ll become fewer.”

After
Adya left, Dainyl looked at the schedule Patrylon had left on the Table early
that morning. He had petitions the next morning as well, and a meeting with
Chembryt at the second glass of the afternoon, and another meeting on Octdi
afternoon with Alseryl, the High Alector of Transport. Dainyl had no doubts
that Alseryl was going to complain about Alcyna’s requests for more recruits.

Then
he drafted once and rewrote twice the necessary letter to Duarch Samist,
requesting a meeting to pay his respects. By the time he finished that and gave
it to Patrylon for dispatch to Ludar, he was hurrying out to the coach in order
not to be late for his meeting with the Duarch.

When
he arrived at the Palace, Bharyt conducted him immediately to the library where
Khelaryt was seated behind the table desk.

The
Duarch gestured to the chairs, and Dainyl took one.

“We
have a number of items to discuss, Dainyl. First is the issue of Ruvryn.”

Dainyl
nodded. The more he’d learned about the High Alector of Engineering, the less
he cared for the alector, but he wanted to hear what Khelaryt had to say.

“Did
you know that he is Paeylt’s son?”

“No,
I did not.” That explained a great deal, such as why Asulet was handicapped in
dealing with Paeylt. Dainyl had always wondered why the senior alector in
charge of the underground city of Lyterna had not acted more decisively against
an alector who was but the senior engineer in Lyterna. The fact that Asulet had
only said Paeylt and Ruvryn were “related” clearly indicated Asulet’s
reluctance to admit he could not overcome such nepotism.

“You
have had some concerns about Ruvryn as well, did you not?”

“Yes,
sir. Do you know why he has taken such steps to weaken the Cadmians? I can
understand why he would wish the Myrmidons weakened, especially if the Duarch
Samist is considering an alliance with Brekylt against you, but why the
Cadmians?”

“You
are referring to all the Cadmian rifles that have been diverted to various
indigen rebels and insurgents?”

“And
to the seltyrs of Dramur as well.”

“He
has avoided discussing those matters, and since he reports directly to Samist,
I cannot press him too hard. What I have observed, though, is that he feels the
Cadmians create officers who are disciplined and less inclined than most
indigens to seek golds at all costs. He sees this as a possible threat.”

“They
are disciplined in carrying out our requirements and tasks, and they are a
threat?”

“Upon
several occasions, junior officers have improvised the equivalent of cannon. A
few have suggested larger bore rifles. Explosive devices have been used against
insurgents. As you are well aware, alectors are few in number. Should the
Cadmians turn on us with weapons such as those, we would have great
difficulties. Ruvryn believes that they should be kept understrength and that
thoughtful and disciplined senior officers need to be monitored closely.”

Dainyl
nodded slowly. Another aspect of the intrigue among High Alectors had become
clear. “Then I think I can say with some confidence that Ruvryn was working
closely with former marshal Shastylt. Shastylt applied modified shadowmatches
to several Cadmian majers and a colonel to the end of increasing Cadmian
casualties in Dramur.”

“I
cannot say that surprises me.”

Dainyl
had the sense that. Khelaryt did not totally disapprove, and that meant Dainyl
needed to be very cautious. “There is a delicate balance there.”

“I
would agree, but I would suggest that Ruvryn is not always against our
interests.”

“I
will keep that in mind, sir.”

“There
is another aspect of matters of which I have not apprised you,” Khelaryt said
quietly. “Why do you suppose that Majer Sevasya is stationed in Lysia?” He
smiled. “Thank you for her promotion, not that she had not deserved it years
before.”

“As
you said, sir, she deserved it.” Dainyl had wondered why she had been stationed
in Lysia ever since he had become submarshal and discovered that Sevasya was
Khelaryt’s daughter. “I assume there is another reason besides her being remote
enough that it would be difficult to influence you, sir, but I do not know what
it is.”

“The
dual scepters are often considered as legendary or mythical. They are not.”

“One
of them is in Lysia, then.” Dainyl frowned. Where else would the other be? “Is
the other in Dereka?”

Khelaryt
had not been at all surprised at Dainyl’s first conclusion, but he could not
conceal his concern about the second one. “How did you know that?”

“I
did not know it until you raised the issue of the dual scepters. Only then did
it make sense that Jonyst had to be the other guardian, given who he is and the
stress he has been under lately. Also, it was once a city of the ancients.
There must have been some reason dealing with Talent for why they located a
city in a place not ideally suited to their ... physical needs.”

“There
was indeed. It is one of the major lifeforce focal points of Acorus. I can only
surmise that Samist also agreed to the choice of Lystrana as regional alector
because she would certainly not wish the scepter compromised, nor would you.”

“No,
sir.”

“The
entire translation tube network on Acorus — as well as the long translation
tubes — owe their stability to the existence and the placement of the two
scepters. It is an unspoken rule that they be left alone, where they are. They
are not where they might seem to be, and that is all you need to know.” Dainyl
nodded once more.

Khelaryt
continued to bring up various items, from the timing of the meetings with his
High Alectors to the limitations of the great ships of the ocean and the
intricacies of their schedules.

Finally,
he paused and looked at Dainyl. “Do you have any other questions?”

“One,
sir. I spent my first morning receiving petitions, as you know, and one of them
came from a small factor — “

Khelaryt
laughed, but the sound was more mournful than the hearty and humor-filled
guffaws Dainyl had heard before. “The bribery of the merchant inspectors, no
doubt. The small factors cheat, and they get caught, but the large ones do not
because they bribe the inspectors. Yet, if we do anything ...”

“I
fear I have trouble understanding this.” What Dainyl feared was that he did in
fact understand it.

“Golds
rule the indigens and landers in trade. They have no sense of ethics, only a
desire to amass the largest amount of gold possible and to live in the greatest
luxury. Your most honest steers are Cadmians. That is because treachery there
will kill too many men. Otherwise, they would be like all the others, and
often, the senior officers are.”

Always
the golds, reflected Dainyl. That was the weakness of landers and indigens. But
then, the love of power, to the equal exclusion of practical sense, was the
weakness of alectors.

“That
will have to be all for now,” announced the Duarch, standing abruptly.

Dainyl
rose quickly. “I appreciate your time and the information.”

“Just
remember, Dainyl, to make sure that you understand how something came to be
before you attempt to change it. I will see you at next week’s meeting of the
High Alectors.”

As
he left the Palace, Dainyl couldn’t help but recall the Duarch’s last words.
But what if you do understand and no one wishes to change a course for
disaster?

He
also still worried about the green flash. Was it connected to the green Talent
force he had perceived when he had been traveling between Tables?

Once
it was clear that the initial chaos had passed, Mykel immediately sent off a
dispatch rider to Dekhron with an initial report on the damage to Colonel
Herolt and a copy to the Marshal of Myrmidons. One of the river tugs could get
the dispatch to both far faster than the next sandox coach would.

Although
all of his company officers had reported that they had established and were
maintaining order throughout Iron Stem, Mykel decided that he needed a
firsthand view of what had happened. Even so, he waited until well past
midafternoon before he finally mounted the roan and, in the company of fifth
squad from Fifteenth Company, began his inspection tour. The light snow had
long since ceased, but the sky remained covered with featureless gray clouds.

“It’s
pretty bad around the works, sir,” offered Vhanyr, the squad leader, as he and
Mykel turned their mounts south on the high road.

“How
many houses damaged?”

“Hard
to tell, sir. The water’s down, now. Ironworks got hit the hardest.”

“That’s
not surprising. Their dam was what broke.”

“It’s
worse than that, sir. You’ll see.”

Mykel
knew he would, but he studied the area adjoining the Cadmian garrison. The
school to the immediate south of the garrison appeared untouched, as did the
smaller dwellings. Beginning some two hundred yards south of the school, large
puddles remained on both sides of the road, and less than a quarter vingt
beyond that the watermarks on the houses were nearly a yard high, and still
damp.

The
doors of some of the lower hovels were open, and women were still sweeping out
water and setting chairs, stools, and other furnishings on porches or other
raised areas. Mykel didn’t see bedding, which suggested that while the water
had gotten into the houses, it hadn’t been high enough to damage everything. He
doubted that the furniture had been set out to dry, given the chill of the day,
but probably to clear the floors so the water could be swept out.

As
Mykel neared the works, he could see more damage, and higher watermarks. A heap
of brick and ashes was all that remained of one small house, and several sheds
had been flattened. Bedraggled chickens squawked and fluttered away from the
road, and two boys struggled with ropes to drag a pig toward a sagging fence.

Once
past that section of houses, Mykel turned his mount onto the road heading to
the works, covered with a thin film of water. The water in the loading yard of
the works was boot deep, and occasional gusts of warm damp air mixed with the
colder winter air.

Mykel
reined up well short of the fallen wall stones that had marked the boundary
between the loading areas and the works itself. He looked westward, at the
steam that sifted upward out of the heaps of rubble that stretched more than a
vingt westward. He had not realized that the works was that large — almost a
half vingt north to south, and three times that from east to west. Not a
chimney remained standing, nor was any structure intact.

Groups
of men and teams of the draft horses were working, dragging equipment from
fallen buildings, digging a channel, and pulling down a tottering wall. Mykel
found it hard to take in the scope of the destruction.