Imager’s Intrigue

28

Seliora and Diestrya were waiting in the first floor study in the administration building that had belonged to Master Dichartyn.

“Beleart said this was the best place to find you,” said Seliora. “How did the meeting go?”

“As Maitre Dyana intended.” I took the chair behind the desk, empty of anything. There were a few books in the bookcase-three volumes on jurisprudence, the legal codex of Solidar, all fifteen volumes, and a black bound book that held Council procedures.

Diestrya investigated the empty shelves. Fortunately, the heavy volumes of the codex were beyond her reach.

“We got another letter back from your mother, by private courier. Beleart gave it to me. She wrote again how much she appreciated my sending that note by courier to let her know that we were all right. She also said that the fires in Kherseilles missed the factorage there, and that Khethila was fine. Oh, Klysia has already begun to clean up the dust and grit in the house. It should be ready by supper time.”

“They’ve repaired it already?” I almost shook my head at the stupidity of my question. Imagers who could form perfect machine parts could certainly re-image a house back into shape, especially in a few days if a score or more of them were involved.

“You’re effectively the second-highest imager in Solidar,” Seliora pointed out. “You also saved most of them.”

“No one’s said anything.”

She smiled. “All anyone has to do is look. Three dwellings are destroyed. There’s a large hole in the fourth. It’s ours. Well…they see it as yours. Nothing was destroyed after that, and the barges with the bombards exploded immediately. Also, the word is out that you’ve been made Maitre D’Esprit.”

“It is suggestive,” I admitted. “Not conclusive, but suggestive.”

“More than suggestive,” Seliora countered.

“What can you tell me about Fhernon? Anything at all.”

Seliora frowned. “Why? We’re still working on his commission. You know that.”

“Suyrien was shot and badly wounded. He may not recover. The High Holders have selected Fhernon to take his Council seat…but not to serve on the Executive Council.”

“Poor Kandryl….” Seliora shook her head.

I noticed her sympathy didn’t extend to Frydryk, but said nothing.

“Fhernon has always been polite and very formal. He knows I’m married to you, and he knows who you are. I don’t think he’s all that different from most High Holders, but he did bring his wife to look at the drawings before he approved the upholstery design for the dining chairs. She was cautious, but did recommend a small change, and he agreed. He paid the advance deposit without quibbling.”

“What’s your impression, even if you can’t explain it?”

“He’s cautious. He won’t go against the other High Holders unless he’s fully convinced. I think he could be stubborn, even against the other High Holders. I also feel he has a dislike of open violence. He’s doesn’t like to be out in front, but he’s not a blind follower.”

“That sounds like a cautious choice on the part of the High Holders.” It also suggested they were aware that they would be wise not to propose anyone too controversial.

“Things are going to get worse, aren’t they?” asked Seliora.

“They could. I’m supposed to keep that from happening.”

“Dear…that may beyond even you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I was at Mama’s earlier. She’s gotten word that there were anti-Pharsi riots in Westisle and Solis. They all started in the taudis.”

“I suppose there are rumors that the imagers and the Pharsis are the cause of all the problems?” I wasn’t quite satiric.

“There are some. Mama says some are saying that the imagers and the Pharsis are doing the High Holders’ dirty work.”

“I wonder who’s behind all that.” As if I didn’t know.

Seliora stood and scooped up Diestrya. “You have work to do, and I want to put the house back in order. As much as I can, anyway.”

I stood, walked around the desk, and hugged the two of them. “I’ll see you later.”

“At home,” Seliora declared.

“Yes, Lady.” I grinned.

She did smile back.

Seemingly within moments of Seliora’s and Diestrya’s departure, Beleart knocked on my door. “Maitre…?”

“Come in. What is it?”

He set five folders on the corner of the desk. “Maitre Dyana said you’d need these. They’re the preceptor folders. There’s one for each of the junior imagers…”

“The ones for whom I’ll be preceptor?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and was gone.

I had no doubts that before long, more piles of papers and reports would appear. So I quickly looked over the files to get the names: Eamyn, Haugyl, Marteon, Ralyea, and Shault. Then I read the biographies and academic records on each. After that, the files went into the second desk drawer. I just hoped I didn’t have to deal with immediate academic, personal, or disciplinary problems for them.

What I needed to do more than anything was have a series of long and detailed conversations with Schorzat about all those matters about which I knew nothing or too little. So I walked to the third door down the hallway. I didn’t have to knock because the door was open.

Schorzat stood with a smile. “I thought it wouldn’t be very long.”

I stepped into his study and closed the door, then sat down in the single chair across from a desk piled with papers.

Schorzat re-seated himself behind the desk. “I don’t envy you, Rhenn.”

“I don’t envy me, either. What are the more urgent matters I should know about and probably don’t? I’m sure there are more than I even know about. So you might start with those that are most likely to impact us immediately if we don’t do something.”

“First, we need to go over what you…and I…have to work with.” He handed me two sheets of paper. The first was a map of Solidar, with numbers at various locations. The second was a listing of names, with a number after each. The numbers corresponded to those on the maps. “Those are our regionals and their locations. You’ll need to keep those safe.”

I studied the locations and the comparatively short list of names. “Just thirty-one for all of Solidar?”

“If we could find more with the independence and abilities…” Schorzat shrugged. “We have ten vacant regional houses right now, and they’re not in tiny towns. Places like Alkyra, Ruile, Thuyl, Juvahl. A regional has to be able to hold light shields, be intelligent and discreet, and have the ability to practice another occupation or have an economic reason for support.”

“Most are classed as tertius or Maitre D’Aspect?”

“Mostly very bright thirds. It’s a good position for an intelligent imager who won’t ever have the raw ability to be a master, but they have to be able to blend in and listen and draw conclusions…. They reported to Dichartyn, and now…”

“To me,” I finished. “I assume there are reports somewhere that I can read and catch up on?”

He laughed. “You get a copy of the monthly report from every Civic Patrol Commander in Solidar-from every city big enough to have a Commander, rather than a captain. You also get a monthly report from every regional.”

“What about High Holders, or more important factors? Do we have information on them?”

“There are files on the High Holders who serve on the Council, as well as those who have served, and others who have come to our attention. We only have files on fifteen or twenty factors.” He shook his head. “We do our best, but there’s no way to keep records on more than a thousand High Holders and tens of thousands of factors. The ones we do have are all in the cases in the study. You’ll need to image the hidden catches…”

I listened as he explained in more detail the regional imager network that I’d known existed, but little more than that.

After a glass, he leaned back. “Any questions about this?”

“No. I’m sure I will, once I read through everything and think about it. What’s most urgent that I should keep in mind as I try to get on top of matters?”

Schorzat chuckled, if nervously. “The biggest problem is the Ferran support of the more militant freeholders. That’s a guess, of course.”

“I assume that we have no proof of an actual connection, since, if we did, you’d already have done something about it.”

“We’ve discovered and dealt with, in one way or another, over twenty agents. So far there’s barely circumstantial evidence of a connection with any others we suspect.”

“Blast patterns similar to or identical to Ferran demolitions…that sort of thing?”

He nodded, then went on. “Here’s what we do know….”

I listened as, again, he provided detail after detail, not once repeating himself, for more than half a glass. In the end, though, he had provided a wealth of events, discoveries, and possible connections-yet without a single concrete linkage to either factors or freeholders. I had a far greater breadth of understanding, but the structure looked to be what I’d already pieced together from my own observations as a Patrol Captain and from my reading of the newsheets. At the same time, I had the feeling that there were events and actions that didn’t fit-like the grain explosions and the bombard attack on Imagisle…and the growth and distribution of the stronger elveweed, which I suspected lay more with Stakanaran origins.

When he finished, I was the one to nod, then say, “Thank you. You mentioned the riots in Westisle, Estisle, Solis, and Kherseilles. I’ve heard that all have started in the local taudis, and some were sparked by rumors that imagers and Pharsis have been doing the dirty work for the High Holders.”

“That I hadn’t heard, but it would fit. The Ferrans will use anything.”

“So where are the Jariolan agents?”

He smiled sadly. “We don’t know for certain, but we’ve tracked several suspicious persons to the estates and lands of various High Holders.”

“Such as Haebyn?”

“He’s one. There are several there.”

“Haestyr? Shaercyt?”

“Both of them. Also, Nacryon and Ealthyn. There are others, but those are the most likely.”

I knew Nacryon was from Mantes and had interests in copper and tin, as well as a new process that created artificial fertilizer from potash and other mineral deposits. I’d never heard of Ealthyn. “Why would the Jariolans want Ealthyn as a supporter?”

“We don’t know yet. In fact, I’d never heard of him, either, until we tracked some former sailors to his lands. They made the mistake of cutting through a taudis in Piedryn. They walked out untouched, but there were six bodies in various alleys.”

“Do you think Ealthyn and Haebyn are working together?”

“I’m certain they are. We can’t prove it.” Schorzat shrugged.

“Did Master Dichartyn ever talk to you about the possibility that a trader or factor named Alhazyr might be involved with certain dubious matters involving Caartyl?”

“He did, but we don’t have contacts in Mantes right now…and what with the way things turned out…”

I understood that. “I take it that he’s probably more than someone who just wants public representatives added to the Council?”

“Most likely, but he’s very careful.”

“What about Stakanar?”

“We’ve found some agents, but Solidar’s a little cool for them.”

“They might be behind the elveweed.”

“They probably are, but if that’s so, someone’s shielding them.”

“Like Ruelyr?”

“That would be hard to find out.”

“See what you can do.” I laughed. “Along with everything else.”

He smiled wryly.

“What can you tell me about Sea-Marshal Geuffryt? And about his relationship with Madame D’Shendael?”

“I understand they’re related in some way, but not all that closely. I could give you his biography and his impressive credentials, but that would obscure more than it would reveal. He’s a capable Naval officer. He’s more than capable in terms of intelligence.”

“Why didn’t he know more about what was happening with the bombards and the stolen Poudre B?”

“The Army didn’t tell anyone. The Depot Commander either didn’t know or covered it up. It’s likely to be the latter, since he vanished a month ago.”

“When did you and Dichartyn find this out?”

“He started probing into it right after Maitre Poincaryt told him…you were there, weren’t you?”

I had to think for a moment. “That was on the twenty-sixth.”

“Then he found out on the thirty-second. It was just short of a week later.”

“I think I need to have a private meeting with Geuffryt.” I paused. “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t? Or would it be better for the two of us to meet with him?”

“He won’t say anything if he meets with more than one person.”

“So he can deny that he said it, if necessary?”

Schorzat smiled. “So that no denial is necessary.”

I could see that. “You’re suggesting that I need to meet with him and that I’d best be very careful. Who else should I meet with? Is there an Army counterpart?”

“No. Geuffryt sends reports to the Army Command as well as to his superiors at Naval Command.”

“Do I have you request the meeting or have Maitre Dyana do it?”

“They’ll expect me to make the request. I did for Master Dichartyn.”

“Whom else do you think I should meet?”

“For now…probably no one else until you read some of the recent reports and see what Geuffryt has to say.” Schorzat smiled. “You may not have to arrange any meetings. By next Lundi invitations will be arriving at your house for various small dinners from High Holders’ wives. Doubtless, Glendyl’s wife will hurry over to make Seliora’s acquaintance as well. A new Maitre D’Esprit-and one so comparatively young and with such a beautiful wife-is always in demand during the winter social season.”

Seliora might like that…if only for a while. “Was that one of the reasons you turned the position down?” I asked lightly and wryly.

“Better you than me,” he replied with a laugh.

When I returned to my “new” study, I was tired. I closed my eyes for a time, but that wasn’t particularly restful. Not with all the various bits of information swirling through my thoughts. So I tried to make sense of it all. Caartyl couldn’t be stupid enough to think that he would remain even as acting head of the Executive Council. That meant he needed the position to do something immediate, and it was likely that he’d arranged, or someone had arranged for him, the difficulties that had required Glendyl to go to Ferravyl. What could that be? I was doubtless missing the obvious, and that was because I was tired and aching.

Then I stood and walked over to the two blank-faced cabinets on the north wall, behind and to the right of the desk. It took several attempts before I figured out the image-linked lock catches. The first shock was the dearth of information on High Holders. While there was information on some I didn’t know personally, I didn’t see much on those, such as Suyrien, that I did know that I couldn’t have found out fairly easily. And while there was a presumptive list of High Holders, there was also a note that it was anything but inclusive or current. That bothered me, more than a little.

After spending more than three glasses reading through reports, my head was aching as much as my body. I was beginning to understand why Dichartyn had often looked so tired, and why he’d been less than patient with me years before. Given the lack of reports from whole sections of Solidar, I also understood why he’d spent time traveling as well.

Overall, the reports gave me a far better idea of what was happening in Solidar outside L’Excelsis, and it was clear that the Ferrans-and the unknown Jariolan agents-were concentrating on less than half a score of cities…but I still had the feeling that far, far more was happening than had been reported, and that I needed to puzzle through matters more deeply, if only to pose the questions my brain might find answers to once I was more rested.

Another question was where Cydarth fit into the various machinations. Why would anyone be interested in paying off the subcommander of a city’s Civic Patrol, even if the city happened to be L’Excelsis? There were no clues to that in anything I’d read.

There was also the relationship between Geuffryt and Juniae D’Shendael. Relatives or not, why would she have gotten involved in writing the note conveying information about the banque explosion?

When I finally left the administration building, it was still light, but the sun hung low over the river as I made my way north along the west walk.

When I reached the front gate, I stopped and looked to my right. Beyond our dwelling remained the ruins of Master Dichartyn’s and Maitre Dyana’s houses, but farther to the north I could see that, already, the walls of the Maitre’s dwelling appeared to be half-rebuilt. Then I studied the roof on the north side of our dwelling. I couldn’t see any difference in the slates that would indicate where the shell had struck.

After a moment, I started for the front door, where Seliora stood waiting.