Mage-Guard of Hamor

LXXIX

After the battle on twoday, Rahl and Drakeyt had commandeered a corner of the compound barracks for Third Company. None of the other officers in First or Second Army complained, not to Rahl, at least. Amid the confusion, from what the two officers could gather, Golyat and his senior commanders had not been captured, nor had they been among the slain. Nor did any of the captured and wounded rebels have any idea where the rebel prince might have gone.

Rahl was so tired by the time that matters settled out that he slept on a pallet in an alcove adjoining the bay that held their men. So did Drakeyt. Both arose early on threeday in an effort to restore more order to Third Company, but they had barely managed to locate fodder for the mounts and arrange for feeding the troopers when a trooper arrived with a request for Rahl to meet with Taryl at the Mage-Guard Overcommander's villa immediately after morning muster.

Rahl had to hurry to groom the gelding and make himself halfway presentable. The ride was short, less than a kay, and he almost wished he'd just walked. But he would have had to have groomed his mount anyway.

Rahl tied the gelding to one of the ornate iron posts set into stone beyond the mounting blocks for the main entrance to the "small" villa assigned to the Mage-Guard Overcommander of Merowey. The villa itself was larger than most of the merchant's mansions Rahl had seen in Hamor and was built of smooth blocks of gray basalt, with gray roof tiles, unlike the Administrator's Residence, which was gray with pinkish tiles and dwarfed the overcommander's villa. Both structures had wide windows that could be opened to catch the ocean breezes-and equally wide shutters to keep out rain and chill when necessary.

Two troopers were stationed by the entrance archway. Both bowed as Rahl approached the door.

"Majer, ser… the overcommander is expecting you. If you take the hall to the left, it goes straight to the study. That's where he is."

"I take it that there's not much in the way of staff." Rahl smiled.

"Not at the moment, ser." Both troopers returned the smile.

Rahl extended his order-senses as he stepped through the open doorway and into the high-ceilinged entry foyer. Neither trooper said a word even after he had passed, but Rahl could sense both respect and acceptance. The left corridor was walled in soft white plaster, and several of the niches that had held paintings or sculpture were empty. He passed an archway on his right that opened onto a sitting room, fully furnished, if sparsely. The next archway was to the left and revealed a formal dining chamber with a long oval table of black oak. The corridor ended at a black-oak door, left half-ajar.

"You can come in, Rahl."

Taryl remained seated behind the simple goldenwood table desk, but looked up as Rahl entered and watched the younger mage-guard. The dark circles under his bloodshot eyes attested to the strain and effort of the previous day.

"Are you all right, ser?" Rahl blurted.

"I've been better, but I'll survive. I appreciate the concern." The over-commander gestured to the chair closest to the desk.

Rahl settled into it and waited for Taryl to speak.

"I understand from Commander Shuchyl that you sundered the upper-barricade wall. He wanted to know if it was necessary for him to lose so many troopers before you chose to act." Taryl's voice was mild.

"Necessary?" Rahl snorted. "I didn't figure out how it might be done until most of those had been lost. I also was following your advice about not getting involved until I could make a significant difference." While Rahl understood Shuchyl's feelings about the deaths incurred in assaulting the rebel position, he couldn't help but be irritated. He hadn't seen Shuchyl anywhere close to the action in any of the battles.

"How did you feel about that?"

"I didn't like it," Rahl admitted.

"Good." Taryl nodded. "There is a danger for mage-guards, especially for commanders and administrators, either to risk themselves when they should not or to avoid such risk all too readily by rationalizing that they are too important to hazard themselves."

"If I might ask, do you know what happened to Prince Golyat?"

"I do." Taryl offered a wan smile. "He was nowhere near the battle. He was in the Residence, and when he heard that Fifth Regiment had broken through, he took the cliffside steps down to the cove on the seaward side, and he and his most senior commanders, as well as Ulmaryt-he's the former overcommander of mage-guards-embarked on a steam-powered sloop with shallow draft. I imagine that he's well on his way to Sastak by now."

"What about the fleet?"

"They have to sight him to give chase, and that's unlikely with Ulmaryt accompanying him. Even if they did, they'd have to try to shell something they can't see from a distance because their draft is so much greater."

"So he'll just… escape?"

"For now, and if you call Sastak escape." Taryl shrugged. "I'd like to catch him, but that's less important than restoring Merowey to the Emperor's control. We've destroyed half or more of the traitor mage-guards as well as all of the white wizards sent from Fairhaven."

"How do you know that… ser?"

The overcommander offered an ironic smile. "Golyat and Ulmaryt wouldn't trust a white on that small a vessel with them, and none of the rebel mages left behind survived. You destroyed four when you exploded the second barricade. There were almost half a score with the defenders to the south."

Rahl wondered how Taryl had dealt with them.

"With old age, one learns techniques that the young spurn in favor of flash and strength." An enigmatic smile followed.

"What happens next, ser? What do you need from me?"

"First, the troops and their mounts need time to rest. Second, you and I and the remaining faithful mage-guards need to screen the captives to see who truly opposed the Emperor and who was pressed. Then we need to ready Nubyat as a port for some of the fleet vessels, so that we can receive supplies and reinforcements. After that, we proceed to wipe up the rest of the revolt. The first stage will be to send Commander Shuchyl north to recover Elmari."

Elmari? When Golyat had headed south? "Is that so that there are no rebels at our back when the marshal has to face Golyat, ser?"

"Elmari is lightly held." Taryl's tone was even.

What was Rahl missing? Taryl hadn't responded to the reference to the marshal. Rahl tried again. "Ah… the marshal… he wasn't terribly pleased with the way we dealt with the officers and others at Selyma."

"No… he wasn't, but he wasn't feeling that well, and he's asked to be relieved and stipended for reasons of health."

Rahl had the definite feeling that the marshal's request was not exactly voluntary. "Then you're acting marshal?"

"For as long as the Emperor wishes, and only that long."

Rahl would have added "the Empress" to that statement, but he said nothing.

"One other thing… Third Company has been reassigned as the Mage-Guard Overcommander's support company." Taryl smiled. "That means you'll have to move to the small barracks adjoining this villa. I don't imagine that the men will complain, except that it's a longer walk to the mess." He straightened. "We'll meet first thing after muster tomorrow morning. By then, I'll have a better idea of what you'll be doing. That all depends on who else I can trust." He paused. "I would like you to take a squad and look over the harbor, though, so that you can report on that tomorrow."

"Yes, ser."

Taryl stood. "I do appreciate what you did yesterday. It saved us hundreds of troopers, if not more."

And cost thousands of rebels their lives, not to mention the Imperial troopers who died because I couldn't figure out matters more quickly. "Thank you, ser." Rahl could sense that Taryl was withholding more than he had told Rahl, but Rahl did not sense anything that suggested Taryl was upset with him. But would he have known unless Taryl wanted him to sense that?

"I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Yes, ser." Rahl stepped back, then turned.

As he left the study, once more, he had to wonder what Taryl was hiding… and why.