Mage-Guard of Hamor

XCVI

In the late afternoon of fourday, Rahl walked along the polished white-marble floors of Golyat's mansion in Sastak. Taryl had taken over the mansion as a temporary headquarters, while he and Commander Muyr organized the return of the port city to Imperial control and arranged for the sea transport of the High Command troopers to Swartheld… and then to Cigoerne, or to wherever their previous station had been.

Rahl hadn't seen Taryl since the afternoon before, when he and the overcommander had fought Golyat and Ulmaryt-and the two Triads. Nor had he seen Deybri since the night before.

Taryl had sent an undercaptain to find Rahl, and it had taken the officer half a day in the chaos and confusion to run down Third Company. Still… Rahl wasn't all that sure he wanted to see Taryl. What if he had misjudged the situation, and Taryl could have handled it without his ill-advised attempts to help? Had he just made matters worse?

The undercaptain outside the study door bolted to his feet. "He said for you to go right in, ser."

Rahl didn't have to be reminded to close the door. He didn't want anyone overhearing what Taryl had to say.

The overcommander sat at a broad table desk with neat stacks of paper set around him in a nearly perfect semicircle. The double doors to the balcony to the left were open, and a gentle breeze cooled the study.

Taryl looked up. His bloodshot eyes were set in deep black circles, but his shields were as tight as ever, and his first words did not offer Rahl any great comfort. "As usual, Rahl, you did the right thing in the wrong way, and someone had to clean up after you." Then the angular and stern-faced mage-guard smiled warmly. "And I'm very glad that you and Deybri were there. Without the two of you, Hamor would be in sad straits indeed."

"I did my best, ser." Rahl swallowed. "Without Deybri… it wouldn't have been enough."

Taryl nodded. "I'm glad to see that you recognize that. But, without your efforts, hers would not have been possible."

"Fieryn and Dhoryk were conspiring to remove the Emperor, weren't they?" Rahl looked at Taryl, hoping to change the subject.

The older mage-guard nodded again.

"That means…" Rahl paused. "Jubyl, he couldn't have been part of it. If he had been…"

"Why do you say that?" Taryl's tone was almost idle. Almost.

"If all the Triad agreed, then why would they have needed a rebellion? They could have removed Golyat without fighting."

"Could they? Was that the reason for the revolt?"

What could else could have been the reason? Rahl knew Taryl was testing him in yet another way. What else would make sense? Then he thought about Captain Gheryk, Regional Commander Chaslyk, the regional commander in Matlana…

"They wanted a revolt in order to conceal their removal of mage-guards loyal to the Emperor?"

"Who could prove that?" asked Taryl. "But yes, that fitted into their plans."

"Couldn't you have…?"

"How?"

Rahl understood, then. "You ran the whole campaign in a way that drew the two Triads here because you couldn't have checked every regional officer-not in time-and not without alerting them, and you hoped that you could do something against them when they acted against you. And if you hadn't succeeded, they would have named Cyphryt to replace Jubyl."

"Possibly. Or perhaps Welleyn."

"Not the Mage-Guard Overcommander?"

"That has always been almost a ceremonial post, and Kurtweyl was loyal to… the Emperor." Taryl smiled, still tiredly. "When he wasn't involved in his musical compositions."

"What happens now, ser?"

"That is up to the Emperor and the new Triads."

Once again, Taryl was not really answering the questions, and Rahl still wasn't thinking as clearly as he would have liked as he asked, "Who will be the Regional Administrator for Merowey?"

"That hasn't been decided, but I'm certain it will be some cousin of Mythalt's."

"After all this? They wouldn't consider you?"

"Mage-guards are never permanent regional administrators. The position will be filled with a pleasant man with the proper connections who understands fully that, when in doubt, he is to ask the Mage-Guard Overcommander of Merowey for advice, and who will understand that he is never to cross his regional overcommander. Who that administrator will be is not for either of us to say."

With the firmness of Taryl's tone, Rahl decided not to press that issue.

"What about Deybri?" Taryl asked, almost idly, although Rahl doubted that there was anything idle at all about the question, since Taryl's shields hid whatever the older mage might be feeling.

"Deybri… you know how I feel. We're going to be consorted properly when we… well, when we can work out wherever we'll be." Rahl paused. Surely, Taryl or the Mage-Guard Overcommander wouldn't separate them? "I'd hope… that we wouldn't be separated."

"I can see that." A faint smile crinkled Taryl's lips. "I don't see that such a separation would serve anyone well."

"At our consorting… will you be there?"

"That, Rahl, I can promise, provided you don't wait too long."

"No, ser." After a pause, Rahl asked one of the questions he'd wanted to know for a long time. "I've inquired before, but you've never really answered. Why did you go to such lengths to persuade her to leave Recluce?"

"You need her. She needs you. You'd both be wasted in Recluce. Besides, Hamor needs you both. So it seemed like a good thing to do, and it was something I could do."

Even behind Taryl's shields, Rahl could sense the pain. At least, he thought he could. But what could he say? After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Thank you. I cannot tell you how much that means to me, but… I know you understand that."

Taryl just nodded. "There is one other matter…"

"Ser?"

"What to do with a mage-guard who is so powerful that all the others shiver when they think of him."

Who was Taryl talking about? "Ser… how can the Emperor not reward you?"

The older mage-guard laughed. "That's already been decided, but I'd trust that you not mention it since plans for my departure have not been announced."

"You're going to be Triad again, aren't you? Mage-Guard Triad," guessed Rahl.

"That is most likely."

Rahl laughed, if softly. "The Emperor needs you. So does Hamor." He realized he was quoting Taryl's words back at him, but that seemed only fair.

Taryl nodded. "I wasn't talking about myself when I asked that question."

The mage-guards shivered when they thought of Rahl? "Ser?"

"Although you, Deybri, and I know the full story, what everyone saw on that ridge was you take on and vanquish two of the most powerful mage-guards in Hamor, perhaps in the world. Were you older, and wiser, there would be no question that you would be selected as a Triad. Even so, I wouldn't do this, not if Deybri had not agreed to come to Hamor, and not if she had not agreed to consort you," Taryl went on. "But she's older, and wiser, and you listen to her." His voice turned wry. "More than to anyone else. So… from here on in, you're acting Mage-Guard Overcommander of Merowey. You and Deybri will be departing within the eightday on the Tyrsalelth to return to Nubyat. You'll also be temporary acting Regional Administrator for me, but that will be very temporary, I am most certain. Once the Emperor convenes the Triad, you will be confirmed as Mage-Guard Overcommander of Merowey and servant to the Emperor."

"Me?"

"You could never go back to being a regular mage-guard, even a city captain. Your reputation would terrify everyone, and what superior would dare to discipline you? As a regional overcommander, you report to the Mage-Guard Triad and the Emperor. Besides, returning you to a lower level would be a waste of what you've accomplished. Your reputation will help keep Merowey loyal. The Emperor and I know that you and Deybri will not be corrupted. Because you will not be, neither will the next administrator, nor the mage-guards of Merowey. Besides, it's the easiest way to make sure you and the healer are together."

"But I'm only a senior mage-guard."

"That's all you have to be after the Great Battle of Sastak," replied Taryl dryly. "Why do you think I gave you all those duties here earlier? Besides, who's left to complain? You're more powerful than anyone who's left in the mage-guards."

"Except you," Rahl pointed out.

"Don't let that go to your head," added Taryl, clearly ignoring Rahl's interjection. "You still need to develop more skills and strength."

"Yes, ser."

Taryl looked at Rahl. "You'll pardon me if I don't stand. That's all I had to tell you."

"What about Drakeyt?" blurted Rahl.

"He'd be wasted in Nubyat with Third Company. You'll have to break in a new captain. Drakeyt's already been promoted to majer to take over the battalion that Commander Deolyn commanded before his promotion. I trust you do not object." Taryl coughed. "There's one thing more. I asked Deybri to wait on the upper verandah. I didn't tell her why. I thought you should have that pleasure."

After leaving Taryl, Rahl walked from the study and down the wide marble-floored hallway to the double doors to the verandah. The warmth of spring surrounded him, even though the upper verandah was on the north side of the mansion and shaded. Below the stone railing was a walled garden, and Rahl could hear the splashing of fountains.

Deybri rose from the cushioned chair and smiled, tentatively. She did not move toward him. "You've seen Taryl?"

"Yes." Rahl smiled, keeping his shields tight. He would surprise her.

"Rahl… are you all right? What did he say?"

"You'll still consort me, no matter what happens, or wherever I'm posted?"

Her face darkened. "What have they done?"

Rahl grinned and dropped all his shields. "Taryl named me as acting Overcommander of Mage-Guards for Merowey. The Emperor is supposed to confirm it as a permanent appointment once Taryl returns to Cigoerne and becomes a Triad again."

"You're too young for that." Her face warred between worry and joy.

"Taryl said that. He said he wouldn't have done it except for you. He said that you were the wise one, and that I'd best listen to you. He also said that I still had much to learn, but that there was nothing else he could do."

"You've already learned a great deal." Deybri smiled fondly.

"I have," reflected Rahl. "One of the problems is that too many other people helped to pay for that learning." He couldn't help but think of the outrider who'd died because he hadn't even considered an arrow trap without people around, or the troopers in fifth squad who drowned because he hadn't reacted quickly enough, or the girl whose throat had been slashed before his eyes, or the thousands and thousands on both sides who had died… Or Deybri, who had sacrificed comfort and come to a strange land for him. "You're one of the ones who paid a great deal."

"No. I don't think so. You've given me a different kind of experience. I couldn't go back to Nylan now."

"Why not?"

Her eyes dropped. "Yesterday… I did what I had to, just as you did so long ago in Land's End. Healers in Recluce don't use order that way." She looked up and at Rahl. "The other reason is that people need me here. The difference is that I wanted everyone to tell me I was needed. Here it doesn't matter because I can see the need."

"There aren't any really good healers in Nubyat, or not many," offered Rahl.

Her eyes darted to the north. "We'll live… there in Nubyat in that villa?"

"At the overcommander's villa." Rahl couldn't help but smile even more broadly. "I hope you don't mind. It is a little larger than your dwelling in Nylan. Oh… and Taryl will be at the consorting ceremony. He promised-if we don't wait long."

Her smile was all he could have hoped for, and so was the embrace, and the kiss that followed.