Rex Regis

17

Quaeryt had to ride quickly in order to make it by ninth glass to the headquarters building of the Telaryn armies in Bovaria-what had once been the Variana estate of the late Holder Paitrak, and then the temporary residence for Bhayar. Quaeryt’s first meeting was with Khaern, Calkoran, and Zhelan. All three were waiting for him when he walked into the small study Skarpa had once used in the outbuilding. From the dust in places, and the grime on the sole window, it was apparent that the study had been seldom used since, unsurprisingly, since roughly half the Telaryn regiments that had comprised the force to take Variana were currently either in the north or in Antiago, with perhaps ten remaining in and around Variana.

“I’m sorry,” said Quaeryt as he sat down behind one of the two desks, the one formerly used by Skarpa. “My meeting with Lord Bhayar lasted longer than I thought it would.”

“We can’t complain about that, sir,” said Khaern with a smile.

“We have orders. Apparently, I’m going to have several duties. One of them is to organize supplies and finances here in Variana for all army operations in Bovaria. The other is to work with the imager undercaptains to aid in rebuilding certain areas. You all remain under my command, and your immediate duties will be light. You will need to provide protection for the imagers while they rebuild roads and bridges and then start to reconstruct the isle of piers, where they’ll start to demolish the ruins and build quarters and support buildings there. This comparatively light duty will allow you to rotate companies and rest men and mounts.”

“Quarters for whom, might I ask, sir?” inquired Zhelan.

“I’m hoping that the quarters will be for imagers and the troopers and officers assigned to protect the imagers, but that decision is up to Lord Bhayar. So far, he has only agreed that we may proceed.”

Khaern raised his eyebrows, but did not speak.

“I’ll be as direct as I can be at this point,” Quaeryt said. “The imagers, as a group, or in groups, can be a powerful force. Without protection, though, they’re more like unguarded cannon on an open field. Lord Bhayar and I are trying to work out a way to protect them and keep them safe and useful to him. If they are not kept safe and trained in peacetime, they will not be that useful in times of war.”

“If Khel comes to its senses,” said Calkoran slowly, “and can reach terms, who will there be for Lord Bhayar to fight?”

“I would hope Khel does come to its senses, Subcommander. If it does, and if most of the armies are disbanded over time, who will protect the ruler from factors and High Holders such as some we have seen? If Bhayar is forced to pay large armies to do that, where will the golds come from to make Lydar a better place, with roads and harbors? Not all the imagers in all Terahnar could build the roads we need. And he will need a navy to protect the harbors and ports and traders from pirates and brigands. So he must be protected in ways that do not cost thousands upon thousands of golds.”

Calkoran smiled. “Spoken like a son of Erion.”

Khaern frowned. “What do you mean?”

“A son of Erion is doomed if he seeks power for himself. He holds power only as long as he uses it wisely for others.” When Khaern did not immediately reply, Calkoran went on. “When I first saw him, I was unsure of what kind of lost one he might be. Then I saw how often he used his powers to protect others. He protected the young imagers who knew nothing at first. He protected my men, and yours. In Khel, he underwent a trial he did not have to. So did Lady Vaelora. That was to avoid a war no one needed. I hope my countryfolk will come to understand that before it is too late. Do you remember when he defied the marshal to save our men from needless slaughter?”

Khaern nodded.

“There have been lost ones, and there have been sons of Erion before. Those who failed are remembered. Those who were true to their power are forgotten. That is the curse carried by all sons of Erion.”

“That’s already true,” said Zhelan. “Lord Bhayar triumphed at Ferravyl and Variana. Submarshal Skarpa subdued Antiago.”

“Enough!” Quaeryt laughed. “That’s as it should be. Officers shouldn’t be seeking glory. I’m an imager and an officer doing a job that has to be done. We all have a job that needs to be done.” He wished he’d been able to think of a more eloquent way to downplay the entire idea of a son of Erion. “I’ll need a company today. For now one company should be sufficient to accompany the imager undercaptains each day. We’ll likely need help from the men later on, in setting up quarters and the like, but it won’t hurt them to have light duty for a week, before they get back to drills and a regular schedule.”

All three senior officers nodded.

“I’ll leave it to you three to set up the rotation schedule. Let me know if there are any considerations I should be aware of. I need to meet with the undercaptains and their trainee, but I expect we’ll ride out in two quints. Oh … and one other thing. I’ll need a duty squad tomorrow afternoon to accompany Lady Vaelora and me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once the three officers left, just a few moments later, Khalis, Horan, Lhandor, Baelthm, and Elsior entered the study.

“The good news is that we don’t have to fight. The rest of the news is that we have a lot of work to do. Lord Bhayar needs some roads…” Quaeryt went on to describe their likely schedule for the remainder of the day, and then for the week ahead-after a day off on Solayi, before concluding, “You won’t be working long days, but they will be hard days. That way, you won’t lose your imaging strength … and neither will I.” And it will leave an impression of just how useful imagers can be. “Do you still have those plans you drew up for the isle of piers, Lhandor?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’d like to see them. Lord Bhayar has agreed to a certain amount of building on the isle, after we repair and rebuild the road from the Chateau Regis and create a wide and solid bridge across the Aluse. If we’re to be effective in rebuilding the isle of piers, we’ll also need a bridge from the west bank of the isle to the river road.”

“Sir?” asked Horan. “Are we done fighting? For sure?”

“I don’t know. For the moment, if there is any fighting, it would be against brigands and the like. Whether we go back to war will depend on what the High Council of Khel does. It will also depend on what is happening in the north of Bovaria with the High Holders there. Lord Bhayar hasn’t had a recent report from Submarshal Myskyl.”

Khalis and Lhandor exchanged glances that Quaeryt ignored.

“I’d like you to assemble fully mounted in the courtyard in a quint. Lhandor … bring your drawings and maps. I’d like to look them over.”

“Yes, sir.”

Quaeryt watched as they left, then followed, closing the study door behind himself.

Three quints later, Quaeryt and the imagers were reined up on the slope south of the Chateau Regis, with a company from Eleventh Regiment two hundred yards farther south, although one squad was finishing up warning everyone away from the south side of the structure.

Quaeryt surveyed the Chateau Regis and the low hill on which it was situated. A single narrow road angled down the hill and then curved to the northeast, running relatively straight for well over a mille toward the River Aluse, reaching it at a point north of the isle of piers, where the river narrowed and a timber structure spanned the water. On the east side of the bridge lay most of Variana. He turned in the saddle, momentarily looking south across what remained of the earthworks and ditches that had been ripped out of the once lush grounds and hunting park to the south of Chateau Regis more than two seasons earlier. He nodded and turned back to the imagers.

“Undercaptains … what do you think of that road leading up to the chateau?”

Lhandor shook his head. “We built a wide archway and entry. The road’s too narrow. It always was.”

“What about a circular paved road around the entire hill, and then a gradually inclined paved drive straight from the southwest up to your entry, and then down to the circular road on the southeast?”

“We’d need a paved area for a lot of carriages opposite the entry,” suggested Lhandor.

“I could flatten that hump opposite the entry,” suggested Horan.

“It should all be in that hard white stone,” added Khalis. “All the stone we image, I mean.”

Quaeryt looked to Horan. “See what you can do with that hump. Just move the earth and stone to where the drive will be, starting at the top.”

“Yes, sir.” Horan concentrated.

The top of the hump directly south of the entry portico vanished, and cold white mist wreathed the ground, only to disperse slowly under the direct late morning spring sunshine. A long expanse of dirt and gravel, roughly a yard deep, evenly covered the uppermost section of the road leading down the slope on the east side of the entry.

“Lhandor,” ordered Quaeryt.

More of the hump vanished, and the white mist was thicker as more of the overburden appeared on the eastern slope.

“Elsior, see what you can do.”

“Yes, sir.”

The trainee managed to move a fair amount for his age and experience, perhaps a fifth part of what Lhandor had done.

Even after just half a glass, Quaeryt could see that the more precise massive imaging, if that was the correct term for what they were doing, was going to take longer than he’d anticipated. Doesn’t everything?

By the time Quaeryt and the other imagers were too tired to do any more imaging, without totally exhausting themselves and risking collapse, they had completed the drive up to and from the entry and almost down to where it would meet the circular road, as well as a paved circular carriage plaza south of the entry portico. They had bowed to the reality of the terrain by creating stone steps up to the entry to avoid the massive earth-moving that would have been necessary to keep the drive to and from the entry from being too steep for carriages and wagons.

They also had imaged away part of the higher ground to the west of the Chateau Regis so that the circular drive would be level-and that, in turn, would require stone drainage gutters.

Quaeryt also realized that they would need a paved service drive to the west side of the chateau to replace the rutted lane currently being used. But then, there’s always something you’ve forgotten.

After riding back to the de facto Telaryn headquarters, and dismissing the imagers and the company from Eleventh Regiment, Quaeryt turned his mount over to an ostler, then crossed the courtyard and made his way into the library. From what he could tell most of the volumes remained.

After a quick study of the shelves, under the watchful eye of a junior squad leader, Quaeryt began with the thin volumes with the greatest height of spine. The first volume he took off the shelf was entitled Plants of Varia and contained drawings of various plants. The title, he realized, if belatedly, must have referred to the area around Variana. From the paper dust that rose when he opened the folio to the drawings, he wondered if “Varia” had been a separate land at one time. He didn’t recall any histories that mentioned that, but then he hadn’t read that much history about the western half of Lydar. Was there ever that much written?

Then he forced himself to move through the volumes quickly. The seventh or eighth bound folio that he opened contained maps of Bovaria, although he had the impression that they had been drawn at least several decades earlier. He set that volume aside on a reading table and continued to look. After close to half a glass, he found two other volumes of maps, one of which included maps showing hills and mountains and even roads, although it was clear it had been drawn before the Great Canal had been built.

He picked up the three volumes and walked to the squad leader. “I’m taking these maps for duties required by Lord Bhayar. They’ll be at the Chateau Regis.”

“Yes, sir.”

Carrying the three volumes, Quaeryt walked from the library toward the stables where a half squad waited to escort him for the ride south to the Chateau Regis.