Ordermaster (66 page)

"I don't think so." Kharl paused for just a moment. "Hamor uses white

wizards, but I would not claim that such use has ever meant that the emperor is inclined to follow the views of Fairven."

Ostcrag laughed harshly. "One would hope not. In either case."

   
"How are you finding Brysta?" asked Osten quickly. "Or have you been here before?"

Behind him, Lord Ostcrag nodded.

   
"I've seen Brysta from the deck of a merchanter before," Kharl replied. That was certainly true, if definitely not the whole truth. "And I've traveled the streets." He paused. "I could be mistaken, but I've seen no beggars at all on the streets since I've been here this time."

   
"I'm glad that you have not." Osten's voice was hearty. "My brother has taken it upon himself to ensure that no such riffraff bother honest people."

"I've also seen more Watch patrollers. They are most alert."

   
"The Watch was reorganized last winter. That was after several malefactors escaped ..." Osten shrugged. "My younger brother was not pleased and took it upon himself to overhaul the entire Watch. We have had far fewer thefts and disorder since."

Kharl turned to face Ostcrag directly. "Your sons are most diligent."

"That they are, and a boon to the West Quadrant."

   
"Still..." mused Kharl, drawing out the expression, "all cities, save Brysta, seem to have beggars. How have you managed this miraculous feat?"

   
"By putting them to work," replied Osten, before his sire could say a word. "They earn an honest wage in the quarries and upon the new south road."

"The new south road? Where does it go? To Surien?"

   
"Not yet," answered Ostcrag. "Were Lord South to finish his portion, within a few years we would have a metaled road between Brysta and Surien. Not the poor clay track that is now a mere excuse for a road. Then we would have greater trade and prosperity."

   
"Just like the Great Highway the Hamorians are building between Cigoerne and Atla," added Osten.

"That would certainly improve trade, I would think," said Kharl.

"Exactly," replied Osten. "Have you such highways in Austra?"

   
"None of that length. Only a few shorter ones near Valmurl," Kharl admitted, before getting to his own questions. "The Hamorian envoy told me that you were using Hamorian engineers for road-building, but I had

no idea that you were planning to build such a large highway. Is that why there are so many Hamorian merchanters in the harbor?"

"There are no more than usual," replied Ostcrag.

   
The older lord was telling what he believed was the truth, and that stopped Kharl for a moment.

   
"I understand that you are also a scholar of the law, Lord Kharl," offered Osten. "Is that why you've been spending so much time in the Hall of Justice? Or is it familiar to you for other reasons?"

   
Kharl offered a laugh. "I have studied the law, as the chief clerks will tell you, but an envoy's task is also to better understand the land. What happens in the Hall of Justice reveals much."

   
"What has it revealed to you in the very short time that you've been here?" asked Osten, his words pointed.

   
"You like Brysta to be a very orderly city. You do not permit beggars and thieves. You would rather sentence a careless man to hard labor than risk letting a thief go free."

"Carelessness can be as dangerous as theft," Osten countered.

Kharl smiled politely. "You asked what I saw, Lord Osten."

"Overcaptain. My sire is the only Lord."

Kharl nodded to Ostcrag. "I beg your pardon."

   
"Granted, Lord Kharl." Ostcrag looked hard at the envoy. "You are a large man. Few are so large, and you speak as though you have some familiarity with Brysta. Yet you have lands in Austra. How did this happen?"

   
"I was fortunate in being in the right place during the revolt against Lord Ghrant. I was an officer on a merchanter of Lord Hagen's and was part of a force that was called to support Lord Ghrant. I managed to be of some assistance when it was most useful."

   
"A merchanter officer who is now a lord, who has demonstrated prowess in battle, and who has studied the law. Most unusual."

   
"Perhaps, Lord West. Yet envoys must know about trade and battles, and knowing the law cannot hurt."

   
"Such abilities are useful, Lord Kharl," Ostcrag returned, "but they can be most dangerous when an envoy does not have a large force nearby."

   
"I would not go against your judgment, ser. I would think that the danger would only exist if the West Quadrant were ruled by a Lord without scruples and honor, and all say that you have exhibited both." Those words Kharl had managed to adapt, if in a scrambled form, from a phrase that he and Erdyl had worked out the night before.

Osten frowned.

   
Ostcrag laughed. "You would entrap me by my own honor, Lord Kharl. Indeed, you are a dangerous man." He stood. "It has been a most. .. intriguing ... presentation. You may find you need more than words to represent Lord Ghrant in these times. Between Hamor and Reduce, the rest of us must tread with great care, even wizards and order-mages."

"I will remember your words," Kharl replied.

"Best you do. Good day, Lord Kharl." Ostcrag nodded.

   
Kharl bowed, then stepped back, his senses alert; but neither the hidden wizard nor the armsmen moved or acted as he left the chamber.

Outside, in the corridor, Mihalen waited.

   
"You must have intrigued them. Such presentations are usually shorter."

"I'm new to being an envoy," Kharl replied. "I'm sure that it showed."

"All envoys must have a first posting."

   
Kharl smiled politely. He just wanted to leave the Quadrancy Keep. The walls seemed to press in on him, although his order-senses detected nothing except a feeling of age and faint chaos throughout everything.

   
Mantar, Demyst, and Alynar were waiting in the courtyard with the carriage, and Demyst offered a smile of relief as Kharl stepped through the archway. Kharl did not bother with a parting greeting to Mihalen, whom he trusted even less than Lord West and his son.

   
Not until the carriage rolled out of the gates and onto Lord's Road downhill toward the residence did Demyst ask, "How did things go, ser?"

   
"Mostly as expected. They wanted to know more about me, and I wanted to find out things about them. I didn't find out much. They didn't either." He just hoped that he had not revealed too much, although he had expected more probing questions.

   
As he rode back to his own residence, Kharl pondered over the presentation. He still could not tell, not for certain, if Ostcrag and his son had received word about his magely exploits in Austra. From what he had sensed, he was also fairly certain that neither Ostcrag nor Osten fully understood what Egen was doing. But how could they not see what was so obvious? Was it because they did not wish to see it? Or because they liked the orderly streets of Brysta and did not wish to look at how that order had been created? Then, there was Ostcrag's parting comment about the con-

flict between Reduce and Hamor. Kharl was unaware of such a conflict, and he was confident he would have felt something when he had been in Nylan. Yet Ostcrag believed what he had said, and the implications of that belief were anything but good for Kharl and Austra.

LXXV

JVLidmorning on threeday found Kharl and Alynar in the carriage, heading through a warm drizzle toward the residence of the Sarronnese envoy. That was assuming that Luryessa would speak to him-if she was even still in Brysta. Kharl wasn't above begging for information, not after his meeting with Lord West, and not after Erdyl had reported late on twoday afternoon that none of the envoys who had been absent from Brysta had returned and that two others-from Lydiar and Delapra-had also left Brysta.

   
The outer gates to the Sarronnese residence were open, and Mantar brought the carriage up the drive and to a halt under the receiving portico. Kharl opened the door and stepped out of the carriage. "Just wait here with Mantar," he told Alynar.

"Yes, ser."

The duty guard stiffened as Kharl approached.
A

   
"I'm Lord Kharl of Austra. I'd like to see Envoy Luryessa, if she% here."

"Ser ... I can't say. I'll summon her assistant."

   
"That's fine." What else could he say? So he stood under the portico, out of the drizzle. The rain wasn't strong enough to be a true late-summer rain, but sometimes several days of light rain preceded the downpours that announced the end of summer.

   
The door opened, and a dark-haired woman stood there. She wore a short-sleeved, plain, dark blue shirt and matching trousers. A lock of unruly hair crossed her forehead, and, as if she had noted his observation, she brushed it back. "Lord Kharl?" A sense of blackness-order-rather than the white of chaos-flowed around the woman. Somehow, after meeting Luryessa, he hadn't expected a Sarronnese order-mage.

"You must be Jemelya." Kharl offered a pleasant smile.

   
"I am. You must be here to see Luryessa. She thought you might come by unannounced at some time. You are fortunate. She is here, in her study. If you would like to come in?"

"Thank you."

   
Kharl followed her to the library, then to the open door to the private study.

   
Luryessa did not rise from the desk, but smiled. "Do come in. You might close the door for me."

   
Kharl did and settled into a straight-backed chair across from her. "Jemelya said you were expecting me."

   
"I thought you might come. You are inexperienced as an envoy, but most perceptive. If you came anywhere, it would likely be here."

   
Kharl found he was neither surprised nor angered by her calm presumption. "I'm sorry to stop unannounced-"

   
"Don't apologize. It's better that you didn't. Already, the word is out that you're a minor mage." A smile danced on Luryessa's lips and in her hazel eyes.

"You had something to do with that?"

   
"Only the 'minor' part." The smile faded. "We will be returning to Sar-ron for consultations with the Tyrant. So we will be closing the residence, tomorrow or the next day, whenever our ships arrive."

   
"Ships? Warships?" Then Kharl shook his head. "That's to make sure that they arrive."

Luryessa nodded.

"What else should I know? That you can tell me?"

   
The mischievous smile returned. "You have just met with Lord West and his eldest. You must know far more than a mere woman."

   
Kharl snorted. "I am most certain that you have noticed that there are no regular armsmen in Brysta and that the patrollers loyal to Captain Egen effectively control the city. Doubtless you already know that their uniforms came from Hamor, and that the road leading to Surien has been designed by Hamorian engineers. It is a very good road, by the way."

"Yes. You have a point?"

   
Kharl decided not to make it-not yet. "I am also quite sure that you know that Captain Egen controls-or influences strongly-the lord justic-ers and that they have been instructed to find any way possible to sentence those who commit minor offenses to the quarries or the road-building

crew. And that at least some wealthy factors who support Osten have left Brysta."

"I suspected that, but I did not know that. Your point, Lord Kharl?"

   
"I don't think that either Lord West or Osten understands what all that means. You do, if I understood the message about the late-summer rains."

"You discovered this by some sort of magery?"

   
Kharl shook his head. "Just by talking and listening to Ostcrag and Osten. They also knew something about me, but I don't think they understood what that meant, either."

"You had best hope that they do not."

"No ... I'd best hope that Egen doesn't. Or the Hamorians."

   
"I am most certain that they do know. All of them. The Hamorians only have two or three wizards here. At the moment." Luryessa smiled sadly. "A fleet was being provisioned in Swartheld two eightdays ago. It was being readied to head northwest. With at least several more white wizards."

   
Kharl couldn't say that he was surprised. He would have been astonished if Luryessa had suggested that all was well. "Lord West suggested that he-and Austra-were being caught between Hamor and Reduce and needed to tread carefully. He believes that. So does Osten."