The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (52 page)

“What types of bills do they have to pay as a district?” Steve asked.

Tyree explained that in addition to the district minister, each district had to support a sorcerer, an army captain, and five or six lieutenants. The sergeants were local townsmen, and were given only a token pay, just like the town director. The individual members of the local army unit were not paid anything. It was their duty to serve.

“What if a town wants its own sorcerer rather than have to wait for the district sorcerer to get around to them?” Chris asked.

“Then the town has to come up with the money to pay him,” Tyree answered.

“So, if I’ve kept up with things right, there are eighty ministers, eighty sorcerers, eighty captains, and over four hundred lieutenants being supported through taxes, right?” Steve asked.

Tyree nodded.

“Who decides how much these people get paid?” Karl asked.

“The assembly of ministers determines the base pay, but some districts offer a bit more, especially for a good sorcerer. If the official has a wife and a couple of children, they’ll be able to manage, but if the family’s large, they’re either going to have to have a second income or work in a district that can afford to pay a little more.”

“What about their staff?” Darrell asked.

“Ministers are allowed a secretary and each district captain has an aide, but no one else on the district level has any provisions for staff in their pay.”

“Is anyone else supported by taxes?” Steve asked.

Tyree nodded again. “The governor, the army general, the three court judges, the seated sorcerer, and their staffs. The general has a small military staff and several companies of soldiers at his disposal. The governor has a secretary, the judges share a secretary, and the sorcerer has an assistant and office pages. And then there are the servants for the governor’s house and the sorcerer’s castle, as well as the guards.”

“How many people does that involve?” Joan asked.

“I’m not sure. There are several cooks and kitchen aides at the castle but usually only one at the governor’s house. Then there are the men and women who clean the castle and the governor’s house, the stable men, the yardmen, and the personal servants for the families. And then of course, there are all of the men who make up the castle guard,” Tyree answered.

“That’s a lot,” Kevin said.

“And sometimes you have to hire extra help for special events,” Tyree added. “Remember, the castle isn’t just your home. It’s the residence of the Seated Sorcerer of Camden, as well as the Master Sorcerer of Terah.”

“Sort of like 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” Chris said. “Not your house, your fishbowl.”

Tyree frowned, but he didn’t ask any questions.

“How does the Master Sorcerer get any privacy?” Kevin asked.

“In general, he doesn’t,” Tyree answered. “I guess if you really needed to, you could find a quiet place somewhere away from the castle, but you’d have to let your assistant know where you are because your staff has to be able to get in touch with you at all times. There’s no real privacy at the top, Myron.”

“What about the judicial organization?” Steve asked. “You mentioned a court? Do you have trials?”

“I’m not sure exactly what you mean, but in most non-criminal cases the local director handles the matter. If the dispute is not settled in an agreeable manner, the disgruntled party can take it to the minister. If that’s still not satisfactory, he can take it to the governor’s office, where it’s heard by a three-member court. The chairman is appointed by the governor, the seated sorcerer appoints a sorcerer, and the general chooses one of his captains to represent the army. Their decision is final.”

“What about criminal cases?” Darrell asked.

“The criminal is turned over to the local lieutenant, who takes the prisoner to the district captain. The captain is responsible for holding the prisoner until the minister decides the case. Murderers, slavers, and highway bandits automatically go to jail, but not too many others are imprisoned,” Tyree explained.

“Is there a jail in every district?” Darrell asked.

Tyree shook his head no. “There are four in Camden.” He leaned over the map to point them out. One was in the middle of what would have been eastern New York on Earth, one was in Wisconsin, one was in southern Georgia, and the fourth was near the middle of Tennessee.

“Who’s responsible for guarding the prisoners?” Darrell asked.

“The army,” Tyree answered.

“Do you have many escapes?” Darrell asked.

“No, none that I can recall,” Tyree replied. “The army is good at guarding its prisoners, not just in Camden, but everywhere. It’s a matter of honor that no one escapes, so they take great care to protect that record.”

“Is there any appeal for criminal cases?” Joan asked.

“Appeal?” Tyree questioned.

“Can a defendant ask that his case be heard by a higher court, especially the court at the governor’s office?” Joan asked.

“Yes. In fact, a written report is always sent to the governor’s court for review any time anyone is sentenced to jail time. And the court has the option of requesting that the prisoner be escorted to Milhaven for questioning,” Tyree explained.

“What about cases where the sentence does not involve jail time? What if the defendant thinks that the punishment is too severe? Can he ask to be heard by the court?” Theresa asked.

“If he wishes, but he would have to take the time and effort to travel there, and it would cost him to stay there until his case could be heard and a decision rendered. It happens occasionally, but not often. Usually the defendant just accepts the minister’s ruling,” Tyree said.

“How does the district minister get his job? Is he appointed or do the people elect him?” Karl asked.

“He’s appointed. As soon as a district minister takes office, he makes a list of about ten people who would be good candidates for the position should anything happen to him. Then, if he dies in office, his secretary forwards the list to the governor. The governor checks them out and announces the new appointment,” Tyree said.

“Who’s in charge in the meantime?” Steve asked. “The secretary?”

“No, the district captain would take over the basic duties of the minister until a new one could be named,” Tyree answered.

“What about the local directors? How do they get their jobs?” Karl asked.

“They’re appointed, too, but by the minister.”

“And I imagine that the general hires his captains, and the captains hire their lieutenants, right?” Steve asked. Tyree nodded, so Steve continued, “What about the local sergeant? Is he appointed by the lieutenant?”

“No, they’re elected by the local unit.”

“Are they the only elected officials?” Karl asked.

“Yes, at least in Camden.”

“Strange, I would have thought that the sergeant would be appointed and the town director would be elected,” Chris commented.

“The town director isn’t elected because he has to collect taxes. If he were elected, he might be swayed to look the other way sometimes,” Tyree explained.

“Good point. This way, he isn’t dependent on the good will of the town for his position,” Steve said. “Does he make a lot of money?”

“No, he only gets a token amount, just a few coins a year,” Tyree answered. “No one would agree to accept the position for the money involved. There’s an honor in being asked to serve, that’s all.”

“Not a bad arrangement,” Steve said, nodding his head. “Should cut down on corruption.”

“It might cut it down, but unfortunately, nothing can cut it out,” Tyree agreed.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve had enough politics for one night,” Joan said as she stood up. “What do you say we call it a day and adjourn to the sitting room for some scog and non-political conversation?”

As the others made themselves comfortable in the sitting room, Steve asked Tyree if he would like to join him for a walk outdoors before heading off to Blalick’s house.

After they had gone, Joan asked “So, what do you think of Tyree?”

“I’m not sure,” Karl said. “He seems to know what he’s talking about, but I’m a little surprised that he hasn’t asked us any questions about where we’re from.”

“Maybe he’s figured out that he shouldn’t,” Darrell said.

“Could be,” Karl agreed. “In the meantime, Blalick and I have about figured out what furniture we’re going to make and how we’re going to pack everything in three wagons. If there’s anything special you want to take with us, now’s the time to let us know.”

“And Ashni and I are drying a lot of fruits and vegetables so that we’ll have a good supply of food for the trip. I’m also making jerky. That’s a new one for Ashni. I have to admit it was nice to find something I could teach her after all the stuff she’s taught me. Anyway, is there anything else that we need to prepare as far as food is concerned?”

“I don’t know if we can take them, but some of those strawberry preserves would really taste good,” Kevin said with a grin.

“And a big batch of chocolate chip cookies would hit the spot with me,” Chris agreed.

Joan laughed. “I’ll see if we can manage to take a few jars of preserves with us. And Chris, I’ll pack as many cookies as I can, but no matter how many we take, they probably won’t last more than a week the way you eat them. Is there anything else?” When no one had any other suggestions, she said, “Well, if you think of anything, let me know.”

“I’ll have more herbs this time, Karl,” Theresa said. “A lot of the herbs that grow up here are rare at lower elevations, so I’ll gather a lot of them.”

“No problem. The only things we’re planning to put in your wagon are the sleeping blankets and tarps. Maybe a few of the pots and pans, but we can pile all of that stuff in the middle. Don’t worry about it; we’ll pack around your herbs.”

“Well, unless there’s something else, I think it’s about time for bed. We’re going to need all the sleep we can get before the ‘enemy’ army gets here,” Chris said.

Chapter 41

War Games

The elves and dwarves began to arrive on Thursday. Glendymere wanted to give them a couple of days to get their camp set up and organized, so he announced that the first of the mock battles would take place Monday morning.

Right before the first battle, Glendymere told Kevin to concentrate on defense and to leave any offensive action to the others, but Kevin soon found that trying to protect seven people from fifteen armed and experienced warriors was more than he could handle. Too many things were happening at once. While he was holding back a squad of dwarves with swords, the elves let loose a barrage of arrows. As soon as he focused on returning the arrows, some of the dwarves slipped in behind him and began throwing knives. And to make matters even worse, the other Tellurians wouldn’t stay put. They kept darting off to engage in sword fights or to return fire with their bows.

Kevin was worn out before the battle was an hour old, and the longer it dragged on, the more frazzled he became. If Glendymere had not been there to back him up, the Tellurians would have been slaughtered a dozen times over.

Later, after everyone else had gone for the day, Glendymere and Kevin analyzed the day’s battle, detail by detail. By the time they were done, Kevin felt that although he had done almost nothing right during the first battle, he was a little more prepared for the second.

Over the next week, as Kevin became more adept at defending them, the Tellurians began to try a few small assaults. Every afternoon, after the dwarves and elves had returned to their camp, the Tellurians rehashed the battle, figured out what worked, what didn’t, and made plans for the next battle.

By the end of the second week, they were functioning as a team and Glendymere seldom had to intervene to protect them, so he asked them to come up with a plan to overrun the enemy forces, without involving Kevin in any offensive action. Kevin was restricted to protecting the others from injury and defending their territory.

Their first few attempts were complete disasters, but as the days went by, they penetrated deeper and deeper into enemy territory before they were driven back.

After a particularly tough day towards the middle of the third week, Darrell said, “This is really discouraging. Do you realize that they could take us out in an instant if they wanted to? We’re going up against them with everything we’ve got, and they’re walking all over us without even trying.”

Karl nodded. “I know. Makes you feel sort of inept, doesn’t it?”

Joan shook her head and said, “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way. Glendymere didn’t just invite some elves and dwarves to come fight us. He invited warriors, people he associates with battles and wars. After all, Duane’s a warrior elf, and he’s obviously a friend of Glendymere’s, but he wasn’t invited to participate. Why?”

“You may have a point there,” Karl said slowly.

“I think Glendymere assembled the toughest group he could for us to go up against,” Joan continued. “After all, you don’t get better by playing against a weaker team. Frankly, I’m amazed that we’ve made any progress at all against them. I think we’re a lot better now than we were a month ago.”

“I won’t argue that,” Darrell said, still depressed. “We’re just not good enough.”

“Good enough for what?” Chris asked. “Chances are if we have to fight for real, it’ll be against other humans, and don’t forget, Kevin’s had his hands tied during these games.”

“I know. I guess it’s just the old pride kicking in,” Darrell acknowledged. “I don’t like losing, period.”

~ ~ ~ ~

The final battle took place on the last Wednesday of November. Glendymere gave each side a short flagpole with a small flag attached to the top, and the battle was to last until one side had captured the other side’s flag. By sundown, the battle was still going strong, with neither side able to claim victory. Kevin was beginning to tire, but he still managed to thwart every attempt that the elves and dwarves made to invade his defensive perimeter. Darrell had spearheaded the attack all day, and was running out of ideas. Chris finally suggested that they needed some kind of a distraction to get the other team’s attention so that they could sneak in and grab the flag.

“Kevin, can you make a tornado yet?” Darrell asked.

“Yes, but I can’t control it all that well yet,” Kevin answered. “And there are elves over there. They could take control of it and turn it against us.”

After a few minutes, Chris said, “What would scare them?”

“Dwarves are afraid of heights and water. As for elves, I don’t know of anything that scares them,” Kevin answered.

“Good thing we won’t usually have to fight them,” Darrell mumbled.

“Maybe what we need is not something to scare them, but something that will draw their attention somewhere else,” Joan said.

“Such as?” Chris asked.

“Let me think for a few minutes,” Joan said.

“It’s going to be nightfall soon. Dwarves can see as well at night as they can during the day,” Steve said. “If we don’t come up with something soon, they’re going to have even more of an advantage than they already do.”

“Okay, exactly what are the rules that we’re fighting under? Kevin, what are you allowed to do at this point?” Karl asked.

“Well, according to what Glendymere said this morning, I can do pretty much anything except actively attack them.”

“Exactly what does that mean?” Karl asked.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

“What I’m getting at is could you simply lift that flag out of there?” Karl asked.

Kevin grinned and said, “I don’t see why not. I hadn’t even thought of that!”

“So, are you willing to do it?” Chris asked.

“You bet, and right now.” Kevin looked towards the other camp and focused on the flag. Then he reached out and gently lifted the flagpole out of the ground. None of the dwarves and elves guarding the flag was actually looking at it, so no one noticed that the pole was suspended a few inches above the ground. “All right, I’ve got it. Now how do we want to handle this? Do you want me to just grab it? Or can we finesse this?” Kevin asked quietly.

“Let’s try for finesse, with just grabbing it as Plan B,” Darrell said. “How about if the rest of us sneak along the river and attack them from the rear? If we can get there, we could probably distract them long enough for Kevin to get the flag out of there without any of them realizing it.”

“Teri, stay here and keep your eyes open. If Kevin’s going to protect us, slip the flag out of their camp without attracting any attention, and try to hold our defensive line, he needs someone to watch his back and to keep an eye on our flag,” Chris said.

“Okay,” Theresa agreed.

“How are you going to let us know when you have the flag?” Karl asked Kevin.

“We’ll probably be able to tell,” Darrell said. “I imagine there’ll be a bit of yelling from the other side.”

“If not, I’ll drop something on Chris,” Kevin said as he began to look around for something to drop.

“What about this?” Joan asked as she took off her headband and handed it to Kevin.

“That’ll work,” Kevin said. 

The rest of the Tellurians slipped off through the woods and quietly crept along the river banks. To cover any noise that they might make, Kevin stirred up a nice thunderstorm several miles away with plenty of whistling wind and crashing thunder.

Once the Tellurians were in place, they opened fire on the other camp. When the elves and dwarves turned to face the attack, Kevin slowly floated the flagpole towards the woods that encircled the enemy camp. As soon as the flagpole was safely camouflaged by trees, Kevin floated it more quickly towards his own camp.

Theresa grabbed Kevin’s arm just as the flag was about to float out of the woods and into their campsite. “Look, over there.” Theresa pointed towards the woods on the other side of the camp. “I saw a shape move. Is that a dwarf?”

Kevin set the flag down on the ground and turned some of his attention to the shadow that Theresa had seen. Several dwarves were sneaking up on their camp. Kevin reached out mentally and gave the dwarves a shove backwards and kept shoving them every time they tried to stand up until they gave up and turned back. Then Kevin floated the enemy flag over to Theresa.

Glendymere and Duane had watched the action from a vantage point high up on top of a ridge.

“He finally figured out that he’s more than just a shield,”
Glendymere chuckled.

“I would never have bet that that little group could actually defeat a band of elf and dwarf warriors,” Duane said. “I doubt if there is another squad on Terah that could have done any better.”

“Of course, the elves and dwarves were hindered by the ‘no kill’ rules, and most sorcerers would have used magic to win at the beginning, but under the same set of rules, I agree. I’ve asked them to return in January to fight again, and I’ve also asked Jonquin to join in the fun. Want to join us for those games?”

“I might. I’ll let you know.”

They continued to watch as the dwarves and elves realized that their flag was gone and signaled surrender to the Tellurians. After the two “armies” congratulated each other on a well-fought battle, the combatants began to gather their arms and head for their respective quarters. 

As the playing field cleared, Duane said “I want to talk to you about something else.” Glendymere nodded, so Duane told him about Landis, how she came to be with Hayden, how Rolan had killed Tsareth, and why they feared for her life should Rolan find her. “The problem now is to find a tutor for her. Her power will be strong, and she’ll probably learn quickly, but any sorcerer who agrees to accept her as an apprentice will run afoul of Rolan.”

“What exactly are you asking me?”

“Do you think Kevin would make a good tutor for Landis? She’s twenty-four now, and she could begin studying as early as next summer, but she doesn’t have to. We could wait a while and let him get settled. Once Rolan finds out how strong Kevin’s magic is, he’ll leave him alone, and if she’s Kevin’s apprentice …”

“There are a couple of problems with that plan. For one thing, from what you’ve said, Rolan would not hesitate to resort to treachery.  No matter how strong Kevin’s power is, magic provides little defense against that, so they’ll both be in danger should he agree to accept her as an apprentice, but I doubt that that would deter him. The second thing, and the bigger obstacle, is that Kevin cannot teach what he does not know.”

“What do you mean? From everything I’ve seen, Kevin is a powerful sorcerer. What doesn’t he know?”

“You’re forgetting that Kevin is part elf. His power flows through him. He doesn’t have to gather magic from external sources, he doesn’t have to store it, and he doesn’t have to replenish it. That’s what he cannot teach.”

“I completely forgot about that,” Duane said quietly. “Maybe we could find someone who could quietly teach her how to do that and then Kevin could take her on as an apprentice later.”

“Why do you want Kevin to teach her?”

“Mainly because he’ll teach her, just like you’ve taught him. Human sorcerers hold their apprentices back, parceling out little bits of information while using their apprentices almost as slaves.” Duane sighed.  “I don’t think she has years and years to learn to protect herself, not with Rolan out there.”

“I see,”
Glendymere nodded.
“Well, how about this? Suppose we wait and see how Kevin manages as Master Sorcerer. Then, if he agrees to handle the rest, I’ll handle the first part of her training. Would that be suitable?”

“Are you serious?” Duane asked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. When Glendymere nodded, Duane said, “I don’t know what to say, Glendymere. That’s a very generous offer! Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered. Actually, my sympathies are with the girl. I’ve heard of Rolan’s cruelty through various grapevines, and I wouldn’t want her to fall into his hands. Tell Hayden that if things go well for Kevin, and if Kevin agrees to take her on as a student, he can bring her here next fall and I’ll work with her until she can gather and store her magical energies.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Glendymere.”

“Well, keep in mind that this is dependent upon Kevin surviving his first few months as Master Sorcerer.”

“I understand. But if he fails, we’ll have much bigger problems than finding a tutor for Landis.”

“Agreed,”
Glendymere said. Then he added,
“I wouldn’t mention any of this to Kevin at this point. He has enough to worry about for a while.”

“I wasn’t going to. It isn’t my place to talk to him anyway. When I mentioned the idea to my father, he asked me to see what you thought about it. Then, if Kevin survives the first couple of months, he’ll travel to Camden himself and talk with him about it.”

“You know, we’re going to have to find out who he’s going to be, Kevin or Myron. Everyone on Terah is expecting Myron, but everyone who knows him calls him Kevin. Could get confusing.”

“I think that’s why he’s using Kevin right now. The way he explained it to us was that if all of Terah was looking for Myron, he was going to be Kevin. Let them look somewhere else. But he did say that he would be Myron once he got to Camden. I imagine his friends from Earth will always call him Kevin though,” Duane said.

“Like I said, could get confusing. That may be good, may be bad. We’ll just have to see how it goes,”
Glendymere said as he stood up and stretched his wings.
“Well, looks like everyone has gone home now. Shall we head back?”