sun,
to make sure the dual
scepter will always last.”
“Is
there more?” asked Edyss, honest curiosity in his voice.
“There
is, but we do not know those words. They were writ in the stone, once, there.”
The councilor pointed his light-torch back to the wall above the passageway
through which they had entered the hall. “But long before we found this hall
the words of the two stanzas below the ones I recited were chiseled away. It is
said that the Legacy was a long work, with sections chiseled and spread all
over Corus, so that none would know all the words until Corus was once more
united.”
Aellyan
Edyss smiled. “Then we must begin.” He walked toward the man-shaped alcove. “Is
this the one for the leader?”
“It
is.”
Aellyan
Edyss stepped into the alcove, and the crystal block embracing the pteridon and
the skylance began to glow.
The
councilor swallowed and watched as the crystal shimmered, then dissolved into a
thick blue mist.
10
I n
the chill of a Sexdi morning, in the darkness two glasses before dawn,
the two squads rode quietly eastward from Emal, hoofs sometimes clicking on the
frozen clay, at other times crunching and packing the new snow that would have
been hoof deep, had it fallen more gently. Instead, the wind had swirled the
dry white powder into knee-high drifts in places, and left the road clear in
others. The gale that had buffeted Emal earlier in the week had died down to a
light but bitter wind out of the northwest, with but a hint of the
iron-acridness of the Aerlal Plateau.
While
he was wearing the fleece and nightsilk undervest, Alucius still wished he had
on his nightsilk skull mask. Instead, he wore the heavy black wool scarf and
carried two rifles, a perquisite of being the captain, since he knew that he’d
have little time to reload in the darkness—if they found the raiders.
The
patrol on Tridi had found nothing, not even any signs of tracks, nor had those
on Quattri and Quinti, but Alucius had decided that Twenty-first Company would
keep searching until they found those who had been traveling the back roads.
The patrols would also keep the company alert—and those troopers who weren’t
patrolling on a given day thankful for the comparative warmth and rest.
The
two squads with Alucius were second and third squads, and Anslym and Faisyn
rode beside Alucius, Faisyn on the left, Anslym on the right. The column was
already almost ten vingts east of Emal, within two or three vingts of the
hamlet of Tuuler. On the south side of the road, down a gradual slope, was the
River Vedra, its frozen surface also covered intermittently with swirled
snowdrifts.
Through
a darkness illuminated slightly more than normal by the half-disc of Selena,
Alucius continued to scan the road ahead, the frozen river, and the
snow-covered bottomland fields to his left—both with his eyes and his
Talent-senses.
“You
think we’ll find raiders this time, sir?” asked Anslym in a low voice.
“Sooner
or later,” Alucius replied. “Even if we don’t, the men will learn what a winter
campaign is all about.” He paused, then added, “Why do they need that? Most
everyone’s time will be up by next winter, but that won’t hold if the Iron
Valleys get attacked. The Council will extend terms and conscript more
recruits, and probably a third of your senior troopers will get pushed into
being squad leaders in other companies.”
“The
way things are going,” Faisyn said quietly, “that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Because
the Council has reduced the number of companies in the militia?” asked Anslym.
“They’ve
always done that,” Alucius said. “Troopers cost coins. If the Council had
funded a militia large enough to warn off the Lanachronans, much higher tariffs
would have fallen on the large traders in Dekhron. Since the Council is largely
formed of such traders, the Council would not have passed an increase in
tariffs that took many coins from the larger merchants. If the
to make sure the dual
scepter will always last.”
“Is
there more?” asked Edyss, honest curiosity in his voice.
“There
is, but we do not know those words. They were writ in the stone, once, there.”
The councilor pointed his light-torch back to the wall above the passageway
through which they had entered the hall. “But long before we found this hall
the words of the two stanzas below the ones I recited were chiseled away. It is
said that the Legacy was a long work, with sections chiseled and spread all
over Corus, so that none would know all the words until Corus was once more
united.”
Aellyan
Edyss smiled. “Then we must begin.” He walked toward the man-shaped alcove. “Is
this the one for the leader?”
“It
is.”
Aellyan
Edyss stepped into the alcove, and the crystal block embracing the pteridon and
the skylance began to glow.
The
councilor swallowed and watched as the crystal shimmered, then dissolved into a
thick blue mist.
10
I n
the chill of a Sexdi morning, in the darkness two glasses before dawn,
the two squads rode quietly eastward from Emal, hoofs sometimes clicking on the
frozen clay, at other times crunching and packing the new snow that would have
been hoof deep, had it fallen more gently. Instead, the wind had swirled the
dry white powder into knee-high drifts in places, and left the road clear in
others. The gale that had buffeted Emal earlier in the week had died down to a
light but bitter wind out of the northwest, with but a hint of the
iron-acridness of the Aerlal Plateau.
While
he was wearing the fleece and nightsilk undervest, Alucius still wished he had
on his nightsilk skull mask. Instead, he wore the heavy black wool scarf and
carried two rifles, a perquisite of being the captain, since he knew that he’d
have little time to reload in the darkness—if they found the raiders.
The
patrol on Tridi had found nothing, not even any signs of tracks, nor had those
on Quattri and Quinti, but Alucius had decided that Twenty-first Company would
keep searching until they found those who had been traveling the back roads.
The patrols would also keep the company alert—and those troopers who weren’t
patrolling on a given day thankful for the comparative warmth and rest.
The
two squads with Alucius were second and third squads, and Anslym and Faisyn
rode beside Alucius, Faisyn on the left, Anslym on the right. The column was
already almost ten vingts east of Emal, within two or three vingts of the
hamlet of Tuuler. On the south side of the road, down a gradual slope, was the
River Vedra, its frozen surface also covered intermittently with swirled
snowdrifts.
Through
a darkness illuminated slightly more than normal by the half-disc of Selena,
Alucius continued to scan the road ahead, the frozen river, and the
snow-covered bottomland fields to his left—both with his eyes and his
Talent-senses.
“You
think we’ll find raiders this time, sir?” asked Anslym in a low voice.
“Sooner
or later,” Alucius replied. “Even if we don’t, the men will learn what a winter
campaign is all about.” He paused, then added, “Why do they need that? Most
everyone’s time will be up by next winter, but that won’t hold if the Iron
Valleys get attacked. The Council will extend terms and conscript more
recruits, and probably a third of your senior troopers will get pushed into
being squad leaders in other companies.”
“The
way things are going,” Faisyn said quietly, “that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Because
the Council has reduced the number of companies in the militia?” asked Anslym.
“They’ve
always done that,” Alucius said. “Troopers cost coins. If the Council had
funded a militia large enough to warn off the Lanachronans, much higher tariffs
would have fallen on the large traders in Dekhron. Since the Council is largely
formed of such traders, the Council would not have passed an increase in
tariffs that took many coins from the larger merchants. If the
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