L. Modesitt - Arms-Commander

“I will show you worth!” Chaspal’s sword was just out of the scabbard, and he had taken but a single step, when Saryn’s blade slammed into his chest with such force that chaos-flames erupted, momentarily, before he toppled backward.

Naked blades appeared in the hands of the ten guards flanking Saryn.

In moments, all that remained of Chaspal was a pile of ashes, fragments of leather and metal, and two blades, all resting on a charred patch on the heavy ugly carpet.

None of the remaining lord-holders made a sound, and Saryn again let the silence fill the room before she spoke.

“You can call me a tyrant…but that is the way it will be. Any lord-holder who brings arms against another, I will deal with-just as I dealt with Lord Chaspal. In addition, each lord-holder will be limited to two squads worth of personal guards. That should be enough to keep peace on your lands…and few enough that neighboring holders will not be tempted into territorial incursions. It will also allow you to keep more of your golds since you will not have to spend them on arms and armsmen…although I will increase your annual tariffs slightly to support the guards and armsmen necessary to deal with Suthya and the Jeranyi…”

“What of our sons?” inquired Whethryn.

“What of them?” asked Saryn in return. “They can help their sisters run their holdings. They can consort with the daughters of other lords. They can do all manner of things-but they cannot inherit or rule a holding.”

“That will bring chaos…” muttered someone.

Barcauyn, Saryn thought, but decided against singling him out directly. “Chaos, you say?” Her laugh was mocking and cold, and she added order and chaos flows to the sound that chilled every ear. “Chaos, you say? For a score of years, if not longer, Lornth has been nothing but chaos, with holder against holder, falling prey to the schemes of the Suthyans and the lusts and bloodlust of all too many lord-holders. There will be none of that, not now, nor in the future. I will protect our borders with the same skills that have brought you all to bay, and I will not suffer any outside meddling in the land, not from Jerans, nor from Suthya or Westwind.

“Think about this. I have not raised arms against anyone who did not first raise arms against the regency that was or against me. How many of those lord-holders who perished at my hand could have said that? Not a single one. Also, think about this. I am not taking the lands of any lord-holder except those of Lord Henstrenn and possibly Lord Kelthyn, who brought near ruin on the land. I am allowing the heirs of even the rebel lord-holders to keep their lands, and I am allowing you to remain lord-holders for the rest of your lives, and those of your blood will continue to hold those lands. If you rebel, then you will suffer Lord Chaspal’s fate, and your daughters will become lady-holders that much sooner.” After a moment, Saryn added. “I will tariff you, as did the regency, and you will pay those tariffs. In return, I will protect you, and I will keep order so that no lord-holder need fear another.”

“How will we know you will keep that word?” asked Maeldyn mildly.

“Some of you have seen that I have thus far kept my words about all that I have done. That will not change. Also, think about this. How many of those who rebelled and wished to be overlord could say the same? Lord Orsynn paid the Jeranyi to raid Lord Jharyk’s lands because Jharyk was loyal to the regency. Lord Mortryd begged for help from the regency, then joined with Lord Rhehrn to ambush the regency forces. Lord Henstrenn persuaded three other lords to join him in attacking Lord Gethen, then left two of them behind to face me while accepting golds from Suthya to attack the regency. Lord Jaffrayt incited the southern lords to rebel. Lord-holders…if you are at all honest, you should see that the record of honesty and loyalty among you leaves something to be desired, especially when the greatest butchery was accomplished by rebel Lornian lord-holders against the most loyal lord-holders-Lord Gethen and Lord Deolyn.”

With her words, Saryn did her best to project guilt and shame…if only briefly.

“That is past,” she went on. “Either the Suthyans or the Jeranyi or both would kill you and take your lands. I will not. Were I so inclined, I certainly could have done so. Could any of you have stopped me? Yet you question me far more than you ever questioned yourselves. My question to you is simple. And before you answer, I will tell you that I can tell if any man or woman lies to me. My question to you is simple: Will you be loyal and not force me to take up arms against you?”

“A moment, Commander.” Spalkyn stepped forward and cleared his throat. His hand went briefly to his beard. “I’m not one who speaks much. Some of you know that I near-on lost everything years back. Some of you also know that a company or so of Suthyans attacked my lands this summer. The only help I got was from the commander. She and little more than a squad of her women guards wiped out every last Suthyan and one white mage. I’d not be here without that. She was the one to take on Henstrenn and three Suthyan companies and three more mages. Not one of the mages and few of the Suthyans survived. Now…it seems to me that we’ve been complaining for years about not having an overlord strong enough to protect us…and when we get one, we’re going to complain that she happens to be a woman?”

Saryn kept from smiling, knowing that Spalkyn’s earlier comments, as well as his remarks, had been Maeldyn’s idea.

“Now maybe I’m seeing things different-like,” Spalkyn went on, “because I have two daughters who already do well at helping run my holding and a son who won’t ever do well at it. It seems to me that the commander is still letting our blood hold our lands. It also seems to me that the Suthyans-or the Jeranyi-don’t much care about that. With the commander as overlord or overlady, we might even get Westwind to worry about Suthya, and we sure as the demons won’t have to worry about Gallos.” He fingered his beard. “I don’t know as I can say more.”

Surprisingly, Barcauyn stepped forward. “Matters don’t always go the way we like. We all know that. I thought I had sons with some sense. They tried…I’m embarrassed to say…to attack the commander with dirks in a hallway. They’re most fortunate that she was kind to them because she could have killed them with her bare hands. They will have scars to remind them. We haven’t had much fortune with the last few overlords. It might have been their fault. It might not have been. It might have been the times. But there’s a saying about needing fire to fight fire.” He nodded to Saryn and stepped back.

Maeldyn moved forward. “The commander asked a fair question. She didn’t ask us to like her. She didn’t ask us to hand over our lands. She asked us to be good lords and loyal. Is there anyone here who doesn’t think that’s a fair question in these times?”

“It’s a fair question,” answered Jharyk. “I can say I will be. But…I want the heirs of all the rebel lord-holders to make the same pledge to the commander overlord in person and look into her eyes when they do.”

“That’s fair,” said Barcauyn. “More than fair.”

Saryn waited until the chamber quieted. “In return, you have my pledge to support each of you as I already promised, and to support your heirs as well in the years ahead.”

After another round of murmurs, a voice came from the group.

“There is one other matter…”

It took Saryn a moment to determine the speaker-Whethryn. “Yes, Lord Whethryn.”

“Ahem…one reason we’ve had trouble, and you’re here, is that there was some question about…heirs…”