L. Modesitt - Mage-Guard of Hamor

He'd had time to think more about the revolt, and there were certain aspects of it that made little sense.

"You have that quizzical look, Rahl. Creating effective shields isn't much use if your face reveals what your shields conceal."

"I know I don't understand all the machinations, or the reasons behind them, ser, but I'm having trouble figuring out why there's so much maneuvering and scheming. The Triads are all powerful mages, and the Emperor… well, he's the Emperor. Who could stand up to them directly?"

Taryl laughed. "That's exactly why there's scheming. Think about it this way. No one rules except through others who carry out their will. In every land, some group has the power to support or topple a ruler. If the white wizards of Fairhaven do not support the High Wizard, there is another High Wizard. If the magisters just below the council in Nylan do not support the council, the council changes. In Hamor, matters are more… mixed."

"That's what I don't understand. The officers in charge of the battalions and regiments seem to support the Emperor. Most of the more successful traders and factors do. The mage-guards were established and govern to support the Emperor."

"That's not quite true, Rahl. Why do you think that there are three Triads, one for the Emperor, one for the High Command, and one for the mage-guards?"

Rahl frowned. "You're suggesting that the Triads were formed to weaken the power of the mages?"

"To channel and restrain that power, yes. A structure that provides equal power to advise the Emperor and to carry out his policies and the law of the land to three powerful mages goes far to assure that no one group or person has too much power. It also assures the people, the troopers and sailors of the High Command, and the mage-guards that they have an equal voice in how Hamor is governed. Equally important, it restricts what the ordermages and chaos-mages of Hamor can and cannot do. In return for certain powers and privileges, they are forced to forgo others. In a way, it's a continuation of the Cyadoran division of elthage, altage, and merage."

Rahl hadn't the faintest idea what Taryl meant.

"Cyador divided its society into mages, military, and merchanters. Hamor's structure is somewhat different, but the Cyadoran system endured thousands of years before the great collapse." Taryl paused. "The problem facing the Emperor is simple. He believes that the mage-guards have enough power and privilege, and that trade and prosperous growers are the keys to Hamor's future. He's right, because neither the High Command nor the mage-guards produce anything. We only protect. The High Command protects against other lands and their fleets. The mage-guards protect the people against themselves. Both protections are needed, but they should serve all people, not just those with coins or power. The problem of ruling in Hamor is that the Emperor needs the support of two of the three Triads. To remain as Mage-Guard Triad, Fieryn needs the support of most of the more powerful senior mage-guards. Dhoryk needs the support of his marshals. The Emperor needs the support of the people. No ruler has ever survived against the opposition of his people. Those who scheme attempt to undermine such support to their own ends, which are their own accession to power." Taryl offered a wry smile. "All lands have schemers, and in all lands, those who wish a fair and honest ruler need to oppose such schemers. That does not guarantee a good ruler, but the success of scheming almost always guarantees poor governing for most of the populace." He cleared his throat. "Enough of that for now. Have you discerned anything out of the ordinary here on board?"

"No, ser. I've been making regular checks. There's chaos heat in places vented from the boilers and the engines, and some of the troops are a little ill-that shows up as diffuse chaos."

"You can sense that?" Taryl seemed surprised, and that didn't happen often.

"Yes, ser." Rahl paused. "I guess I always could, but until I worked with Majer Xerya, I really didn't know what it was."

"She didn't mention that to me." Taryl sounded somewhere between amused and slightly miffed.

"I didn't tell her, ser. It was when I saw the patient with brain fever, and there was chaos all through his body, but not all that much in one place, not like the troops with wounds or broken bones. I got to thinking and watching. The majer seemed to know that, and there didn't seem to be much point in telling her what she knew and expected me to know."

Taryl laughed, ruefully. "Just because people expect you to know something doesn't mean that they know you know it. You need to find a way to let them know without being obnoxious or obsequious. But then, that's true of most times when you have to tell superiors something."

True as Taryl's words probably were, they irritated Rahl. Why couldn't he just say something without having to worry about how people reacted? Most of them didn't seem to care about how he felt.

"You've been assigned to the Third Mounted Heavy Infantry under Captain Drakeyt. That's normally a position for a longtime mage-guard or one with less time in the mage-guards who's just been made a senior mage-guard. Cyphryt wanted someone else for the position-"

"Vladyrt?"

Taryl shook his head. "Vladyrt isn't suited to that. He'd end up with half the company dead and his throat cut in weeks. I could have just assigned you. That's within my purview, but I wanted Fieryn and Jubyl to understand my reasons. That's why you had to meet so many people and undergo the arms evaluation and the order/chaos-skills evaluation. They had to know that you had the basic skills for the position."

Rahl considered Taryl's words, then looked at the overcommander. Taryl was waiting. "I'm new to all the plotting and scheming, and I don't think I'll ever be that good at it. You're saying that I had to get the position on my ability rather than because you wanted me in that position. I don't have a problem with that, ser, but…" Rahl paused. "That suggests that there are only so many things you can order just on your say-so… or… that everything you do needs to be supported." Rahl could sense that he didn't have it quite right. "Is all this because there are mage-guards and officers who are secretly supporting Golyat and who would use any favoritism against the Emperor?"

"Close enough," replied Taryl. "In something like this, the more all the officers feel that everything is being done as well as possible, the more likely that the troops will feel the same way. That makes them more effective troops. Making them feel that way consists of two parts. First, the officers have to do it the best way possible. Second, they have to make those they command feel that they've done it that way."

"How many other mage-guards are assigned to other companies?"

"There are supposed to be two mage-guards for every battalion. We'll be fortunate if we have one for every other battalion."

"What exactly are my duties?"

"The Third Mounted Heavy Infantry will conduct scouting expeditions ahead of the main body. Your task is to locate enemy forces as you can, find and check water supplies, provide an idea of the weather conditions, act as a field healer as much as practicable, and advise the captain who commands the company. You are also his back-up in case of injury, but not his subordinate, and you need to keep that distinction in mind."

"Ser… what is the difference between mounted heavy infantry and cavalry?"

"It's minimal these days, but the basic distinction is that in heavy infantry, the officers and men are trained to fight as individuals and units both on foot and from the saddle. We don't use footmen that much for attacks, in any event, because they're sitting swans for a chaos-mage. They're better suited to defense behind walls, and we're usually not the defenders.