L. Modesitt - The White Order

Sterol bobbed his head up and down, and the gray hair glinted in the dull light that came through the window from the cloudy day outside. “You have taken pains to reach me undetected. What if I just removed you?”

“Not totally undetected.” Cerryl swallowed, thinking that the High Wizard would have no compunctions about removing witnesses. “I doubt it would be in your interest to remove me and those few who know. It is clear that I have followed your directions. Others have not. You told me to report to you, and I have.”

Sterol laughed, a braying laugh that ended abruptly.

“He tells the truth,” Myral added.

“I know. That is the most disturbing of all.” Sterol nodded once more. “I think we should call the great Jeslek-after we summon Kinowin and Derka.” Sterol nodded. “It would be best if you both waited here with me.”

Cerryl walked to the window while Sterol rang the bell he carried to the door. A misting rain was beginning to drift across Fairhaven, bringing with it the twinge of an incipient headache for Cerryl.

One of the youngsters from the creche, attired solely in red, appeared and stepped into the High Wizard’s quarters. “Honored ser?”

“Have the overmage Kinowin and the mage Derka attend me here. Immediately. Then return.”

“Yes, High Wizard.” The brown-haired youth bowed, then scurried down the steps.

“Young Cerryl. . I am curious about a few details.”

“Yes, High Wizard.”

“ ‘Ser’ will do. I doubt that you were particularly well coined for this venture, nor heavily provisioned.”

“No, ser. I had two silvers and some coppers. I stole the cloak from a drunkard in the street at night. Then a pair of brigands attacked me in Fenard. I had to use chaos-fire, but no one saw, and I took their purses, and a blade and some clothes.” Cerryl licked his lips, feeling as though he were treading on the edge of a cliff.

“Wait. .” Sterol moved to the door and motioned Kinowin into the room. “Continue.”

Kinowin offered a faint smile, an ironic expression, as he saw Cerryl and Myral.

“What I took really wasn’t enough. I haven’t eaten much in the last few days, and the stable boy said the chestnut was thin. He’s all right, but. .”

“You didn’t ‘forage’ in Certis or Fairhaven?”

“No, ser. Not in Gallos, either, not after I left Fenard.”

Sterol held up his hand and opened the door again.

Derka stepped into the room, his deep-set eyes taking in the others. A knowing nod followed.

“So. . let me get this straight. Jeslek set you the task of killing the prefect of Gallos. He told you that you had to do this to become a full mage. You distrusted him, but he raised chaos and effectively threatened you with no one around-”

“He didn’t threaten me, ser. He sent everyone else away, and he raised chaos, and I felt threatened-”

“Wise of you,” murmured Kinowin.

Sterol glanced sharply at the tall overmage, then back at Cerryl. “And you rode to Fenard alone-”

“No, ser. He gave me an escort, a half-score of the lancers Klybel didn’t want.”

“Did you know that?” Sterol pursued.

“No, ser. I felt it. He made the escort leader an undercaptain just before we left, and we were sent off before Anya and Fydel returned.”

“Who was this undercaptain?” asked Kinowin.

“His name was Ludren, ser.”

“That’s enough for me, right there.” Kinowin offered a tight smile. “Ludren is a good man, but he can’t lead.”

“Ser. . after they left me. . or I left them, the Gallosians got them. I found that out later.”

“How did that happen?” asked Kinowin.

“We were almost surrounded. I told Ludren to take the men and ride away, that they couldn’t help me, and I wanted to give our lancers a chance. They-the Gallosians-were bringing up archers. .” Cerryl shrugged. “I rode until it got dark and I could hide. I hoped they’d get away.”

“Then what did you do?” asked Myral quickly, for which Cerryl was grateful.

“When it got dark and there was a diversion, I sneaked into Fenard.”

“A diversion?”

Cerryl offered a guilty smile. “I used chaos to make a big fire out of some rubbish not far from the gates. They all went to look, and I rode into the city. Maybe someone saw me, but not too close.”

“I’ve heard enough.” Kinowin turned to Sterol. “What do you want?”

“I think that we should hear what Jeslek has to say.”

Cerryl’s heart sank, but he kept his face impassive.

Sterol rang the bell again, and the same messenger arrived. “Summon the overmage Jeslek. He is to appear here immediately.”

“Yes, High Wizard.”

“He will appear and charge us all with attempting to entrap him,” said Derka after the boy had left.

“Of course.” That was all Sterol said.

The silence stretched out in the tower room.

“Derka. . why don’t you attempt to scree who might be prefect of Gallos now?”

The stooped and silver-haired mage stepped over to the table with the glass, then concentrated.

Cerryl watched as the mists formed, then swirled away to reveal the image of an older man, standing by the desk Cerryl recalled.

“You know the man?” asked Sterol.

“I think he might be Syrma. . I didn’t see him well. . but he was the one who arranged for Sverlik to be murdered. The room is the prefect’s private study. That’s where. .”

“Where you destroyed Lyam?”

“Yes, ser.”

“That is the current prefect,” Derka said quietly.

“It’s not Lyam,” said Sterol. “So you, young Cerryl, are convinced you killed Lyam, and Lyam is dead.” He nodded. “Not all bad, by any means.”

“It may give Gallos some pause,” suggested Kinowin.

“It will take more than that, unhappily,” answered Sterol. “In that, our friend Jeslek is correct. But it is a beginning, and one that has not cost too dearly. Not so far.”

After another period of silence, the door burst open.

“Sterol. . I am not. .” Jeslek bowed. “Fellow mages. . I am surprised. .” His eyes glittered as he beheld Cerryl, but showed none of the surprise he had mentioned. “So. . the deserter has returned. I say that he should have no mercy.”

Sterol smiled, a chill expression that did not include his eyes. “Young Cerryl has been telling us an interesting tale, Jeslek, one that other events have confirmed. He says that you set him the mage’s task, and that he removed the prefect of Gallos as that task and returned.”

Jeslek bowed. “I must beg to differ. I would not have sent Cerryl out on such a test. His mathematicks are deficient, and he has not been a student nearly so long as necessary. And I would not have done so without informing you.”

“The prefect of Gallos is dead,” said Derka.

“And I knew of this so-called test long before Cerryl returned,” Myral added mildly.

“You said nothing.” Jeslek glanced from Sterol to Myral.

The older balding mage smiled crookedly. “What could I say? I could do nothing. If Cerryl failed to return, he would not have suited the Guild. In that, you were correct, Jeslek. But now that he has, I see no sense in wasting his talent, especially since he has resolved the problem of Lyam.”

“Why would I have set such a preposterous test?” Jeslek glanced at Sterol, then at Cerryl, ignoring both Derka and Kinowin. “This puppy has no real ability. .”

As Jeslek gathered chaos, Cerryl focused not on repelling or blocking the force, but on channeling it around him.

Whhhstt!

Cerryl shivered but held as fire sheeted around him and vanished.

Chaos filled the room, Kinowin raising almost the power of Jeslek, his gray eyes as hard as the granite stones of the tower.