L. Modesitt - Imager’s Battalion

“Exactly. He hasn’t. He’s setting up Deucalon for later…”

Skarpa’s mouth opened momentarily, then shut.

“This sort of maneuvering was one reason why I persuaded Bhayar to send me to Tilbor last year.” Quaeryt shrugged. “But wherever there are people seeking power and influence, it goes on.”

“You’re not going to raise this with Bhayar?” asked Skarpa.

“Not now, and never as such. If he hasn’t seen what Deucalon-Myskyl, really-is doing, and I bring it up, I seem petty. If he does see, and I suspect he does-he’s very good at seeing that sort of thing-then I don’t have to, and I don’t place him in a difficult position. Rulers don’t like being placed in difficult positions. So don’t you bring it up, either.”

“But…” Meinyt broke off what he might have said.

“It doesn’t matter right now. Bhayar needs us. He knows he needs us, and Deucalon knows he needs us. Bhayar will need us for a long time.” Longer than either Deucalon and Myskyl have any idea.

Skarpa shook his head. “Are they that stupid?”

“No. They just don’t know. Bhayar is willing to put up with this sort of petty scheming in Solis when the land is at peace because there’s no cost to it. Or not too much cost. Both he and his father never let scheming cost them golds or men. I doubt if Bhayar will now.” You hope he won’t, and that he sees what you think he does. “Also, I doubt that either Deucalon or Myskyl has seen what the imagers have learned to do. It’s one thing to get reports; it’s another to see. Frankly, right now, I’d just as soon they didn’t see.”

“But they saw the catapults…” said Meinyt.

“What did they really see? Just that the catapults ended up in flames. Sheer good fortune, that’s all. The imagers took credit for it.” At that moment, Quaeryt recalled what he had been trying to remember about catapults, except it was why the Bovarians were using catapults and muskets, but not cannon. “There’s another matter. We’ve seen musketeers and catapults, but no cannon. I can see why Kharst wouldn’t want to try to get cannon to smaller towns, but Villerive isn’t tiny.”

“Would you want to drag those monsters along these roads?” asked Skarpa. “How long would it take to get cannon from Variana?”

“Likely they couldn’t have gotten them this far, anyway,” added Meinyt.

Quaeryt nodded. He’d been thinking of the roads in Telaryn. “Now … what else should I know?”

“Our reinforcements are still two days away, and Deucalon carefully avoided mentioning any ‘special’ officers or reinforcements for Fifth Battalion. In fact, he didn’t mention Fifth Battalion at all. It will be at least a day and probably two after their arrival before we move out. If we have heavy rains…” Skarpa shrugged.

“What kind of regiments … mounted, foot, mixed?”

“Foot and mounted. We’ll be assigned one of the mounted regiments. He did make that clear. Wouldn’t make any sense to give us a foot regiment.”

“Did he say how many regiments would be arriving?” asked Quaeryt.

“He said he hadn’t had word as to how many had been sent.”

“He’s marshal, and he doesn’t know?”

“He didn’t say, and if you’ll pardon me, I didn’t feel like questioning him in front of everyone. I asked Pulaskyr afterward, but he hadn’t heard, either.”

That lack of information gave Quaeryt a most uneasy feeling, but he understood why Skarpa hadn’t pressed.

“Myskyl isn’t happy that we don’t have more archers,” volunteered Meinyt. “There are only six companies in the entire force.”

More than a regiment of archers, and he’s unhappy? But then, Quaeryt recalled that Myskyl had never appeared to be cheerful about much of anything.

“And he’s asked quietly why we don’t have musketeers,” Meinyt continued, looking to Quaeryt.

“I know Bhayar was looking into forging muskets some time ago, but I don’t know what he decided or why.”

“Would have helped if he’d done more.”

There were always hindsights like that, Quaeryt knew, but forbore pointing it out.

Skarpa had little else new to offer, and that confirmed to Quaeryt that the real purpose of the meeting had been to inform him about the scheming of the marshal and submarshal.

After Skarpa and Meinyt departed, Quaeryt sought out Zhelan and informed him of what the commander had reported about reinforcements and the possible departure westward. Once he finished with Zhelan, Quaeryt then sent word for the imagers to meet in the study. They all arrived together a quint later.

Quaeryt did not sit, but stood before the desk and addressed them. “Commander Skarpa has informed me that Fifth Battalion will be receiving reinforcements, most likely in two days. We are to receive some new imager undercaptains. How many and what their abilities are, I do not know. Once I have assessed those abilities, if they are not up to yours, and I doubt that they are, in one way or another all of you will assist me in training them, because we will have very little time before we will be heading toward Nordeau and then to Variana. If Rex Kharst has any imagers, we are likely to encounter them before long. Likewise, we are likely no longer to be ignored and will probably encounter greater efforts aimed at us. I can’t say what those will be, because, so far as I am aware, never before has any army used more than one or two imagers.” What he was not about to point out was that almost none of those imagers employed in past battles had survived the conflicts in which they had been engaged.

“Sir,” asked Desyrk, “do you know how many others will be coming?”

“I don’t. From what I can gather, Lord Bhayar gave instructions that imagers of the proper age in good health were to be conscripted and dispatched here.” Again, Quaeryt was guessing, but since that was what had been done with the undercaptains before him, it was more than likely that the same process had been used. “Are there any other questions?”

After several moments of silence, Quaeryt went on. “While we are waiting, you are to practice your skills, especially strengthening your personal shields. I expect you to work with each other, using staffs or poles to test your shields. At the same time, I’d prefer that you do not maim each other. At third glass, you’re all to meet on the terrace outside the study here, with staffs, and I’ll be going over shielding with you.” He paused. “That’s all.”

As they filed out of the study, Quaeryt could only hope that their working with less skilled imagers would also lead them to improve their own imaging skills. In the meantime, he needed to think about what other imaging skills might be useful-and unexpected by the Bovarians.

Even into Jeudi, drizzle oozed from the low gray clouds, but in not enough volume to prevent the imagers from working on various skills and for Quaeryt to test them. Threkhyl had become more and more proficient in creating almost-instant heavy shields and moving them around. So long as he alternated shields, he could maintain that form of shielding for a good quint. Yet, for some reason, he seemed unable to find a way to create and hold a continuous shield for more than a tenth of a quint, and doing that left him totally exhausted.

On the other hand, Voltyr and Shaelyt could hold and maintain light to moderate shields for more than a quint, and heavier shields for up to a third of a quint. Quaeryt took them aside and tried to explain the idea of “triggering” heavier shields. Both understood the idea, but neither seemed able to do so … no matter how Quaeryt tried to explain or demonstrate. In the end, he told them both to just build up their shields and keep the idea in mind.