L. E.Modesitt - Imager’s Intrigue

Then I stood and walked over to the two blank-faced cabinets on the north wall, behind and to the right of the desk. It took several attempts before I figured out the image-linked lock catches. The first shock was the dearth of information on High Holders. While there was information on some I didn’t know personally, I didn’t see much on those, such as Suyrien, that I did know that I couldn’t have found out fairly easily. And while there was a presumptive list of High Holders, there was also a note that it was anything but inclusive or current. That bothered me, more than a little.

After spending more than three glasses reading through reports, my head was aching as much as my body. I was beginning to understand why Dichartyn had often looked so tired, and why he’d been less than patient with me years before. Given the lack of reports from whole sections of Solidar, I also understood why he’d spent time traveling as well.

Overall, the reports gave me a far better idea of what was happening in Solidar outside L’Excelsis, and it was clear that the Ferrans-and the unknown Jariolan agents-were concentrating on less than half a score of cities…but I still had the feeling that far, far more was happening than had been reported, and that I needed to puzzle through matters more deeply, if only to pose the questions my brain might find answers to once I was more rested.

Another question was where Cydarth fit into the various machinations. Why would anyone be interested in paying off the subcommander of a city’s Civic Patrol, even if the city happened to be L’Excelsis? There were no clues to that in anything I’d read.

There was also the relationship between Geuffryt and Juniae D’Shendael. Relatives or not, why would she have gotten involved in writing the note conveying information about the banque explosion?

When I finally left the administration building, it was still light, but the sun hung low over the river as I made my way north along the west walk.

When I reached the front gate, I stopped and looked to my right. Beyond our dwelling remained the ruins of Master Dichartyn’s and Maitre Dyana’s houses, but farther to the north I could see that, already, the walls of the Maitre’s dwelling appeared to be half-rebuilt. Then I studied the roof on the north side of our dwelling. I couldn’t see any difference in the slates that would indicate where the shell had struck.

After a moment, I started for the front door, where Seliora stood waiting.

On Vendrei morning, I realized I had another difficulty, one that was insignificant in some respects, and not immediate, but still a problem, since Seliora had decided to stay at the house and work with Klysia to rid the place of more of the grit and dust that continued to settle, seemingly out of thin air. So, immediately after breakfast, even before going to find out what awaited me in my own study in the administration building, I went to see Maitre Dyana.

Gherard wasn’t there, and she appeared as though she’d been there very early when I knocked and eased into her study. “What is it, Rhenn?”

“This is going to seem silly, but…”

“Yes?”

“For five years, I’ve been using a duty coach to go to Third District and-”

“You don’t want Seliora and your daughter to use hacks regularly, and you don’t want her to have to give up her work or to be in danger.”

“That’s right. I was hoping I could pay…”

“As a Maitre D’Esprit, you now receive ten golds a week.”

I almost choked. I hadn’t realized how much the difference in pay was. “It’s not the cost.”

“I understand. I have thought about this. A hack ride to NordEste Design runs, what, three to four coppers each way? That’s four silvers a week, or two golds a month. A duty coach is better. What if we simply deduct the two golds a month from your pay and transfer it to the transport section?”

“I would suggest three, so that there’s no question, and I would appreciate that very much.”

“Three a month it will be. I appreciate your concern for not wanting to take privileges you don’t feel are appropriate. We also do want to keep Seliora and your daughter as safe as practicable.” Dyana smiled. “If that’s all?”

“For now, thank you.”

I walked back downstairs and toward my own study, although it was still hard to think of it as mine, because it had been Dichartyn’s for so long…and I hadn’t even been able to attend his memorial service.

As soon as I’d settled behind the desk, I picked up the copy of Veritum and began to read the lead story on the progress of the war in Cloisera. The Ferran advance had been slowed by fiercer Jariolan resistance and by an early snowstorm, but the newer Ferran land-cruisers were performing far better than those used in the previous war between the two countries. That was apparently offset to some degree by the new Jariolan land-mines. No one had yet tried to break the Solidaran blockade. I wondered how Glendyl and some of the factors felt about that, with their concern for open trade, at least of their products.

The lead story in Tableta dealt with the “annexation” of the Tiempran diamond and gold mines by Stakanar. I wondered how I’d missed that, except I realized that it must have happened while I’d been unconscious. What else had I missed? Not too much, I hoped.

The first lines of the next story caught my attention more than the war news had, and I read the story twice, then again, going through the key parts.

The Civic Patrol in Ruile, along with the Freeholder Constabulary in the Sud region, raided the lands of High Holder Ruelyr late on Samedi. The combined forces discovered close to a thousand hectares of land in the swamp regions of the High Holder’s lands devoted exclusively to the cultivation of elveweed. “This is the stronger variety. It’s the one that’s been killing so many young Solidarans over the past months…”

High Holder Ruelyr has not been located, but sources suggest he may be in a remote locale on his lands…

Councilor Regial D’Alte expressed great concern. “No matter what the purported cause, invading the lands of a High Holder without a judicial order is the first step toward mob rule and the breakdown of the longest and most successful form of civil government in the history of Terahnar…”

I’d been right about where the stronger elveweed had been grown, but the story didn’t tell me a great deal about who had been the one actually profiting from the growing and selling. The story implied that Ruelyr was the guilty party, but why would a High Holder get involved in that? Did he owe that much? And to whom?

Newsheet in hand, I walked to Schorzat’s study, hoping he was in.

He was, and he immediately announced, “You have a meeting with Sea-Marshal Geuffryt at the second glass of the afternoon. At the Naval Bureau, not the Naval Command.”

“Thank you.”

He grinned at me. “I didn’t see you running this morning.”

“It’s likely to be several weeks before Draffyd will let me pummel my body to that degree.” I held up the newsheet. “The elveweed story?”

“After our talk yesterday, I thought you might be asking.”

“It doesn’t help that we don’t have a regional in Ruile.” I paused. “Who would know any more about what’s happening there?”

“We’ll get some reports, but not for several days.”

“What do the Ferrans know about our regionals? Would they know that there isn’t one in Ruile?”

He shook his head. “That’s hard to say. There’s nothing anywhere except in your study and mine-and Maitre Dyana’s-in a written form that even alludes to a regional network of imagers. People certainly speculate, and it’s known there are imagers across Solidar, but…”