Lawrence Watt-Evans - Relics of War

“You!” the lead soldier bellowed, pointing a sword at Lady Shasha. “Get away from him!”

Lady Shasha drew herself up to her full height-which was not very great; she barely came to Garander’s shoulder. “I do not take orders from you!” she snapped.

Tesk stepped in front of her. “I am speaking with this person,” he said.

“She’s trespassing!”

“No, she isn’t,” Grondar said, startling Garander. “I invited her.”

“The baron says she’s trespassing!”

“The baron does not own this land,” Grondar replied angrily. “I do!”

“The baron-”

“The baron did not clear this land with his own hands,” Grondar interrupted. “ I did. The baron did not plow and sow and reap these fields. The baron did not build this house or that barn. This is my land.”

“This land is under the protection of Lord Dakkar, Baron of Varag,” the soldier insisted.

“This is my land,” Grondar repeated. “ I say who comes and goes here.”

Garander stared at his father in astonishment. He had never before heard Grondar say anything about the baron but acceptance and praise. It had always been his mother who expressed doubts about leaving the hegemony of Ethshar and siding with the barons of Sardiron.

But until now the baron had always been far away in Varag, not camping in the west field. Lord Dakkar had never before asserted any claim to Grondar’s farm.

Something rustled, and Garander glanced over to see the flying carpet hovering a foot or so off the ground, apparently ready to take to the air. In the other direction, someone in the baron’s camp shouted for archers.

He turned to Tesk, but the shatra was simply watching and listening, standing between the soldiers and Lady Shasha, but otherwise doing nothing to calm the situation. Ishta was staring wide-eyed at the approaching soldiers, while both Shellas, mother and daughter, were backing away.

“Stop it!” Garander shouted, surprising even himself. “Stop it! You’re being stupid!”

“I am merely presenting Lord Edaran’s offer,” Lady Shasha protested.

“I didn’t mean you,” Garander said. “I meant them!” He pointed at the baron’s men. “Don’t you people realize there are magicians on that carpet? Powerful magicians? And that you’re facing a shatra ? I know you didn’t see the demonstration last month, but you must have heard stories about shatra !”

“We have our own magicians,” the lead soldier replied.

“Do you have your own shatra ? Do you think you can recruit him by starting a stupid fight?”

“Sheathe your weapons!” the man in red and gold called. “The boy is right.”

The soldiers hesitated, but obeyed, and cleared a path as Lord Dakkar marched up to where Tesk and Grondar’s family stood.

“I am Lord Dakkar, Baron of Varag,” he said. “I have come to discuss your future, shatra .”

“As have I,” Lady Shasha said.

“I do not think my future concerns either of you,” Tesk replied.

“Of course it does!” the baron said.

“Lord Edaran hopes you will consider his offer,” Lady Shasha added.

“What will happen if I do not?” Tesk asked, turning to look over his shoulder at the Ethsharite noblewoman.

Lady Shasha turned up an empty palm. “Who can say? But should you not hear his offer before rejecting it?”

“And my offer as well!” the baron snapped.

Lady Shasha nodded a polite acknowledgment, which the baron greeted with a glower.

“Then present your master’s offer,” Tesk said to Lady Shasha.

“Lord Edaran sends his greetings,” Lady Shasha recited, “and assures you that he understands you owe him no loyalty and are not a subject of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars. This offer is to you individually, from Lord Edaran personally, and is not from any government of Ethshar, past, present, or future. The other overlords of the Hegemony are not involved, nor are any other officials. In recognition of your unique situation, he does not ask or expect any oath of fealty or political concession.

“Lord Edaran offers you a home in Ethshar of the Sands, the exact details to be negotiated to suit your preferences. He offers his full pardon for any past offenses you may have committed against the people of Ethshar in the Great War, and in addition to your lodging a salary equal to that of his senior advisors, which would at present be the sum of thirty-six gold rounds annually. He does not rule out further compensation, to be negotiated upon your arrival within Ethshar’s walls. These terms are offered for an indefinite period, to be terminated at your pleasure, not his own.

“In exchange, he asks full access to your magical devices, of whatever nature, and your instruction in their use. He asks that you permit other magicians in his employ to study you and all magic associated with you, and that you do no harm to any citizen of Ethshar of the Sands except in self-defense. He also asks that your services be exclusive to himself, and that you will not allow anyone other than Lord Edaran and his designated representatives any use of your magic or abilities.

“And inasmuch as he has been told that you do not wish to fight, he assures you that he has no intention of asking you to do so. You will not be asked to serve as an assassin, or in any military role whatsoever, but he hopes you will consider serving as his personal bodyguard on occasions when he feels it suitable. That is not a requirement, though-it is your magic, and not your personal service, he most desires to obtain.”

Her message delivered, Lady Shasha took a deep breath, and smiled up at the shatra . “He hopes for a prompt and positive response,” she added.

Garander found that deep breath distracting, so he did not see Tesk’s immediate reaction; when he did look at the shatra ’s face he could read nothing in the expression there.

Then Tesk turned to Lord Dakkar and asked, “What are your terms?”

The baron bit his lip, then said, “I can’t match that salary. Perhaps if some of my fellow barons contribute, we could. I can give you a house in Varag, though, and servants to staff it, and the freedom to go wherever you please within the territory of the barons of the council at Sardiron-it sounded to me as if Lord Edaran would require you to stay in Ethshar of the Sands.”

Tesk turned back to Lady Shasha.

“I don’t know if he would require it,” she replied, “but I believe he would indeed expect it.”

Tesk nodded. He glanced at the baron, then at Velnira, then at Ishta, before turning back to Lady Shasha and replying, “If so, I cannot accept Lord Edaran’s offer.”

“Oh, but surely-” she began.

“ Cannot ,” Tesk said. “Not will not. You seem to forget I am not a free man. I am shatra , bound to the service of the Northern Empire.”

“But the Northern Empire is gone,” Garander said. “Isn’t it?”

“Of course it is!” Velnira exclaimed.

“It is,” Tesk agreed. “That does not alter the magic that binds me.”

“I don’t understand,” Garander said.

“I must obey the orders I was given by my commanders,” Tesk said. “The destruction of the Empire and the end of the war does not change that-this is magic , not human choice.”

“But what orders do you still have?” Garander demanded. “You said yourself you had no orders!”

“I did say that,” Tesk acknowledged. “That was not accurate. I have had no specific orders for twenty years, but the general orders that I was given still hold. I cannot sleep in any permanent structure. I cannot sleep in the same spot twice within thirty-six hours. I cannot sleep within forty feet of anyone other than members of the Empire’s military. Have you never wondered why I never built myself a house? Why I did not accept an invitation to stay the night in Grondar’s home? Garander and Ishta, you have asked me why I chose to live alone in the woods for so long-this is why. I cannot live indoors; it is not permitted.”