While the squires were busy, Sara had a quiet word with Cobalt. The blue's eyes gleamed greenish in the deepening darkness, and as soon as she finished her message, he slipped out into the open and took wing. Where she had sent him, she would not say to anyone.
They divided the watch, built up the fires, and settled back to wait for day. In the woods behind them, embers continued to smolder in the burned buildings, and every once in a while, the talon heard shouts of laughter and revelry coming from the inn.
For the six uninjured squires, the cold night passed very slowly. There was little sleep and much thought among the men and women. Only a few of them had been in actual combat before or faced the prospect of death so personally. They ran the events of the day through their minds time and again and found strength in the fact that none of them had flinched.
It was not so easy to contemplate the slaughter of the villagers. While many of the recruits had seen horrors during the Summer of Chaos, then it had some larger meaning. Few may have understood all that was happening to Krynn that summer, but most knew it involved the gods. This massacre was senseless. It had no reason, no motive, no unseen driving force. It was rooted in the boredom and cruelty and bloodlust of a group of untried knights. More than one of the squires found it difficult to reconcile what had happened that day to the Code of the Knighthood they had worked hard to learn. A few civilian casualties were expected in a take-over, but nothing like this needless carnage.
What would the governor-general think about this?
They found out what Governor-General Abrena thought the next day when she arrived mid-morning astride her blue dragon, Cerium.
The first indication Sara had was Cobalt's return. He landed in the nearby meadow and smugly informed Sara that her message had been delivered and the general was spitting daggers. Apparently Subcommander Torceth had been slow to send a messenger back to Neraka, and Cobalt had arrived before him.
"Where is she?" Sara demanded, the gray fire creeping back into her eyes.
"She and Cerium landed in the field west of here, where the other dragons and part of the wing have made camp. She's reaming out several talon officers at the moment."
The squires had gathered around to listen, and Derrick spoke up. "Do we go to her?"
"No." Sara replied evenly "We were ordered to remain at out post. She can come to us."
Despite her firm words and the sense of righteousness that bolstered her, Sara was nervous about seeing the general. She had disobeyed a superior officer on the subject of the prisoners, and she had blown protocol to pieces by sending her own message to Abrena over the heads of Subcommander Torceth and his talon leaders. If General Abrena was a stickler for discipline, Sara knew she could be in trouble.
Cobalt pricked his pointed ears. Hurriedly he raised his head to peer through the trees. "Here she comes," he hissed.
Sara ordered the talon back to their makeshift camp. Quickly she had them straighten their gear and stand in a line to await the governor-general. The mercenaries, sensing something important, climbed to their feet as well and stood in a ragged group under the watchful eyes of the dragons.
They could hear the general before they could see her. Her commanding voice rang through the woods, telling someone in no uncertain terms that he was an incompetent fool. Then Mirielle Abrena came stalking down the trail, Subcommander Torceth, Knight Officer Targonne, and the other talon leaders following her like a pack of chastised wolves. The general carried her helm under her arm and wore a long, fur-lined cloak. She was sapping her gloves against her thigh as she walked.
"Knight Officer Conby," came the sharp command. "Come here."
Sara detached herself from the talon and stood before the general. She leveled her gaze on Mirielle's golden eyes and refused to flinch before their fiery anger.
"I have heard Torceth's version of the attack on the village. Now I want to hear yours," demanded Mirielle.
So Sara told her everything she had witnessed and all that had happened to the talon. While she gave her report, the general's eyes studied details of the trail, the clearing, the prisoners, and the condition of the talon. She took in Kelena, still lying half-asleep on her blanket, and the shrouded figure of young Jacson. Mirielle had already heard Cobalt's message and the dragon's version of the massacre, but she wanted to weigh all sides before she acted.
Behind the general, Torceth fidgeted and shifted his weight from foot to foot. His heavy face grew darker by the minute, as if he wished to dispute Sara's words but was too nervous of the general to interrupt. Mirielle ignored him.
When Sara finished, she saluted the general and stepped back. It was in Mirielle's hands now.
The general did not keep anyone waiting. "Fine," She said abruptly. "Subcommander Torceth, it is my judgment that while you fulfilled the spirit of my orders, you allowed your men and their dragons to go out of control. The fact that they are new to the knighthood does not excuse them. I did not intend for you to destroy the entire village. We could have used the buildings and the people. This also sets a precedent for future attacks. Once news of this massacre leaks out, other locations may fight twice as hard and exact longer delays and higher casualties. Therefore, you will return with me to Neraka for adjudication of a minor violation."
"A minor violation!" Sara shouted, outraged. "He allows his men to slaughter an entire village and you give him a slap on the wrist? What about the knights? Aren't you going to punish them, too? What sort of justice is that?"
Mirielle's eyebrows curled down and her mouth hardened. "mine," she said coldly. "And I will hear no more about it. l am short of knights and supplies. I need this village as a gateway to Kortal and eventually Sanction."
But Sara refused to give up quite yet. "And what about the people who lived here? They didn't have to die."
"No, they did not. But it is too late for them. We must move on. Take your prisoners and your wounded back in Neraka, Knight Officer Conby. Your talon has performed well." She turned to go, her mind already calculating her next move. "Knight Officer Targonne, you will take command of the wing until Subcommander Torceth returns. Tell your father that the gateway between Neraka and Sanction is ours. We will set up a trade route ass soon as the passes are open."
Sara stared at the general's implacable face, and although her body still shook with anger and her mind was in a turmoil, she realized with a cold certainty she could do no more. Governor-General Abrena had given her orders, and unless she wished to jeopardize her position, Sara knew any further arguments were futile. Bitterly she returned to the talon and in tense silence watched the general and her officers march up the trail toward the the inn.
The pensive quiet lasted long after the knights disappeared from view.
"Knight Officer," Argathon said into the hush, "why does the knighthood emphasize the Code so much, then let something like this go unpunished?"
His confusion was shared by them all.
Derrick threw his hands up in a gesture of frustration. "Why didn't the general do something about the knights who caused all of this? It isn't right!"
"Oh, grow up, Derrick!" Treb snapped. "What else could she do? What's done is done."
"I don't know," Sara said quietly, as if she hadn't heard Treb's remark. "I just don't know. This is not what Lord Ariakan had in mind when he built the knighthood. Steel Brightblade and his knights would never have done something like this."
Sara could make such a statement in utter sincerity. Although she hated the Knights of Takhisis, she had never found cause to doubt their strict Code and their discipline… until now. General Abrena seemed to be letting go of Ariakan's dark honor in favor of rapid training and lax recruitment standards to increase her army. This new trend in the development of the knighthood alarmed Sara.