Maran stands slightly over four cubits, a good head taller than Lorn, with short, light-brown hair, mild brown eyes, and a thin brush mustache. His broad shoulders and muscular chest taper to a narrow waist and comparatively slender legs. “Greetings, Captain Lorn, and welcome to Geliendra.” Maran bestows a warm and friendly smile upon the junior officer. “Please sit down.”
“Thank you.” Lorn takes the leftmost of the two chairs before Maran’s table desk.
“There are many tales about duty here,” Maran begins, sitting back in the chair behind the table desk. He sits up and rings the bell on the corner of the table. “Oh … I almost forgot.”
Lorn wonders what Maran almost forgot, but leaves a faint smile upon his lips, although his concentration, and his chaos-order senses, are upon the door, which opens.
“Ser.” A junior squad leader, thin-faced, appears with a tray, which he sets upon the corner of the desk.
“Thank you, Quenst.” Maran’s warm voice conveys appreciation.
A carafe and two mugs rest on the tray, as well as a dozen clean slices of white cheese, and as many wedges of thickcracker bread. A freshly sliced apple is laid out behind the cheese.
“Go ahead,” Maran urges. “If you’re like most of us, you don’t eat much on a firewagon trip.”
“That’s true.” Lorn lets his chaos senses flick across the carafe, and then the food, but can detect no flux that might indicate poison or other unsavory substances. So he samples a slice of cheese, an apple slice, and a wedge of the hard cracker bread, eating it carefully.
Maran pours two mugs of juice. “Redberry.”
“Thank you.” Lorn grasps the nearest mug and takes a small swallow.
“Patroling the Accursed Forest is not that dissimilar to patroling the Hills of Endless Grass,” Maran says, “and yet it is also totally different.” He smiles apologetically at Lorn.
“I understand dealing with barbarians,” Lorn offers, “but exactly how does one patrol the Accursed Forest?”
Maran’s warm smile turns ironic. “The Forest and the barbarians are much alike. They would invade Cyador and rob us of the fruits of chaos and prosperity. The Forest is a creation of wild order that would consume all of Cyador and return it to a forest where each creature would be ordered to destroy every man, woman, and child, because the wild order does not recognize us as a part of its patterns.” Maran coughs, takes a sip from his mug, and continues. “The Firstborn pushed the wild order back into the smallest area possible, and confined it with barrier wards. There are a dozen chaos towers which provide chaos energy to the wards. Each tower provides enough chaos energy to power the wards for sixty-six kays, so that each ward receives power from two towers. There are eight wards evenly spaced over each kay of wall, and all are linked by cupridium cables encased in vitrified ceramic.”
Lorn nods, wondering just how the Forest could escape such a chaos barrier.
“You ask, if you are like most lancer officers, how the Forest can escape such a prison.” Maran pauses for another sip of redberry. “There are several ways. First, some of thetrees can expel their seeds beyond the wall. Once such a seedling takes root, it grows quickly. That is why the area for a half kay back from the walls is continually tilled and sowed with salt to ensure that nothing will grow there. Second, the Forest has grown trees so large that when a branch breaks it falls across the wall. Full grown trees also fall, even when they appear to have no rot or illness. Trees or branches breach the barrier, and animals use such as a bridge to escape. We have found chaos cats over eight cubits in length, ten if you include their tails, which weighed more than fifty stone. You will see, on the wall in the officers’ dining room here tonight, the remnants of the skin of a giant stun lizard killed here twenty years ago. It is twenty cubits in length. It took a special firecannon to kill it. Third, occasionally a tree will send a root under the foundations of the wall. The foundations go down more than fifty cubits.” A crooked smile appears on Maran’s face. “The Accursed Forest is a dangerous adversary.”
Lorn waits.
“Seedlings can be destroyed by firelances, but if you destroy such, you send a lancer as a messenger immediately to the nearest Mirror Engineer detachment, with the exact location of the seedling. You can determine that because each ward on the wall is numbered. The first ward to the east of the north point is north ward one east; the second is north ward two east …. You understand? Roots are more dangerous, if infrequent, and all you can do is quarter off the area and destroy any animals that climb through them. Yes. they can be hollow. Fallen limbs require the most effort, because you will have to destroy all animals that try to use the limb as a bridge. The wards will eventually destroy the limb, but that could take anywhere from a day to an eight-day ….”
Lorn finds himself nodding.
Maran extends a thin book. “This is the patrol manual. You need to study it immediately.” He shrugs offhandedly. “It is straightforward. Patrol the ward-wall. Contain the wild creatures of the Accursed Forest when it is breached. Protectyour lancers and use them wisely. Oh … there is one structural difference here. We have one less squad leader per company. That means your senior squad leader, also leads a squad.” The warm smile returns. “I expect you will find time to study it. From here it is roughly a solid four-day ride to the post at Jakaafra.”
Lorn takes the manual. The time to ride to Jakaafra is certainly understandable, since Geliendra is on the southernmost point of the diamond walls that surround the Forest, and Jakaafra above the northernmost.
“Your senior squad leader will be Olisenn …. You are expected to patrol thirty-three kays each day, and rest on the fourth. There are way stations every thirty-three kays, and, of course, an outpost at each corner of the ward-walls.” Maran coughs lightly. “Tomorrow, when you’re rested, first thing, we’ll take a ride to the wall. There’s really no other way to explain it, not really.” Maran shrugs. “Some things have to be seen before any explanation makes sense. Then, the day after, you’ll be in charge of taking the replacement lancers for both Westend and Jakaafra. You’ll ride the wall, as, if you will, a quicker example of a patrol.”
The majer rises. “In the meantime, we’ll get you a room for a visiting officer. I’ll give you a quick tour, and then you can get cleaned up and familiarize yourself with Geliendra. Please feel free to look throughout the compound and to ask anyone any questions.”
Lorn rises. “You’ve been most helpful.”
“Nonsense. The more you know, the better you’ll do.” Maran smiles his warm and friendly smile and gestures toward the study door.
LXII
THE LATE AFTERNOON air is far warmer than in many recent days when Bluoyal’mer steps onto the balcony where Luss’alt waits. After a glance at the Captain-Commander, the merchanter looks back over his shoulder, then steps away from the doorway into the Palace of Light.
The second-in-command of the Mirror Lancers does not speak as the Merchanter Advisor to the Emperor approaches, but waits for Bluoyal’s words.
“The heir to the Yuryan Clan was murdered, and I wished to speak to you of it.” Bluoyal bows slightly.
“That has been reported, and it is most unfortunate, but Fuyol of Yuryan has many heirs, I understand.” Luss frowns, as if he is uncertain why Bluoyal has requested the meeting.
“Before I consulted with the High Lector or the Second Magus … I wished to advise you.”
“Of what, Bluoyal’mer?” Captain-Commander Luss does not conceal his puzzlement. “The City Guards report to the Majer-Commander, but unfortunates within the city do die at times under the blade despite the efforts of the City Guards. Why would such a killing be of interest to the Magi’i … or me?”
“Ah … you do not know.” Bluoyal nods happily.”That is best.”