“Then I’ll have a courier waiting for him.” After the slightest pause, Bhayar added, “By the way, the three of us should have dinner this evening, and you can fill in all the other things you learned on your way to and from Rivages.”
“Sixth glass?”
“That will give you plenty of time,” replied Bhayar with a nod. “What do you plan for the rest of the day?”
“To ride to Imagisle and see how Baelthm, Horan, and Khaern have done in getting the place in shape. We also may have to plan for more imager students, Vaelora tells me.”
“She did say something about that.” Bhayar stood. “I won’t keep you. Until tonight.”
Quaeryt rose as well. “I look forward to dinner.”
“So do I.”
As he walked down toward Vaelora’s ministry study, Quaeryt couldn’t help but wonder what had changed Bhayar’s attitude so much. Just time and a good night’s sleep?
When he walked into the study, Vaelora looked up from her table desk. “How was brother dear this morning?”
“Very warm and cheerful. He asked us to dinner with him tonight. We talked about Justanan and Pulaskyr … and you. He said that you’d almost finished arranging for courier stations to Kephria and that we now have dispatch service to Laaryn, thanks to your efforts.”
“We do.” She paused. “Actually, we received a dispatch last night from Eluthyn. No one wanted to disturb us. So I didn’t see it until this morning. A squad from Calkoran’s second company have been escorting the Khellan envoy and his party to Variana from Kephria. The envoy will likely arrive next Mardi or Meredi.”
“Were there any details?”
“No. You can read it for yourself.” She reached down and handed the single sheet to Quaeryt. “I’ll have one of the clerks copy it and then take it up to Bhayar.”
Quaeryt scanned the sheet, but it said little more than what Vaelora had already told him. He handed it back to her. “I need to go and see what’s happened at Imagisle.”
“You’ll be surprised … and pleased, I think.”
“You won’t tell me?”
“No. You’ll picture what I tell you the way you want to-”
“Just as with a farsight,” he finished with a smile.
“Dearest … that is close to being disrespectful.” Her smile was wide and happy.
“I’ll be even more disrespectful, then.” He wrapped his arms around her, and their lips met.
For a time they remained locked together. Then Vaelora disengaged herself, gently but firmly. “You need to see Imagisle, and I need to get this copied.”
“Yes, dear.” Quaeryt grinned.
“You’re still impossible.”
“At times.”
She shook her head.
After another long look at his wife, Quaeryt turned and left the study, walking quickly to the rear courtyard door. As he stepped out into the already warm morning, with a clear but hazy sky promising a blistering summer day, Calkoran walked toward him.
“I didn’t expect to see you here this morning,” offered Quaeryt.
“I knew you would want to see all that has happened at the isle. So I brought a squad to escort you.”
“A full squad?”
“It seemed … prudent, once we heard that Marshal Deucalon had been relieved and stipended.”
“Does everyone know that?”
“Some things cannot be kept quiet for long, sir.” Calkoran smiled. “Especially when they show that Lord Bhayar did what was right.”
Quaeryt waited to see if the Khellan officer said more. Calkoran did not. So Quaeryt went on. “I hoped that he would, after I reported on what happened, but the decision was entirely his … as it should have been.”
“You will not be marshal, then?”
“No. That would be a mistake, both for me and for Lord Bhayar.”
Calkoran nodded. “For a son of Erion, it would doom you.”
“Even for an imager who might not be a son of Erion, it would doom me.”
“You will see others make mistakes you would not, and you will think that you could have done better,” said Calkoran.
“Any man who is good, intelligent, and hardworking will see that in others, but no man can do everything, and one who tries will do all of what he tries poorly. What I can do best is guide the imagers. So that is what I should do.” Before Calkoran could say more, he added, “Even if there is no glory and my name will be lost to those who follow.” He grinned. “Ride with me. We can trade platitudes on the way to Imagisle.”
Calkoran smiled.
One of the rankers led Quaeryt’s gelding, already saddled, toward him, and he realized, as he had not for a time, how that signified how much matters had changed over the past two years. From an impoverished scholar too poor to purchase a mount to a commander living in a palace married to a ruler’s sister with others grooming and saddling a fine mount for you. And yet, at that moment, all he could say was, “Thank you,” and mean it.
He took the reins and mounted, then rode to join Calkoran. “Was this your idea or Zhelan’s?” he asked with a smile.
“We both had the same idea. I told him that since I outranked him, I would take charge of the first duty. He insisted that we alternate until we are most certain that all is safe.” Calkoran paused, then added, “We know that you can protect yourself, sir, and even those close to you, but it would be best that no attacks even be attempted.”
Quaeryt couldn’t disagree with that. “What do you think of what the imagers have accomplished on the isle?”
“They have done much, but the question is what you think?”
“You’re not saying what they’ve done, then.”
“No, sir. As you have indicated by all your acts, the deeds should first speak for themselves.”
Quaeryt laughed softly. Trapped by your own words and acts. “Ready to head out?”
“Yes, sir.” Calkoran flicked the reins of his mount and ordered, “Column! Forward!”
Once the squad was on the road to the Nord Bridge, where they would turn south on the west river road, Quaeryt asked, “Did Subcommander Khaern say anything about the marshal’s being stipended off?”
“He said that it was too bad that Deucalon had changed from a good commander to one more concerned with preserving his own power.”
Quaeryt nodded. “And the submarshal?”
Calkoran snorted. “No officer with brains would mourn him.”
Unfortunately, there are some senior officers who would, and Justanan or Pulaskyr-or whoever else Bhayar chooses-will have to deal with them.
Once the squad was on the west river road, Quaeryt kept looking toward Imagisle, but not until they were almost abreast of the northern tip of the isle did he begin to distinguish additional changes, most notably that Horan had clearly finished the gray granite river walls that now appeared to completely protect the isle.
Then, when they approached the bridge, he saw that the shoulders of the causeway had been cleared and reshaped on both ends.
“This way, sir,” said Calkoran as they rode off the end of the bridge and turned to the north along a paved way that Quaeryt did not recall. To the east, if west of the rebuilt barracks and some other new structures he could not make out clearly, he could see the old anomen, totally restored, if not rebuilt and better than it ever could have been.
Then they rode east before turning south. Some hundred yards east of the river wall stood four barracks, two on the east side and two on the west side of an area that had been planted with grass and flowers-vegetation that was admittedly struggling-and bordered by solid paved roads. Not only that, but to the south of the green area was another smaller and single-story building. Even farther to the south of the complex were two other long buildings, apparently stables. All the buildings were of gray stone and roofed with slate tiles. To say that Quaeryt was astonished was an understatement. He looked to Calkoran. “It’s amazing…”
“Horan and Baelthm said that they had to earn their keep.”
Quaeryt also noted a long cottage-like building adjoining the anomen, and he suspected that it might well be for the students. He didn’t see buildings that looked like the cottages Lhandor had provided plans for, but that was more than understandable, given all the two had done.