Soarers Choice (6 page)

From
there, he took the main corridor leading to the west portico. The passageway
was floored in a shimmering silver-gray marble, the octagonal tiles outlined
with thin strips of black marble. Silver-and-black-bordered hangings decorated
the walls. The portico was not paved in marble, but white granite, and the
columns were smooth circular white granite pillars.

Dainyl
had not expected a duty coach to be waiting, and indeed, one was not. While he
waited, he occasionally looked at the residence and headquarters of the High
Alector of the East. It was a long and solid white granite structure, with
three stories showing above ground level and two wings angling from the central
rectangular core, and the stone sparkled in the late-morning sun. He also
looked at the cloudy sky, hoping that it didn’t rain before he found
transportation.

He
had to wait a quarter of a glass before a free hack arrived, but the indigen
driver was more than pleased. “The Myrmidon compound? Yes, sir. Be half a
silver.”

“That’s
fine.” Dainyl swung up into the coach.

As
the coach carried him away from the parklike grounds surrounding the residence
and along the divided boulevard that ran from the hilltop residence overlooking
Alustre itself to the ring road that encircled the main sections of the city,
Dainyl considered what lay ahead of him. Alcyna was supposed to be in Alustre,
but whether she was or not... that was another question. Still, the last thing
he would have wanted to do was to announce when he was arriving.

After
a time, he looked out at Alustre, a city far more spread out than either Elcien
or Ludar. The sole compact area was around the wharves, packed with warehouses
and factor-ages. Most of Alustre stretched east of the river and north of Fiere
Sound.

The
walled eastern Myrmidon headquarters dominated the larger bluff east of the
city proper and overlooked both the river and the ocean, but the driver pulled
up outside the gates, since no non-alectors were permitted within.

Dainyl
got out, handed the driver a half silver and three coppers, and walked through
the unguarded gates toward the headquarters building, also constructed of perfectly
cut and fitted white granite, with blackish green roof tiles.

The
duty officer bolted into the entry corridor within moments after Dainyl stepped
through the arched doorway into the building.

“Marshal
Dainyl...” There was a long pause. “Sir... no one knew.”

Dainyl
had met her before, but her name escaped him. “No one was supposed to know.” He
smiled politely. “Is the submarshal in? In her study.”

“Yes,
sir.”

“Good.
Thank you.” With that, holding full Talent shields, he turned down the
corridor, his boots clicking faintly on the green marble, and walked to the
very end of the hallway, where he stepped through the open door into Alcyna’s
study, a space a good, third larger than his spaces as marshal in Elcien.

As
before, not that he would have expected any change, the walls were bare except
for a single depiction of the city of Alustre — in black ink on white paper and
framed in black and silver. Alcyna glanced up from the wide ebony table desk
and froze — if for only a moment.

Then
she laughed. “Marshal... you have just demonstrated why you succeeded
Shastylt.”

Dainyl
had to admire her recovery. He doubted that he could possibly have made such a
rapid adjustment. “And you have proved why my trip here is both worthwhile and
necessary.” He gestured at the circular ebony conference table, with five
wooden armchairs set around it, all finished in silver. “If you would join me.”

Alcyna
rose gracefully from behind the table desk. “How could I refuse such a
request?”

Dainyl
seated himself so that he had a view of both the Sound through the wide south
window and of the still open door. “I believe I said this before, but you do
have a lovely view of the Sound.”

“It
is lovely.” Alcyna took the other side of the table, from where she could watch
him and the doorway as well. “Might I ask why you are here, sir?”

“To
offer you your due — as submarshal in Elcien and as my designated successor.”

“Marshal
Dainyl, you’re more devious than Shastylt.” She laughed, and her laugh remained
warm, so at odds with the coldness he sensed within her. “And I thought you
were so simple.”

“I’m
very simple, Alcyna. I don’t want you plotting against me. The best way to
assure that is to give you what you want. You want power. You also want some
assurance that you won’t be removed or cast aside. I’m the most trustworthy
alector you’ll ever find, so long as you don’t plot against me.” He shrugged.
“You’re also extremely good at organization and delegation. There isn’t anyone
better left in the Myrmidons. I need that excellence. Despite the situation
here, you can do better, and with less risk.”

Alcyna
just looked at Dainyl.

He
let her Talent probes wash over him.

Abruptly,
she straightened slightly in her chair. “How did you manage Hyalt?”

“As
well as I could.”

“Seventh
Company, I meant.”

“Simple.
I took out Veluara, and then Klynd, and then Weltak, and disarmed Lyzetta, and
threatened to take them all out, one at a time.”

“As
a passenger?”

“No.
Once Rhelyn’s men killed one of the Fifth Company Myrmidons, I took it.”

“A
High Alector flying and leading a company ... I doubt that’s ever happened.”

“There
wasn’t much choice if I wanted to stop Myrmidon from fighting Myrmidon.”

“If-if
I accepted the position in Elcien, who would you name as submarshal here?”

“I’d
thought Noryan. Do you have a better idea?”

Alcyna
nodded slowly. “Why are you doing this?”

“I
told you.”

“There’s
more.”

“There
is. Ifryn is far closer to collapse than people know. Without a united Myrmidon
command, matters will be far worse. Personal allegiances will change like the wind,
as one High Alector or another finds his allies have other needs.”

“Do
you trust Zelyert?”

Dainyl
had considered that, long and hard, but what he felt wasn’t necessarily what he
wanted to answer. “He is my superior. So long as he follows the Code and his
responsibilities as High Alector of Justice, I see no reason not to trust him.”

“Sir,
that’s scarcely an enthusiastic endorsement.”

“I
find, Alcyna, that I have become far less enthusiastic in recent times.”

“When
do you want me in Elcien?”

“Tomorrow,
or as soon after as you can manage.” Dainyl withdrew the envelope with her name
written on it. “Here is your appointment.” He took out the second envelope.
“Here is Noryan’s. If you would tender it to him ... I do not intend to remain
long in Alustre, and he owes the appointment to your training and supervision.”

“What
would you have done if I had declined?”

“Torn
them up.”

“I
should be able to manage arriving in Elcien by next Duadi. It will take a few
days to brief Noryan — especially since he will have to fly here from Norda.”

Dainyl
smiled. “Is Brekylt here in Alustre?”

“He
actually is. He hasn’t been using the Tables as much recently. You seem to be
one of the few High Alectors who is unworried by all the instability. Do you
plan to see him?”

“I
had thought to convey your promotion, and that of Majer Noryan, to him
personally.”

“You
think he will react in a way similar to Kelbryt?” Alcyna’s words were casual.

“One
never knows, but I’d be most surprised.”

“We
can walk out, and I’ll make sure Undercaptain Bryanda summons the duty coach.”

“She’s
from Ifryn, too, isn’t she?”

“Of
course. As you are discovering, Acorus has too small a number of alectors to
supply the intelligence and ambition for all the leadership needs.” Alcyna
stood.

“I
can see that, but how could you be sure that you got the best from Ifryn?”
Dainyl rose, his attention on her.

“I
can’t answer that, sir, but if I had to speculate, I’d guess that the worst
were sent to other duties and locales.”

Dainyl
held in a shudder. Alcyna and Brekylt had basically culled the survivors of the
unauthorized translations from Ifryn, taking the best for the Myrmidons, and
sending the others to Hyalt and Dulka as disposable troops — and Dainyl had
conveniently disposed of half of them.

“How
else would things have worked out as they did?” she asked. “It did force
Zelyert and Khelaryt to accept your abilities, and that wouldn’t have happened
otherwise.”

“They
didn’t have any choices left,” Dainyl replied. “Shastylt was trying to blame
you and me for staging a coup. I think he may even have contacted Brekylt.”

For
another brief moment, something too quick to identify flashed behind Alcyna’s
shields. She spoke quickly, but softly. “Your meeting with Brekylt will be
interesting.” She walked toward the doorway and the corridor beyond.

Dainyl
joined her, and the two walked without speaking for a moment, as Alcyna
gestured to Undercaptain Bryanda, who smiled and nodded back. “Bryanda already
has the duty coach waiting for you.”

“As
with so many of your officers, she’s perceptive.”

“Now
that Dhenyr has ... departed, I imagine yours in the west are also perceptive.”

“That
could be.”

“Brekylt
will be relieved to see you come to Elcien, I suspect,” offered Dainyl as they
neared the entry foyer.

“He
may at that. Or he may surprise you.”

“I’m
rarely surprised,” Dainyl said wryly. “I don’t know enough to create
expectations, and surprise comes from having one’s expectations upset.”

“That
may be one of your great strengths, Marshal, because it is so rare among
alectors.”

“The
illusion of alector impartiality,” he said with a laugh, stepping through the
archway and out toward the duty coach. He did not recognize the driver. Granyn
had already become a flier, and perhaps Olyssa had as well.

He
stopped short of the coach and turned. “I’ll expect you on Septi.”

“Yes,
sir. I’ll be there.”

Dainyl
could sense, perhaps for the first time in dealing with Alcyna, what amounted
to a feeling of respect. That worried him more than her past attitude of near-contempt,
because it suggested matters were even worse than he’d thought. He nodded and
stepped up into the coach.

On
the ride back to the eastern residence, he considered the possibilities for
dealing with Brekylt, but the only one that made sense was the polite and
direct approach. Dainyl had never been good at intrigue and playing people off
against each other, and now was no time to start.

Dainyl
stepped out of the carriage on the upper drive of the residence.

“Marshal,
sir, would you like me to wait?” asked the driver.

“No,
thank you.” One way or another, it wouldn’t be necessary.

He
turned toward the entrance, noting that one of the guards in black and silver
had vanished, but that mystery resolved itself when the guard reappeared almost
instantly with an alectress. Dainyl had never seen her, but the darker purple
sheen of her aura told him all too clearly that she was a recent arrival from
Ifryn, despite her shimmering silver and black uniform.

“Is
the High Alector expecting you, Marshal?” She bowed deferentially.

“I’m
certain that he is not, but then, I could be wrong.” Dainyl laughed politely.
“He will wish to see me.”

“Yes,
sir. I have no doubts about that. If you will follow me ... he is in his
study.”

Dainyl
walked beside the alectress along the colonnade and past two lander guards in
black and silver stationed before the vaulted archway. The guard on the left
opened one of the double doors for the two. As Dainyl recalled, she continued
through a high-ceilinged entry hall that held black marble columns spaced at
four-yard intervals along the white walls. The floor of the entry hall was
composed of black octagons set in white granite. Beyond the entry hall, the
corridor narrowed, and at the end was another set of golden oak double doors,
guarded by a young alectress in the black and silver.

“Coromyn,
if you will inform the High Alector that Marshal Dainyl is here.”

“One
moment, Marshal, if you will.” The guard slipped through the door, returning
within moments. “The High Alector will be pleased to see you immediately.” She
held the door open.

Dainyl
walked through the door alone, seeking anything untoward with his Talent-senses
and raising full Talent shields. He took the archway to the right and the next
hallway to the first doorway on the left. The door to Brekylt’s study was open,
and Dainyl entered.

The
inner wall of the study was lined with shelves of books, while the shelves on
the outer wall were limited to narrow stretches between the floor-to-ceiling
windows, except in the middle of the wall, where there was a set of open double
doors.

Brekylt
sat behind the table desk before the full wall of books and gestured to the two
armchairs in front of his desk. “Please do have a seat, Marshal.”

“Thank
you.” Dainyl eased into the armchair on the left.

“What
brings you to Alustre? Certainly not your health.” Brekylt’s wide and
expressive mouth offered a wry expression that was not quite a smile.

“Myrmidon
matters. I find that I have little time for anything else.”

“Ah,
yes. When are you planning to return Seventh Company to Dulka?”

“Not
for a while. There appears to be a need for the Myrmidons in Tempre.”

“I
must congratulate you on your handling of that minor uprising in Hyalt.”

“Thank
you.”

“I
don’t believe you mentioned why you were here.”

“Since
I was in Alustre on other matters, I thought I would pay a courtesy call on the
Alector of the East. It seemed only fitting.”