To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (47 page)

Daniel shrugged off the arrest warrant, being in trouble with the Grand Maestro was nothing new; this was just an added wrinkle, another task on his list of chores. “So are you, for associating with me. At least I am in good company.”

Lassiter nodded agreement with the response and yet his frown did not go away. “According to my feathered scouts,” the man had taken to linking with animals like
a frog to a lily pad, “a flock of twenty Soarers is on its way to carry out the warrant. I estimate they will be here within two marks.” The estate is a rectangle twenty-five spans from east to west and sixteen and a half spans north to south, which means the flock is within Daniel’s jurisdiction. “You have twenty-one Accomplisheds with superior spells and armed with type one level four crescendos,” Jeremiah went on to say, “so I have no doubt we will win if this confrontation turns ugly. My question is how are you going to handle it? There will be no going back once blood is shed between our association and Aakadon.”

The former Senior Soarer was trying to be helpful, Daniel understood, and had no doubt the man would shed that blood if ordered to do so. The words were meant as a caution. “They will attempt to arrest us, we will resist, and they will resort to spell casting. This is inevitable, which is why every Guardsmen and Sentinel will be issued one of these nightsticks, both here and in the Northland,” he replied while holding up the black copper-capped club.

Lassiter’s eyes widened as they fixed on the object in the hand of his leader. “I see where the non-Aakacarns would find such a weapon useful as a form of deterrent, yet must admit I fail to see how these will help solve our problem with the flock.”

“This is
a CPA and has the spell, Sleep Time, within the gem,” Daniel replied while holding it out for inspection.

Lassiter took the device, about a cubit long, narrow at one end and tapering out to the thickness of his wrist before rounding on the other end. He took a few swings as if testing the balance. “Nicely made and it gives our people the ability to use non-deadly force. I gather from this that we Accomplisheds will be using non-lethal spells on the flock.”

Daniel nodded his head. “You have gathered correctly and with folks armed with these, that flock will be facing a thousand Guardsmen as well as twenty-two Accomplisheds, counting me,” he replied and then led Jeremiah out and down the hall, into the north wing, and to the room assigned to Reginald Bercop.

The sign above the door read, Benhannon Estate Provisioner. The southern estate had no such title until two days ago and had depended mostly on Daniel to supply whatever needed to be duplicated through spell casting. The task did not require a great deal of potential, yet it was time consuming.

The new recruit stood up from his worktable when he noticed who came through the door. “Maes.., Sir Daniel, how may I serve?”

Half of the room was filled with rocks, gems, precious metals, and tubs of water. The other half contained many she
lves full of finished products.

Daniel chose to ignore the slip of the tongue as if it had not occurred and handed his new creation to the Provisioner. “This is a nightstick with a CPA infused with Sleep Time. I need you to make one thousand of these within the mark and will want an additional three thousand made within the next few days. Half of these are to be sent to the Northland Holding.”

“Are the nightsticks to be used on the Soarers?” Reginald asked, his eyes widening with anticipation. His lack of a lightning bolt did not mean he was feeble minded. He obviously knew what was going on around him.

“Yes, Accomplished, when you finish the first batch, have the Guardsmen pass through, collect one apiece, and then join us at the East Gate. I want you to be a part of this,” Daniel replied.

Pleasure radiated from the Provisioner at hearing he was being included. “I will get to work right away,” he stated, held the nightstick in his right hand, and concentrated on the thirty rocks currently on his table. He glowed with potential and after about a minute, the rocks formed into thirty nightsticks.

“Keep up the good work,” Daniel encouraged the Provisioner, and then headed outside with Lassiter keeping step right behind him.

The four-storied manor house, facing south, with a lookout tower rising thirty cubits from the center of the roof had one story wings twenty strides wide, stretching out north, east, and west another thirty strides. The manicured grounds covered a square span area and were surrounded by a granite wall ten cubits high, two thick with ledges facing inward about half way up for people to stand on, and step ladders at various intervals for access, for those who did not simply hop on. Fruit trees, squared off hedges, and beds of flowers decorated the lawn most of the year. Snow would soon be falling and the air had a chill, so there were no flowers, just a promise of a white blanket covering the ground in the near future. The stables were on the west side of the estate and had recently been expanded to twice their original dimensions with an additional four levels below ground. Jerremy and his recently recruited associates of the Stone Guild were working on the large complex beneath the grounds Daniel had approved of in the meeting not many days ago. He and Leah both decided they did not need to do the work themselves after teaching the Accomplisheds, Fashioning. The former members of the Stone Guild were happy to take over the project.

Reginald finished duplicating the nightsticks about three quarters of a mark later and Marcus had the Guardsmen assemble at the north gate. All one thousand were given time to get acquainted with the use of the new weapon while the twenty other Accomplisheds now living and working at the Southern Estate gathered around Daniel and Lassiter.

“The flock of Soarers will be coming into sight shortly,” Jeremiah announced to the assembly.

A Melody was taking shape in Daniel’s mind while the former Senior Soarer explained the plan. Half way through the instructions, the tune reached the point where Daniel knew it would do as he desired after adding a three part harmony. A fourth part entered his mind that would cause the person to forget his repertoire and a fifth line erasing all of the person’s memories. He chose to drop the last two harmony lines, having no desire to Silence the Accomplisheds or reduce their minds to those of infants, but those two versions were locked into his memory. The Melody with the three part harmony he titled, Forgettable.

“Everyone, take your places on the wall and stay low until Sir Daniel gives the signal,” Marcus commanded and a thousand Guardsmen spread out in an orderly fashion and then climbed the ladders. Towering Roder Keenan and low-browed Chuc Carlin, who spit out a wad of tobacco, split the company between them. Every person on the wall crouched down out of sight.

Daniel and his twenty-one Accomplisheds stepped outside of the spell-enhanced brass gates and then watched as the flock of Soarers, half One-bolts and the rest Two-bolts; approached on their steeds. A corpulent man dressed in the red on black silks of Aakadon, as were they all, rode forward of the two columns. His brown eyes widened as his gaze took in the people wearing blue silks, most of which had two or more bolts on the hoods of their cloaks. Four of the restored Aakademneds had three bolts of potential at their command. He cleared his throat and spoke up in a spell-amplified voice, no doubt so everyone in the estate could hear him.

“Daniel Benhannon, I am Jerroam Karfen, Flock Leader and Soarer of the Eagle Guild, a two-bolt Accomplished. For failure to follow decree number three-two-eight-nine-seven-one, issued by Grand Maestro Efferin Tames, you are hereby declared a rogue Accomplished and I have a warrant for your arrest, signed by Talmon Reese, the Maestro of the Eagle Guild. You must come with us immediately.” The warrant signed by Reese had to have been written days ago, meaning no one believed the decree would be honored.

Reginald walked forward, stood in front of the mounted man, and introduced himself, “I am Reginald Bercop, the Benhannon Estate Provisioner and Accomplished.” He pulled out a fancy sheet of parchment and stated, “You are in the kingdom of Ducaun, Aakadon has no authority here, and all of you Soarers are trespassing on the property and jurisdiction of Sir Daniel Benhannon, the twenty-first Royal Knight of the Realm, and Lord of the Land, a seven-bolt Accomplished,” he finished and then handed the paper to Karfen and added, “This is an official notice of trespass. I suggest you vacate the jurisdiction at once.”

Karfen shook his head and looked beyond Reginald to Daniel. “I am not surprised you have chosen to follow this course of action. However, Jeremiah, I am surprised to find you here associating with the rogue. I do not blame you for leaving Aakadon, given your circumstances, but to stand against us, members of your former guild, I confess to being disappointed.”

“Jerroam, the Maestro of the Eagle Guild declared me to be dead and refused to allow me back into his society. Sir Daniel has restored and welcomed me into his service. I am proud to serve the Chosen Vessel and strongly suggest you follow the advice of Accomplished Bercop and exit the premises,” Lassiter replied without hesitation.

The nineteen mounted Accomplisheds drew their batons and the move seemed to embolden Karfen, seeing as no one on Daniel’s side moved a finger. The Flock Leader leaned forward in his saddle. “You are all under arrest. The Grand Maestro is correct. Daniel Benhannon, you are a rogue and attempting to establish your own guild, just like Tarin Conn. Come with us peacefully or you will be compelled to do so.”

Daniel raised his right hand and one thousand Guardsmen, five hundred on the wall to the right of the gate, five hundred to the left, stood up with nightsticks in hand, and blue beams of light shot into the Soarers. So startled were they by the abrupt appearance and surprise at seeing non-Aakacarns wielding potential, they fell asleep without managing to cast a single spell, much less put up a fight. Cushions of air in various colors appeared as multiple
estate Accomplisheds decided to have compassion and break the Soarers’ fall to the ground. A cheer broke out from those on the wall, yet Daniel did not see this as any great victory, only a chore that needed taken care of. He summoned the spell, Forgettable, and focused on the sleeping Aakacarns while Jared, Keenan, and Carlin ordered the walls cleared.

“What are you going to do with them?” Jerremy inquired.

Daniel knew the journey to Shantear had begun and truly wanted to track the progress through his feathered and furred scouts. He also had more than thirty Condemneds and two Aakademneds to restore at the Northland Holding, courtesy of Samuel and Sandra, and a host of other responsibilities to the association. While he did not consider himself to be a Maestro, he sure felt the weight of leadership. People like Leah, Jared, Marcus, and Chas, helped a great deal, and yet the ultimate decisions always came back to Daniel. “I will convey them to an isolated area in Aakadon,” he answered, confident he had enough scouts in the city to find a suitable location.

Lassiter stepped up, gave the traditional nod of respect and said, “I request permission to use the spell, Cleansing The Thought, to make them forget this encounter and then convey them to a quiet place I know of within the Eagle Guild.” His memory loss spell was a specialty of his former
association.

“I have taken care of your first request. They will not remember anything that happened over the last mark of time,” Daniel replied.

“And the other request?” Lassiter pressed, seemingly eager to take over the chore.

Daniel could think of no good reason to refuse and the chores waiting at the Northland Holding were not getting done while he stood here. “You may take them to Aakadon, but do not linger. I don’t want you to be arrested.”

“It will be as you say, Maestro,” Lassiter replied.

“I am not a Maestro,” Daniel stated for all to hear.

The former Senior Soarer smiled “If you say so,” he said and then vanished, taking with him the sleeping Accomplisheds of Aakadon.

The other Accomplisheds went back to their tasks, Jeremy DeSuan, Franklin Togan, and his team went back to work on the underground complex. Reginald had his chores set, the incident with the Soarers ended well, Daniel’s parents were on the RiverDancer scouting out possible locations for a port, and he decided it was time to head north in order to start chipping away at the chores waiting for him. Potential for Conveyance filled his being, and three heart beats later he arrived in the office of his northland holding.

Daniel sat behind his desk, eyes closed, and viewing a fleet of five sailing vessels through the eyes of Flex, one of eight eagles recently linked to him. The wind beneath his wings provided a lift above the world and a freedom most folks can scarcely imagine. Being one with the great bird allowed Daniel to experience the sensations. Whether it is running with the panthers and wolves or soaring with the birds, he found focusing on one of them and just tagging along for the ride to be relaxing, a great stress reliever. While he considered going through the sword forms and sparring to be great for the body, gliding on the wind was great for the soul.

The vessels below were transporting the Accomplisheds assigned to the Shantear Mission, along with their horses and supplies, yet it was the second boat with a pair of Aakacarns relaxing at the bow that held Daniel’s interest. Sherree and Simon were leaning against the rail, she pointed into the sky, and they both started waving at Flex, who let out a screech.

The small fleet was hundreds of spans west of Aakadon, moving up the Mighty Hirus, speeding against the current, driven by winds conjured by Accomplisheds of the Zephyr Guild. Daniel did not know the route Talmon Reese had in mind, only the destination. The vessels were sailing toward Hiac, a large town, at the junction where the
Aczen River originated, flowing south out of the Mighty Hirus.

The bell rang and Jaim Cutler announced, “Sir Daniel, your Teki Seer wishes to speak with you.”

“I have a revelation,” Silvia spoke right up. Both of them interrupted the scouting mission. “Sorry if I woke you, but this is important,” she added.

Daniel opened his eyes while withdrawing his awareness from Flex. Chas had joined the meeting, which meant she wanted the Sentinel Commander to hear this as well. The Teki Seer did not sound sorry, not by her tone. “I was watching Sherree,” Daniel admitted. “What do I need to hear?”

“Then I truly am sorry for interrupting,” Silvia stated with a knowing smile that slowly faded into seriousness. “I see General Kall and his legion surrounding Trevica along with five Fon Kayan legions.”

Chas nodded his head as if it all made perfect sense. It made no sense to Daniel. The Pentrosans already invaded Ducaun once and all the inter-kingdom fleets on the
Taltin Sea were poised to attack this kingdom, why would Battencay suddenly be the target?

“Now we know the other half of the spin off maneuver,” Chas said. “Ducaun is the strike Kall wanted the world to see while his attack on Battencay is the deadlier one he wanted concealed. I have to admit, he pulled it off well. Even with us knowing half of the two legions based north of us are regulars, we only knew to be on the lookout for the missing legion, and even then we thought the target would be somewhere in Ducaun. Yes, Kall executed his plan well.”

Daniel turned to Silvia. “Is your viewing a future event or happening even as we speak?”

The Seer looked him straight in the eye without biting her lip, which meant she had a perfect understanding of this revelation. “It is happening now. I see this as something more than political. If King Josher surrenders Trevica, this is not only going to be a victory for Fon Kay and Pentrosa, it will be a great victory for
Tarin Conn as well.”

Daniel knew the Battencayan legions were at the border shared with Ducaun, thanks to the folly of politics, and were therefore incapable of reinforcing the capital. If it were not for the fact that this would also be a victory for
Tarin Conn, Daniel would not feel compelled to act. As the Chosen Vessel, he had responsibilities beyond his role as a Ducaunan Royal Knight of the Realm. The choices are, walk away, stand and watch, or lend a hand. He decided to lend the hand.

Silvia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and shook her head. “I see Josher Noon exiting the city and he is going to surrender his sword to General Kall. We are too late. There is nothing we can do,” she informed and then squeezed her eyes tighter. “Now I am getting a glimpse of the future. The Battencayan legions will soon be absorbed into the Fon Kayan legions and I see trouble ahead for Lobenia and us.”

“Do you mean Lobenia and Ducaun or Lobenia and our association?” Daniel wanted clarification. He felt sad at the fall of Battencay, in which he did have cousins on his mother’s side, and sorry he could not save the kingdom, but worse over how it might affect the realm or his association.

Silvia opened her eyes. “There is no doubt in my mind, what will trouble Lobenia in the days to come will also involve our association. In fact, the Accomplisheds of Aakadon cannot succeed in their mission to Shantear without us, and we might well need them.
”

Her previous revelation made known to him the importance of cooperation with Aakadon. Perhaps helping Maestro Reese strengthen the shields or at least helping him and his team arrive at Shantear is what her vision meant.

Daniel could think of no alternative but to provide an escort to Shantear. The arrest warrant he had considered to be a small wrinkle just grew much bigger. How is he going to protect people who will attempt to arrest him on sight?

“I recommend we take steps to assist and insure the safety of the Accomplisheds from Aakadon while not allowing them to arrest us,” Chas gave voice to a similar line of thinking.

Daniel nodded his head. “In a matter of days we will have a thousand Accomplisheds with a hundred or so Talenteds graduating within a month. We will find a way,” he replied and turned to the doorkeeper. “Jaim, ask Leah to join us.”

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” Cutler replied with a salute and then exited the office.

Chas cleared his throat. “With that many Accomplisheds, we should have no problem assigning the tasks, and those chosen should each be able to convey a squad of Sentinels to assist them.”

Daniel had only thought of using Accomplisheds on the Shantear Mission, yet decided to give Commander Herling’s proposal some serious thought, and was about to say so when a communication interrupted his response. He raised his hand, signaling an in coming message. Chas and Silvia nodded their acknowledgment.

“Sir Daniel, Queen Cleona has agreed to the Emissaries,” Jared Benfyllon sent along with a strong sense of satisfaction. “She is aware of your rogue status and suggests, for the time being, that the Accomplisheds assigned as Emissaries wear the uniform of the Benhannon Guard. She believes Aakacarns in association with you, wearing silks, and displaying lightning bolts might give people the impression you are creating your own guild.”

“Thanks for your help in bringing this matter before the Queen,” Daniel sent his gratitude to the Account Keeper. “Unfortunately a goodly number of people already believe I am creating my own guild, including a few who should know better. Be that as it is, our Emissaries will have to wear the light blue wool and dark blue stripes of the Benhannon Guard, at least while at their posts.”

“I am happy to be of service,” Jared replied, making no comment on the creation of a guild. “I will be meeting with Accomplished Bercop about producing some precious gems for me to sell on behalf of your estate. I am glad you gave him the position,” he added and then ended the communication.

Leah joined the impromptu meeting, Daniel told her of the Emissaries, General Kall, and the Shantear Mission. “So you can assemble the Accomplisheds you selected and place them accordingly,” he finished.

“Samuel and Sandra are hunting Condemneds and I have already given assignments to all but one of our Accomplisheds formerly of the Eagle Guild, so I recommend Jeremiah Lassiter to assist you on the surveillance of the Aakadon expedition,” Leah suggested.

Daniel nodded agreement. “Since I am the only one who has scouts in the area, I will need to convey Lassiter and some of his feathered scouts into the vicinity so he will be able to track the Shantear team.”

“What about the Sentinels?” Commander Herling inquired.

Daniel made up his mind. “Assign a squad to work with me and one to work with Accomplished Lassiter. Every time I add an Accomplished to the mission you can assign a squad.”

Herling snapped a salute. “It will be as you say, Sir Daniel.” He then exited the office, no doubt to begin making the selections.

Daniel reached into his desk to remove the new communication amulet given to him by Jeremiah when he noticed Leah already had one against her forehead. He closed the drawer without removing the device and waited
.

“Accomplished Lassiter has been informed. I will convey to your estate and bring him here while you work on your next set of chores,” she
told him while returning the amulet to her pocket. “I will begin placing the Emissaries after I return. Transporting each pair will take time with some of the postings being in areas of Ducaun I have never visited.”

“Do like me, send your birds ahead, and then convey to the new locations,” Daniel advised.

Leah smiled. “It will be as you say, master of masters,” she replied and then walked out of the room.

Cute, very cute, as if he did not know a Maestro is considered to be a master of those who have mastered potential. If she and the others keep up this running joke, people will believe he actually is establishing his own guild. Daniel glanced at his Teki Seer. “If you intend to convey with Jeremiah and I, you might want to brief David on what we are doing.”

“I will do so immediately,” Silvia replied and then moved swiftly to wherever she is likely to find her husband. The man was probably throwing knives at something.

Daniel went down into the Health Wing of the underground complex. The Aakademneds and Condemneds had been grotesquely disfigured and gave off pungent odors. Even so he ignored the unpleasant feel of physical contact and took on the pain ca
used by the restoration process. After restoring them to health, he provided them with individual chambers to sleep in. A mark before sunset, He met Jeremiah Lassiter and a wide assortment of birds in the General Assembly Area beneath center court because the surface was coved by half a cubit of snow. Silvia and David were also present, each wearing gaudy clothes, a nightstick, daggerlance and crossbow. The Sentinels would not be making this trip, seeing as Daniel considered the tour was likely to be quick and uneventful.

He focused on Flex and through the eyes of the eagle looked down on the Accomplisheds of Aakadon who had disembarked and were now setting up camp a couple of spans west of the
Aczen River. Flex began a spiral pattern in the sky, continuing to circle, until spotting a clearing about four spans distant and then landed in a tree. Daniel summoned the potential for Conveyance and three hearts beats later arrived in the shade beneath the branches along with the others.

Lassiter’s flock took to the air immediately and scattered. He glowed with potential and mumbled, “That does not look good.”

“Where are we?” David asked while eyeing the surroundings.

“We are in the northern frontier of Taracopa, about half a span south of the Hirus River, and a little over four spans on the west side of the Aczen. This is the extreme eastern edge of the Swamps of Append. It does not seem so because this is the dry season and the wetlands are much farther southwest,” Daniel replied in a tone similar to an instructor of Aakadon, while focusing his awareness from Flex into the other flying scouts he had in the vicinity.

“I was told there are one hundred forty-three Accomplisheds assigned to the Shantear Mission,” Lassiter remarked. “Yet I am sensing through that wonderful, Find All, spell you composed, four large groups of Aakacarns at the compass points with our friends from Aakadon at the center.”

Daniel cast, Find All, added a Da Capo to keep it going, and immediately sensed four groups of forty breaking up into smaller groups of ten, and spreading out chrono disc-wise. Each of those had an Aakademned and nine Condemneds, proving these Aakacarns were of the Serpent Guild. It was a good thing Jeremiah thought to scan the area. “The surrounding groups are hostiles. We must act now. Lassiter, you stay here while I convey to the opposite side of their formation. When I arrive, you cast whatever spell suits you, so long as it gives off enough ripples to alert the Accomplisheds in the camp. At that point, we will attack the Serpents, and save as many of the Condemneds as we can. David, Silvia, stay close to me.”

Lassiter nodded his head. “Good thinking, the plan will remove the element of surprise those Serpents are apparently counting on.”

Daniel focused on Skyler, an osprey, and then conveyed to the other side of the enemy formation, taking David and Silvia along for the ride. The juggler and acrobat had their weapons drawn, he with a daggerlance and she with the crossbow.

“I’ll use the nightstick on any Condemneds I spot,” Silvia stated while turning her head right and left, clearly looking for a target.

Daniel summoned the potential for, Sleep Time, and let it build up until he was sure the harmonic waves would spread out at least thirty spans, and then released the energy in a cone that fanned out to the right of the Aakadon encampment. Nearly a quarter of the Serpents fell to the ground along with scores of Condemneds and a host of tiny creatures that happened to be in the way. Surprise! Daniel thought as he felt harmonic pulses coming fr
om Lassiter’s direction.