To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (6 page)

“Did they say why?” Miriam asked on behalf of her son.

“No, they did not,” Silvia replied and then smiled, “I have a revelation,” the Seer went on to say. “They’ve come to talk about General Kall, who has brought his two legions down to the border. Daniel told us the troops were coming, they arrived shortly before he and Sherree finished settling their differences,” she added with a totally unnecessary wink, then her eyebrows drew down in consternation, doing away with her lightheartedness, and she stared directly at Daniel. “My vision is obscure about what will happen next because the choice you make in the next few marks will influence the outcome, battle or, I don’t know, a major threat hanging over our heads either way, something related to your defeating Serin Gell.  I also se
e danger concerning the flute.”

“Are the visions related, is Kall coming after the flute?” Daniel asked while getting to his feet.

“That’s just it, I don’t know, although I believe they are not related,” Silvia admitted, biting her lip. “You are the Chosen Vessel and a powerful Accomplished, you will win any confrontation with General Kall, but the cost in lives will be significant if he invades today. People not just in this compound will die, so will others at the fort south of us and elsewhere along the border. But it is the flute that worries me, I see it covered in blood, and Daniel it’s yours.”

He knew how much the Seer detested giving an imprecise revelation, especially when lives were on the line. “Ever since casting my first spell on
Mount Tannakonna, many of my decisions have been matters of life and death, so it does not surprise me to hear of yet another one. As for the threat hanging over my head, Tarin Conn and Efferin Tames are likely to see me once again as a threat and take steps.”

How much time did he have before they reacted? His blood on the flute of Della Lain posed a concern, yet was a danger so obscure he had no answer e
xcept to proceed with caution.

“My feeling, going by the anxiety I experienced just seeing the revelation, is you are at a pivot point, making the right decision is crucial, and the threat, whichever way you choose, is going to grow exponentially. You are going to have to step up the pace, it is the only way to survive what is coming,” Silvia began wringing her hands.

One would think the Chosen Vessel could relax, enjoy at least one day before events came hurling into him, and forced him to react. “What you want matters little,” the words of Ruth the Seerer for the Forager Troop flashed through Daniel’s mind. “Well, I’ll meet with our guests in the conference room, and try to make a good decision,” he replied and stood up.

“After you drink the other jug of water and eat your vegetables,” his mother insisted.

Despite the grave revelation, Daniel chuckled and then sat back down. “Right, Silvia, go get everything set up while I do what my mother tells me.”

Daniel sat at the head of the obsidian table, deliberately making his guests wait, not out of contempt, for he did respect them, and not for some silly posturing, or to show who was in charge of this meeting. He long ago learned from necessity how to compartmentalize his mind; it was the only way he could think clearly with so many animals linked to him, most of them wanting his attention at the same time. The greatest pressure came from the compartments containing Echo and Wisp, a pair of ospreys, and Dusk, a black panther. Daniel focused on the one containing Echo.

Far below in the twilight, through the eyes of the circling osprey, Daniel could see thousands of horsemen gathered at the southern border of Pentrosa, at least two legions, twenty thousand on horse and ten thousand on foot. A command tent was being set up near a man in a black jacket with gold trim, definitely General Kall, and beside him were ten men in the silver on black silks of the Serpent Guild, along with ten individuals dressed in dark brown cloaks. This force was far greater than any General Tallen could stand against. Daniel sent his thanks to Echo and then concentrated on Wisp, who was soaring over last night’s battle field in
the Foothills, that broad stretch of hills marking the end of the highlands in Pentrosa, from which there were nothing but flatlands all the way south into Ducaun. The army Daniel had struck down, horses and all, was still asleep, and would probably begin waking up about this time tomorrow. These were a legion of regulars where as those commanded by Kall were Pentrosa’s elite Sutton Guard, even so, they could come down and hold whatever forts the elites overpowered. Daniel sent his gratitude to Wisp, who sent back a sense of contentment, and then withdrew his concentration from the raptor.

Daniel concentrated on Dusk, high up, hidden in the branches of a tree, and watching thirty Ducaunan Cavalrymen and fifty foot soldiers facing the huge force, as if they could stop them from crossing the border.
Captain Johannan was talking to a man in the gray with black trim uniform of the Sutton Guard.

“General Kall demands to see General Tallen, Sir Laurence, and however many Royal Knights of the Realm are with him. I told you this before. The demand has not changed. We have a legion down and out of commission and answers must be given,” t
he Pentrosan stated arrogantly.

“Your request has been sent,” red-haired Captain Johannan replied in a firm voice.

Daniel thanked the panther and withdrew his awareness from her. There were other animals seeking his attention. Screech, the osprey, showed him three women and two men walking through the forest in southwestern Ducaun, in the direction of Rivertown. Daniel had no idea what Serena and her team were up to, but was sure it would be trouble for him. As the raptor soared, Daniel could see sasquatches trailing behind the five Aakacarns, keeping their distance, no doubt at the insistence of Serena. Daniel wondered if she yet realized she only had thirty-two remaining, the rest were dead, or part of Daniel’s swirl, or about to be when Gurrumble, the largest male linked to him, arrives in a few days with an additional thirty-one. Screech let out a cry and Daniel sent his thanks and withdrew his awareness. He needed to think, the other animals could wait.

The door opened and in walked Jaim Cutler, seventeen, thin, and full of eagerness to fulfill his duty as keeper of the door. Being clean shaven with his dark hair cut short, and dressed in his blue uniform with the broad silver stripe on his shoulders and pant legs, no one would question his being a soldier. “Are you ready to receive your guests, Sir Daniel?” he asked while standing rigidly and with a touch of nervousness in his voice.

“I am,” Daniel replied.

His distinguished guests filed in, read the names placed on the table by Silvia, and took their seats. General Jathem Tallen,
possessing few wrinkles, a round face, and a man who Daniel knew for sure was more muscle than fat, having worked a major healing on him in the past, took the nearest chair to the right of his host. The general wore a pair of gold stars on the collar of his light green silk shirt, beneath which was the finest quality chain mail, and four golden hawks on the shoulders of his gold trimmed, slightly darker shade of green jacket. He glanced at Sir Laurence Dugan, seated next to him beside Sir Carlo Bencofer. Dugan had a touch of gray in his hair and yet seemed just as fit as the much younger Knight beside him. Sir Carlo, a man in his late thirties with dark hair and brown eyes, sported a neatly trimmed mustache. In fact everything about him was neat. The Royal Knights of the Realm were all dressed in their field uniforms, identical to Daniel’s, except for house emblems, and his having lightning bolts.

Seated on down from them were Sir William Bonner, tall and thin with about as much gray as Dugan, and Sir Tomas Zollaf,
a rugged man with a weathered face, a man reputed to have a strong sense of duty and contempt for those who did not share it, a gentleman who clearly spent a great deal of time exposed to the elements. Just beyond him sat General Sanfred Malcus, a lean, gray-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard, who was older than Tallen, and wearing a similar uniform.

To Daniel’s left were Jeremiah Lassiter, Samuel Cresh, Franklin Togan, Jerremy DeSuan, Daria Copa, Martin Varroon, and Simon. The other Accomplisheds were busy working on whatever details were involved with finishing the compound. Daniel wanted Sherree to come but she thought it best to keep her distance from him for awhile, seeing as she could think of no legitimate reason to be in attendance.

“One is curious as to why we were kept waiting, surely you realized this was not a social call,” Sir Tomas, the oldest Knight present was the first to speak.

“After learning that I was to host a meeting of you gentlemen, it seemed prudent to gather as many facts as I could from my Seer and scouts in the field. I apologize for not being quicker about it,” Daniel replied smoothly.

“I received the message you sent early this morning by Lieutenant Benettle informing us that General Kall’s two elite legions were headed west and would reach the border north of us before the end of the day,” General Tallen spoke in his calm and steady manner, almost as if the news was just one more item on his daily checklist. “I was also informed you have declared a Realm Alert, validated by the Queen, and the entire kingdom is to prepare for war.”

“Could it be you did exactly the opposite of what we discussed in our meeting yesterday? Did you cross the border in the night and declare a Realm Alert this morning after stirring up a hornet’s nest and seeing we were right?” Sir Tomas inquired, starting in a polite tone and then ending with an accusatory edge.

“Judging by the presence of Accomplished DeSuan at this table, whom you told us was a captive of Serin Gell, it would appear the answer to the questions posed by Sir Tomas is, yes,” General Malcus apparently decided to answer for Daniel. “And it would not surprise me to see Accomplished Jenna walking around somewhere in this new holding of yours.”

“She is here,” Daniel readily admitted. “My question is why have you gentlemen requested this meeting?”

Sir Carlo snorted, stifling a laugh. “Because as of half a mark ago those legions you warned us about showed up and have massed not many spans north of where we sit. General Kall is demanding answers about a fallen legion from Los Collins, apparently defeated in Foothills of Pentrosa,” Sir Carlo told him, and then added, taking on a more serious tone. “I thought I.,” he paused and looked towards his fellow knights before returning his attention to his host, “We made it clear that what you do in that uniform is considered to be an official act of the Queen.”

“I put on this uniform this morning after delivering my message to Lieutenant Benettle,” Daniel responded.

“A fine distinction,” Sir Laurence began. “I’m sure the diplomats will have a good time arguing the finer points of inter-kingdom law while we deal with the reality of invasion.”

“Half my legion is still in northeastern Ducaun. I only have two hundred fifty cavalrymen in addition to seventy-five support personnel from the regular army at
Fort Casum. My reinforcements will not be here until tomorrow morning and they numbering only a few thousand horsemen, not nearly enough to hold back twenty thousand highly trained Pentrosan cavalrymen with ten thousand infantrymen backing them up,” General Tallen said, his brow wrinkling in concern.

“And my legion is fifty-two spans east of here and even traveling all night cannot reach us until tomorrow about this time. Even so, an additional ten thousand horsemen and two thousand infantrymen to Jathem’s forces will not be enough. If General Kall invades anytime soon, Fort Casum will be overrun and this nice new facility of yours north of it will be first to fall
,” Malcus added his assessment.

“So you came here to chastise me for rescuing all but two of the Accomplisheds at this table and the vast majority of Ducaunan citizens walking around my holding, built by these same Aakacarns,” Daniel replied, keeping his voice smooth in the face
of their growing consternation.

The Generals and Knights glanced at the Accomplisheds sitting across from them, none of the nobles wanted to insult the spell casters, who would certainly differ with anyone who suggested rescuing them was a bad idea. Their presence produced the restraining effect Daniel hoped for, yet was not the entire reason he had asked them to come.

“We came not to chastise you, but to ask that you accompany us to the meeting demanded by Kall,” Sir William answered.

Daniel eyed each of the Generals and his fellow Knights of the Realm. “The demand relayed through Captain Johannan is to see General Tallen, Sir Laurence, and however many Ducaunan Royal Knights of the Realm are with him. The dead and the unconscious cannot speak to Kall. He clearly doesn’t know what happened last night, of General Malcus being here, or how many Royal Knights other than Sir Laurence are in the area. In addition to the huge army, he is entertaining ten Accomplisheds of the serpent Guild,” he informed them of the situation as he understood it.

Tallen’s eyes widened. “How do you know all of that?”

Daniel shrugged his shoulders the way his friend Tim Dukane often did. “My scouts are very good at what they do.”

“You seem to have your scouts positioned well.” Sir Carlo’s comment along with an approving nod of the head was appreciated.

“Kall’s demand includes you, especially since you are the one with the answers.” Sir Laurence returned to the reason they had come.

Daniel considered what he had seen through the eyes of his feline and raptor scouts. He made his decision, the opposite of what he would normally do, and hoped it was the right one. “No, I will not go.”