Darksong Rising (8 page)

Erde, and perfume was hard to come by, even for a regent.

Then, everything was hard to come by in impoverished and beleaguered Defalk, although it was

getting slightly less difficult, thanks to the golds she’d added to the treasury through subduing a

few unruly lords—and Dumar. The battles in Dumar might well have been easier than the

problems she still faced. Jecks’ very presence upon her arrival indicated his concern for her—

and his concern for Defalk and the Regency for his grandson Jimbob. What was the problem?

Something wrong in Dumar? Or with the lords of the Thirty-three? Or Neserea? Or… the list of

possibilities was all too depressingly long. Probably some Defalkan lord...

She washed and dressed quickly—choosing a plain green gown, since all but one of her limited

workday cloths— trousers, shirts, and vests—were filthy. Amazing that you’re the ruler of a land

and your wardrobe is less than when you were an assistant professor of music.

Jecks was waiting outside the door, talking to Giellum and Kerhor—the two duty guards.

"...and it’s still spouting flaming rock ..." The white-haired lord broke off his words as he saw

Anna. “Lady...”

“Yes, I look almost human without the road dust all over me, Lord Jecks.” She inclined her head

to the guards in turn. "It's good to see you both. Did you get some rest while I was gone?"

“Ah... some, Lady Anna,” admitted the black-haired Kerhor. “Except Lord Jecks and Arms

Commander Hanfor had us drilling every day.”

“Many glasses" added Giellum, his voice mock-mournful.

‘They needed the practice.” Jecks said, “and they don’t have the time when you’re around.”

“I hope you worked hard and learned something:" Anna temporized.

“Both Lord Jecks and Arms Commander Hanfor strike hard” Anna winced. She doubted Jecks

had any business teaching arms yet. “You were out there with a blade?” she asked him, as they

turned the corner and headed down the stone stairs to the lower floor and the small dining hall.

“You’re not—”

"I am mostly healed, my lady, thanks to your sorcery, and I will not sit around the liedburg and

be thought a useless old dodderer.”

“Even when you were barely moving you were worth more than a dozen men who can’t do

anything but swing those blades.”

“That is not the way the young ones see it.” Jecks laughed sardonically.

The way Defalk was, Anna suspected he was all too right. “Do I work them too hard? Should we

recruit some more?”

“That might be wise, especially if you insist on traveling all over Liedwahr.”

The small dining hall was set for two—with two three-branched candelabra providing the light.

Jecks waited for Anna to sit. Courtesy in Defalk did not extend to seating women, merely

allowing the highest or most noble to sit first.

A serving girl Anna did not recognize hurried in with a basket of fresh-baked bread, followed by

a figure she did. “Dalila!”

The once-stocky and now-petite brunette smiled as she set the crockery casserole dish on the

pottery tile serving as a trivet, then bowed. “Regent."

“I didn’t expect you..." Anna had worked out the arrangements for Daffyd’s sister to teach the

younger children in the liedburg and to help Meryn in the kitchen, but that had been before she

had left Falcor to deal with the uprising in southern Defalk and the attack from Lord Ehara of

Dumar. Lord... you lose track of things... Sometimes, Anna felt she couldn’t keep track of half of

what was going on.

“Meryn was feeling ill, but Assolan is watching Ruetha and Anadra.”

“How are you getting along with Meryn?”

“Very well," answered Jecks. “We’re getting some new dishes, I’ve noticed.” He inclined his

head toward the casserole. “Is that one of them?”

“Yes, ser. This is the stew you liked, Regent.”

Anna could feel her mouth water. ‘That’s wonderful.” She smiled at Jecks. “You’ll like it.”

“I’ve liked all the new dishes. It was one of the few pleasures left for a time."

Anna looked at Dalila. “Are you sure you’re doing all right?”

“Oh, yes. Dythya has me teaching letters to some of the smaller children in the liedburg.” The

pert brunette offered Anna another smile, then turned and slipped from the dining hall.

“That one... she’s another that would lay her life in front of a charger for you.”

Anna didn’t argue, only nodded. You took refuge in her home, and after you rejected the forceful

advances of her consort, he left her penniless and friendless, and his brother took everything

because Dalila was a woman unable to hold property. You made her brother your chief player;

and he died fighting the Evult. And now, because you pay her for cooking and teaching, she

thinks you’re wonderful. Defalk needed more feminism than one sorceress and Regent could ever

supply.

Anna poured herself some of the maroon wine, then filled Jecks’ goblet.

“Thank you, lady. It is unusual to be served by a ruler.”

“Just remember that.” Anna broke off a chunk of bread, then served two huge ladlefuls of the

stew. “What was so urgent that you were waiting for me?”

“I would not say it was terribly urgent, and it should wait until you have eaten. You are most

pale,” Jecks said.

“It has been a while since I ate. Midday, I think.”

“What if you had to sing a spell?"

“I’d have been in trouble.” Anna took a mouthful of the stew, the spices muting the taste of the

strong mutton. The second mouthful she accompanied with a chunk of the dark bread. Dark

bread—they had it, and that meant someone was indeed getting molasses from Dumar—or had

recently. Did that mean that Lady Siobion was keeping the agreement? And that all was well

with Alvar, the captain Anna had made over-captain and armsmaster of Dumar both to aid

Siobion’s regency and to ensure Dumar’s compliance with the terms of surrender, even if Anna

had been careful not to call them precisely that.

“You carry provisions,” he said gently, not quite suggesting that she was a fool not to have eaten

them. “What happens to those who travel with you if you cannot protect them?”

“I know. I should have eaten more.” She continued to eat the stew and bread, also slicing a

peach, and thin wedges of white cheese. When she had cleared her plate—-twice—she looked

up. “Now...what’s the problem?”

"It is not a…difficulty…yet, Not all of them." Jecks held the wine goblet but did not take a

swallow.

“All of them?” Anna’s stomach tightened. “Start with the worst.”

“None is pressing, yet..."

“Go on.”

“All of the Mansuuran lancers in Neserea will soon be sent to Elioch. Those are the reports.”

“How many is that?” You need to get busy with your scrying pool.

“Fiftyscore. And either young Rabyn or Nubara has formed a new force—the Prophet’s Lancers.

According to Arms Commander Hanfor, the new Prophet can muster at least another two-

hundred—score lancers and armsmen.”

A trained Neserean army of more than five thousand men— and she had perhaps three hundred

pledged to her, plus the levies of the Defalkan lords—if they heeded the call. Still, she’d

destroyed more than that in the war with Dumar. And look what it did to you and Jecks. “There’s

more.”

Jecks shrugged, almost apologetically. “The SouthWomen have sent arms to Elahwa, and Lord

Bertmynn is assembling men and boats on the River Dol, as if he will be using the river to ferry

men there.”

“The Ranuans wouldn’t sell us arms, but they’ll send them to Elahwa?”

“To the freewomen there. They revolted.”

“That’s a good way to get slaughtered.” Especially in this world... and you‘re supposed to

support Hadrenn to pull them out? “How did we find that out?”

“Menares received a message from Wei.”

“The last message from Wei led to the problems with Dumar,” Anna said slowly.

“I thought you might see it that way.”

“We can’t afford to do much for Hadrenn."

“If you do not…" Jecks let the silence drag out.

“I know. Then we’ll be back to having unfriendly neighbors on both the east and the west

borders, with the inscrutable traders of Wei breathing down on us from the north. I suppose the

Ranuans will be unhappy if we don’t support these... freewomen.”

“That I could not say."

“What else?” Anna asked, knowing there had to be more bad news.

“The Rider of Heinene has asked for aid. The wet spring caused the grass to grow far higher than

in past years, and there was a fire that swept half the grasslands.”

“So they have no forage?"

Jecks nodded.

“You bring such cheerful news, my lord. I take ft you’ve got more of the same?”

“You recall Lord Viassa?”

“He was the Lord of Fussen, the one whose twin sons were fighting over the lands.”

“Ustal and Falar have both raised armsmen, and each has sent a scroll requesting that you

recognize him. You did say I should read scrolls...."

“I did. Go on.”

“Falar is the younger by a fraction of a glass, and he wrote that, should you not support him, and

should he prevail, he will consider seeking support for his ‘just’ claim elsewhere.”

“Let me guess.” Anna hazarded. “Ustal has the... traditional right to the lands, and he’s some sort