Dragons and Destiny (27 page)

“Call me
Markion, Vadryzka Markion if you want to be formal.”

“Care to join
us?” offered Robain.

“Not tonight
thank you. I’m meeting some friends. I have an invitation for you
all.”

“Invitation?”

“From our Susa.
You’ve probably guessed by now that we know who you are?”

“Indeed?”
queried a wary Philip.

“Yes Baron
Ross, Captain Hallam,” Markion bowed. “Word came ahead of you about
your tour with the young students.”

Philip relaxed.
Elliot’s alias was still safe.

“What’s the
invitation?”

“Susa Julia and
Alei would be pleased if you would visit her at the Stronghold. A
guided tour is on offer and a chance to see some of our cadets in
training. We know you visited the Academie and Julia thought you’d
be interested to see how we do things.”

“We would and
are delighted to accept,” answered Philip.

“I will tell
her.”

“Will we get
the chance to talk to some of the cadets?” asked Elliot. “I’ve got
a letter for Cadet Rilla Talansdochter. Her sister is at the
Academie.”

“I know her and
Zawlei,” Markion informed him, “one of triplets I’ve been told.
I’ll mention it to her Ryzcka and I’m sure something will be
arranged. Ah, I see my friends are arriving so I’ll leave you to
finish your meal. At Third Bell, will that be suitable?”

“Perfectly,”
agreed Robain rising from his chair.

Markion took
his leave.

* * * * *

Julia and
Niaill

The same
afternoon Rilla sewed on her three stripes and Elliot arrived in
Vada, Niaill and Taraya led the First Ryzck into the
Stronghold.

He would have
to make an immediate report to Susa Julia and her Alyei, it was
always the first thing a Ryzcka did. Accordingly, Deby took young
Hans under her wing. The Vadryzkas would see the rest of the Ryzck
settled in the building known as ‘The Giant Daga’, a large
barrack-like edifice used as temporary accommodation by incoming
and outgoing Ryzcks.

Niaill and
Taraya paused to watch as the weary vadeln-pairs (and Hans) entered
the building. It wasn’t until the last had disappeared that he and
Taraya made their way to the Susa’s quarters.

The cookhouse
was busy, he could smell the taste of appetising roast meats and he
sniffed the air with appreciation, a gesture copied by Taraya.

: Decent meal
tonight :

: Saliva is
forming already :

As they walked,
they could hear the sounds of the Vada at work. The noise from the
smithy was as usual and Niaill could hear faint metal on metal
noises from the practice area where Weaponsmaster Jilmis and his
assistants must be putting some unfortunate cadet duos through
their paces. He and Taraya would be with the Weaponsmaster soon
enough. Susa Julia and Alyei were waiting for them. The members of
the Vada did not salute their superiors as did the Garda or the
Militias but Niaill came to attention with a short bow.

“Dedta Niaill,”
said Alyei and left with Taraya. They were off to hunt. This was
how Alyei usually learnt about what had been happening while they
had been away.

: See you
later alligator :
quipped Taraya as she left. Where she had got
the saying from Niaill did not know. She picked up words and
sayings like a particularly efficient strip of bug-paper.

“An eventful
patrol?” began Julia. “Report.”

Niaill handed
it over.

“Alyei and me
were relieved to hear there were no serious injuries from your
fracas with the bandits,” she began.

“Not as
relieved as Taraya and I,” Niaill replied, at her gesture sitting
down in one of the comfy armchairs. He had lost vadeln serving
under him before during his time as Ryzcka, in fights with pirates
and with the gtran and the wral. One duo had died trying to diffuse
a tavern brawl during his first year in command. That was the worst
thing about being in command; every vadeln, whether human or lind,
knew that one day they might have to make the ultimate sacrifice in
the pursuit of their duty. A Ryzcka might have to command them to
do so.

During their
training it was well drummed in. Niaill had read the battle reports
and his blood had run cold when he had turned to the back pages and
read the casualty lists. He shook himself and pulled his attention
back to the matters in hand.

“The bandits
are eradicated?” Julia was asking, “that group has been a thorn in
our flesh for over a year.”

“We think so
Susa, we did a sweep of the area afterwards and the Forty-First
will keep their eyes and ears open.”

“I believe you
brought a young person back with you?”

“Yep, one of
the children, boys the bandits were keeping captive to do their
dirty work in the camp. Hans is an orphan and well, Taraya told me
to bring him with us. I’ve found it to be beneficial to my peace of
mind to pay attention to her in such matters. Not to do so leads to
an uncomfortable time until she deigns to forgive me.”

Julia
laughed.

“I’m his legal
guardian; the Argyllian authorities wouldn’t let him go until the
niceties were in place in triplicate.”

“What age is
he?”

“Thirteen as
far as we can make out.”

“And your plans
for him?

“He needs to
finish his education,” said Niaill.

“And a stable
background, you’re a Ryzcka. You are not here much of the time and
you’ve got Long Leave too.”

“It’s a
problem,” admitted Niaill. “What do you suggest?”

“I think he
should remain here, with us,” said Julia in a firm voice. “Nesta I
think.”

Niaill hadn’t
thought of Nesta. Nesta was a distant cousin of his, with a large
family now grown up and an even larger capacity to love. She was
Holad, retired but not so old that she couldn’t play a part in Vada
life. At the present time she was looking after another two stray
waifs the wind had brought in and always had plenty of room for
another.

“She might just
be the answer, but I don’t want Hans to think I’m abandoning him
and Nesta is family, however distant.”

“It kills four
xrndli with one stone,” agreed Julia, adapting the old saying. “One
he will have family in the two little boys Nesta has with her at
the moment, two, as you said, Nesta is a relation of yours, three,
he is at Vada where you say he wants to be and Taraya says he
should be and four, he can attend general lessons with the other
children which takes care of his education.”

“I’ll speak to
Nesta,” decided Niaill, “and ask if she will take him and then
explain. He’ll understand. He’s a sensible lad.”

“Good. Before I
let you go, better let me know of any problems.”

“Areen is
pregnant again,” said Niaill, “two months or so gone. She’s
admitted to having forgotten to take birth-bane.”

“Again? Who’s
the father this time?”

“She’s not
sure. She thinks it might be a young miner she met in one of the
camps we stayed at but it might be another she met about a tenday
later.” Areen’s sexual activities were legendry.

Julia raised
her eyes to the ceiling, “so you’ll be needing a replacement. Any
other problems?”

“I don’t think
so Susa, but if I think of anything I’ll let you know. The report
is pretty extensive.”

“I’ll read it
later, meanwhile, stay around for a few days before you and Taraya
go off west. Alyei says Danal and Asya are on their way in and I
know you’d hate to miss them. You haven’t seen them for a while,
have you?”

“It must be
nearly a year and a half,” exclaimed a pleased Niaill, “we’ll stay.
Now with your leave Susa, I’d like to go and find out how young
Hans is settling in and go and speak to Nesta. You’ll be in the
cookhouse later?”

“I’ll probably
saunter over. Cook says he is making Taraya’s favourite tonight in
honour of you coming home victorious and I enjoy karova curry. He’s
making a special spicy haunch for Taraya which it so happens to be
Alyei’s favourite too.”

“And about a
hundred other Lind,” laughed Niaill. “Don’t be late or it might all
be gone.”

* * * * *

Elliot and
Niaill

At Third Bell
next day and dressed in their best, Philip, Elliot, James and
Robain set out for the Vada Stronghold.

Both boys were
excited, Elliot it has to be admitted more so than James who if
truth be known would have much rather have been excused so that he
could explore the town. Philip had insisted on his attendance
telling him that he could explore the town any time he liked and
that good manners dictated that he come.

“We’ll meet
Zilla’s sister,” Elliot said to him.

James had his
own suspicions about what Elliot thought about the youngest triplet
and was quick to comment.

“You should
have bedded her when you had the chance,” he murmured, out of
earshot of Philip and Robain, “got her out of your system, loved
and left her. You’re betrothed to my sister. Forget Zilla.”

“Don’t keep
harping on about it,” growled Elliot, “I know what has to be.”

Doesn’t mean I
have to like it. I wish I wasn’t a prince.

It was Markion
and Danya who met them.

“Baron Ross and
Captain Hallam, young gentlemen,” he welcomed. “Glad you could make
it and on time too. The last group I showed around were late. Susa
Julia is in a meeting but she shouldn’t be long. She suggested that
I begin to show you round. Danya?”

“I will go
rest,” she informed them, “watching ltsctas train I have seen so
many times that I do not wish to repeat if I have not to.” She
flicked her ears forward in the direction of Robain and Philip, “we
meet again.”

Markion
followed Elliot’s eyes as he watched her go.

“She is
beautiful is she not?”

“She is, all
those colours in her coat, they seem to shimmer in the
sunlight.”

“I think so
myself. Some will tell you that her colour pattern is a hybrid, is
not pure but I like her just as she is.”

“Why would they
say that?” asked Elliot with interest.

“Her ancestry,”
Markion explained. “When our ancestors arrived here each pack had
its own distinct colour stripe, blue, green, there was even a pink
one, still is for that matter. That remains true within the packs,
in the Rtathlians. Further east, especially here in Vadath there
has been so much interbreeding between the packs over the centuries
that much of the individuality has been lost. Now, where so you
want to go first? Classrooms, Holad, the barracks, I’ve been
authorised to show you the lot if that’s what you want.”

“I think young
Walter here would like to go look at the practice fields and the
salle,” said Philip, “James too. Neither of them have seen how the
Vada fight. Neither have I and would also like to see. It must be
exciting to watch.”

“It’s very
different than horse cavalry,” agreed Markion, “faster, more fluid.
Come on then.” He led them towards the first of the fields.

“The Stronghold
is pretty big,” he informed them as they strolled along, “it has to
be with all the cadets and their Lind and the permanent staff and
all. The Duty Ryzck too, mine at the moment and there are always
Ryzcks coming and going. The tenday before a patrol starts is
dedicated to a training regimen to get them up to speed and to
integrate any newcomers.”

A sensible
idea,” said Philip who had fallen into step beside Markion.

“It can be a
strenuous time,” admitted a rueful Markion.

“That’s the
cookhouse over there,” he said pointing to the kitchen and dining
complex. “We’ll eat there later. Everyone eats together in the
Vada. It’s always been like that, even in the early days, makes for
cohesiveness. Lind eat there too if they want to but they also like
to hunt for live meat.”

“Like the
Larg,” said Philip, “I’ve met some; their envoys attend Court on an
irregular basis.”

“What’re they
like?” asked Markion.

“Most
unpleasant,” answered Philip, “not at all like the few Lind I have
had the good fortune to meet. I hope it is your destiny to live out
your life without encountering any.”

“So do we all
here,” Markion replied. “The Larg are the sworn enemies of our Lind
and if we were to meet I fear it would be in battle. We of the Vada
are sworn to defend. You have fought the Larg?”

“Not
personally, they haven’t attacked in any numbers for many years now
but there are skirmishes on the borders, the Larg are quick to take
offence and even quicker to fight if they think anything of theirs
is threatened. Our external borders are very well marked but on
occasion some people stray over. Very few return.”

They had
arrived at the first of the two practice fields.

“This is where
we do mounted practice,” Markion told them. “You can watch from
that fence.”

Elliot took up
a position beside Markion, Robain on his other side while James and
Philip took a stance a little distance away.

“I thought so,”
announced Markion, “it’s the third years, see the three white
stripes on their sleeves?”

“What are they
doing?” asked Elliot.

“Battle
practice. They will form up into three ranks, we call a rank a ryz.
The man and Lind facing them is the Weaponsmaster, they’ll direct
them. You won’t hear him shouting out orders, his Lind will relay
them telepathically to the cadet Lind. If Danya was here she’d
relay the orders to us but as she isn’t we‘ll just have to watch.
Look, they’re drawing their swords.”

Elliot held his
breath.

The front rank
began to move forward at the trot. An instant later the second rank
followed then the third.

They trotted
for perhaps twenty paces then changed gait into a steady run,
straight for, Elliot realised, the Weaponsmaster and his Lind.
Surely they would be run over? The cadets were silent, their Lind
were silent, each pair concentrating on keeping their place. As
they reached the Weaponsmaster and his Lind cowered down and those
approaching him changed gait again and leapt over them, an action
copied by those behind. After they had passed the two stood up and
turned to watch the second part of their mock attack. The ranks
peeled round at the bottom of the field and ran back to their
original positions, still in silence and with a minimum of
fuss.