The Master's Chair (The Chronicles of Terah) (30 page)

Chapter 25

Sunday, May 13

As the door to Rolan’s office swung open, the messenger could see the sorcerer pacing furiously while two officers stood in the background. Rolan’s face was contorted with anger, and fury flashed in his cold, dark eyes.

“Well? What is it?” Rolan roared. “What news do you bring me today?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but Captain Garen has had no luck finding anyone who knows anything about where Myron was fostered, or who he’s apprenticed with,” the messenger said nervously. “The Captain’s sent his men out to eavesdrop in taverns and he’s offered coins for information, but no one seems to know anything.”

“So he sent a messenger to tell me that he’s failed, huh?” Rolan began pacing again. Then he stopped, spun around towards the messenger, clasped his hands behind his back, and snarled. “Well, I have a message for you to take back to Captain Garen. Tell him that he is not to return until he brings me Myron, dead or alive. If Myron takes his chair next April, I will assume that Captain Garen and all of his men are dead, including you. That would be the one and only acceptable reason for failure,” Rolan paced a few more steps, then turned back to the messenger and sneered. “But tell Captain Garen that my guards will make sure his wife and children remain here, safely awaiting his return, as will the families of the rest of his squad. And tell him to rest assured that I’ll find someone to take in his wife and children in the event that he doesn’t return, and if that someone isn’t interested in bedding the wife, I’m sure that the daughter will be suitable. Do you understand?”

The messenger had gone pale with the cold cruelty of Rolan’s words. “Yes, sir, and I will hasten to deliver your message to Captain Garen. If there is nothing else, I will be on my way now.”

“Good, see that you leave for Captain Garen’s camp immediately. Captain Yardner will escort you out of town and see you on your way,” Rolan said.         

“Yes, sir,” Captain Yardner said as he ushered the young messenger out of the room.

Rolan turned to Sergeant Jermain, who was charged with overseeing the castle slaves. “Sergeant, any word on the escaped slave yet?”

“N … no … no, sir,” Sergeant Jermain stammered. Then he took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “The bounty hunters have reported that they’ve lost his trail. They followed him into the Badlands, and they’re sure that he was wounded by one of their arrows, but they haven’t found his body so they don’t know whether he’s dead or alive.”

“So? What are they doing about it?” Rolan prompted.

“There was a band of traveling minstrels in the area at the time, but the bounty hunters checked out both of their wagons and found no sign of Taelor. Now they think that he might have run into the minstrels later and persuaded the sister who was traveling with them to help him. They’re still looking, but so far, nothing.”

“Am I to be surrounded by incompetence forever?!” Rolan bellowed. “I want that slave found, and I want him found now! Do you understand?”

“Y … y … yes, sir,” Sergeant Jermain said in a timid voice.

“Then get out there and find him! If you had been doing your job, he never would have escaped in the first place!” Rolan walked over behind his desk and sat down. “And bring him to me alive. I want the pleasure of watching the insolent bastard die. Now go!” Rolan slammed his fist down on his desk. “And do not return until you have him in hand!”

Sergeant Jermain bowed and backed out of the room. Once he shut the office door, he wiped the sweat off his face and set off to pack his belongings. He had no intention of ever returning to Trendon, with or without Taelor. He was going to set his path for the quickest route out of Brendolanth.

Rolan drummed his fingers on his desk. He hated loose ends, and he saw both Myron and Taelor as loose ends, things that needed to be taken care of immediately, before his plans began to unravel. He had mapped out the path to his goal years ago, and now that he was nearing the end, nothing was going to get in his way. Myron had to die before he had a chance to take the Master’s Chair. That was all there was to it.

As for Taelor, Rolan wasn’t positive just how much of a threat he really was. Rolan was certain that he’d never mentioned the Key to the Gate Between the Worlds around the slave, after all, he’d never even said the words out loud. And there was no way Taelor would be able to figure out that Rolan was behind Badec’s coma. He had never mentioned anything about that anywhere near the castle. But he wasn’t sure how much other stuff Taelor might have overheard, and Taelor definitely knew that Rolan was responsible for Tsareth’s death. The slave was there. He saw it happen.

Rolan’s hold over Taelor had ended with the old slave woman’s death. Taelor might talk now, if he could find someone who would listen, someone who might believe him. That’s why Rolan wanted the slave brought back alive. He had to find out if Taelor had talked, and if so, to whom. But as soon as he had the answer to those questions, Taelor was a dead man.

While Rolan was sitting there, thinking, another loose end came to mind: his half-sister, Landis. He was eighteen years old when she was born, and as far as he could remember, he’d never even seen her, but according to castle gossip, Tsareth had thought that her magic was strong enough that one day she’d be more powerful than Rolan. He had even heard that Tsareth had planned to hand over his seat to her. He wondered if his father had ever told her that. If so, that was just one more reason to find her now and destroy her while he still could, before she developed her powers. Landis would be almost twenty-four years old now. Time was running out.

Rolan didn’t have any idea who the girl’s mother had been, or where she had been fostered. It was a shame that his father’s second had been killed along with his father. That had been an accident. He hadn’t meant to kill the old man until he’d had a chance to question him, but sometimes he didn’t know his own strength.

Rolan got up and opened his office door. The young page who was standing beside it stepped forward. “Tell Captain Yardner I want to see him when he gets back.”

The page bowed and set off for the stables. Another page stepped up beside the door to take care of the next errand.

When Captain Yardner entered the office, Rolan said, “You were here as a castle guard when my father was alive. Who would my father have talked to other than his second? Was there anyone else around who might have known the family secrets?”

Captain Yardner thought for a moment, and then said, “The old kitchen slave who died about six months ago was a frequent guest in your father’s quarters. He probably discussed a lot of things with her.”

“My father and a slave? Are you sure?” Rolan found the idea repulsive. “I knew that he must have found companionship after my mother’s death, but a slave?”

“She was a bit more than a slave, sir. She was the mother of his youngest daughter,” Captain Yardner said.

Rolan laughed. “I figured the girl was a bastard, but the daughter of a slave? How delightful! She’s nothing then.” 

“She isn’t exactly a bastard, sir. While it’s true that Tsareth never married the child’s mother, the only reason was that they didn’t know for sure that her first husband was dead. Tsareth publicly recognized the child and proclaimed her as his own, and he treated her mother as his wife. That’s why Taelor was never treated as a slave. He only worked as a slave after Tsareth’s untimely death,” Captain Yardner said.

Rolan glared at Captain Yardner for his last remark. “Is there anyone else who might know the identity of her foster parents? A nurse maybe? Or the sister of the chapel? What about the man who was governor?”

“I really don’t think so. There was no nurse. Landis’s mother took care of her while she was an infant. As for Sister Candice, she’s too young. She came when Sister Yano passed on, maybe two years before you came. I can think of no reason why Tsareth would have told Sister Candice anything. And as for the governor, you arranged for the man to have a rather fatal accident a couple of months after your father’s death, remember? So if he knew anything, the knowledge died with him.”

“Then there is no one left who knows the whereabouts of the child?”

“As far as I know, no one. The only other possibility that I can think of is Taelor, but I doubt if either his mother or Tsareth entrusted the young man with that knowledge. I’m not sure he even knows that Landis is his half-sister. He was only about three years old when she was born.”

“I want that slave found. I want to see him dead, but I want to question him first. And I want that girl found, and found within the year.” Rolan’s voice was quiet and chilling. After a minute, he looked at Captain Yardner and hissed, “Send word to the bounty hunters that I’m doubling the reward, but he must be delivered to me alive, and tell them that I expect news of their progress within a month.”

“As you wish, sir,” Captain Yardner said. Then he bowed and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, he wiped his face with his hand. He always felt that he needed a bath whenever he left Rolan’s office.

Chapter 26

Evelyne of Abernon

The Tellurians pushed hard for the next few days, and on a Tuesday near the middle of May, they crossed the Teran equivalent of the North Platte River, which Kalen had told them formed the boundary between Brendolanth and Nandelia, but there was nothing to indicate that they had gone from one province to another.

Thursday they crossed another large river, and their road curved to follow it, heading more west than south. Around mid-afternoon they found a secluded cove and set up camp for a two-night stay. That was the first time they had camped since they had been attacked and everyone was a little apprehensive, but after the first night passed peacefully, they relaxed a bit and enjoyed their second night.

According to the route that had been marked on their map, they were to continue west, following the river, for a couple of days until they came to a southbound road at a “T” junction in the middle of a town called Abernon.

Late Monday afternoon they rolled into Abernon. It was by far the largest town they had come across. Shops, stores, and taverns lined both sides of their road for several blocks. The blocks were formed by narrow crossroads. On the southern side of town, the crossroads were lined with houses, but on the northern side, they led to what looked like a large open meadow, which served as a buffer between the town and the river.

There were three inns in Abernon, the largest of which was located at one corner of the “T” junction. A combination restaurant and tavern was located at the other corner, and directly opposite the main southbound road was the largest Chapel of Light that they had come across. It was as large as a small hospital on Earth.

Karl stopped in front of the clinic as he considered which innkeeper he should approach for a night’s lodging. As the others pulled up behind him, a sister came out of the chapel and walked towards them. Her auburn hair was streaked with silver and she was a little plump around the middle. Her tan face looked like she had spent a lot of time in the sun and her hands looked like they had seen a lot of years of hard work, but there was a youthful twinkle in her eyes.

“Is there a Sister Theresa traveling with you?” she asked Karl.

He nodded and looked over at Theresa, who had pulled her wagon up beside him.

“I’m Theresa, Sister.”

“Good! Your assistant came through several days ago and told me to expect you. Here, let me show you to the barn,” she said as she turned to walk down the drive beside the chapel.

“Uh, Sister, you do realize that I’m part of a fairly large group, don’t you? We like to stay together,” Theresa said hesitantly.

The sister nodded. “We have rooms set up for all of you and there’s plenty of space in the barn. Come along now,” the sister said as she resumed walking down the drive.

Karl looked at Theresa questioningly. Theresa shrugged, then nodded, and drove her wagon down the drive. As soon as Theresa pulled into the barn, a young man stepped out of the shadows to help her down. Once Theresa was safely on the ground, he climbed up and drove the wagon to the end of the barn so that the others could enter.

“I’m Sister Evelyne, the resident,” Evelyne said as she took Theresa’s hand. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll introduce you to my aides and staff.” She leaned towards Theresa and whispered, “Taelor left a note for you.”

Then she turned to the others and said, “There’s a pasture out behind the barn. Why don’t you put your horses out there? I hate to see them cooped up in tiny stalls in nice weather. You can set out some feed buckets for them if you like. Patrik will help you. Just let him know if you need anything. As soon as you’ve seen to your wagons and horses, come on in. We’ll have some refreshments ready.” After everyone had dismounted, Evelyne stepped over towards Karl and very quietly told him, “The horse that Taelor borrowed is in the pasture.”

While the rest of the Tellurians were busy with the horses, Evelyne led Theresa on a quick tour of the chapel and introduced her to the staff. Then she and Theresa went to the kitchen to prepare the refreshments.

While they worked, Evelyne told Theresa that she had received a message from Drusilla asking her to be on the lookout for Theresa. “She asked me to help you replenish your stock of herbs and to answer any questions that may have come up along the way. I got the impression that you haven’t been a sister for very long and that you’re not from anywhere around here.”

“You’re right on both counts. I’ve only been a sister for about two months now,” Theresa answered. “You said that you had a note for me from Taelor?”

“It’s in my office. I’ll get it for you later,” Evelyne said as she continued slicing bread. “It’s funny that Drusilla didn’t mention him. She did say you’d be traveling with a band of minstrels, but not one word about an assistant.”

Theresa took a deep breath. Drusilla had told her that sisters would never betray each other, and she sincerely hoped that Dru had been right. “Drusilla didn’t know about Taelor. We found him passed out along the side of the road about two weeks ago. He had an arrow wound in his shoulder and was weak from loss of blood. I treated him and he traveled with us for a while.”

“Why did he say he was your assistant?”

Theresa sighed. “He’s an escaped slave. He needed to fit in with the rest of us, to have a reason to be traveling with us, so there wouldn’t be any questions when we were in town. He had been trained in a chapel, so we pretended that he was my assistant. It worked out quite well. We held a healing clinic about a week after he joined us in a small town that had been hit with a flu outbreak, and he was really good. I hated to see him go.”

Evelyne nodded. “I figured it might be something like that. He arrived late one night, and was gone before daybreak the next morning. None of my staff met him, and I didn’t mention his being here to any of them, so you don’t need to worry about that.” Evelyne continued preparing the platter of cheeses, meats, and breads for the Tellurians. “You know, Theresa, you can tell me or ask me anything you want to. What is said between sisters stays between sisters.”

Before Theresa could answer, Joan walked through the back door into the small kitchen. She felt sure she’d walked into the middle of a conversation. She glanced at Theresa and said, “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all,” Evelyne said as she wiped her hands. “I was just asking Theresa if she was running low on any of her herbs, but we can get to that later. Will the others be coming in soon?”

Theresa carried the platter that they had been fixing over to the table. Then she began to set out some plates and forks.

“The guys will be along in just a minute. They’re carrying feed buckets out to the pasture,” Joan answered as she stepped over to the table to help Theresa. “I love that pasture! The grass is so full and green, and the scenery’s beautiful! It’s almost a shame to waste it on the horses.”

“It is nice, but I wouldn’t want to live any closer to the river,” Evelyne said. “It floods every spring. I’ve seen it up as far as halfway through the pasture, but that’s rare. We had a nice surge go through here about two weeks ago, but the water didn’t make it over the top of the banks. So far this spring’s been fairly calm.”

Joan heard the clomping sounds of boots on the back porch, so she walked over to the back door to open it for the guys. Evelyne poured some hot water into a big basin, tossed in a bar of soap, and grabbed a couple of large towels. She set the basin and towels on the counter on the other side of the room from where she and Theresa were setting out some cookies and tarts.

“Wash up, and then have a seat at the table. Theresa, would you get some mugs out of the cupboard over there?” Evelyne said, pointing to a cabinet over the washbasin.

Theresa found the mugs, set them out, and then filled a pitcher with milk while the others sat down around the table. As soon as everyone was seated, Evelyne placed the tray of sweets and the coffee pot on the table and told them to serve themselves. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down in an empty chair at the end of the table.

“Have you had any problems since you left Drisden?” Evelyne asked.

Darrell grinned at Theresa and said, “Not really. We had a small problem with some bounty hunters who wanted to search our wagons, but Theresa set them straight.”

“And then we had a small band of thieves attack us around midnight one night, but we had them on the run within five minutes,” Chris said with a touch of bravado.

Evelyne looked at Theresa. “Taelor failed to mention any of this. What happened?”

“It was nothing really. The bounty hunters stopped us and wanted to search through our things. Taelor was asleep in the back of my wagon and I didn’t want him disturbed, so I refused to allow the search. They didn’t really argue about it. And Taelor didn’t know about the bandit attack because he left before it happened,” Theresa explained.

“Yeah, the bounty hunters didn’t argue, but one of them tossed the flap up on the back of her wagon as she started to drive past them. You should have seen her come off that wagon seat!” Darrell said with a chuckle.

“You did mark them, didn’t you?” Evelyne asked.

Theresa could feel a blush creep over her face. She glared at Darrell and said, “No, it wasn’t necessary. They apologized and rode off.”

“You should have burned them anyway. I would have,” Evelyne said. “What did they do when they saw Taelor in the back of your wagon?”

“They didn’t see him. I had covered him with a blanket and put a sleeping tarp over the blanket.”

“Good,” Evelyne said. “Now what was that about bandits?”

“Chris saved the day there,” Kevin answered. “He had a feeling that we were being watched, so we woke up the others. The bandits took off as soon as they realized that we were armed and ready for them.”

“But why did they attack you?” Evelyne asked.

“One of them had seen us use two gold coins to buy a few things in town and figured we had more,” Joan said with a shrug. “Theresa had held a healing clinic the night before and the town director had paid her with the coins. It was just one of those things.”

“They’d have killed all of you if they’d had the chance,” Evelyne said. “I hope you burned them.”

Theresa shook her head no. “When Joan woke me up, my first thought was to get some woundwort and bandages ready in case any of us got hurt. By the time I got out of the wagon, it was over. The whole thing didn’t last more than a couple of minutes. I only saw the one that Darrell captured.”

“You captured one?” Evelyne asked.

“We wanted to know who had attacked us, so Darrell tackled one and we questioned him,” Steve explained. “When we found out that they were just a group of bungling thieves, we told him to go home and stay there.”

“You let him go?!” Evelyne asked, surprised. “Why?”

“We couldn’t just kill him in cold blood, and we didn’t want to have to watch him until we could turn him over to the authorities,” Karl explained. “If we had tried to hold him, his friends would probably have felt compelled to try to rescue him, and if they had attacked us again, we wouldn’t have had quite so easy a time of it. They would have been ready for us. At the time it just seemed like the best option.”

“I see,” Evelyne said with a sigh. Then she shook her head. “You certainly showed more charity than anyone else would have. Oh, well, I guess all’s well that ends well.”

After everyone had finished with the refreshments, Evelyne said, “If you like, I could get one of my aides to show you around town, or if you’d like to rest up a bit, I’ll be glad to show you to your rooms.”

“Would it be all right for us to work out a little behind the barn? Maybe do a little sparring?” Darrell asked.

Evelyne laughed and said, “Considering your knack for running into trouble, that might not be a bad idea.”

Joan groaned. “I don’t suppose there’s any way I could get a hot bath afterwards, is there?”

Evelyne smiled and said, “I think that can be arranged.”

~ ~ ~ ~

While the others were practicing hand-to-hand combat, Theresa and Evelyne went out to the shed that housed Evelyne’s indoor herb garden and workroom. The room was dark and cool, and smelled of rich moist dirt. A large workbench sat directly under a skylight and there were storage cabinets along all four walls. Between the workbench and the cabinets, there were rows and rows of herb beds.

Evelyne motioned Theresa to one of the lab-type stools while she took a seat on another one. “I know you’re probably running low on several herbs, but that can be taken care of later. I’ll bring one of my aides in here tonight and she and I can get everything you need together in no time at all. I thought we’d just talk for a while,” Evelyne said. “Tell me about your clinics. How did they go?”

Theresa told Evelyne about the healing clinics, about the herbs that she had used to treat various illnesses, and about the exhaustion she frequently saw on the faces of the women. Evelyne nodded and said that she saw a lot of that, too. She laughed over Theresa’s tea breaks and said that she might try it with a few of her patients. Before either of them realized it, they had been chatting for over an hour and it was getting close to dinnertime.

“I’m going to have to go to the kitchen soon and check on dinner,” Evelyne said. “Is there anything you want to ask me before we join the others?”

Theresa said that she did have one question that she needed to ask. “How does this pendant work? What do I have to do to get it to protect me?”

“All you have to do is focus on the person’s forehead, picture the flame burning them, and the fire in the opal takes care of the rest.”

“What if one of my friends steps in between us to protect me? Will the opal burn them too?”

“No, it will only burn the one you’re focused on,” Evelyne said. “Of course, if someone grabs you or attacks you, your fear will activate the opal, and it will strike out on its own, so you might want to warn your friends not to grab you.”

Theresa nodded. “I did. And Drusilla also told me to tell them not to try to remove the opal if anything happens to me because it would burst into flame.”

Evelyne nodded.