“You do yourself an injustice, Quaeryt. Your speech has always been above reproach and as indirect as necessary without ever committing a falsehood. Most masterful, I’ve always thought.”
“I’ve only followed the examples with which you and Rescalyn provided me.”
Myskyl nodded, as if thoughtfully, then asked, “What do you believe lies before us?”
“Exactly what, I have no idea, except that Rex Kharst is unlikely to allow Variana to fall to Lord Bhayar without doing all in his power to prevent it. I am certain that this is not a new thought to you, given your far greater experience than mine.”
“Do you believe he has imagers?”
“I have no idea. If he does, no doubt we will learn of them outside Variana.”
“Have your Khellan officers mentioned imagers?”
“They have not. They have mentioned greed, treachery, and total brutality on the part of the Bovarians, but not imagers.”
Although Myskyl again nodded, Quaeryt had the feeling that, somehow, his response had disturbed the submarshal.
“Well … I should not keep you. Lord Bhayar did summon you, no doubt to be able to assure his sister that her husband was well.”
“That is indeed possible, but I have learned over the years that to guess at Lord Bhayar’s reasons is to be avoided if at all possible.”
“Ah, yes, I forgot that you were students together.”
Quaeryt doubted that Myskyl had forgotten any information that could be used in one way or another. Instead, he inclined his head. “A pleasure to see you again, Submarshal.” Then he turned and slipped out the study door, walking back to the main entry hall, where he waited for less than half a quint before another captain appeared.
“Subcommander … this way, sir, if you would.”
Bhayar was pacing back and forth in front of a set of long windows overlooking a formal flowering garden when Quaeryt stepped into the long white-goldenwood paneled study.
“Greetings…” Bhayar stopped and looked at Quaeryt. “What in the Nameless happened to you?”
Quaeryt quickly scanned the room. Bhayar was alone. “Several hundred muskets discharged at my battalion all at once.”
“Did you know that was likely?”
“I knew that there might be pikemen and musketeers. I didn’t expect hundreds. There might have been five hundred or more. Skarpa recovered over four hundred muskets. They all fired at once.”
“Then they know we have imagers.”
“They know we
Bhayar fingered his chin. “You think they might be uncertain?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to think they’d be at least uncertain. What I think you should do is to tell Deucalon and Myskyl that the key imagers were badly injured, and you don’t know what they’ll be able to do at Variana, and that you’ll need to approach the city with care-”
“I’m not about to tell Deucalon that.” Bhayar’s words were low, but almost snapped out. “He’s already too Namer-cursed careful.”
“Has he said when he would plan to leave Nordeau?”
“He suggested a week. I told him two days. He offered excuses. I told him they were excuses.” Bhayar paused. “Do you think someone’s passing information to the Bovarians?”
Quaeryt shrugged, and wished he hadn’t as pains shot across his chest. “I don’t know. It won’t hurt to act as if someone might be.”
“That’s true enough. What other recommendations do you have?” Bhayar’s voice was both tired and dry.
“You need more imagers, sir.”
Bhayar frowned. “I meant about strategies.”
“So do I.”
“Have I not found you a number sufficient for our needs.”
“Imagers have made a difference in a number of battles so far, but there are only nine imager undercaptains. I’ve trained them so that they are much more capable, but nine is a small number, and Bovaria is a large land … and together Telaryn and Bovaria are very large.”
“I can see that … but … the marshal and others will certainly worry about what will happen … in the future…”
“You need to worry, if I might say so, sir, about your needs and not their desires. What most people, indeed, most rulers do not understand is that there are too few imagers born in any land to be a threat to the people as a whole. They can only be a threat to individuals, and that threat exists because most imagers live in fear. What you can do is to bring those few imagers together to help deal with not only defeating Bovaria, but with keeping it under control. You keep the imagers in Variana, far from Solis.”
“Solis is the capital of Telaryn,” protested Bhayar. “The last thing I want is a group of trained imagers in Variana when I’m back in Solis.”
“How long can you rule Bovaria and Telaryn from Solis?”
“You are assuming…”
“Am I? Besides … do you really want to keep living in Solis?”
Bhayar laughed softly. “Go on.”
“You need a force large enough to be effective and small enough for you to control and strong enough to keep the High Holders in line, but one not requiring a large standing army.”
“You think your imagers could be that force?”
“Only as a quiet last resort, sir. What I would suggest is that you point out, as necessary, after you take Variana, and only then, is that by putting the imagers in one place, you reduce the danger to the people and you train the imagers to be useful to the ruler and the people. In return for safety and a good education, they will serve Telaryn … much as the scholars assured that I would serve you.” Quaeryt smiled wryly. “Even if they did not know it.”
“You are a dangerous man, Quaeryt.” Bhayar paused. “Assuming … just assuming … that I agree to all of this … what happens when Clayar succeeds me and you are gone?”
“That’s why you set up the school and the grounds and the training now … after you take control of Bovaria. You train all the young imagers in their roles as a pillar of the ruler, and you make sure they all know what happened to imagers in the past, and how they are treated in other lands across the world … Perhaps you even give a gold or silvers to parents who send their imager children to the school … you’ve already set a precedent similar to that.”
“How long have you been thinking about this?”
“Some of it for years, and some only for months,” Quaeryt admitted.
“What if we must leave Bovaria? While we are winning now … who knows?”
“Then send Vaelora and me and the imagers back to Extela, and we’ll set up the school and training there. That will still increase your power.”
Bhayar smiled, an expression both warm and calculating. “You have thought this through in great detail.”
“I’ve tried,” Quaeryt admitted. “Also, if we incorporate a scholarly element, with a school and a large library, it will seem more familiar to many.”
“It might also give me greater control over the scholars.”
“In a way that would not seem so.”
“Well … I have to say I’m intrigued, and I like the idea. It would also keep Vaelora busy. But you’d have to be the head of it. It wouldn’t work any other way.”
“For the next years,” Quaeryt said, “but it needs to be set up in a way that it doesn’t depend on who succeeds in power among the imagers.”
“That … that will take some doing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now … what do you think awaits us in Variana?”
