Daggeraxe led them in a comfortable, ambling stroll along one of the main promenades with Walsharno walking at Bahzell’s shoulder.
“Most of Zarantha’s message isn’t really all that confidential, Milord,” the mage said. “Private, but not something that needs to be kept secret from those who might not have your best interests at heart, shall we say.”
Bahzell cocked his ears politely, and Daggeraxe chuckled a bit sourly.
“As a mage-especially a Crown mage-I’m officially neutral in Baron Tellian’s spat with Baron Cassan and Baron Yeraghor, Milord. And as a Daggeraxe and a loyal supporter of the North Riding’s interests, as well, of course. For that matter, to be completely honest, I think my cousin may be showing the better part of wisdom to steer clear of that entire dogfight. If I were to pick a side, though, I think I’d probably favor Tellian, on the theory that you can tell more about a man from the enemies he makes than from the company he keeps. I think the quality of Tellian’s enemies speaks well of him. But however neutral I may be where the Kingdom’s internal politics are concerned, Zarantha is a friend and you’re her brother as far as Clan Jashan and Clan Huraka are concerned.”
“That’s after being more than good enough for me, Master Brayahs,” Bahzell said.
“I’m glad to hear that. And while we’re being honest with each other, I suppose I should admit that it’s probably just as well I didn’t catch you at Sir Jerhas’ after all.” The mage grimaced. “I doubt very much that any of Baron Tellian’s enemies would believe for a moment that I’m only passing on a friend’s message like any other mage might do. The last thing my cousin needs is to have my actions suggest he’s choosing a side after all.”
Daggeraxe arched an eyebrow, and Bahzell nodded.
“I can be seeing that.”
“Well,” Daggeraxe said more briskly, “about that message. First, she asked me to tell you Tothas is doing well and that he’s about to become a father for the second time. According to the healer, it will be a girl this time.”
“Will it now?” Bahzell grinned broadly. “It’s good money I’d give to see him sitting with a babe on his knee! Especially a girl child. She’ll have his heart in one grubby little fist before she’s as much as walking!”
“Ha!” Brandark shook his head. “What makes you think she’ll wait that long? She’ll have him under her thumb before she’s even born! ”
“Likely you’ve the right of that,” Bahzell agreed, still smiling, and looked back at Daggeraxe. “It’s grateful I’ll be if you’d be good enough to be telling Zarantha as how Brandark and I are both wishing Tothas and Tarenka well. Aye, and I’ll be thinking on a proper birth gift.”
“ You? ” Brandark hooted a laugh. “More like your sister Marglyth, you mean. Or maybe even your mother!”
Bahzell ignored him, and Daggeraxe’s lips twitched as he resolutely did the same.
“In addition,” the mage continued, “Zarantha says to tell you her academy is sufficiently well established now that Tothas is confident it can provide for its security out of its own resources. She asked me to tell you she can never thank you or the Order of Tomanak enough for having protected them until that was true and that she’s informed Sir Yorhus of the same thing. I have the impression, however, that Sir Yorhus-he’s the commander of the Order’s detachment at the academy, is he?” Bahzell nodded and Daggeraxe shrugged. “As I say, I have the impression Sir Yorhus is rather less confident they can do without his presence.”
“You’re probably right,” Brandark said. “On the other hand, Sir Yorhus would probably feel that way if they had the entire Spearman army camped around the academy!”
“Aye, you’ve a point there,” Bahzell agreed with a wry smile. “It’s an amazing amount of good Tothas has done with him, but he’s still Sir Yorhus, when all’s said.” He glanced at Daggeraxe. “Sir Yorhus is a good man, Master Brayahs, but he’s…a way about him. A man of enthusiasms, as you might say.”
“A man who won’t pull his detachment out of Jashan without a direct order from Sir Terrian countersigned by all three of the commandery’s senior officers, you mean!” Brandark snorted.
“Now he’s not so bad as all that these days,” Bahzell replied repressively. “I’ll just be sending him a letter of my own and see how things go from there.”
“Right. You’d better go ahead and send a letter to Terrian in Axe Hallow while you’re at it. At least you can save a little time that way.”
“I’ll ask you to be ignoring him, Master Brayahs,” Bahzell said. “It’s little he can help it, being born a Bloody Sword and all. You were saying about the rest of Zarantha’s message?”
“Well, this is where we start getting into the bits you’d probably not want to become public knowledge.”
Daggeraxe glanced around casually. None of the groundskeepers were close enough to overhear anything that might be said, and the mage gestured for them to stop at a stone bench under one of the trees.
“She wanted me to tell you,” he continued, once he’d seated himself on the bench, “that the Purple Lords have figured out what your father and Baron Tellian have in mind.”
He paused, one eyebrow raised, and Bahzell flicked his ears.
“Aye, we’ve other reports that say the same,” he acknowledged. “Not that we’ve any clear idea just yet how it might be as they’re inclined to react.”
“I think you may have one now, Milord.” Daggeraxe’s tone was much grimmer than it had been. “And truth to tell, the fact that the Purple Lords are among Tellian’s enemies is one of the things that speaks most loudly in his favor, as far as I’m concerned. I spent three months in Bortalik just after I’d completed my training. It seemed like three years, and not just because the Purple Lords are so full of themselves, either. I’m sure Zarantha’s told you about her suspicions where the Purple Lords are concerned?”
He looked a question at Bahzell, and the hradani nodded.
“I assumed she must have, given that you and Brandark are the only reason she managed to get home alive despite the Purple Lords.”
“As to that, Wencit did have more than a mite to do with it,” Bahzell said mildly. “And we’d never any actual proof as how the Purple Lords were behind it their very own selves.”
“Trust me, Milord,” Daggeraxe said even more grimly. “Precognition is one of my minor talents, too. In fact, my talent’s at least a bit stronger than Zarantha’s in that regard. I know how it works, so I would have been inclined to trust her foresight about the Purple Lords and the mysterious death of every Spearman mage before she came along under any circumstances. But one of my other talents is what we call aura reading.”
“Aura reading?” Brandark repeated, ears cocking intently. “Of living creatures or objects?”
“I see you’ve been doing some research, Lord Brandark,” Daggeraxe said. “But the answer to your question is neither. Oh, I have some sensitivity to the auras of people-including four-footed ones, Milord Courser,” he added, nodding courteously to Walsharno. “But mostly I read the auras of places. I’m what we call in the academies a ‘sniffer.’ It’s a talent which is often useful for someone investigating a crime, for example, because a powerful sniffer can actually read the motives and emotions of people who have passed through a given place. It’s not infallible, and our readings are always subject to a degree of interpretation. For that matter, if there’s been a lot of traffic through the spot, the overlays of so many auras can make it impossible for us to be very specific at all, so it’s not something we can present in court before a judge or jury, but it’s frequently helpful in directing the investigator’s attention towards likely motives and suspects.”
“I can see where such as that would be an uncomfortable thing for someone as found himself stuck amongst the Purple Lords,” Bahzell rumbled.
“Oh, it was, but not for the reasons you’re thinking, perhaps. You see, like my precognition, it’s a minor talent for me, not a strongly refined one. But it’s not emotions and motives I sense when I read a place’s aura, Milord; it’s sorcery. I’m a wizard-sniffer, and the stink of wizardry is heavy in Bortalik.”
Bahzell’s face stiffened and his ears flattened. He and Brandark looked at one another for a moment, then back at Daggeraxe.
“It’s certain of that you are?” the Horse Stealer asked.
“That there’s wizardry in Bortalik? Oh, yes, Milord! Not that I could get any of the city officials to take my word for it. After all, there are no Purple Lord magi, are there? And at that time, there were no Spearman magi, either. So I could scarcely expect them to take the word of a visiting Sothoii for it, now could I? But that’s another reason I’m confident Zarantha’s right about who’s been helping Spearman magi die before they ever came into their abilities.”
“You’re convinced she’s right that those deaths were natural? They didn’t simply fail to survive their ‘mage crisis’?”
