Scholar

49

Although he had done very little on Jeudi, Quaeryt was still stiff and sore on Vendrei morning. After eating a hearty breakfast, he walked from the officers’ mess-a small room off the end of a larger chamber where the rankers ate-toward the west courtyard and the stables to join Meinyt’s company for a patrol. The outpost was obviously far newer than the Telaryn Palace, with competent but not artistic stonework and inside walls of white plaster applied directly to the stone. By looking closely, Quaeryt could see where the cracks in the plaster had been filled and whitewashed over. The walls were clean, as were the stone floors, but there were no decorations or adornments anywhere.

As he walked along the corridor flanking the rankers’ dining hall, he couldn’t help but overhear a few comments.

“… Waerfyl … say he’s trained a squad of crossbowmen…”

“… not that much good in the woods … won’t hit many…”

“… fine … unless you’re the one bolted…”

Quaeryt agreed with the last observation, but offered no expression as he passed.

“… just have to duck real quick…”

“… if you’re lucky enough to hear anything…”

How can you hear a crossbow? They wouldn’t ever be that close.

Once outside, under a sky that looked partly heat-hazed already, he made his way to the stable. There he saddled the mare and walked her out into the courtyard. At that moment, Meinyt rode over to where Quaeryt was about to mount.

“We’ll be riding a good two glasses to the west. It should be an easy ride.”

The scholar certainly hoped so. “Good.” He climbed into the saddle and rode after the captain to the head of the company.

Quaeryt said little until several quints after the company had left Boralieu, and the company was riding westward along a dirt road uphill through the woods on the far side of the valley that held the outpost. While trees and brush were cut back from the road some ten yards, the woods beyond were dark, although the trees were mostly evergreens and grew far enough apart that a rider-and in some instances, a wagon-could have passed between them.

Since everything seemed to be quiet, Quaeryt spoke. “Major Skarpa didn’t tell me whether this is just a routine patrol, or whether you’re looking into some sort of problem.”

“That’s his sense of humor.” Meinyt offered a laugh that was more like a bark. “We’re logged out as a routine patrol.”

Quaeryt could see a glint in the officer’s eyes. “Someone’s about to make trouble, then, but no one has any proof?”

“More than likely, and it’s probably Waerfyl. His lands abut those of High Holder Dymaetyn. Dymaetyn has all the lands to the east and south of Boralieu, and some a little to the southwest. Waerfyl’s hold is some eight milles to the southwest of Boralieu, and his holding is almost big enough to make him a High Holder. Might be bigger, but the other High Holders wouldn’t have him as one of them. That’s even if he wanted to be, and he doesn’t. Dymaetyn says that Waerfyl’s men are poaching on his lands. He also claims that Waerfyl’s loggers are sneaking into his northern timber stands and logging the best goldenwoods and dragging them out.”

“Claims? Doesn’t he know?” Quaeryt’s words came out more sardonically than he’d intended.

“He knows that there are goldenwood stumps and branches left behind. He knows that Waerfyl’s lands are north of his.”

“Could they be timber brigands, so to speak?”

“They could. If they are, they’re using Waerfyl’s lands. It’s Waerfyl’s responsibility to stop them.”

“Why doesn’t Dymaetyn? I thought that the High Holders had their own armsmen in numbers large enough to hold off the Khanar’s Guard.”

“They used to. The governor persuaded them to reduce the numbers. To do that, he had to agree to deal with the backwoods and hill types.”

Quaeryt could see the logic in that, because it limited or eliminated the fighting between High Holders, and probably also reduced the temptation for one High Holder to encroach on another. It also lowered the costs of running their holdings, because they didn’t have to pay so many armsmen. Did that allow the High Holders to pay higher tariffs and still come out ahead?

Although they had left Boralieu while it was still comfortable, by the time another glass had passed, and the company had taken a fork in the road that led slightly south of due west, Quaeryt was beginning to feel the heat, not to mention the red flies, whose bite was worse than that of a mosquito. He’d lifted his light shields for a time, which extended a yard or so out, and that kept them mostly away from him, but holding them for more than a quint left him tired and sweatier. So he decided to bear the pesky flies and save the shields for when he might really need them.

Another quint passed before one of the scouts rode back and signaled Meinyt. The captain halted the company. “Break for half a quint! Pass it back.”

Then he rode forward to talk with the scout.

Quaeryt dismounted, then blotted his face with one kerchief. He was saving the other clean one for later. The trees, even cut back to some ten yards from the road, were high enough in places that the road was a mixture of shade and sun, and the day was getting much warmer. He took a swallow from his water bottle and brushed away one of the red flies with his free hand.

Before long, Meinyt finished conferring with the scout and issued a command. “Squad leaders forward!”

Each squad leader passed the command back, and the five squad leaders converged on the captain at the front of the column. They six were less than ten yards from Quaeryt, but he couldn’t hear what Meinyt was saying. The brief conference ended, and the first squad leader returned to his squad just behind Quaeryt, while the others rode back along the shoulder of the road to rejoin their squads.

“… first squad! Listen up!… brigand tracks ahead…”

At that moment, Meinyt rode back to Quaeryt. “The scouts found tracks in the side lanes a mille or so ahead, mostly on the south side. That’s where the disputes over who owns what lands begin. The old Khanar before the war said that the road was the dividing line. The Pretender said that Waerfyl’s lands extended another half mille south. The governor has said that the road marks the boundary.”

“Has Waerfyl protested?”

“The hill types protest with bows, blades, and crossbows.” Meinyt turned in the saddle. “From here on, keep your eyes open, and don’t hesitate to flatten yourself against your mount.”

“I won’t.” Quaeryt mounted, then brought the mare alongside Meinyt’s horse. He raised what he thought of as shields, hoping that they would even work. He needed more practice, and he needed more time holding them to build up his strength.

“Company! Forward!” ordered Meinyt.

Quaeryt rode less than half a mille when he saw a stone pillar on the left side of the road. At one time, it had clearly been higher, possibly with a capstone or something on the top, but someone had battered off the top stones, and they lay in the weeds and grass around the base of the column.

The boundary marker for High Holder Dymaetyn’s land? Vandalized by Waerfyl’s men?

He didn’t ask, because it made little difference. Not at the moment.

“There’s the lane,” Meinyt said. “The tracks are fresher here, and they’ve taken a wagon. It’s not loaded. Not yet.”

What the captain called a lane was more like a path less than four yards wide.

“First squad! Positions!”

Before the command was finished, the troopers in first squad split into two files and turned from the narrow road right into the trees on each side of the lane.

“Second squad!”

The second squad began a quick trot down the lane.

Quaeryt heard a sound like the patter of rain. Meinyt flattened himself against his mount’s neck. Before Quaeryt could follow that example, something ripped through his thoughts-that was what it felt like-and then slammed into his upper chest near his left shoulder. He looked down to see what looked like a short arrow protruding from his jacket, then hugged the mare’s neck, if to one side because he’d done nothing about the quarrel in his shoulder.

“Namer-sows are in the trees-the big oak there and the spreading pine!” someone yelled.

Another pattering sound followed.

Quaeryt kept himself flattened against the mare, who had stopped short. He urged her toward the trees. He certainly didn’t want to stay out in the open.

Once he was off the road and so close to a pine he and his mount were partly concealed, Quaeryt straightened, concentrated, and imaged clear spirits into the wound, even as he tested how firm the quarrel was. His eyes watered, and he wanted to scream, except his head was spinning so much that all he could do was to stay in the saddle.

When his head settled somewhat, he forced himself to image the head of the quarrel away. The rest of the quarrel came out, if not easily, without too much effort. Then he puked, barely able to keep the vomit off himself and the mare, and let the remainder of the quarrel fall to the pine needles.

After a time, he straightened and slowly looked around. From what he could tell, he was practically alone, except for a nearby mount that was riderless. He heard yells from the direction of the lane, but those quickly subsided.

He eased the mare toward the riderless mount, and managed to grab the reins, then transferred them to his left hand, hoping the horse didn’t try to run. Even holding the reins hurt his shoulder. Then he saw its rider, one of the rankers, barely old enough to be a soldier. He lay on his back on the road. Only the fletched end of the quarrel that had gone through his chest was visible. Even as Quaeryt watched, before he could do anything, the young man tried to open his mouth, then shuddered, and was still.

Quaeryt glanced around, not knowing which way to go, and was about to follow first squad when he heard hoofs. He turned his head, wincing, to see a squad leader he didn’t know riding up, followed by a full squad.

“Scholar, sir?”

“They had crossbows. The lead squads went after them.” What else could he say?

“Yes, sir. We know.” The squad leader rode closer. “You’re bleeding, sir. There’s a fair amount on you. Best you hold a cloth or something against the wound.” He frowned. “What…?”

“Crossbow quarrel. I managed to get it out.” Quaeryt fumbled and took out the clean kerchief he hadn’t even used, wadded it, then eased it inside the rents in his jacket and brown shirt. The off-white cloth began to turn pink. Quaeryt put more pressure on it.

“That’s it. Just stay here. We’ve cleared out this area, and it won’t be long before the captain is back.” He turned in the saddle. “Guylart, you and Curyn strap Zaen onto his mount.”

Quaeryt relinquished the reins of the other mount to the ranker who rode up. Then he concentrated on trying to stop the bleeding from his shoulder. He seemed to have some success, because the kerchief wasn’t getting bloodier, and blood wasn’t seeping out from the edges. He almost didn’t notice when Meinyt returned.

“How are you doing, scholar?”

“I’m surviving, I think. The bolt wasn’t too deep, and I got it out without ripping myself up any more. I’ve got most of the bleeding stopped.”

The captain frowned. “You got it out alone?”

“Yes, sir.” Quaeryt blinked. A wave of dizziness passed over him. “What happened?”

“There were five of them in the trees,” said Meinyt. “Each one had two crossbows. There were riders, too, but they didn’t stay around.”

“Did you catch any of them?” Quaeryt continued to hold the cloth against the wound.

“We got three of the bowmen. Two of them are dead. One’s in worse shape than you are.” Meinyt glanced back down the lane.

“You need to do what you need to do, Captain,” Quaeryt said.

“You’ll have to go back with the other wounded and half of fifth squad. We need to follow the survivors. Can you ride all the way back to Boralieu?”

“I think so,” said Quaeryt, although the throbbing in his shoulder worried him. The wound had felt better before he’d flooded it with clear spirits. So had his head. Yet he knew that the spirits helped. He also knew that sometimes they didn’t help enough.

But the shield he’d raised had helped.

“Good. Best of fortune.” Meinyt turned his mount.

“The rest of the wounded are back this way, sir,” offered the squad leader. “But before you start back, we need to get a field dressing on that wound. Otherwise, you’ll bleed out.”

Quaeryt winced as he eased the mare around. The ride back was likely to be far longer than the ride out had been. Far longer.