chapter sixteen

With a wave to the rest of her company, Handa Ward took her leave and turned her steed down Panal Lane, accompanied now only by Sergeant Benda. The sun did not gleam from her armor, instead choosing to hide itself away behind ruddy clouds. It would soon be noon, and already this day held a score's worth of sorrow and lament. It was fitting that light itself would be dimmed today. The General had just buried her finest soldier, and scarcely knew why.

"What do you think of Colonel Jain, Ali?"

Alois Benda responded immediately. "He is a very capable leader, madame. It has not been my pleasure to serve under his command, but from afar a soldier might see much and hear more. If but half is sooth, he is both formidable and honor-bound." Benda gleamed, sun or no, still full of radiance and gratitude at her recent promotion and assignment to the General Enderin's personal guard.

The houses on this street were modest enough, with small yards, little gardens and decorative fences. Handa doubted any other members of the council, Higher or Lower, lived in this neighborhood. "He is arrogant, Sergeant, but not having the pleasure of trying to command him yourself, I can allow you would not know this. Otherwise, you speak sooth enough. Do you think he could command a war, and lead our people to victory?"

Benda did not respond quite so readily. "Were there to be war, and he to find himself in command," the sergeant chose her words carefully, "arrogance might serve him well enough. He seems otherwise worthy and committed to our cause."

The lane was empty, the packed dirt hard and dull under the feet of their mounts. Handa spotted the house, a pair of soldiers standing more or less at arms inside the small yard's little gate. "Worthy enough, I agree, Sergeant. He is to be my successor, if my will has any bearing, should I fail."

Benda's eyes flashed from beneath her helm as they slowed, the gate near. The guards saluted, and one moved quickly to open the gate. "Surely you do not intend to fail, General. Surely you have a score or more summers of command--"

The General fairly hissed as they dismounted, lowering her voice for Benda's ears alone. "I am old and quite honestly, very confused. Within this house dwells the most powerful being in Sid. I go now to tell her she is a coward and dishonorable, and already, there is little warmth lost between us. Do not think all of the dangers and many deaths a soldier might face are on the field of battle. That much this morning's funeral at least should have taught you. Attend! Colonel Jain is my choice, and should anything happen to me, you are to bear that wish to the High Council." Over Benda's shoulder the tower of the Triad loomed. "That they might inform the First General and his fellows directly of my choice."

The sergeant looked alarmed. "I cannot believe you are in danger here, madame."

Handa beamed and tethered her steed. "Perhaps I grow paranoid in my old age, Ali. Now stay here and attend. Speak with the guards. I shall call if you are needed." The General entered the yard, dismissing these councilor's guards and their shoddy salutes with a sharp one of her own, and walked down a path between flowering rows to the doorstep. With practiced ease, she removed her helmet, slid off her gauntlet, dropped the latter into the former, tucked both under her arm, and knocked upon the door. One long grey hair would not be tied down like the rest, and fluttered across her face in the late morning breeze. Handa resisted the urge to swat at it and waited.

The door opened and a woman only a few summers younger than the General peered from within. "Ah, General Ward. Have you come to arrest my daughter?"

Handa blinked and furrowed her brow. "Good morning, madame. Why should I come to arrest your daughter?"

The woman looked tired but her eyes burned brightly. "For treason! For failing to attend the funeral of a young boy she was far too forward with. In her mother's own house, no less. For brining dishonor upon her family!" She held the door open and beckoned Handa into her home. "Have you irons, Madame General? I would be happy to clap her and bring her forth, if I can rouse her from her bed." The woman turned her eyes inward for a moment. "If I can find which bed she is hiding herself in."

Handa entered and allowed this curious woman to take her helm and cloak. "Madame, I am not a thor, and I am not here to enforce any particular moral code. I am afraid you shall have to attend to the affairs of your household without me."

The woman, obviously the councilor's mother, turned away to hang Handa's effects on a rack in the corner. "Typical. You military types, respected General, always miss the little things that matter most. No doubt it comes fairly from your penchant to focus on grand schemes and pour over large maps. Very well, I shall scour the house for my little bed-hopper of a daughter."

Handa stood alone in what appeared to be the dining room. She had not been invited to sit, and doubted the wood of these chairs to support her in full armor besides. Presently there was a knock and the murmur of voices from the far end of the dim hall before her. A few heartbeats passed, then the mother returned 'round the bend at the far end of the hall, scowling. "The councilor will be with you just as soon as she locates her clothes." She then passed through a door to the right, presumably the kitchen, or at least Handa hoped it was the kitchen. She could use refreshment.

Lida Vianna emerged from the dark of the hallway. Perhaps her mother was not the dour jokester after all. The councilor wore only a robe, hair wild about her head as one just risen from bed. Only her eyes looked awake. "General Ward, please be seated. What brings you to my home on this day?"

Handa declined. "Thank you councilor, but I will stand. Your furniture might not withstand my weight just now." Handa sighed. She was too old to contend wills with this firebrand. "What kept you in your home on this of all days?"

Lida held the general with her eyes. Then she broke the tension with a careless scratch of her head and a blink. "Can I offer you refreshment, general?"

"Adra, if you have it. Thank you." Handa offered a minor courtesy as the councilor headed for the kitchen door. Alone for a moment, she might have taken in the decor of the house, but her eyes were turned inward in deep thought as she stood in place. Her hips were aching again. She'd been in full ceremonial armor since before dawn this morning. Then she realized with a start that she was no longer alone. A naked man stood at the near end of the hall and was pointing at her with an impossible grin.

"Old crone!" Of all the... Handa's mind reeled. Surely this little Krysli did not, had not... yet there he was. Bed-hopper indeed. With the wild, strange man. On this very day! Had she no shame at all? This Tristar, this charlatan certainly did not. He walked as if clothed to the table and took a seat, still smiling widely. "What brings you to the princess's house? I fear we overslept. Please pardon my bare skin; I typically do not dress until after I've broken fast when there is no Learning to attend."

There appeared to be no point lecturing a grinning idiot about propriety, so Handa merely rocked on her heels and tried to look elsewhere. Now indeed, she took in the decor. It was homey, modest, but tasteful. There were paintings of Lida, her mother, and, Handa squinted now--her child. A lovely little blessed. She resisted the urge to go and turn the child's painting around and hide her innocent eyes from such lewd display.

The kitchen door opened soundlessly as Lida took in the tableau with unfathomable eyes. "Tristar. Good morning. Please dress yourself and," she nodded toward Handa, "await me in your room. Then we will break fast together. Soon, I assure you."

The grinning charlatan stood, took one of the two cups of adra from Lida with his own awkward courtesy, and flashed a smile at Handa before presenting her with his backside as he left the room and walked down the long hallway. Handa averted her eyes. Really. "So, councilor, whose drink did he just walk away with?"

Lida was unperturbed. "Mine of course. I do not mind." She approached and handed over the steaming mug. "Do enjoy, general. It is fresh and homemade."

"I thank you for this." Handa took a hesitant sip and discovered it was indeed homemade, and quite refreshing. Lida took a seat across the table from her, and the general stole back her composure with a longer draught. She hoped to speak without undue insult. "Garth named you Closest. I bore witness. I wonder how you have chosen to honor his passing today." The general's eyes betrayed her as they darted to the empty hall and back. Silly old Handa, such imprudence could get one's flesh roasted from one's bones. Let it be. But she could not, without some accounting from this little Krysli and her suspect choices.

"Pray, General Enderin, come to your point."

Handa knew goading when she encountered it, but her temper knew irreverence even better. "Half the citadel turned out for this hero's funeral, and all eyes searched in vain for a glimpse of she whom popular gossip had long named his Closest. His chosen. Yet she was nowhere to be found. She did not perform the Dedication." Handa's eyes turned darkly again to the hallway. "Your choices this morning have cost you much among your dear admirers, Vianna."

The Krysli was on her feet, leaing across the table at her with eyes that fairly glowed. "And did it ever occur to you--to any of you--that to attend might have cost me more? Do not question me and my motives on such a personal matter in my own household! I'll not have it, general or no!"

The general locked the councilor's fiery eyes with her own and did not flinch. Heartbeats passed in silent struggle. Handa imagined the room was growing hot.

Thankfully, Lida's mother broke the standoff like a cold rain, her voice ringing clear and sharp from the far side of the kitchen door. "Oh, just arrest her and do us all a favor, general! And take that... that flapper Tristar with you!"

The heat dissipated with a small smile from Lida as she again took her seat. "You've met my mother?"

Handa allowed herself to relax as well with another sip from her fragrant mug. "She brews a most excellent cup of adra."

Having no cup of her own to occupy herself with, Lida stared at her hands on the table and simply nodded. Handa thought of the upcoming debates and troubles that would occupy them both, tried to massage her hip with her free hand, and tried to be diplomatic. "Councilor, forgive my improprieties, and I shall endeavor to begin anew. Garth Vencher was Near to me, and at the least, Near to you as well. This I can rightly see, now. I know you grieve as well. So we are bound, and find something in common even if it is in the sharing of a dark hour. In sooth, I need to speak to you plainly, with your permission."

Politicians were bound by laws from the beginning of time itself to look favorably upon gestures of diplomacy and good will. It was how they managed to acheive their ends, by seizing the goodwill of others and layering their own wishes upon it to be returned twice as sweetly. Lida had been a councilor long enough to learn this, Handa was sure. The Krysli looked up with softened eyes and regarded the general without hostility.

"Your burden is great, General Ward. Forgive my outburst, thinking only of my own. If you would like, perhaps we could walk in my garden and allow the scent of flowered beds and sight of colored petals to lift both our spirits, that we might speak more plainly as you wish."

General Ward was nothing if not gracious in victory. She offered a courtesy to the councilor. "You honor me. I would very much like that, Lida--a pleasant walk and easy conversation. In sooth, that is my sole purpose here. Urgent matters lie before us both, yet let us not surrender our goodwill in the face of it. Let us share thoughts as peers, even as you suggest."

Lida smiled with a courtesy of her own and beckoned the General to follow her through the kitchen door, pausing only to don a white cloak from the nearby rack. As they passed through the kitchen, Lida's mother grumbled something as she busied herself shuffling items in her coldbox. Lida stifled a grin and led Handa through a side door that opened onto a white-graveled path flanked by pink and yellow blooms. They followed this to a shaded bench in the small backyard. Handa did her best to hide her relief upon seeing that is was made of stone and quite sturdy. At last she sat and was able to offer some solace to the suffering of her joints. A gasp of relief escaped unbidden. The general did her best to muffle this behind her mug.

The councilor sat beside her, smoothed her cloak about her lap, and spoke to the last days of summer. "How does your son fare, General?"

Handa lowered her adra. "He fares well, thank you." Well indeed, and safe as one might be in such tumultuous times. "He has moved his family southward to Egren, to ply his trade under the tutelage of a master, a craftsman named Burol." As always when thinking of her only child and his choices, Handa smiled. "He has eschewed the listing and a military career, yet has registered with the militia. He says that he will fight only if necessary. Like your Krysli, he favors defense over aggressive posturing. In this he pleases his mother, if not his general."

Lida was musing into the late morning air. "They remain Blessed all our lives, our children, do they not?"

Handa simply nodded. More at ease, and certainly more comfortable now that she was seated, she brought the conversation back around, with an eye to the proven efficacy of diplomacy. "Again, I apologize for any unseemly implications I might have made in haste, a guest speaking out of turn only just passed through the door of your home. Please understand, you do not ache alone, and not all of us are possessed of your considerable grace and composure, councilor."

Lida smiled, eyes still given to the breeze and it's distant source. "It is well, general. All is not as it appears this morn. Of course," her eyes returned to the here, the now, and her bare feet, "I know well the seeming improprieties born of my absence at Garth's funeral. I know also how things might have appeared at first glance when you entered my household. I pray you might honor my own mourning with a second glance. Consider, and allow that I might..." Her voice trailed off, stolen by the light wind. "That I might manage my grief without resorting to unseemly, rash actions. Tristar is ever hard to keep clothed, and my mother misunderstands." She permitted a small smile now. "Deliberately, I think."

The words sounded heartfelt, but this was a politician. Handa let it go. "You're mother asked that I clap you in irons and take you into custody." She sipped the warm adra. "Treason was her charge, I believe." It was time to put this young woman at her ease. Handa turned and offered a smile warm and eyes full of forgiveness, genuine enough. She felt this Krysli's pain, her vulnerability, and would withhold judgement for the nonce.

"We were both Near to a great man. Let that be our guide in quest for common ground, you and I who have rarely seen eye to eye. That is in the past. Now let us honor him and speak plainly without malice or judgement."

Lida returned her gaze with an answering expression of seeming sincerity. "Speak, then, General Ward, and I will do my best to hear you kindly. What brings you to my house?"

Handa set down her adra, remnants of its steaming warmth rising between them in the cool air. Placing both of her hands on her thighs, she sighed inwardly, exhaled, and began. "It is sadly fitting to me, that the passing of our greatest soldier would mark the coming of dark days. We, the entrusted caretakers and defenders of our nation are faced with a most complicated scenario, indeed, a true ballyroth. I fear you and your actions of late lie at the heart of it, at least in the minds of many of our elected officials both High and Low. I come today to take counsel with you, and labor as I am able to understand your will and ally it with my own, if I can. Understand, councilor, your very seat at the Council is in danger. I want to help you."

The councilor sighed and looked away again. "My secrets are no longer so, are they general? I know that Garth spoke with you of the attack outside of Bemer. Did you inform the High Council, or the First General, upon hearing it?"

"Not with any words that might mark you directly, councilor. Yet Garth's selvat will be questioned, and as soldiers of Siguard, will speak fully and without restraint, if I judge correctly. At least one member of that selvat might have loved Garth more than yourself, if you'll forgive my boldness. So yes, you will be questioned. It will likely not be pleasant, though such proceedings lie outside of my province. We need not dwell on it now if you'd prefer." Handa measured the young woman's response to this last, and waited.

"My province is the maintaining of safe passage for our citizens as my office is able. A ceremony at Bemer was to mark the beginning of the restoration of the great Southborne Way, the greater part of its length, as you know, marred and obstructed during our long war with the Demons below us. I was to go with normal security and craftsmen who serve my office to observe the occasion and oversee it's beginning. It was largely a formality. Bemer lies far from the truly devastated areas of the road, but would make a fair, if more symbolic, starting point for the project. Then came the news."

"Silva?"

Lida nodded. "Unexpected, that. Both the news and its bearer. He risked all to warn me, so taken had he become with our people and our cause. He eschewed the oaths and loyalties inherent in his office for my benefit, ultimately at the expense of his life. He was a friend, and may have saved my life." She paused for a deep breath. "I should have looked after him, after the attack. The way from Bemer is long enough, and the woods thick enough. I should have better repaid my debt."

"The Godiian ambassador and his guard were responsible for his safe-keeping, and the ambassador alone for the consequences of his actions. Not a councilor of Siguard. Be at peace on that account, at the least. There is more than enough else with which you should more rightly concern yourself."

"You are not a Krysli, general." Did her eyes flash just then? "But I thank you for that kindness." She sighed. "So I decided to meet this threat of abduction or base assassination with force rather than forego my mission. It was then that I made request of Colonel Jain for Garth's protection and aid in this matter." Lida turned to Handa. "You must know how I have argued long in the Council for diplomatic resolution to the quiet hostilities that lie between our nation and Godii. It was my wish that this woeful breach on the part of our Northern counterparts be kept secret, thinking the matter fully dealt with, rather than risk escalation of ill will. In this I may very well have been mistaken, and I will no doubt be taken to task by my colleagues for it. That and other... choices." Her eyes lowered. "Indeed, my seat, my very standing as a defender of this land is at risk. This I know, and I thank you for your restraint, General. You might easily look upon me simply as the foolish politician who stole Garth Vencher from you."

Handa thought that perhaps she might be moved more by such candor if her concerns did not weigh upon her with such urgency. "I look upon you as an appointed defender of our land who never wholly let go of her role as a Krysli. I see a capable, powerful woman who saw fit, whether in wisdom or folly, to make grave choices alone and without counsel which have come to shape the current state of affairs. I withhold judgement, as I said, in hopes that we can share thoughts and counsel now, today. But your counterparts in the Lower Council, and your masters in the Higher Council, even in the Triad itself, will not be given to such restraint, I fear. Already rumor flies among them that you behave as the kings of long ago, before the coming of Kamaas and his Proclamation, and the establishment of elected governance which followed. Forgive me, but I wish to understand you clearly if I may. On whose authority did you withhold knowledge of a foreigner, a stranger to our lands, from your peers? And who authorized your announcement at the recent Anniversary and Cord-signing celebration?"

Lida smiled in the face of all implication. "My own authority only, General. You know that."

Handa stood, trying to contain her exasperation. Her knees protested. "Why this one? He can scarcely clothe himself, and behaves in all ways like a child! Of all falsehood you might have spoken, why this one?"

The councilor, this Krysli, stood in her turn and walked a few paces into the neatly-trimmed lawn. She answered Handa with her back. "Because it was the only lie big enough to take root. I sought the preservation of Randle's anonymity, quite against his pride, and the continued service of the Krysli. The Savior of Siguard, the Father of the Krysli, if not a Magician, must be a figure shrouded in mystery. These were some of my reasons." She turned and offered a tiny smile. "There are others, but I would prefer not to speak of them today."

Handa shook her head. "And for all your labors, you failed. I'm sorry, councilor, but how else can the outcome be reckoned? Initial reports regarding the recent incident at the Godiian Embassy indicate that this Rider knew full well your Tristar was a deception. He took Magicians hostage, not this naked man from the wild."

Lida returned to the flagged stone surrounding the bench in a rush. "If I did not wholly succeed, surely I did not wholly fail, Handa Ward! Randle yet lives, and had he proceeded with his mad pride and revealed himeslf, you would have visited two funerals this day! "

The general stood firm. "And you would have failed equally to have attended his as well, I suspect. Very well. The ruse preserved the Magician's life, if nothing else. I will grant you that, and let us leave it for the moment. What of these Godiians and our dead hero? A ballyroth indeed, Lida Vianna! If only you had taken counsel and spoken openly of the attempt on your life." Without meaning to, Handa shook her head once more. It was all so maddening.

"You have counseled open war upon Godii for many summers now, Handa. Only the restraint and dictates of the Order of the Krysli have stood between you and a bloody rush for Graeme's Keep. You have counseled for control of the Krysli, thinking that then you might have a weapon mighty enough to tame Godii for once and all time. You have counseled that their mandate--our mandate--be reversed; no longer guardians who defend, but instruments of conquest and aggression. All this you have counseled, and Randle has only just managed to outweigh your designs in the collective mind of the Triad. We all know you have the First General's ear--"

"I have more than his ear, young lady! I have his confidence, and the confidence of many of our citizens and councilors! If only you had brought this matter to us at once, we could have finally overturned Randle's cautious defensive posturing and yes! Marched straight into the Godiian capital behind a column of irresistible fire! I have seen enough death!" It occured to Handa she was yelling. She took a breath and turned away from the Krysli's sparkling eyes. "I have seen enough death for a dozen lifetimes. I have seen enough war. One last march, a final battle to secure the peace. It could have been ours, but for your knowledge withheld."

"All the better I kept silent then. The Krysli are not, and never shall be aggressors. It is not our function. Randle's endless dictates are all quite specific on that point. And the Krysli answer only to Randle. No other. This was also by his design, to avoid any chance of the exact scenario you lusted after. An excuse to bloodshed. We defend, and protect the peace. We do not serve and risk war."

Handa grimaced. "Yes. Instead Garth lies buried, and we have two live Godiians and one dead one to contend with. This has all the makings of a prelude to war, only not on our terms. Now Siguard may stand perceived, wrongly or no, as the aggressor in Graeme's eyes. War and bloodshed may yet descend upon us all, despite your efforts and conceits, only now a war on the enemy's terms."

"There will be no war so long as the Krysli suffice."

"Then perhaps you have not heard, sleeping in and taking your rest as you like. The Magician's madness persists. All Krysli have deserted their posts. No more shifts have reported to the Northern Watch. They cling to their drooling master and worry after him uselessly. The Krysli have abandoned their leaguer."

Handa watched the First Krysli closely. Lida made no sign of surprise or wonder, yet seemingly had no answer. She had not known.

"Lida, I need your aid. Your nation, all of the Five Nations, now require your aid. Though your days as a councilor may be numbered, you are still the First Krysli. You must speak to your sisters. They are all that has remained to gainsay Graeme's ever-growing war machine, and now they are gone. Please, Lida, you must bring them to their senses." Handa paused to look upon the looming Tower of the Triad, took a deep breath, and finally said what she had come to say.

"You must replace Randle as the head of your order."