Part 25 (1/2)
The white-haired lord smiled, almost sheepishly. ”I cannot. But I know that pure gold is softer than coin gold, and the gold you created-”
”I gathered it. I didn't create it.”
”That gold must be pure,” Jecks finished.
”It's pure. Will people take it? As golds, I mean?”
Jecks smiled again. ”They will take it, and they will save those of your coins they can, and spend the coins of others. Yours are worth more, especially to merchants. If you had paid the Ranuans with such, you would have had even less difficulty.”
”I don't know...” answered Anna musingly. Then she looked up. ”Now... we can see about going to Ebra.” Anna handed the list to Jecks. ”If you would read this...see if there's anything on it we shouldn't do... and what I might have forgotten.” She paused, then added, ”and please sit down. We also need to talk about Lord Dannel.”
”I feared he would be less than pleased.”
”He is less than pleased. I'll try to draft some sort of response to say he's honorable, but Lysara's not going to be his consort.”
”You will not reconsider? Many of the northern lords...”
Anna met Jecks' eyes. ”If I give in to him, then where do I stop?”
”That may be, my lady, but he is a man who never relinquishes a grudge.”
The Regent nodded. ”I understand, but even if Nelmor agrees to a match between Tiersen and Lysara, Dannel would never accept it. Besides, he has to know that Defalk won't survive if things don't change.” She looked at the rest of the scrolls. ”Even here, things keep piling up.”
Jecks laughed ruefully. ”So said my daughter.”
Anna picked up the second scroll. ”The rivermen...again...”
37 Anna, Himar, and Jecks stood beside the scrying pool in the domed sorcery work building outside the hold at Loiseau. At midday, even despite the thick stone walls, the room was hot and still, and a trace steamy. The two men watched as Anna finished tuning the lutar.
”First,” she said, ”we need to find out where Bertmynn's forces are.” She glanced at Himar, then at Jecks. ”And what they're doing.”
”They must be nearing Elahwa,” hazarded Jecks, ”if they are not already there and attacking the city. They were loading the barges weeks ago.”
”Not all leaders move so quickly as the Regent,” countered Himar. 'The roads may not be so good, either.”
”We'll have to see, won't we?” Anna took a moment to clear her throat, then hummed, trying to ensure she was ready, before beginning the spell and concentrating on the idea of Bertmynn's forces.
Bertmynn, Bertmynn, Lord I'd see, show his forces now to me....
Upon the silvered waters of the scrying pool s.h.i.+mmered an image. Lancers rode along a muddy road through what appeared to be a drizzle. On the right side was a levee or a riverbank, Anna thought, and low field to the left. Behind the group of lancers in the image slogged several score of arms-men, and behind them was another dark ma.s.s that might have been more lancers. The rain was heavy, because large puddles had formed on the road, and the horses' hoofs were churning up large globules of mud.
Anna glanced at Jecks and Himar. Jecks was frowning, pulling at his clean-shaven chin, while Himar continued to study the image, his mustache drooping as he also fingered his chin and watched the image in the pool.
Anna could feel the perspiration building on her forehead, and, rather than hold the image longer, sang the release couplet. The water of the pool rippled slightly, then returned to its transparent state.
”They have not reached Elahwa,” said Himar slowly.
”They have to be close with that rain,” replied Anna.
Both men frowned.
”Most of Ebra is higher ground, except the plains near Elahwa or the Sand Hills, and they're south and west of Elaliwa. So there's going to be more rain near the coast or at the piedmont.” She still remembered Sandy's lectures on the effect of orographic factors on rainfall distribution.
That got another set of blank looks.
”Never mind. They're not at Elahwa, but they're close. So it will take us...
what? Ten days, two weeks, to reach Elahwa? Or three weeks?”
”I do not see how it could be done in less than two weeks,” offered Himar.
”You do not wish to be tired when you reach Bertmynn's forces,” Jecks pointed out.
Anna nodded slowly. We'll see about who's tired. ”We also have to see what young Rabyn is doing.”
She lifted the lutar again.Rabyn,. Rabyn, Lord who'd be, show his grandsire's second lancers now to me and his own lancers and armsmen strong....
This time the image split, the first showing Mansuuran lancers riding along a road that could have been anywhere, with golden fields to one side, and what looked to be vineyards on the other, bounded with stone walls. The second image was that of a parade ground overlooking a city ... with what looked to be the ocean in the background.
”I would guess that to be Esaria,” suggested Jecks. ”No other city in Neserea is close to an ocean or even a large lake.”
”It is Esaria,” confirmed Himar. ”There is the Prophet's Palace, the west wing... there.” The overcaptain gestured.
Anna sang the release couplet, then set down the lutar and blotted her steaming forehead, wondering if the sorcery effectively heated the pool and boosted the humidity in the room. She touched a finger to the water in the pool and nodded.
It was almost warm enough to bathe in. Another spell soon, and it would be.
”So the second set of lancers are on their way somewhere, probably to Elioch or our borders, but Rabyn's own troops haven't left Esaria.” Anna nodded. ”Let's take a look at Hadrenn.” She lifted the lutar and sang once more.
Hadreun, Hadrenn, Synek's lord for me, show him clear and close to me....
The silvered waters of the pool showed a heavyset brown-haired man in a stained green tunic. The left side of his face bore a long reddish scar. Hadrenn stood in a courtyard, apparently resting from practicing or sparring with a blade. The smile he offered the other figure was open, yet rueful.
Anna concentrated, trying to remember Hadrenn's face, before she released the image. ”I'll keep checking on him from time to time.”
”You trust him not? Yet you would consider going into Ebra?” asked Jecks.
”I trust him more than most people I haven't met, but it can't hurt.” She looked toward Himar. ”We leave tomorrow. You'll need to send a messenger to Hadrenn telling him we're coming.”
”Tomorrow?”
”Why not? If Rabyn decides to attack, it's better we go into Ebra before he starts to move his troops. It's farther from Esaria to Elioch than from Mencha to Elahwa, isn't it?”
”Maybe three or four days farther, a week if they do not make haste.”