I, Dacien

A Story by Onyx Tao

Copyright 2011

Released under the Creative Commons

Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License

Chapter Twelve: interlude II

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General Januisz sighed as he held up the blue pearl he'd picked out of the sack, which made him chair for this session. The other five generals nodded, surreptitiously looking to see if any of the others were collecting red pearls - four of them would beat the blue pearl for speaker. But that hadn't happened in years, and apparently wasn't going to happen tonight, either. Given that at least one other Ebon general would have to supply a pearl, it seemed unlikely unless Ebon collected them. And even if there was motive, which Januisz did not think there was (but one could never be quite sure), it would never do to expose internal Ebon arguments to the Pristine generals. He contemplated the blue pearl; sometimes being chair was an advantage, and sometimes ... it wasn't. He wondered which one this would be.

"Gentles," Januisz said. "By our agreement,Timas is present." Of course Timas was present; having the mage there to winnow truth was possibly the greatest time-saver they'd ever found. And, with the assurance that everyone else was speaking truly, it made unpleasant reports easier. And of course Timas was bound to obey them, so his testimony was reliable as well. It did occasionally trouble him that the hybrid was present while they discussed the most sensitive matters, but then ... that's where his presence was the most valuable.

"We have good, very good, reports. The Cresphontes operation was successful, although we took greater causalities than we expected. The Chelm operation ... did not. I propose we examine what happened in Lycaili first."

Nods, and then General Ladislas spoke. "Cas, why the casualties?"

"Not sure," General Casimir said. "The mage - Xavien, Lord Green - took over almost immediately as Regent, and closed down the palace, just like he did at House Green. My agent was under orders to depart as soon as he knew whether we'd succeeded in killing Cresphontes, so he didn't have much more information than that. I understand that Sandor has a longer-term agent in place, but I don't believe we've heard anything yet?"

Sandor answered the question. "No. There will be a full resport, but not until the new Patriarch is announced. I have heard, though, that their Regent has declared the identity a clan secret until the confirmation. We think he wants more mages in place to protect him. He sent out a call for Lords Winter and Fog to return immediately."

"We know this because ..." asked Wolachya.

"In the case of Fog, Xavien could contact him directly, he was just over a border in Ouroubouros. Their Lord of Bones was arranging for quite an escort. We have a copy of the dispatch Xavien wrote to Ianthos, informing him and ordering him home."

"Seems sound," Wolachya said approvingly.

"That's also how we know there were no survivors from our attack, among our commandos, I mean," Sandor said.

"Pity," said Andrei. "It seems that our commandos are encountering remarkably stiff resistance in Lycaili."

"Nowhere else," said Casimir. "Although we haven't sent them on any other missions since that House Green debacle."

"Yes, that. I have been thinking about that," said Andrei. "And I wonder ... it seems to me that a mindbender might explain what we know."

"Yes," said Januisz cautiously. "I have had the same thought. But whom?"

"Timas, did you mindbend Dusan and Oleg?"

"Yes to Dusan, no to Oleg."

"Who commanded this!" asked Sandor, in a sudden burst of anger.

"This council," answered Timas.

"We did no such thing," Sandor said, half-rising from his chair. "Explain!"

"I think," Januisz said, cutting off Sandor and motioning him to return to his seat, "that Timas is reporting Dusan's conversion to commando status as mindbending. Timas? Is that accurate?"

"Yes."

"Aside from that, have you ever been in Dusan's mind?"

"Yes."

"Under what circumstances?"

"To determine his loyalty to Scylla."

"But that was simply a matter of looking; you did not change or alter anything?"

"Yes."

"Clarify, yes to what, precisely?" continued Januisz calmly.

"Yes, I looked, and did not change or alter anything within Dusan's mind at any other time."

"Does that satisfy, General Sandor?"

The pristine general began to nod his agreement, and then stopped. "But you - Timas - you can detect another mindbender's touch, can you not?"

"Usually."

"So you could tell us if another touched Dusan."

"No."

"No? Why not?" asked General Wolachya.

"Preparing Dusan for his commando training would have obliterated any such traces," Timas said.

"Everything?" asked Wolachya dubiously.

"Yes."

"Well," said Casimir. "If we recover Oleg, perhaps his mind can be probed before we wipe it clear." He sighed. "A pity we were so quick to convert Dusan."

"I do not recall your arguing against it," Wolachya said quietly. "It is done. We must move on."

"But if it was not Timas, then who was it?" asked Andrei. "We know who the mindbenders are. What clan would benefit from doing that, and who might have done it?"

"That," said General Januisz, "is an excellent question and I propose to put it on the agenda for our next meeting. It will require research and thought." He looked around the table, and his gaze settled on General Andrei. "Since it is your question, perhaps you should take it?"

"Very well," said Andrei.

"Then we move on to Operation Chelm."

"No," objected General Ladislas. "Do we have any indication of who the next Lycaili Patriarch might be?"

"Yes," said General Januisz. "I have analyzed their council carefully. Zachiah and Hector are the favorites, but as we know, Hector is unavailable. And, unfortunately, a number of their seniors are dispersed, and will have no voice in the selection, and concentrates the pool. I would have chosen Hector as the most likely, but with him out of the running, Zachiah is the strongest, but the reduced selection pool could lead to Ur or ... they might even call on Michael. One of my staff suggests Osaze."

"Who?" asked General Casimir. "Osaze?"

"He's Aurum."

"Unsuitable, then," said Ladislas, clearly disturbed by the notion. "Whatever leads you to that idea?"

"It's just that ..." and Januisz paused. "One of my staff does not agree that Xavien called back Fog and Winter because he wanted their magic to reinforce their defenses, but because they selected a General not in Lycaili, but able to be recalled. Given that Winter will not return in time for the confirmation, that means it's a General attached to Fog - and that is Osaze. He's only Aurum, it's true, but he's highly regarded among all the Generals of Lycaili. And ... as to bloodline, I know it's ridiculous, but we are discussing Lycaili. Aurum is a high line, if not a ruling one."

"But ..." said Ladislas. "You do not think they would ..."

"No," said General Januisz, with a chuckle. "I do not. I only mention it to be clear just how thoroughly we have discussed it. I would put money on Zachiah, Ur, or Michael, and I consider Zachiah by far the likeliest selection."

"You did not discuss Xavien himself," Sandor said.

"Xavien is serving as Regent, and therefore disqualified. He is also closely related to Cresphontes, and they do not like to have the same family in power reign after reign," said Januisz promptly. "Besides which, he is their strongest mage. It takes him utterly out of the running."

"But he is their strongest choice," began Casimir, but General Januisz shook his head.

"No," Januisz said. "It is not possible. And ... forgive me," and he held up the blue pearl, "but I cannot allow us to be distracted onto this topic any further. It is entirely hypothetical. We will know in a week or so just who our opponent is, and we can decide how to quiet the situation then. Whoever it is will be anxious to settle this, and we can move on. Let us turn, then to the matter of Chelm, whom, I fear, we failed to arrest." Januisz schooled his face into disappointment. "General Sandor. Despite our assigning Timas to your team, it was not a general success."

"It was not," Sandor said. "We lost three commandos, did not take Chelm, but we did take the maybe-apprentice, Dacien, instead."

"Why did we fail to take Chelm?"

"Because Chelm is amazing," said Sandor morosely. "According to Timas, his mind was armored against mindwork - probably by Fog, that's his father, and he has the reflexes of a commando. His elevation to Grandmaster was ... far more deserved than we expected. Chelm can throw things in tempus."

"That's impossible," Casimir said.

"I saw it with my own eyes. He threw a knife - at me, I might add - and instead of dropping into normal time, it continued at Chelm's own speed - which must have easily been 30:1." Sandor shook head. "Remember, he stepped through the gate in normal time. He identified me - probably as the only pureblood, leaped to 30:1, and I was at perhaps 9:1."

"If the knife was at a differential of, what, 3:1, call it, then how did you avoid it?" asked Casimir, reasonably. "It must have been surprise that anyone could react that quickly."

General Sandor's face twitched, and he reached up, pulling down his shirt, revealing a bandage on his shoulder. "I cannot say if the knife lost time, or exactly how fast it was going, other than stating emphatically that it was in tempus, Chelm threw it, and I can only be glad his aim was less perfected than his tempus skill, although, since he hit me at a range of some eighty feet, his aim is exceptionally fine, I assure you." Sandor put his shirt back up. "I decided at that point Chelm was too dangerous a target or prisoner, and we switched to his supposed brother, the roan-hybrid."

"Supposed?"

"Teodor claims him as a son," Januisz said. "Although he appeared ... well, we have no record of his birth. He seems to have appeared, out of thin air, some six or seven months ago. Right after the House Green incident. He may have been at House Green, and Teodor picked him up there. Regardless, we have him."

"But?"

"According to Timas, he is not Lord Fog's apprentice, knows virtually nothing about ritual and certainly has no information on the mage-creation rituals. In short, useless."

"But he was thought to be a mage. Timas, you are sure?"

Timas nodded. "Yes."

"He is not merely latent, you said Chelm was latent, yes?"

"The roan-hybrid Dacien is not latent," Timas said. "Chelm was latent."

"Xarbydis!" swore Ladislas. "Then this is all for ... nothing." He looked up. "We should have waited. Until our information was better."

"Yes," agreed Januisz with a hint of impatience. "You were right, I was wrong. General Sandor was wrong." Januisz gestured over to Casimir. "General Casimir, wrong." He gestured at Andrei. "General Andrei, also wrong. You and General Wolachya were correct," and Januisz bowed to them, "we should have waited. Now that you've told us so, do you have any useful additions to this conversation? Although I imagine, if it please you, we could afford a few more minutes for you to gloat. Perhaps Wolachya would like a few words as well."

"Jan," said Wolachya, "please. Lad didn't mean that. He's upset at the situation, very justly so. He did not intend to question the council, I am sure. It was a difficult question, and your - our - decision, a joint decision, was to move sooner."

"Yes," said Ladislas. "I beg your forgiveness, General Januisz, for allowing my frustration to speak."

"So what do we do with the hybrid?" asked Sandor.

"Is it high-potential?" asked Wolachya.

"Convert him, you mean," said Sandor. "That would be something."

"What about the other two?" asked Casimir.

"The other two?" asked Sandor.

"Yes, we took a Blue, a pureblooded Blue, I might add, and a white," Casimir answered.

"Why?" said Sandor.

"They had just come from Xarbydis Highlands," Januisz pointed out. "The cleansing ritual requires a minimum of three."

"Ah," said Sandor. "Well then, convert them all," he said. "What else would we do?"

"Are they all suitable? Timas?"

"The roan hybrid and the Blue are high potential; the white is not," Timas reported.

"Who is the Blue?" asked Ladislas.

"Bryant," said Casimir. "It's unfortunate, of course," he added apologetically.

"I am uneasy at converting a pureblooded Blue. That one, at least, might be more valuable as a hostage," said Ladislas.

"Does anyone have any objections to disposing of the white? Timas can wipe him, and we'll sell him at Leviathan," said Januisz.

"Agreed," said Sandor, and a chorus of four more echoed in the chamber.

"Carried," said Januisz. "General Andrei, you can see to that."

"As you like," Andrei said. "But that still leaves the other two. I agree I'm uncomfortable with converting Bryant. A pureblooded Blue!"

"Free him, then?" asked Casimir. "It's unfortunate," the General repeated, "but I don't see any other good options. We can't sell a pureblood, even in Leviathan."

"Could we sell the roan hybrid?"

"We could," said Sandor, "but it's a bad idea. He's roan marque blanc. Very distinctive. I've never seen another. Word would get back to Lycaili about him, eventually."

"And that would be most unfortunate," said Casimir. "But I see no reason to let a high-potential hybrid go in any case. We need commandos, he'll do perfectly. Is there any serious disagreement?"

Januisz looked around the room. "Apparently not. So be it. Wolachya? I trust you have space in your training program."

"Many," said Wolachya with a grimace. "We have lost too many commandos in this."

"Then we need to start the program as soon as possible. How many candidates do we have waiting now?"

"Five, no, six, with the roan hybrid, I mean."

"And how many hybrids will reach sufficient maturity to enter the program over the next six months?"

"Hard to say," said Wolachya, "but probably another three. Eight is still small for a class, though. I'd rather have at least twelve. Eighteen would be better."

"I know it's unusual," broke in Ladislas, "but we might buy some from Leviathan. They'd be impure, of course, but we're just looking for high-potential, we needn't worry about their bloodline."

"If we were to convert Bryant," said Sandor, "that would be one less."

"A point," said Januisz. "General Wolachya, if you were to wait for enough candidates to reach maturity for a class of, say, twelve, how long would that be? And for eighteen?"

"At least a year and half, maybe two, to get up to twelve, assuming all of them turn out to be high-potential. I'm sure they will, they're all solid bloodlines, but odder things have happened and I want you to understand what I'm assuming. For eighteen, three years, maybe four." He sighed. "Or five. Iffier."

"We've waited that long before," Sandor said. "I hate the idea of bringing in mongrels."

"It's not like we're going to breed them," Ladislas said.

"I should hope not!" Sandor said. "But just having mongrels about ... no, I am opposed to such thing."

"We'd need to buy, what, six to make up a class of twelve, anyway. How much would that cost?" asked Casimir. "I'm sure we could afford it, but a transaction of that size might draw attention."

"The brokers will not advertise; that's not a big concern. Still, I don't have a good figure," said Andrei. "My agents do not frequent the markets in Leviathan all that often. I will make some quiet inquiries." He paused. "Perhaps ... we could arrange, through Leviathan, to sell Bryant. Wipe his mind, and let some family add new blood to their lineage, quietly."

"There's a good chance that would get back to Lycaili," warned Sandor. "I advise against it."

"But if the purchaser had reason to keep silent ..." said Andrei. "Surely, the risk would be minimal."

"Small, but still too great," Januisz said. "No. We must not compromise our Leviathan connections. We hardly need the money."

"No, it is the matter of his bloodline that concerns me. There are insufficient pureblooded Blues and Indigos that we should lightly remove one."

"We can breed him," said Casimir.

"Oh? To what?" asked Andrei. "Blue-pristine hybrids would be valuable, and that we could explore, by all means, but ... we have no Blue line left. Unless we were to buy a pureblood, and that is a rare thing to come to market, I assure you."

"Agreed," said Ladislas. "That is a good point. His bloodlines are rare, and we should respect them."

"It sounds as if no consensus can be reached on this point," Januisz said. "And I do not think we need to reach one immediately. I suggest we put the matter off. The white and roan-hybrid will be dealt with, and Bryant kept prisoner. Timas, you can keep him docile without risking any injury?"

"Yes."

"Good," said Wolachya. "Cleanse the roan-hybrid's mind, and take him to join the other candidates."

"I thought you weren't doing anything yet."

"We're running them through basic conditioning, mental and physical," Wolachya said. "It gives them a running start on the program, and the better conditioned they are, the easier the training will be."

"Just so," agreed Sandor. "There's no reason for delay."

Januisz nodded. "I think we all know what has to happen. My fellows, let us be about it."

Not one of them noticed the satisfied glint in Timas' eye. The enslaved hybrid mage was careful not to let it show.