Frozen Prospects (21 page)

A'vril
nodded. "Of course, but as I understand the realities of the
situation, we've already stripped the Capital and stronger villages
nearly bare in an effort to cover the food shipments and help
ensure that the Guadel walking circuit are more protected."

Ja'dir
waved away the concern with a casualness that betrayed his almost
complete lack of understanding. "So we pull the necessary men
from somewhere else. The parties searching for the bandits' base of
operations have been completely useless. Reduce the number and size
of those groups."

This
time it was Jo'sep who looked ready to lose his temper, but he was
saved from saying something brash by the fact that Javin slammed his
fist down on the gray stone table. "That's suicide. If we do
that we completely give over the offensive and the bandits will be
free to continue to pick targets of opportunity until they've
completely wiped us out."

Jo'sep
and Garth both shot Javin looks of gratitude, and Va'ma nodded.
"He's right, finding those Powers-blasted bandits is our only
hope of bringing this to a successful conclusion."

The
argument raged for nearly half a cycle before On'li stood, and after
being recognized by A'vril, began laying out a plan.
They
aren't going to like this. None of them are really going to like
it, but it's the only way to come up with additional bodies who have
even a chance of doing us some good.

##

Va'del
was more than a little surprised when a messenger tracked him down
and delivered a note requesting he come by On'li's rooms.
Then
again, nobody else has arrived at class yet today, not even the
instructor, so something must be going on.

After
stopping a number of people for directions, the teenager finally
found himself standing before the appropriate corridor.

A
clear 'come in' answered his questioning clap. Va'del entered to
find On'li reading through a report.

"Please
sit down."

"Yes,
Guadel On'li."

"We
need to talk."

Did
I do something wrong? Did Jain get caught sneaking back into the
dormitories?

Va'del
felt his insides tense up as he realized that there was a much more
obvious reason for the Guadel to have to talk to him.
They're
pulling me from the classes. They finally made a decision, and I
won't ever be sponsored.

"Don't
look at me like your world is about to end, boy. You haven't done
anything wrong that I know about, and you aren't being barred from
attending classes. You are, however, about to be put into some very
difficult circumstances."

The
relief that he wasn't about to be banned from classes was enough to
offset any worry about what the future might hold, and Va'del waited
expectantly for On'li to continue.

"I've
been talking to Jo'sep, and he thinks you've probably figured out
much of what is going on based on the coursework you've been given
in his class the last month or so. If that is the case you won't be
surprised to find out that the bandits are pressing us quite
severely."

Va'del
nodded cautiously, unsure why the Guadel would go to all the effort
of trying to keep the fact secret from the younger candidates only
to have On'li tell him now.

"We
just got a report that Black Rock Village was attacked. In addition
to a fairly large cache of gemstones, the village also lost half
their guardsmen and most of their food. The Council has had to come
up with ways to reinforce the villages without pulling people away
from the search for the bandits' base of operations. It's vital
that we find them."

On'li
paused just long enough for Va'del to nod in understanding, and then
continued.

"Part
of those reinforcements are coming from the Guadel and guardsmen who
normally teach full time. Parts of the Council will take over
guarding the caravans going to the nearest villages, which will free
up additional manpower. Since there aren't going to be any teachers
here for you youngsters to learn from, you'll all be going out to
the various villages to double as a kind of improvised guard until
we can root out these villains and thin out the uncommon swarms of
bag'ligs currently running around up here. Then we can bring you
all back and things can more or less return to normal."

It
all made sense, and in fact Va'del couldn't help but wonder why
something similar hadn't been done previously, but it didn't account
for the 'difficult circumstances' On'li had mentioned, and the
teenager couldn't help the trace of puzzlement he felt make its way
to his face as he nodded.

"The
difficulty comes in that you're being fostered out with a pair of
Guadel who would like nothing more than to see you fail."

On'li
sighed and rubbed her temples as if fighting a headache. "This
whole plan of cleaning out the Capital like this to reinforce the
villages was our idea, and certain people on the Council are worried
that our stars will rise too high if the plan works, so this is
their way of trying to set things up so that there is a brake on us
later. We tried to fight the decision, but they pushed it through
because they are sure that you'll give them cause to throw you out
of the training programs. Your failure will then reflect negatively
on us, preventing any kind of new power bloc on the Council from
forming. It's not fair for you to be treated as a pawn in the
political intrigues some on the Council seem to love so much, but
there is nothing else Javin and I can do at this point. The
survival of the People has to come before even the needs of our
Bloodline."

Javin
and Mar'li both appeared from the other room and each gave Va'del a
smile that bolstered his spirits somewhat as On'li continued. "All
that means to you is that you have to be very careful. You'll be
going through Black Rock. Those are still members of the People out
there, but they're going to be scared. They may very well try to
blame you and those with you for what happened, but you absolutely
have to make sure that you don't do anything to make relations
worse."

"Yes,
Councilor. I'll do my best."

Satisfied
that Va'del was taking her seriously enough, On'li waved him to his
feet and out the door. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning.
I'll have someone drop by later to see what additional cold-weather
gear you'll need. Get packed, and then stay out from underfoot.
Everyone is going to be scrambling to get ready, and more than a few
tempers are going to be strained."

Va'del
nodded, and then paused at the privacy corner. "What will
happen to all of the Daughters?"

"That
hasn't been decided yet. Most of them have no real experience
traveling in the snow, but there is no doubt but they'd be useful
out among the villagers if we have more casualties."

His
real question still unanswered, Va'del turned once again to leave
when Mar'li spoke up. "She'll do what she can to see that Jain
is stationed in the same village as you if they do go, Va'del."

On'li
snorted, but it wasn't an unkind sound. "She's right, and I
shouldn't let myself get quite so caught up in the doom and gloom.
I know that you're fond of each other and I'll do what I can. Just
make sure you both behave."

##

Va'del
rubbed sleep out of his eyes and checked over Hungry and Sleepy
again. Both of the gurra had been happy to see him despite their
long-suffering disappointment that he hadn't brought them some kind
of treat.

Stable
master Callan had conscripted Va'del as soon as he'd arrived and put
him to work harnessing up the two gurra while the rest of the party
filtered into the bustling stables.

Working
out of habits developed while on the trail with I'rone, Va'del
quickly harnessed both animals and then tied his many small packs to
Sleepy. As he finished, someone stopped by and left another pile of
packs, but he knew better than to tie them to Hungry.
Jasmin
always said knowing where you'd put every piece of your gear could
save your life. "No Guadel worth his oaths lets someone they
don't know extremely well pack his things or tie them to his
gurra."

By
the time Va'del had double-checked both gurra, and Callan had been
by with a rare word of praise for the job he'd just done, the rest
of the Guadel seemed to have arrived.

A
weathered, old Guadel waved Va'del over and presented him to another
pair of Guadel who looked roughly as old as Javin and On'li.

"You'll
be Va'del?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Good,
I'm Si'mon. This is Guadel Cindi and Guadel Oh'scir. You'll be
under their direction for as long as we are away from the Capital.
Unless you have an order otherwise from me as the Caravan Master,
you do exactly what they tell you."

Va'del
nodded as he tried to unobtrusively examine the pair On'li had
warned him would be trying to ensure that he never got the chance to
become a candidate.

Si'mon
smiled. "Good boy, I'm told you've been out on the snow
before. Keep your head on and you'll do just fine."

Guadel
Cindi sniffed delicately, as if she were too polite to say what she
really thought about her young charge. On such a large woman,
managing a delicate sniff was a fairly impressive feat.

Oh'scir
smiled absentmindedly at Va'del as he rubbed the top of his bald
head, and then looked around. "We're supposed to have someone
else traveling with us. I'm not sure why she isn't here yet. What
was her name? June, maybe?"

Cindi
shot her husband a long-suffering look. "Jain. Her name was
Jain. She probably overslept, which means we'll get to leave her
behind. The whole caravan can hardly wait for one truant teenager."

Va'del's
momentary elation at finding he was going to be able to travel
with Jain was washed away by worry that she wouldn't arrive in time.

He
debated trying to sneak away to find Jain, but quickly discarded the
idea. His odds of making it back in time were dismal and if he was
late, Cindi would no doubt jump at the excuse to leave him behind.

Jain
arrived a few seconds later, out of breath and barely recognizable
under the many layers of clothing she was wearing.

"Child,
you shouldn't put your coat on until you are almost ready to go
outside. Otherwise your body gets used to not having to work as
hard to stay warm, and you'll freeze once you're out in the cold."
Oh'scir made the statement in a much more kindly manner than his
wife probably would have, but Jain still looked crestfallen as she
started half-heartedly pawing at the fastenings on her coat.

As
soon as both of the Guadel had turned away, Va'del stepped forward
and undid the fastenings with practised ease. As he helped Jain out
of the coat and the heavy wool overshirt she'd been wearing, he
whispered to her. "It's okay. Pretty much everyone makes that
mistake their first time out. We need to try and make sure that you
don't get a chance to sweat though. Gurra wool does a pretty good
job of drawing moisture away from your skin, but anytime you start
feeling hot you need to open up your coat or do something similar to
cool down a little. Otherwise sometimes it cools against your skin
and steals your body heat."

Jain
nodded. "There is just so much I don't know. I'm not used to
feeling quite so useless."

Va'del
patted Jain on the arm, and then took the last pack she'd brought
with her and looked over at the pile next to Hungry. "These
others are yours, right?"

"Yes."

Jain
looked back and forth between Va'del and the two Guadel who were
conversing with some of their peers.

"I'm
so scared. I didn't think it would come to this; things must be
worse than we thought."

"It
will be okay. The odds are we won't see a single bandit, and that the
cold will be our only real enemy. Hungry and Sleepy here both
took good care of me the first time I was outside. Stick close to
them and they'll do the same for you. Now let's get everything tied
to a harness."

##

The
caravan made very poor time the first day. The cold journey was
brutal for the old and young alike. Va'del's daily weapons training
sessions had helped keep him fit, but even so he had muscles that
were burning from unaccustomed usage by the time the Caravan Master
called a halt for the day.

Poor
Jain, she's got to be in even worse shape, but she's kept plugging
on, regardless.

From
his position at the tail of their little party, it was obvious to
Va'del that Cindi was struggling as much or more than Jain, but he
found it hard to be very sympathetic toward the older woman.

Cindi
had used every single rest pause to find something wrong with
Va'del. Everything from the amount of slack on Sleepy's lead rope
to the way his coat had been fastened had come under condemnation
at some point. Watching Jain get steadily slower and more
exhausted, it had been all Va'del had been able to do not to snap
back at Cindi that she needed to shift her 'kindly' oversight to
Jain, who actually needed the help to ensure she didn't end up with
a bad case of frostbite, or worse.

Va'del
rubbed the soft brown wool on Sleepy's head while waiting for the
front of the caravan to make its way into the cave that would
shelter them for the night. Jain suddenly started to collapse, and
only the fact that he was standing so close allowed Va'del to catch
her before she hit the ground.

Taking
both lead ropes in his left hand, Va'del wrapped his other arm
around Jain's tiny waist and helped her stagger past a pair of
Guadel busy setting out glow spheres, heat spheres and the other
worked gemstones that would help make the cave habitable for the
night.

Va'del
lowered Jain to the floor and looked up to see Cindi glaring at him.
Jain followed his gaze and patted his hand. "I'll be fine, go
take care of the gurra."