Scholar: A Novel in the Imager Portfolio (22 page)

After he returned to the Ecoliae and stabled and groomed the mare, Quaeryt washed off the sweat of the day, reminding himself that he needed to purchase more scholars’ garments on Lundi.

That evening, with little better to do and hoping to learn more, in one way or another, Quaeryt decided to take in services at the anomen next to the Ecoliae. He had to admit that he was not especially inclined to the worship of anything, particularly a deity as vaguely defined as the Nameless, although from what he had read about the Duodean practices in Caenen, the Nameless seemed far more acceptable, especially with regard to the precepts presented by the choristers.

The midharvest sun was almost touching the hills to the west when Quaeryt walked up the last part of the packed clay and dirt path from the Ecoliae and reached the old yellow-brick archway leading into the anomen. The doors were of antique oak, but recently oiled and in seemingly good repair. The interior was dim, lit only by four wall lanterns of polished brass, two on each side of the meeting hall, a space not quite twenty yards long and about ten wide. The walls were plastered smooth and had been recently whitewashed, but held no decoration or adornment, in keeping with the strict precepts of Rholan.

Quaeryt stood to the south side, halfway back from the sanctuary area, from where he watched as close to thirty students filed into the anomen, led by a scholar whom he did not recognize. Quaeryt picked out both Syndar and Lankyt, although neither appeared to notice him. By the time the chorister stepped to the front of the anomen, in addition to the students, there were close to twenty scholars present, of various ages, but he did not see either Chardyn or Sarastyn. He did see Zarxes and a silver-haired scholar who matched the description Chardyn had provided of Phaeryn.

Despite his short and wavy brown hair, the chorister of the anomen looked old and frail, with the hint of sagging jowls, and high cheekbones that accentuated the gauntness of his face. His wordless invocation warbled and wobbled painfully, so much so that Quaeryt had to conceal a wince.

Thankfully, when the chorister offered the greeting, his voice was stronger. “We gather together in the spirit of the Nameless and to affirm the quest for goodness and mercy in all that we do.”

Quaeryt did not sing the opening hymn, something about “the unspoken Namelessness of glory,” a song he had never heard.

After that was the confession, which sounded different when spoken in the Tellan of Tilbor. “We name not You, for Naming presumes, and we presume not upon the creator of all that was, is, and will be. We pray not to You for ourselves, nor ask from You favor or recognition, for such asks You to favor us over others who are also Yours. We confess that we risk in all times the sins of presumptuous pride. We acknowledge that the very names we bear symbolize those sins, for we strive too often to raise our names and ourselves above others, to insist that our small achievements have meaning. Let us never forget that we are less than nothing against Your Nameless magnificence and that we must respect all others, in celebration and deference to You who cannot be named or known, only respected and worshipped.”

Quaeryt did chime in with the chorus of “In peace and harmony.”

He added a pair of coppers to the offertory basket passed among the worshippers and then watched as the chorister ascended to the pulpit for the homily.

“Good evening.”

“Good evening,” came the murmured reply.

“Under the Nameless all evenings are good, even those that seem less than marvelous.…” The chorister paused and cleared his throat, looking out over the small congregation for a long moment before continuing. “Those of you who are young and strong … you say that you are different from those who came before you, because you see them as older. You do not see them as they were when you were young or even unborn, when they were young and strong. But if you are fortunate, you in time will grow old, and those who follow you will in turn claim that they know better because they are young and strong. This insistence that you are right because you are young and strong is but another manifestation of Naming. You place your appearance above the consideration of what is right and just. Because men and women are often weak in spirit, it falls to those who rule to enforce what is right through strength. Yet because this is so, many claim that might makes right. That is an argument of the Namer. All virtues require the support of strength, but to claim those virtues are only virtues because they are supported by strength is error indeed.…”

Quaeryt couldn’t help but think about what the ancient chorister was saying. How did a ruler convey virtue beyond the strength with which it was necessarily enforced? How much did people respond to righteousness itself and how much to force? How could the two best be balanced?

As Quaeryt pondered those questions, he noted that Zarxes had turned and looked across those scholars attending and had paused in his glances to take in Quaeryt.

Quaeryt kept a pleasant smile on his face, but ignored the scrutiny, as if it were perfectly normal for the scholar princeps to ascertain which scholars and students were attending anomen, which, in fact, it doubtless was.

After the benediction, before anyone looked in his direction, Quaeryt raised a concealment shield and eased toward the tall silver-haired figure that he thought was Phaeryn, following him and Zarxes as the two walked down the rutted path from the anomen toward the brick lane leading back to the Ecoliae.

Neither scholar spoke until they were well away from the anomen and seemingly alone. Even then, Zarxes glanced back through the fading glow of twilight before he spoke.

Close as he was, Quaeryt had difficulty catching all the words.

“… you see the visiting scholar?”

“… can’t say that I did … haven’t met him … might recall … only your description … think he’s truly a scholar?”

“He is, most definitely.… That might pose a problem…”

“Oh?”

“Kellear sent a message the other day … rumors that Lord Bhayar is sending a scholar assistant to the princeps … couldn’t find out his name. About some things, Straesyr is closemouthed … worse than Rescalyn, and the governor has little love of us…”

“Even after…?”

“He’s not to be trusted … used as we can, but not trusted.”

“It could be a trap for Kellear. Did you warn him?”

“I’m not about to send messages to him. If he comes to see me, I’ll tell him.”

“When was the last time he came to see you?”

“Almost a year ago. That’s his choice.”

Quaeryt tried to fix that name in his memory—Kellear.

Phaeryn did not reply immediately, but finally asked, “You think this visiting scholar—what’s his name—might be the one?”

“He gave his name as Quaeryt.”

“… can’t be his real name…”

“… hardly think so.… Yet he spent several glasses this afternoon getting Sarastyn to talk about the history he said he was here to write about … some overheard what he asked, and his questions were detailed … also delivered letters to two students…”

“… must be handled with care…”

“… always … but … either way … it would be for the best. He has coin.”

“When did he say he would be leaving?”

“A week…”

“Have Chardyn or someone get him to give a day where everyone can hear…”

“I’d thought something like that…”

“Good. What about the plans to deal with Fhaedyrk?”

“… he’s wily … last man we sent drowned…”

“… proving to be a real problem … suggest underpaying tariffs to the governor?”

“… as much as Rescalyn visits them all?”

“… have to do something. Oh … Can you persuade Cedryk to wait for payment for the lambs?”

“He’ll wait another week … not that much longer…”

Quaeryt let the two slip farther ahead, if slowly, while watching his steps up the paved lane to the Ecoliae. He’d had a feeling about why he’d been given a large, comfortable, and comparatively isolated chamber, but it wasn’t pleasant to have such a feeling even partly confirmed.

28

While Quaeryt rose before fifth glass on Lundi so that he could observe the students—and Chardyn—at Sansang practice, he raised a concealment shield before he left his chamber and moved as silently as possible down the stairs, which creaked only once or twice under his weight, and out onto the section of the porch overlooking the green. As he watched in the grayish light before sunrise, he could see that Sansang definitely had its roots in nonbladed combat. That suggested that the discipline had grown out of resistance to the Khanars and the High Holders of Tilbor, since he suspected, as was generally the case across all of Lydar, the use of blades longer than the middle finger was most likely forbidden to all except those of high position or their armsmen.

The moves that Chardyn drilled into the students initially involved largely the upper body, but after two quints, the students picked up half-staffs that looked to be slightly less than two yards in length. Chardyn appeared particularly impressive, but Quaeryt had hardly expected anything else.

As the students finished and began to disperse, Quaeryt slipped away to check on the mare. When he entered the stable, he glanced around. Seeing no one, he released the concealment shield. The stable was large enough to hold a dozen mounts in regular stalls, and there were two larger stalls. Each of the larger stalls held a dray horse, but of the dozen other stalls, only six held mounts. By comparison, the stable at the Scholarium Solum held but two drays and two other mounts for occasional use by the senior scholars.

Then, too, he reflected, several mounts might belong to students with wealthy parents. Still …

He shrugged. There was no way of telling.

After walking through the stable, studying it, and finding nothing obviously untoward, except a pair of identical saddles with twin scabbards for blades like a sabre, Quaeryt left and walked back to the main building. The dining hall opened at sixth glass, and he made his way through the double doors at a quint past the glass. Before he could seat himself, a rotund older scholar stepped toward him, a man with a slightly angular face and smooth skin that might have belonged to a child, in contrast to the thatch of dull gray hair above the penetrating bright green eyes.

“Scholar Quaeryt?”

“Yes?” Quaeryt smiled politely.

“I’m Nalakyn, the preceptor of students. I had heard that you have come from Solis. I presume you studied at the Scholarium there?”

“I did.”

“I was hoping that I could persuade you to talk to the students about Solis and about the government of Lord Bhayar.”

“Talking about Solis would be easy, but I know very little more about the government of Lord Bhayar than any other scholar in Solis.”

“That is far more than do any of us, and it would be of great value to the students. If you would…?”

Quaeryt offered what he hoped was a helpless smile. “With that understanding, I will offer what I can. Later this morning?”

“Eighth glass would be most appreciated. In the student assembly hall on the west end of the building.”

“I will be there.”

“I thank you and look forward to hearing what you have to say.” Nalakyn nodded and smiled happily before stepping back.

As Quaeryt turned, he wondered,
Did Chardyn or Zarxes put Nalakyn up to that?

From a table across the hall, Chardyn half-stood and beckoned. Quaeryt raised his hand in acknowledgment and walked toward the end of the table where Chardyn sat, accompanied by a younger scholar.

Chardyn smiled knowingly as he approached. “I might have been mistaken, Scholar Quaeryt, but I don’t believe I saw you when we went through our exercises and practice this morning.”

Quaeryt offered an embarrassed laugh. “Alas, for all my good intentions, I overslept. Perhaps tomorrow…”

“It will be just as early tomorrow.” Chardyn nodded in the direction of the dark-haired scholar. “This is Alkiabys. He is training to be my assistant.”

“I’m pleased to meet you. Are you also a scholar of Sansang?”

“Yes, sir. I am not half so proficient as Scholar Chardyn.”

“It takes time and practice to become good at anything,” rejoined Quaeryt as he slipped into the chair across the table from Chardyn.

“You must have expertise in many fields, sir,” offered Alkiabys.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to indulge my love of history.”

“Yet few would look at you and see a historian,” suggested Chardyn. “You look more like an armsman or an officer.”

“I did flee the scholars for a time and served as a ship’s apprentice quartermaster. That convinced me that being a scholar was much to be preferred.”
Especially for an imager who didn’t want to be noticed.
Quaeryt poured a mug of the too-strong tea served at the Ecoliae, then took a small swallow.

“How did that convince you?” asked Chardyn, his voice soft.

“By showing me that knowledge is to be preferred over strength and adventure.”

Chardyn nodded. “Still … knowledge alone seldom suffices. Not when facing great force.”

“Nothing alone suffices,” replied Quaeryt, serving himself several of the flatcakes from a platter put on the table by a student server. He poured a thin berry syrup over the cakes and began to eat, wishing that the syrup happened to be sweeter.

After a time, Quaeryt paused from eating. “By the way, as I told Scholar Princeps Zarxes on Samedi, I need to obtain more garments to replace those lost in my travels. He had said you had a marvelous tailor…” Quaeryt let the words hang.

“Naxim is quite good. His shop is on the lower level on the east side. I imagine he will be there soon, if he is not already. Did Nalakyn manage to find you?”

“He did indeed.”

“Excellent. I would have hated for you to leave before talking to our students. Whenever they can hear from a scholar who has traveled far and wide it is most beneficial.”

“You would seem to be such a scholar yourself,” observed Quaeryt.

“My travels have been largely in the library, except, of course, for a brief time when I served the Khanar.”

“Might I ask which Khanar?”