The White Dragon (65 page)

The one thing he remained convinced of, however, was that Mirabar's visions were leading him in the right direction. He needed her. He recognized that. And he didn't like leaving her in the company of Tansen, who had the potential to wield more influence over her than did anyone but Dar Herself.
 

The
shatai
, fortunately, was rather inept at handling women. But Cheylan had nonetheless been concerned by the sharp two-edged blade of Mirabar's anger at Tansen. Love tended to look so much like hatred. She was the sort of woman whose devotion, once fixed, would be steadfast. That was an advantage if Cheylan could win her soon, but a serious problem if he couldn't. She was too powerful, too important, for him to let another man have her—least of all Tansen, who learned too quickly, thought too clearly, and might even, it seemed, soon become a demi-god if the sea-born boy had his way.

No, Cheylan didn't like leaving Mirabar with Tansen. He especially didn't like the high-handed way Tansen had given him orders and sent him east again, barely bothering to conceal his real motivation: getting Cheylan away from Mirabar.

Cheylan might well have decided to refuse, had he not realized he had an important task to perform here. Anyone could deliver Tansen's messages to the Lironi about mutual support against the waterlords. But there was Semeon to consider—the red-haired fire-eyed child that he had once told Mirabar about, the one whom she and Tansen now wanted to protect. Cheylan knew he must deal with that. So he had come east again, as ordered.

And when he had done what he must, he meant to return to Mirabar's side and stay there. If Tansen caused trouble or got in the way...
 

Well, Cheylan could deal with that, too.

Zilar possessed perhaps the largest population in Sileria, outside of the country's four major coastal cities. It had too many people to displace, and it was too important to surrender to the enemy. It lay at the delta of two rivers, and it overlooked the coastal plains between Cavasar and Shaljir. Its citizens had sworn to oppose the Society, and now Tansen must show them how to do it.

The most important thing, of course, was to store water against the inevitable shortage which an offended waterlord would inflict without mercy. Many towns and villages did this every year, anyhow. But now they faced a bloodfeud with the Society. Moreover, the dry season was approaching. Ideally, Tansen should have started the war against the Society during the long rains; but this wasn't an ideal world. Josarian's loyalists couldn't wait until the long rains to defend the nation against the waterlords' bid for absolute power. Now Zilar—and the rest of Sileria—must begin preparing for a drought such as they had never known.

The Guardians could light rings of protective fire around Zilar's wells, troughs, fountains, water barrels, and water towers, thus shielding them from water magic. But they could do nothing to protect the Shaljir River, the town's primary source of water, from its two masters: Abidan and Liadon, the brothers whose assassins had attacked Tansen in the temple here.

Tansen assigned crews to siphon extra water off the Shaljir River as it flowed past Zilar, then he organized other crews to devise additional means to store the water. Every supplementary water source around Zilar—streams, springs, ponds—was examined by the Guardians. They determined whether or not it was ensorcelled and therefore dangerous. If it wasn't, they tried to devise ways to protect it from the waterlords.

It was unlikely that assassins would launch an all-out assault on such a large town. The waterlords had never used them as an army. They were ambush fighters, accustomed to working alone or in small groups. Their attack on Tansen in the Kintish temple evinced the sort of tactics he expected from them: stealth, disguise, surprise. They might, like the Outlookers, raze a few villages or commit a few massacres to set an example, to remind Silerians of the penalty for opposing the Society; but they would only do so in places where the population was small and weak. And unlike the Outlookers, Dar be thanked, they would only kill men—and any male children old enough to be counted as men.
 

Male children Zarien's age, perhaps.

The thought kept creeping back to distract Tansen from his work. He regretted leaving Zarien down at the riverside while he instructed people in the town itself on the principles of defense and security. However, since the sea-bound Lascari were familiar with the problems of water supply and storage, albeit in a totally different setting, the boy had become interested in the work at the river and chose to stay there.

"Outlookers and Valdani have always been easy to recognize," Tansen said now to the gathering of volunteers in Zilar's main square. "But assassins aren't, not if they choose to wear an ordinary man's clothing." To a trained fighter like Tansen or Najdan, there were clues—habits, posture, body language—which often gave away another of their kind. But it took time and experience to develop this instinctive recognition.

"In a small village, every stranger is noticeable. But a big and busy market town like Zilar is usually full of strangers. So your work," he explained to the crowd, "is to limit access to the town and determine the business of everyone coming and going. We'll work out a system today. Above all you must ensure that no assassins enter Zilar. Fortunately, that's easy."

"How can that be easy?" someone asked.

"Once you have control of access to Zilar, search every man who comes here." Tansen said, "If he's carrying a
shir
, he's an assassin."

"What if he doesn't want to be searched?"

"Tell him what you're looking for."
 

"And if he still doesn't want to be searched?"

"Then he's an assassin," said Tansen.

"And we know," someone else cried, "what to do with an assassin!"

They all shouted their agreement. Which was encouraging, Tansen thought, considering that they were all sober today.

However, hoarding water and keeping assassins out was, as Armian would have told him, merely defensive. In order for Zilar to be free, the Shaljir River would have to be free. That meant getting rid of the Abidan and Liadon. And killing waterlords was a lot harder than killing Valdani.

Experience had taught him that sorcery was the best weapon against sorcery, so he was counting on the Guardians. A few days after arriving here to celebrate Sileria's freedom from the Valdani, Tansen met with nearly a hundred Guardians in the old Kintish temple. He regretted that Mirabar had left Zilar, since she was held in great respect by her kind, but he could do this without her.

He mostly regretted that she had left with so many things still unresolved between them. It was another thought that kept distracting him.

Focus on the task at hand.

"Some of you," he said to the gathered Guardians, "will tell me that you're not warriors. And I'm afraid there's only one answer to that: Then you'll die."

He waited for their outraged protests to die down, then continued, "That's not my decision. That's the waterlords' decision. If you'd like, I'll be happy to send a message to Kiloran suggesting that since so many of you aren't fighters, he refrain from attacking you. What do you suppose his response will be?"

Some of them looked upset, others uneasy. The practical ones nodded their agreement. Those who had learned to fight during the rebellion urged the others to remember that their forebears, the Guardians who had ruled Sileria for centuries before the Conquest, had been a race of warriors as well as sorcerers.

"That's true," Tansen said, raising his voice to be heard above the others. "Mirabar has told me. And Daurion himself was a Guardian. Daurion, who ruled this island with a fist of iron in a velvet glove and who drove back the Moorlander invasions again and again." His gaze swept the crowd, vaguely wishing for a pair of fire-gold eyes among them; but she was on her way to Mount Niran. "Daurion, who was betrayed by Marjan."

"A thousand years of foreign domination was the curse of the waterlords!" proclaimed Ealian, an elderly Guardian. "Tansen's right! We must take back our nation!"

"How—by going up against the waterlords in combat?" someone else protested. "We can't defeat them in direct confrontation."

"If you can't, then who can?" Tansen demanded. "The Guardians possess the only power in Sileria that can challenge the waterlords' sorcery."

"Fire and water have competed for ascendancy since the time of Marjan," Ealian said. "It is time for one to vanquish the other!"

"And if they vanquish us?"
 

"Then that's your answer," said Tansen.

This brought an uneasy hush over the temple. Tansen let it engulf the Guardians for a moment before continuing, "You're the only group in Sileria with absolutely nothing left to lose. If the Society rules Sileria, then the waterlords will squeeze the
toreni
, the
shallaheen
, the lowlanders, the city-dwellers, and everyone else for everything they've got, and rule them through terror and bloodshed. But, after the initial massacres to punish everyone who opposed them, they'll let most of Sileria live."
 

He paused before stating the obvious. "But they won't let any of
you
live. If the Society wins this war, they'll hunt down and kill every last one of you, their ancient blood enemies. And forever after, they'll kill anyone born with the potential to become one of you." He let this sink in for a moment. "Does anyone here doubt it?"
 

No one did.

"Now you can retreat to the highest mountains, abandon your people, hide from the waterlords the way you've been hiding for centuries, and hope for the best," Tansen said. "Or you can take part in your fate, in Sileria's fate, and fight for your lives."

"We swore a bloodvow!" Ealian reminded the others.
 

"You are the Guardians of the Otherworld," Tansen added. "Blessed by Dar and sworn to serve Her will. Who will prepare the way for the new Yahrdan, if not you?" He saw his words affect them, saw fire enter eyes which in no way resembled Mirabar's.

 
But Ealian knew what would motivate them most: "Avenge the Firebringer!"

"Avenge Josarian!"

Leadership called for compromise, and war called for expedience. So Tansen urged them, "Avenge the Firebringer!"

A young woman rose to her feet. Typically
shallah
in appearance, with olive skin, brown eyes, and coarse black hair, she was not much older than Mirabar. And like Mirabar, she wore a Guardian broach made of copper. "I will fight," she said. "And I will shame any man who won't do what I am willing to do!"

Tansen decided he liked her. "What's your name?"

"Iyadar."

"Iyadar." He said with a grin, "Josarian might not have stayed a widower, if he had been lucky enough to meet you."

It wasn't true, of course. Josarian had never gotten over his wife's death, and he had also been the beloved of a very jealous volcano goddess; but the compliment pleased the young woman and influenced the Guardians, as Tansen had hoped.

"What must I do?" Iyadar asked.

Before Tansen could reply, the rest of the Guardians present began jumping to their feet with similar questions. He raised his arms to quiet them, then replied, "The first thing you must do is get rid of Abidan and Liadon."

"How?" Iyadar asked.

"I want all of you to start asking around town today to find out everything you can about them," Tansen instructed. "Where are their strongholds? How powerful is their sorcery? How many assassins do they have? What is the extent of their territory? What are their strengths, their weaknesses, and their habits?" He explained, "The servant always knows the master best. The people of Zilar have paid tribute to these two brothers for years and have lived under their influence for a long time. They know things about them which they don't even realize they know, things which they may have no idea are useful. So find out
everything
."

"And then?" Ealian asked.

"We'll meet again tomorrow and develop a plan. Then you will accompany me, along with any fighting men who volunteer, to implement our plan."
 

The first major assault on the Society had to be successful or Sileria would lose heart. The nation needed proof that the Society could be fought and beaten. And the Guardians needed to learn how to fight the waterlords rather than run from them.