It was barely past noon when the four companions returned to the Red Gryphon. All agreed that there was little point in staying much longer in Nota.
"After all, the best clue we have to helping Elia is to go to Meribia and look up Lenia Carras," Morhault pointed out. "If she can't help, then there are other professors, and it's only a short hop to Vane from there. We might not even need to go to Vane; Black Rose Street has the greatest concentration of magicians outside the Magic City and maintains strong ties to the Guild."
"That's true," Edric agreed.
Elia and Tabren had been talking together quietly for much of the walk back from the Garrison, and now Elia stepped forward, looking nervous.
"Morhault," she said, "I know it isn't really my place to ask, but it's obvious from what Nathane and Jyrian said that you have a bad reputation because of something you did in the past. Tabren says there are even songs about you calling you 'Morhault the Fallen' like Jyrian did, but if I've ever heard them I don't remember, and they're all he knows. So, we were hoping that you'd tell us the truth of this Stadius Zone war. I know we don't have the right--" She broke off, blushing faintly.
"No," Morhault replied, shaking his head. "After the way the two of you jumped to my defense, you do have the right to ask what you were defending."
He glanced from the inn foyer into the dining room, which was crowded with patrons eating lunch.
"If you don't mind, though, I'd prefer to do it upstairs. It's a very personal story, and I'd like to limit the audience."
They went up to the large room shared by the three males. Tabren flopped irreverently on one of the beds, while Elia and Edric seated themselves at the small table. Morhault didn't sit, but leaned against the wall next to the room's one window, which put the left side of his face in shadow.
"How much do you know about Stadius Zone politics?" It wasn't a classic like "Once upon a time," but it got the ball rolling.
"The south-central portion is controlled by the Prairie Tribe; it's largely open grassland. The west and north strips have a number of towns, of which Lyton is the most important," Edric answered. "Trade runs north to Nota, as well as off the west coast by sea around the south end of the Marius Zone, or by land west through Meryod. Tamur Pass links the eastern and western sections of the arable land, and also is the only functional route through the mountains to the Prairie, which makes it a major trade bottleneck."
"Right. They say that centuries ago, Lyton and Tamur were only small towns and nothing else was more than a village, but since the Madoria Plains are now settled land instead of being part of the barren Frontier, more and more trade is flowing through the Stadius Zone and it's become the thriving area it is today." Morhault paused, then added, "Pardon the digression, but in terms of their effect on Lunar today, the Madoria Plains are probably the most important part of the world. Their existence drives most of the economic and political change of the past three centuries."
"Yay, us," said Tabren.
"First math and now history," was Edric's take. "You really did have quite the education, Morhault."
"Hush," Elia told them. "I want to hear everything."
Morhault folded his arms across his chest.
"As you might guess, Tamur is kind of a stress point for the Stadius Zone. It's the only viable way for the Prairie Tribe to sell their goods, and the only way for them to import anything from outside. Well, twelve years ago was a very bad year for the Prairie. I won't go so far as to say 'famine,' but things weren't pretty, and they needed support badly. The problem was, the Prairie Tribe couldn't produce its normal trade goods because of the drought, and so couldn't pay their debts. Much of that wasn't a problem--it's called charity for a reason, after all, and many Stadius Zone residents were more than happy to help. The problem was that Tamur is so rooted in trade, it started to suffer from the backflow, and then Notan and Meribian merchant interests got into the act. The long and short of it is, within ten years the Prairie Tribe and an alliance led by Tamur were at each other's throats." He glanced at Edric. "Have you ever seen a Prairie warrior's reaction to someone who won't pay an honor-debt?"
Edric winced.
"I see you have."
"So how did the Lion Knights get involved?" Tabren asked.
"The two sides wanted to avert an all-out war, but neither was willing to back down from their position for a variety of reasons. They called in the Lion Knights as an outside faction to mediate."
"Why them?" asked Elia.
"They could be trusted to be completely disinterested," Morhault said. "As an independent order of knights, they have no economic interests at all, and being based in the Marius Zone no political interest in the outcome. Likewise, they have a reputation for upholding the ideals of justice, loyalty, and truth across Lunar. They lend their troops to military campaigns when innocent people are menaced by bandits, warlords, or the occasional goblin horde, and individual Lion Knights ride the countryside performing deeds of knight-errantry."
"You speak well of them, even though you turned against them?" Elia asked.
Morhault shrugged.
"I'm trying to get the story right. And it's true, there's a lot that I admire about the Lion Knights even now. The order recognized that Lunar needed heroes, without a Dragonmaster, and they hope that as an organized group working together they can fill the shoes of that one extraordinary person. They do a lot of good."
"But not this time?"
Morhault sighed.
"With the Knights acting as the voice of reason and general moral authority, a settlement was reached. The details of future trade obligations, reparations for past actions, the status of existing trade contracts, military authority within Tamur Pass, and all those details were finally hammered out. The centerpiece of the agreement as a show of good faith and a symbolic association was that the daughter of the Mayor of Tamur would marry the son of the chief of the Prairie Tribe, to unite the two sides as kin."
"That sounds like a good plan," said Tabren. "It's a lot harder to go to war with the father of your grandchildren or something like that."
Morhault nodded.
"Especially with a family-based people like the Prairie Tribe. It would have prevented a bloody war and laid the groundwork for peaceful resolution of future disputes."
"But...you were the cause of it coming to naught?" Elia asked.
Another slow nod.
"My duty was to lead Marysann's escort from Tamur to Pao, where the ceremony was to take place. An escort was needed, too, because the Forest of Illusion lies between Tamur and the Prairie. On the way through, we were attacked by a large band."
"That's it?" Tabren said, confused. "You failed to protect the lady and that's made you some kind of storybook villain?"
"No, that might have meant disgrace and shame, but hardly the kind of reputation I've gotten. In fact, my soldiers and I defeated the attackers and captured the leader. That's when the trouble started."
"So far, this isn't too off from the version I heard," Edric said.
"We had thought the attack was ordered by one or more of the parties opposing the settlement--foreign merchant factions who didn't want an economic link formed in the south, Prairie family heads with blood in their eye, Tamurites who'd lost loved ones in Prairie raids, the lost goes on. As it turned out, though, Marysann was in love and the leader of the attackers was her would-be fiance."
"Did the Lion Knights know about this?"
"I doubt it. Marysann's father had more or less heaved him out of Tamur when the topic of 'alliance-marriage' came up. The boy had gathered up a band of his friends and the cheapest paid fighters he could find in a last, desperate attempt to free the lady so they could elope together."
Edric snorted.
"More heart than wit. Typical of the young."
Morhault didn't quite flinch, but it was close enough for Elia to notice and smile.
"Marysann wanted to go with him, didn't she?"
"That's right. She and Tarrent were in love. It was her parents who pushed her into the marriage. Words like 'duty,' 'honor,' and 'the good of Tamur' were tossed around liberally."
"So you let the two of them run off together," Edric groaned.
"And before the Knights could even finish trying me for violating my oaths of knighthood, Tamur and the Prairie were at war. It took them nearly three years to stop killing people, and instead of a fair peace agreed upon by compromise, the terms were extorted at swordpoint and therefore resented. To most people's way of thinking, it was my fault."
Edric frowned thoughtfully.
"I don't like that. It sounds wrong, somehow."
"That's what I thought at the time. I didn't see why a young couple's happiness should be sacrificed for politics. I thought that if the two sides really wanted peace then they wouldn't fight, and if they didn't want peace then who was I to stop them?"
He sighed.
"Does that excuse me from the consequences of my actions?" he asked. "I thought that the immediate good of two people was better than the hypothetical future good of many. But when you get down to it, I was the last person in the whole of the Stadius Zone that mattered whose head wasn't clouded by love, hurt pride, distrust, or vengeance. And do you know what's worst of all? What really bothers me at two in the morning on some nights?"
He struck his fist against the wall.
"I don't even know what happened! For all I know, I stepped aside and let thousands die for the sake of a momentary infatuation between two romance-minded teenagers."
"You don't believe that," Edric said.
Morhault raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"You may be afraid it's true, but you still think you made the right choice. You'd have eaten yourself alive by now if you didn't. The kind of man who's done what he has for Tabren and Elia couldn't live with himself otherwise."
"If it's any use, I agree with you," Elia said. "What kind of lasting peace could come from a forced marriage?"
From the look on Tabren's face it was clear that he, too, supported Morhault's choice. The renegade noted, though, that despite his kind words, Edric had not joined in that agreement. The healer might have approved of Morhault's general character, but not of his specific action. Well, it was hardly an uncommon view. Even those who agreed with Morhault in general principle often thought his sworn oaths to the Knights should have taken precedence.
When you came down to it, he realized with some surprise, this was the first time in ten years where his past was the topic of conversation and not only was the prevailing view that he'd been right--astonishing in and of itself--but that no one was accusing him of villainy. Likewise, every one of them seemed to believe that his account was accurate; no one was trying to look for hidden agendas or secret plots. He couldn't remember the last time when he'd been out-and-out accepted in any company.
He smiled wryly.
"It seems I am among rare friends."
Edric returned the smile.
"An ex-army man who spends his time healing, a boy out to live his dreams of adventure, and a magician without her past. I'd call that rare."
"I'd say it's one step from being a carnival act," Tabren said with an amused grin.
