Disclaimer: I don't own Valdemar, Heralds, or any of Misty's most excellent work. This is for fun not profit, please God don't sue I don't have the cash. This is my take on several things, including Heralds, bushido, and Karse. What I know I learned in Karate, don't get offended if I'm twisting it to my own malicious, evil ends.
Thanks: MOM I love you. Tony-o: I know you hate me calling you that, live with it Miss Sharp: for putting up with me
SukiThey settled into a routine. Hoshi and Suki woke at the dawn bell. Hoshi went to the salle, helped by Suki, and started with the beginners. Liam had decided that it would be more beneficial if she started fresh with new people than try to re-teach advanced students. They made quite a pair - Hoshi with her Sai and Suki with her halberd.
The mornings were devoted to classes; history administration, law and tactics for Hoshi and reading, writing, arithmetic, and orienteering for Suki. The afternoons Suki went to the salle again to teach, while Hoshi went to the Council and Circle meetings with the Lord Marshal and Herald Murdock. It was a pretty good life.
The only area she was woefully deficient, much to Hoshi's chagrin, was riding. After the disastrous incident with Donni and her test, Hoshi was completely inept where equestrianism was concerned. There was speculation, particularly among those who studied Gifts and their applications, that her foresight was actually the problem. She was so used to knowing what would happen, just before it happened, that when she hit something where it wouldn't work, like a Companion, she was completely clueless.
Suki could ride, very well as a matter of fact, and enjoyed it tremendously. Donni was more than cooperative in allowing her to ride the Companion although strictly speaking Companions didn't usually bear anyone but their Chosen.
"Suki !"
" Hai"
"Where are the notes from last council meeting?"
" In the desk, where they always are."'
"No they're not"
"Yes they are"
"No they're not"
"Yes" she pulled them out of the desk "they are"
"Oh"
"Are you alright, sensei?"
"Fine"
"Really? You seem a little… distracted "
"Shut up Suki, just shut up"
"Talk" Suki sat on the desk, on top of the papers.
"It's this stupid Evendim thing" Hoshi sighed and pushed away from the desk.
"What about it?"
"You know the villages are being torched, right?"
"Hai"
"We can't figure out by whom or why."
"Can't you just see when it will happen?"
"No"
"No?"
"Not a thing."
"Something blocks you?"
"I don't know what it is, there's no kind of mind-magic that can block Foresight. Nothing can block it as far as the Dean and the Circle are concerned. I just can't see."
"That's… troubling"
"Yes, "she agreed wearily "That's very troubling"
Murdock
Herald Murdock, Lord Marshal's Herald and senior speaker for the Heraldic Circle, was in a bit of a bind. There was something funny going on just beyond Sweetsprings, on the Karsite border, and no one could figure out what it was.
The Farseers couldn't see past Sweetsprings, the Mindspeakers couldn't speak past Sweetsprings, the Fetchers couldn't fetch past Sweetsprings, and, above all, Hoshi couldn't see into the future of Sweetsprings. Nothing at all was getting through. There was something going on just past the border and the only way they could get information was the old fashioned way: through spies. That was the easy part. The Holderkin, who lived just past the border into Karse, were not happy at all with their overlords. They would turncoat quickly and supply information readily enough. Unfortunately, the Karsites knew this, and tried to keep as much as possible from the Holderkin as they could. All Murdock could get out of them was that there were a large number of Karsite troops sitting there doing nothing. Hopefully, they were doing nothing.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the same darned-blast thing that blocked Hoshi from Sweetsprings was torching cities on the Evindim lakeshore for no apparent reason. The two were obviously related, because of the same lack of information available to the Heraldic gifts.
It was the first time in Murdock's experience that a lack of information was information, in and of itself. He wasn't too thrilled with the experience.
The fastest they could get troops to the Karsite border sectors was three weeks, two if they pushed the beasts to foundering. There was a massive amount of manpower involved, but he was reluctant to remove troops from one border, the Evendim lakeshore, to bolster the other border, Karsite sectors one and two, especially if both were being attacked simultaneously. It was an old-fashioned pickle, damned if he did, damned if he didn't. If only he knew when and where everything would hit the fan, he could plan for it. He might as well wish the Karsite swords into plowshares while he was at it.
Albright
Albright Sol Arum was Lord Captain Commander of the Army of the Son of the Sun. He did not earn this exalted position by falling prey to the twin prongs of politics or stupidity. He had very little patience with fools, idiots, or anyone who'd get in his way. Including priests especially priests, perhaps, in fact, exclusively priests. The higher rank they held, the more power they wielded and the less cooperative they became. However, to question the orders of any red robe mage or higher, was to ask for excommunication and execution in Sun City with the fires.
He was, for the moment, stuck with three of the highest rank black robe priests in Karse. They were doing him the 'favor' of holding off the gifts of the demon riders so he could settle his troops, and their plans, without interruption. For this ' gift' he was forced to lug about three full shrines to Vikandis Sunlord, all solid gold and silver with encrusted jewels, provide the every sadistic whim of the Black robes and their entourage, and make almost hourly reports on the stages of progress to His Holiness the Son of the Sun. It was enough to make any military man a pacifist.
The only upside was the demon riders complete lack of knowledge of the entire operation. The idiot Holderkin were kept incomplete ignorance, encouraged by the occasional burning, and totally unreliable information. A Black robe was also shielding the sea pirates he'd hired, they wouldn't be thwarted or exposed for the ruse they were. The Valdemarans wouldn't pull troops off a border they knew was being attacked to a border where they thought they might be attacked. There was no logic in it, nor was there any logic in attacking in the winter. The roads would be blocked, the weather would be horrible, and the supplies would be unavailable. Or so they thought.
He had everything planned down to the smallest detail. The Black robes would drop the shield on the pirates at the last possible minute and the pirates would attack. Faced with a war on two fronts the idiot demon riders would try to cover all of the affected areas, thus spreading themselves too thin. They'd realize the attack on the lake was a hoax just as he marched in with ten thousand of Karse's finest shock troopers. With any luck he could push as far as the capital within two months, perhaps less, and by that time it would be the prime of the fighting season to siege the demon riders city.
It was brilliant, daring, unexpected and completely safe. The only possible problem was the dropping of the shield. Karse would still be covered, but the pirates wouldn't have the protection from the demon riders. There would be a week of lag time as the pirates attacked, but the Karsites waited. By the time the Karsite shield dropped, there was no possible way the demon riders could get the army to both places. Split, the army would take at least two weeks to get to the Karsite border. By that time he'd be a week's march into Valdemar and on the move.
It was a perfect plan. Even with the flaming Black robes to get in his way.
Hardin
Hardin was not an easily excited individual. Nor was he easily surprised. As a matter of fact, he was considered to be the mildest, most even-tempered member of his family. As King, it was an asset. However, when he walked into his private bedroom and found a demonic black clad figure with several deadly type weapons, even he became incensed. He screamed, jumped a meter into the air, and ran for the nearest door. Which was blocked by another black figure. The first walked up to him and pointed a knife at his throat.
"You're dead."
It was Hoshi. He almost fainted in relief. The other figure pulled off the black hood to reveal Suki, who plopped gracefully on the bed and began trimming her nails with the razor sharp dagger.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing? You scared me half to death."
"How was I able to get in here?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"Your security is pathetic. I could have killed you, stolen all of the contents of your desk, and gotten away without anyone ever sounding the alarm."
"And that gives you the right to be in here and scare the bloody crap out of me?"
"Until I can't get in here, yes."
"Fine, take care of security. Just warn me next time, will you?"
"No. You need to learn how to deal with an assassin without screaming like a girl and running into the arms of your killers."
"And just who the hell are you to be ordering me around?"
"I'm the Lord Marshal's Herald. Or at least I will be. It's my job to make sure you stay alive. I won't shirk my duty, even if you don't like it. Be prepared."
And prepared he became. Hoshi was serious. Every person, right down to the servants, was logged in and out of the palace grounds. The ornamental ironworks were removed and replace by smooth stonework's, they were less easy for an assassin to climb. Patrols were increased, the length and area that each guardsmen patrolled changed also.
She jumped him on a semi-regular basis. Sometimes with a friend, a guardsmen, or another Herald. He learned, oh you bet he learned. Quickly too.