Ch. 4 A hill of ants
Tremane sat on his throne bored with the afternoon audience. This wasn't his favorite thing to do.
Now that the throne had been finished he didn't even have the dubious excitement of wondering when the make shift throne he had been using would fall apart.
At one time his men had a running bet going about when it would happen.
As he shifted in his seat, Tremane wished there was something a little more exciting to deal with than the minor squabbles of his new couriers.
He laughed to himself. Just last year he would have given his left arm for the peace he had been grumbling about.
He glanced over at the ambassadors from Valdemar, they had been very helpful in setting up his court.
He sighed in regret once again as he thought of the past. He wished that he could undo what he had done in ignorance. He knew that he would never be fully welcomed by any of the alliance.
Sure they welcomed Hardorn into the alliance but he had alienated almost every leader of the allies when he had sent his assassin. It was only recently that he had felt any warmth at all in the messages sent from his allies.
His thoughts were rudely interrupted as he heard a shout from the entrance of the throne room.
His majordomo brought a man before him. At first the noble who had been giving him the latest complaints glared at the interruption but as soon as he got a good look at the man, he backed away.
His head was bandaged and he leaned heavily on the arm of his escort. The smell of smoke hung faintly in the air.
"Bandits" he said "they attacked our caravan". He slumped and the majordomo gestured for someone to bring him something to drink. He sputtered as the strong drink revived him.
"That's the third attack this month" one of the nobles shouted "we have to do something about it" another said.
"We've tried" his captain said "It's like they have magic, they always seem to know where we are. They always manage to avoid the traps we set for them" He grimaced "the few bandits we've been able to catch say that there's a new group, one that's well organized". "They haven't been able to tell us where they are though" he said.
Elspeth and her partner looked at each other. Tremane caught the look "Is there something I should know" he asked quietly enough that the men busy arguing didn't hear. They looked at each other again, then Elspeth shrugged and said "It looks like Foresight.
In Valdemar a person with that gift would probably have been chosen to be a Herald or he would have been neutralized by the Herald's with foresight".
Tremane frowned he still was uncomfortable with the concept of mindmagic though he had seen enough evidence the last two years to convince him it was real.
The courtiers quieted down as they realized that Tremane was speaking to the Alliance ambassadors. "Is there anything that we can do about the bandits if they have someone who has foresight" he asked Elspeth.
She sat for a moment thinking before she replied "Valdemar might be able to send some heralds with the gift, I would have to ask the queen". "When would you know" asked Tremane.
"Maybe a day or two, for something this important I can have Gwena ask Rolan. He can pass the request on" "But" she added "It would take any Herald sent at least a week to come".
"Please ask" Tremane said to her "Consider this a formal request". He nodded to his captain of guards "In the meantime continue to hunt these outlaws, who knows they may not actually have anyone with the gift".
His man saluted and went to pass on his orders. Tremane ended this session of court early and Elspeth and her partner Darkwind went to their rooms.
:Gwena, did you listen in on this session of court ?: Elspeth walked over to the nearest chair and sat as she waited for her reply. :Yes, I've already talked to Rolan and he said that he passed the message on to Caryo, now all we can do is wait for the answer: Elspeth nodded and relaxed, it was out her hands.
That evening Raver ran into his father's house breathless. It took a minute for him to catch his breath long enough to say anything.
The mayor looked worried at his state but waited to hear what he had to say. "They're coming, the Herald's I saw will be coming soon".
Lysander sat up, his eyes intent on Raver. "What did you see" he asked. "I can't see much more now, it's clouded from the other's. I just know they are coming soon".
Lysander frowned, he had come in the last two weeks to respect Raver's talent. "We have to stop raiding now".
"How will we eat"asked one of the young men lounging on chairs nearby. "I had meant to phase it out gradually as I was able to teach more of you how to live off the land, but now we don't have a choice.
They will be able to trap you with Raver's talent stopped". The mayor nodded "I never liked this raiding, it was not as bad when it was Ancar's men. But he is gone now and we have been going after those who don't deserve it".