"If my life is of no value to my friends it is of none to myself." - Joseph Smith, Jr.
Ensign Maxim Sayward arrived a moon after Kadhael's departure. Kensie was out on patrol that day and did not see Ensign Sayward until he returned to his quarters. Max was putting his gear and personal belongings away when Kensie came in. He turned to face Kensie.
The two recognized each other immediately. Max Sayward's face showed his distaste. "I understand I must share quarters with you, Baron Poldara." He said coldly.
"Welcome to North Evendim, Lord Maxim." Kensie said cautiously. Despite the good relations between Marchioness Sayward and Kensie's father, Max had been among those at Court who thought Kensie a coward. Max had never been openly hostile or disparaging to Kensie, but his disdainful politeness made it clear what he thought.
"Thank you, Milord." Max spoke with stiff formality. "Have I taken too much space for my things?" He gestured at his trunk and personal items.
Kensie glanced around. If anything, Max Sayward had taken less than half the shared space. "No, Milord. All appears in order. I look forward to your company." He offered his hand.
After a moment's hesitation, Ensign Sayward shook Kensie's hand perfunctorily.
In the officer's social room that evening, Max shared two bottles of cherisette, an expensive liqueur from his mother's estate. The officers welcomed the new ensign with a toast. The cherry and bitter almond liqueur was a personal favorite of Kensie's. He praised the liqueur and thanked Max for bringing it.
Though somewhat overly formal at the beginning, Ensign Sayward soon developed a sound working relationship with his men. He benefitted from being an improvement on his predecessor, but he also possessed a wry sense of humor which sometimes earned him reprimands from his superiors.
Max recognized his own inexperience and would seek advice from Lieutenant Krandall or Ensigns Smith or Green. He would not discuss problems with Kensie and was puzzled how Kensie's men respected him despite the latter's reputation as a 'coward'.
For Kensie, Max Sayward's stiff formality and coolness was an irritation but, in contrast with Kadhael's hostility and insults, it was a definite improvement. At least, Kensie reflected, Max did not denigrate him or spread rumors.
Max joined Jai, Rusty and Kensie on their occasional visits to the Merry Gryphon. Jai and Rusty warmed to him immediately due to his friendly manner and the fact he did not flaunt his rank. Max was always polite towards Kensie, but never showed him the same ease he gave to the others.
One thing Max did share with Kensie was a passion for horses. Unfortunately for Max, his mother was parsimonious and would only provide him with a serviceable bay gelding named River, not the impressive warhorse he desired. A few times, Kensie drew Max out on the subject of horses only to have Max draw back just as the conversation was on the verge of becoming friendly.
On two occasions, Kensie came upon Max in the stable when the latter was stroking Blood and scratching the stallion's crest. Max would start and look guilty before apologizing and going to his own horse. Max was clearly taken with Kensie's horse and seemed to prefer him to River. Since Blood seemed to enjoy Max's attentions, Kensie shrugged.
By Sovran, Ensign Sayward had settled into the routine of the post. He worked well with the officers and men even if he remained cool towards Kensie.
At the Sovran Remembrance Observance that year, Kensie was grateful just to sit with his fellow officers and take no official part in the ceremony. For once, Captain Peregrine placed a red rose at the altar, symbolizing the fact that no one on the post had died that year.
The first snow of winter fell a sennight later. Lieutenant Krandall, Kensie and Max's squads had the first road-clearing duty. Max arrived at the parade square the next morning leading his horse. He caught Sergeant Ingesson's stone-faced disapproval and the frowns on the faces of his squad. Max noticed that neither Kensie nor Lieutenant Krandall had their horses. Max quickly returned River to the stable and marched out with his squad.
That night, Max returned to the post just after Kensie and Lieutenant Krandall. Kensie noted that Max's squad no longer showed the repressed hostility they had with Kadhael.
Once the men had put their equipment away and left for their quarters, Max walked with the lieutenant and Kensie on their way to their quarters.
"Gods, I am cold. I think I am going to freeze to death this winter." He spoke generally, not expecting a response.
"Try picking up a shovel." Kensie said.
"What?" Max looked at Kensie in astonishment, thinking Kensie was mocking him. "Is that proper? I mean, I'm supposed to be an officer."
"I mean it." Kensie said. "I only lasted a candlemark before I decided I needed to do something to keep warm."
Still not believing what he'd heard, Max looked at Lieutenant Krandall, who nodded his head. "Ask Ingesson if he minds." Krandall said. "That way, he'll think it was your idea."
Max looked back and forth between Kensie and the lieutenant. He shrugged. "I'll give it a try."
After their next rotation on road duty two nights later, Max was already lying on his bed when Kensie returned to their room. "I think I may kill you, Poldara." Max said.
"You will have to wait your turn." Kensie said. "Is there a reason?"
"I ache in every bone and muscle in my body. I took your suggestion about working along with the men. I tried to keep up but, gods, I am not used to working like that!" Max groaned.
Kensie resisted the urge to tease his roommate. This was the friendliest conversation he'd had with Max to date and Kensie did not want to irritate Max now. "How did your men feel about it?"
Max opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "I think they were amused. They kept smiling at me. I think they wanted to test me, because they seemed to be pushing harder than last time."
"Ah, that explains why Mo Quinn was bragging about your lot setting a new record today." Kensie said.
"He did?" Max rolled up and looked at Kensie to see if he was joking.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Kensie said.
Lieutenant Krandall popped his head through the door. The two ensigns rose and saluted. "At ease." Krandall said. He looked at Max. "Sayward, Ingesson just told me how far you went today. Well done and congratulations. You are shaping up well." He closed the door and left.
Max stood gaping at Kensie. "Kerenos!" was all he could say.
"If I were you, I'd go find my men and tell them that the lieutenant said they were great." Kensie said.
"Good idea." Max said. He straightened his uniform and left.
A quarter candlemark later, Max returned carrying a bottle of horse liniment. "Private Quinn told me I might need this." He smiled ruefully. "He's right."
As the winter and the cold deepened, everyone spent more time indoors either working on their equipment and arms or practicing in the training room. Kensie and Max encountered each other more often in the training room, though Max always chose to train with Sergeant Pavic rather than Kensie.
A sennight before Midwinter, Max went to Sergeant Pavic once more, even though Pavic was busy and Kensie was drilling alone. "Work with Ensign Poldara." Pavic ordered.
"I wish to work with you." Max said.
"I am armsmaster here. When I tell you to work with my assistant, you will work with my assistant." Sergeant Pavic did not raise his voice, but his tone made it clear he would brook no denial.
Max swallowed and went to Kensie.
Kensie had seen Max practicing. Though Max had solid basic skills, he was not at Kensie's level. More than anything, Kensie thought Max lacked attitude: The ferocity and intensity needed to drive his fighting to a higher level.
Kensie sparred with Max for a quarter candlemark, scoring on him repeatedly and disarming him twice. To Max's credit, he did not get angry over Kensie's outfighting him. Max listened to Kensie's soft critiques and tried to apply the corrections Kensie made. But he did not achieve the commitment that Kensie wanted.
Kensie lowered his practice blade. Turning, he went over to the wall and picked up a broom. He returned to Max and handed it to him, taking Max's practice sword away. "Fight with this." Kensie said.
Max looked incredulously at the broom. "You're crazy." He said. He glanced at Sergeant Pavic, who was grinning broadly.
Max turned back to Kensie. "This is ridiculous."
"Anything can be a weapon. You just have to think of it that way." Kensie smiled. He thought of the countless times Alberich and Hwyl Fian had said that to him.
"Impossible!" Max said.
"Very well." Kensie said. He took the broom from Max's hand and gave Max the practice sword. Without warning, Kensie hooked Max's right leg with the brush and sent him to the ground. He jammed the handle against Max's throat. Conversationally, he said "I could now crush your windpipe."
Kensie offered Max a hand to get him to his feet. He took a stand opposite Max and nodded for him to begin.
Max lunged at Kensie with the sword. Kensie dodged and hit Max hard on his wrist. Max dropped the wooden blade. Gently, Kensie tapped him on the temple. "I would have knocked you out." He said.
Max shook his wrist and flexed his hand to clear the numbness. He picked up the practice blade once more. For the next quarter candlemark, Kensie flattened and disarmed Max repeatedly. Max fought hard, looking for opportunities to disarm and strike Kensie while trying to anticipate his opponent's moves. Finally, Max succeeded in driving Kensie's hands down and came over the broom handle to score a perfect heart-shot. He stood panting and sweating, with his point at Kensie's chest.
Kensie grinned at him. "That's better." Max noted that Kensie wasn't even breathing hard.
Sergeant Pavic began clapping, followed by everyone else in the room. Max looked around to see two dozen men watching him, cheering and applauding.
Max looked back at Kensie. Grinning broadly, he saluted Kensie with the wooden blade.
The session marked a turning point in Max's relations with Kensie. Slowly, he became more open and friendly in his conversation, though Kensie sometimes noticed Max looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Midwinter arrived and with it, a bout of homesickness. It was Kensie's first Midwinter away from his family. To cheer himself up, Kensie rode Blood out whenever he could, often joined by one or more of his fellow ensigns.
Midwinter Day was clear and cold. Kensie took Blood through the woods that sheltered the guard post from the wind off the lake. Several groups of guardsmen were fishing through holes they had chopped in the thick ice. The beach was covered with a few inches of snow blown smooth.
Kensie turned Blood south along the lakeshore and gave the stallion his head. With a squeal, Blood leaped into a gallop. Kensie leaned into the wind of their passage. He laughed at the clouds of snow the horse's hooves raised as he went. Kensie circled and headed back the opposite direction.
As Kensie returned to the starting point, Max emerged from the woods riding River. Max stopped and watched Kensie approach. Kensie eased Blood to a halt a few feet from Kensie.
"Kerenos, he's a gorgeous beast." Max said. His envy was plainly written on his face.
"Thank you." Kensie stroked Blood's neck. "Your River is a good solid horse as well."
Now Max stroked his mount's neck. He sighed. "Yes, River is sound and sensible. I like him, but he's no match for your boy."
If he had not seen Max ride and trusted his skills, Kensie would never have done it. He dismounted and offered Max his stallion's reins. "Take a ride on him."
Max was stunned. "Are you serious?"
"Completely. Consider it a Midwinter gift." Kensie grinned.
Max jumped down off River and took Blood's reins. He mounted as Kensie used a touch of animal mindspeech to reassure Blood over the change. Kensie swung up on River.
The two walked side by side for a hundred yards as Max and Blood settled. Kensie asked River for a trot; Max followed a half-stride later. The two trotted a quarter mile. Max grinned with delight and stroked the stallion's crest. He looked at Kensie for permission and, at Kensie's nod, moved Blood into a gallop. Kensie followed slightly to one side to avoid the snow kicked up by Blood's hooves.
Long before either horse tired, Max eased Blood back to a trot and then a walk. "Kerenos, Poldara. What a marvellous horse. I am so envious."
"You are only the third person to ride him since I got him, counting me and my father's horsemaster. You ride very well." Kensie said.
"Coming from you, that is quite the compliment. Even Evan Aitken said you were the best rider in the Court." Max stroked Blood again.
Kensie winced visibly at the mention of Evan Aitken's name. Max caught the expression. "Sorry. I know you hated him, but he is dead now. Iblis! You were the one who captured him. Why does he still bother you?"
Kensie sighed. "I hated him. I wanted him dead. Then, when he was dead, I suddenly found out I didn't."
The two turned back, walking the horses as they returned to the post. Kensie told Max the story of Evan's capture, trial and execution. "I got what I wished for. It made me sick to see him die like that."
The two returned to the guard post. Kensie joined the other officers serving the Midwinter Feast to the enlisted men, one of the traditions of the guard.
Captain Peregrine gave the men two additional days of holiday after Midwinter Day, with the understanding that they could be called back to duty if an emergency arose. At the end of the last day, the captain expressed his relief that, for once, the break had not been interrupted.
The new year began and the post resumed its regular routine. Herald Emeric arrived at the North Evendim circuit, taking over from Herald Mata. Herald Emeric had an intern, Herald Harrow, who Kensie remembered as one of Alberich's elite Hurlee team that rescued the Queen. When Kensie asked Harrow about it, he flatly refused to say anything.
Herald Emeric brought disturbing news about links between the Lake Evendim pirates and slaver activity within Valdemar. Rumors and a few scraps of evidence indicated that people taken as slaves within Valdemar – even in Haven itself – were being brought to Lake Evendim and loaded on pirate ships.
Captain Peregrine brought all of the officers and the sergeants into a meeting with the Heralds to discuss strategies to intercept the slavers and rescue any captives. Afterwards, Captain Peregrine assembled the men to tell them about the problem and alert them to watch for any signs of slaver activity and movement.
At the end of the first moon, Kensie reached the completion of his first year at the post. Lieutenant Krandall gave Kensie good marks on his performance review, with only a few issues that needed improvement.
When Kensie complained about the 'needs improvement' items, Jai and Rusty laughed. "There is always something that 'needs improvement'." Jai said. "You could win a score of medals, never have any of your men on report, put out forest fires with your spit and capture an army of pirates singlehanded. You would still have something on your report that 'needs improvement.'"
Just after Kensie's review, a parcel addressed to Kensie from his father arrived at the post. Rusty observed it must have cost a fortune to get a parcel delivered at that time of year.
Kensie opened the parcel in the officers' social room. Jai, Rusty and Max shared the table with him. "Ho! Look at this!" Kensie held up a bottle of cherisette. He looked at Max. "From your mother's estate, no less! Come on, let's have a toast!"
Rusty went to the sideboard to fetch some cups. Kensie opened the letter attached to the package, which was marked with his father's seal. He read it quickly and grinned. "My father sends his congratulations on completing my first year in the guard."
Rusty returned with the cups and put them on the table. Kensie was still looking at the letter, so Jai picked up the bottle. He pulled the cork and began filling the cups. "That's odd," Kensie said, "my father's personal letters are usually in green ink."
Jai had finished pouring and handed the filled cups to the others. Max took his cup absently. He stared at the label on the bottle and at the cork.
Kensie lifted his cup. "To the guard!" He said.
"No!" Max shouted. He slapped the cup out of Kensie's hand. The others stopped, the cups half way to their lips. "That bottle has been tampered with!"
"What in the nine hells?" Kensie said. Other officers around the room looked up in surprise.
"Look!" Max said. "That isn't our family seal. Or, rather, it is our seal, but it's reversed. It's a forgery." He picked up the cork. "This is wrong, too. Every cork from our winery is marked with the bottling date. There is no mark on this one."
Lieutenant McNiall listened to this carefully. "We take no chances." She said. "Go get Roland." The orderly nodded and ran out. She shooed away the cat, who was sniffing at the spilled liqueur.
Healer Leon arrived in a sunwidth with Captain Peregrine close behind him.
Max told the healer what he had noticed. Healer Leon thought a moment, then looked alarmed. "Everyone out of this room!" He ordered. Pointing at the orderly, he said "Fetch me the soda niter from my apothecary."
The Healer hastily recorked the bottle and, as the ensigns got up to leave, ordered them to change their uniforms and wash their hands and faces thoroughly with lye soap and cold water.
Two days later, Captain Peregrine summoned the four ensigns to meet with him and Healer Leon.
"There was enough poison in that liqueur to have killed any of you if you had drunk a thimbleful." Healer Leon said. "You would have passed out in a sunwidth and been dead in a quarter candlemark. Nothing I could have done would have saved you."
"Why would Count Poldara have tried to kill his own son?" Rusty asked.
Captain Peregrine snorted. "Of course he didn't. Someone else put poison in that bottle. Someone who knew Count Poldara's handwriting and Ensign Kensie's preferences."
"The natural bitter almond flavor of the liqueur would have hidden the taste of the poison." The healer put in.
"The question is, did Count Poldara unwittingly send a bottle that had been tampered with or did someone else forge the letter?" Captain Peregrine asked.
Kensie scowled. "I noticed that the letter was written in black ink. Father always sends personal letters in green ink. When I looked closely at the handwriting, it looked a little different, too. I think someone forged the letter. The seal looked right, though."
"Could your father's secretary have done it?" Captain Peregrine asked.
Kensie thought a moment. "Edward Scofield would have known about the green ink. Besides, he is left handed. It would have been hard for him to forge my father's handwriting."
Captain Peregrine sighed. "We can thank Ensign Sayward's sharp eye for spotting the fact the bottle had been tampered with." Max nodded. "I've sent a courier to chase down the merchant who brought the package. Maybe we can learn something from him."
The investigation proved fruitless. The merchant, who was from Doncaster, had passed through Poldara on his way home from Haven just after Midwinter. Someone in Poldara livery had approached him and offered ten crowns to the merchant if he made an additional journey to deliver the package from his home to North Evendim. With little trade in the winter season, the merchant had agreed. The merchant described the contact, who had identified himself as the Count's secretary. The description did not match Edward Scofield or any other person in the Count's service. All of this had been confirmed under Truth Spell.
The latest attempt to murder Kensie appalled Count Wyeth, not least because it could have claimed the lives of others as well. He considered recalling Kensie from the guard, but decided that Kensie was probably as safe at the guard post as anywhere else. The agent who had impersonated his secretary was long gone and could not be traced.
Captain Peregrine also considered sending Kensie home for the safety of the others under his command. Ultimately, he decided not to as it would indicate a lack of confidence not merely in Kensie but the other officers and troopers.
Kensie naturally felt an immense debt of gratitude to Max Sayward. He sent letters back to Bransat. A moon after Spring Day, Chase Tanner arrived at North Evendim guard post. The horsemaster brought a young bay stallion, the finest of Blood's get. Kensie gave the stallion and a saddle made by Enro Kase to Max on the occasion of his nineteenth birthday. Max was delighted with the horse and named it Warden.