"That'll teach me to make suggestions," Otorin said wryly. "Seriously though, if you hold this Hallmoot, are you going to collect t.i.the and taxes?"

Darius grinned. "Only where absolutely necessary.

We depend on the goodwill of the local population. If the Semicount had been an exemplary lord, I might fee!

differently, but my gut tells me that he's an exploiter.

He'll have no complaint about our treatment of his lands, unless it's unavoidable, and I'm having a tally kept of everything we eat that has his brand on it. He'll be paid for that."

"And who's going to pay for his tumbled walls?"

Otorin asked teasingly.

"Oh, I should think his freedom ought to be worth something," Darius replied, deadpan.

74 "And if he doesn't survive, it won't bother him,"

Otorin added.

"True."

Otorin shook his head and smiled. "You're such a wonderful old relic," he observed. "Spa.r.s.edale's petty malfeasances have really riled you, haven't they? They offend the tenets of your cla.s.s. I have a suspicion that if the manor house was occupied by a contingent of his tenants and cottars, you'd support them."

"Let's not go too far," Darius said. "The social order must be preserved. When you look closely at the way of things, a Holdmaster's tenure is a precarious thing.

Rebellion and the resulting anarchy can never be con- doned."

Otorin smiled lazily and finished his ale. "G.o.ds but I hope your kind survives," he said lightly. "Honorable, old-fashioned, cleaving to tradition and giving it mean- ing." He put his tankard down on the tray. "The world's changing, old friend. Enclosure's but the beginning.

There will be a mad dash to the new and the best of the old will be forgotten."

"Gloomseeker," Darius said good-naturedly. "The old ways will survive because they're good ways. My daughter runs Gwyndryth as I ran it. Our people would not have it otherwise."

"And your grandson will be a Magician," Otorin said, almost as an aside, as he got to his feet. "I'll take a bath. General, and then I'll get about organizing the sappers."

"You'll dine with me," Darius said sternly. "There's a deal more I need to know about your trip."

"As the General commands," Otorin replied, mock- ing smile back in place.

ChAptCR 8

uring the slow days of high summer, the Hall- moot was held within sight of the walls of Spa.r.s.edale.

The villagers gathered to pa.s.s judgment on their peers.

Fines were levied for the brewing of inferior ale; there were two cases of "lying together before the banns,"

five of slander, six of illegal entry into tenure stemming from the disappearance of some of the cottars. Deci- sions were arrived at for the harvest, simplified this year by the destruction of a large part of the crop, and for the autumn ploughing. By the end of the sennight a hundred petty details of everyday life were settled.

Otorin watched the proceedings with a nostalgia for an age-old practice that he had never shared. He was a new landholder and an absentee at that. but here, in the center of Paladine, the immemorial ritual unfolded with a solemn civility that pleased him deeply. Darius, as Otorin had expected, presided superbly. His Pallic was serviceable though far from elegant, but his quiet air of authority was undeniable. The villagers themselves in- creasingly turned to him for decisions despite the fact that he was a foreigner. Darius held firm for the lord in the matter of fees and fines, but over the th.o.r.n.y ques- tion of the evening impoundment of livestock he took the other tack.

By long tradition, all livestock were brought back from their daily grazing across fallow belonging to the lord and penned in areas adjacent to the outer walls.

76 This ensured that demesne lands remained well fertil- ized. Since the seizure of Spa.r.s.edale, the locals had kept their beasts on their own land, claiming, not without reason, that the lord's pounds and sheepcote were no longer safe places. The General concurred, knowing that this year's lean harvest would have to be remedied by a larger than usual winter wheat crop. This, the final judgment of the session, was met with approbation, and the villagers dispersed peaceably to their homes.

Darius was clearly pleased with his own perfor- mance. He bantered lazily with his officers at dinner that night. Though there was an air of celebration, Oto- rin noticed that the General drank very little. His offi- cers, perforce, did likewise. The reason came clear at the end of the meal when he ordered a doubling of the guard and told the men to be on the lookout for a sortie attempt around dawn. After he had dismissed them, he and Otorin returned to the back room of the Stook and Plough for a nightcap.

"You really think they might try to break out?" Oto- rin asked, feeling slightly put out that Darius hadn't discussed the matter with him beforehand.

"Problem is, I don't know young Barthold, but it's what I'd do. That Hallmoot was a gauntlet thrown down. He must know that he'll get no help from that quarter. Combine that with the firing of his fodder sup- plies and there's not much choice. He may have supplies in the manor's undercroft, but most of the food for the horses would have been in the outbuildings. Without healthy horses he has no hope of fighting clear and get- ting away."

"Weren't you taking a bit of a risk holding the court within sight of the walls? Billeted troops are seldom popular, and if there had been a ruckus, it would have given considerable heart to our opponents."

"It was a small risk," Darius said complacently, ac- 77.

cepting a gla.s.s of sack. "Our men have acted honorably and there is a general craving for order and tradition in the countryside. Mind you, 1 don't think the Semicount will be all that happy with some of the results."

"I don't see why not," Otorin demurred. "You up- held his suzerainty and preserved at least a portion of his revenues."

"That's as may be. He'll be irked that I let his rights of pasturage and penning lapse. I doubt he'll be able to get them back now that precedent has been broken. An- other thing: I don't know if you were there when har- vest duties were discussed, but there was no mention of the lord's boonwork."

"If he's halfway intelligent," Otorin remarked, "he'll commute it for money. There are no Farod levies to contend with so there's more than enough labor avail- able."

"It's the principle of the thing," Darius growled.

Otorin smiled.

"Don't you mock me, young man," Darius said.

"Wait till you're older and have become attached to your land and the ways of its folk."

"Let's change the subject," Otorin said amiably. "I got word this afternoon from a friend of mine at Oxe- ter. A messenger galloped out two days ago, heading southwest. I'd post a sharp watch for incoming bungle- birds if I were you."

Darius looked up sharply. "You think the Duke is preparing to move?"

Otorin swirled the amber liquid in his gla.s.s thought- fully. "I'm not sure," he said. "It would be far more in keeping if he got his allies to attempt the relief. On the other hand, I doubt if they will be willing to move to the aid of his son without a greater commitment of troops on his part. In terms of a throw of the bones for a throne, this is a very small gesture. 1 think we can

78 look for some sort of movement, though from which quarter I cannot be sure."

"The game's afoot then," Darius said with relish.

"d.a.m.n, but this has been a good day!"

Otorin tightened his lips and a ghost of his smile ap- peared. "I'm glad you think so."

Darius' smile was broader. "You know me," he said, "I can't stand sitting around doing nothing."

The sortie took place just before dawn, as Darius had predicted. Flight, however, was not the objective. The housing erected to protect the sappers was, and the de- fenders were able to inflict considerable damage before they were beaten back inside the walls. The besiegers pressed them hard, trying to gain access to the lower court, but were, in turn, repelled. Six of Darius' men were killed, and ten from the manor. The only good thing to occur, from Darius' point of view. was that one of the bodies was found to be wearing a piece of the Duke's livery under his mail. The commanders endured a lacerating tongue-lashing from the General-

The following day, outriders from the cloudsteed squadron patrolling to the south reported a concentra- tion of armed men approaching the market town of Aldersgrove, some twenty leagues to the south of Spa.r.s.e- dale. Estimates of numbers were sketchy, but the bulk of the men were on foot and shouldering pikes. Darius ordered the patrols to limit their range to fifteen leagues with occasional solo reconnaissance nights at maximum alt.i.tude. When Otorin found him in the back bar, he was poring over maps.

"What news?" Darius asked without looking up from the table.

"My friend reports that a force of-two hundred mounted retainers remains at Oxeter," Otorin reported.

"What about footmen?"

79.

"No footmen."

Darius looked up slowly. "Abercorn has more men than that. Naxania estimated that he had over a thou- sand retainers. What happened to the rest of them?"