Hidden Ability (Book 1) (11 page)

“Jalan!” she says with an exuberance similar to her maid’s. “Let me guess.” Mistress Treana studies him as she taps her lower lip with the index finger of her left hand. “You are looking for something in Tan and Blue? Perhaps with the insignia piping of a captain?”

Mistress Treana is a notorious gossip who is well informed about anything deemed to be public knowledge. She has a spotless reputation for never being the first to reveal anything or having ever tarnished the reputation of the Yen family. But once someone else reveals anything, the seamstress learns of it very quickly. Jalan would not be surprised if Treana knows what he was thinking even before Jalan himself does.

“You are very perceptive,” says Jalan. He has learned that this is the answer his mother always gives when Mistress Treana is correct about something.

“Very good. Let me take your measurements. I am sure you have grown since I saw you last.”

After a few moments of working with a knotted string that she runs along or wraps around various parts of Jalan’s body, Mistress Treana writes figures on a slate tablet using a bit of chalk. Jalan knows she has several slates and uses one for every project she has going. With the measuring and writing complete, Mistress Treana asks Jalan to return in two days for a fitting. He thanks her and is escorted out of the salon by Brianne.

“Good day, young mister Jalan!” reverberates through the hallway as Brianne closes the door behind him.

With his current needs as lancer captain out of the way, all Jalan must do is find Master Enmar and explain the sudden requirement to fit training around Jalan’s new duties as a lancer captain.

Master Enmar is outside the training hall. Jalan can hear him and see him standing toe to toe with Master Chander. Both men look angry and Enmar is shouting, “... in my training hall. I don’t care where you put your supplies. This is not a warehouse!”

“We’ll see about that!” shouts Master Chander who spins around and storms away.

Jalan has never seen Master Enmar or Master Chander angry before. It is frightening to think that those too could even become angry. Master Chander is either much braver than Jalan ever expected or he does not understand how dangerous Master Enmar really is. And, nothing good can come from upsetting the Yen quartermaster. Master Enmar will be lucky to requisition a beating after that exchange.

“A madness has taken this place,” grumbles Enmar as Jalan approaches. “I suppose it has afflicted you as well, since I have not seen you all morning.”

“Yes, sir. It has,” agrees Jalan. “I was summoned by my sister who immediately sent me off to Major Erida...”

“Major Erida?” interrupts Enmar.

“Yes, sir. He’s been promoted. At least Lady Darla told me that much. And, when I find the major, he promotes several lieutenants to captains and makes me a captain too. I am to command a company of archers. And if Major Erida hadn’t explained about the attacks I still wouldn’t know why I am a captain.”

“You refer to the attacks on the outposts, I presume?”

“Yes, sir. Major Erida was kind enough to explain that much.”

“But, he didn’t explain why you are a captain or why you will command archers?”

“Mounted archers actually, and he did explain. He said many lancers died in the attacks and they need everyone now.” Jalan looks around to make sure no one is listening. “He said I’m a prince and this is something princes do to learn to command men. And he told me I’ll be in the reserve because they don’t want me to get hurt. Although Major Erida was sure I will see battle eventually.”

“How do you feel about being a captain?” asks Master Enmar.

“I’ve done what I thought I should. No one else asked any questions. They all seemed to know what to do,” says Jalan. Only now does Jalan start to feel a little sorry for himself. It is his Name Day after all.

Master Enmar gives him an appraising look. “I’ll wager you’ve done fine, but tell me what you have done and I’ll see if I can think of any suggestions for you.”

Jalan feels a sense of relief begin to fill him. He knows that Major Erida does not trust Master Enmar. But, Jalan trusts both men with his own life. They each try to teach and guide him and he is certain both men have his best interest at heart. He details his morning for Master Enmar.

“I’d say you’ve done well for your first morning as a new lancer captain,” says the master. “It is true that mounted archers do not charge the enemy line and gain the glory of facing down an imminent death, but they can change the course of battle and be the key to victory. They are mobile and able to follow the flow of the fight. There is honor in being the captain of such men. If you are wise enough to use what you have been taught, it will be well with you and your men.”

It is reassuring to Jalan that Master Enmar seems to approve of his commission. He is not sure what he should say. Jalan thinks he might like to hug Master Enmar, but he has never done such a thing before and he does not believe it is what a captain would do. He settles on saying “Thank you, sir.”

“I’ll go to Lady Darla and volunteer to train your archers. I’m sure I will be needed for that and more as they cobble together this new army. I need to speak with her about the proper use of the training hall as well. You might consider assisting Major Erida’s second officer. As I recall, that used to be Captain Burk. Without him to pick up after the Major there may be some things that need doing. If I were you I’d be sure the list of promotions and appointments with your name on it makes it to the paymaster. It’s my experience that they will remember to order you into battle long before they will remember to pay you.”

Jalan smiles. He has not even thought about pay. “How much is a lancer captain paid?”

“I don’t know,” says Master Enmar “But, whatever it is you’ll find that for every coin you earn there are 10 ways to spend it. You might want to ask Lady Darla to hold at least half your pay in trust until you get used to having coin in your purse.”

“Why?”

“Because something will come along and you will have the coin for it.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, but if you don’t set some aside I do know you will wish you had. Why not talk to Lady Darla and see what she says?”

That makes sense to Jalan. He can talk to Darla. “All right,” he says.

“And don’t forget about helping with support duties for Major Erida. You’ll need good relations with your commanding officer.”

“All right. I will try to help. I have to wait until Burk, Martus and Sert pick their men before I can pick mine. I guess if I can help them leave sooner then I’ll get started sooner too.”

“Good luck, captain,” says Master Enmar.

“Good luck, master,” says Captain Jalan with a laugh.

“And, good fortune on your Name Day.”

Jalan and Enmar both laugh as they part company. While Jalan jogs toward the barracks, he decides the world really has been turned on its head. It scares him and excites him. He knows how to work hard. In training, when he learns something new, he starts slow. Jalan decides that he will start slow as a captain too. He’ll take time and do each thing carefully so that he understands it and can do it better the next time. He’s been training for almost as long as he can remember. Training is what he does well. He will train himself to be a good captain.

Δ

Jalan spends the remainder of his first day as a captain helping Lieutenant Goss gather information on the condition of various workshops, the craftsmen, apprentices and assistants. He and Goss work together to rate each crafter according to their ability to support both the ongoing civilian and military needs of House Yen. Assisting Goss exposes Jalan to things he did not know about Masters Ritka, Doon and Anton. He thought of the men that work with them as helpers. Many of them turn out to be apprentices that work for each master in order to learn that master’s specific craft. They are students in the same way Jalan is a student of Master Enmar. And, they are often young men not much older than Jalan. He starts to wonder how many other things about the estate and House Yen he has ignored while focusing on his training and immediate family.

Goss and Jalan finish the report by lamplight after sundown that night. They move quietly through Barracks One as they take the report to the Command Room where they find Major Erida still reading. Two hanging lamps have been lit. A third sits on the table where the Major is working. Erida accepts their report and places it on the bottom of a stack of other papers. Jalan notices it is the same stack that Major Erida was reading from earlier. The stack has grown much shorter and a tall stack of papers sits next to it.

Major Erida rubs his eyes for a moment and then says, “Lieutenant Goss, please take this pile of paper and organize it by outpost. These are copies of the monthly reports from each outpost commander. I’m afraid the originals were likely destroyed when Southway burned. The copies have all been stored together with no thought for organization. Lady Yen reviewed them, but I think she assumed we had been keeping up with them as well. I can tell you that we have not. We relied far too heavily on Major Jeckler to organize things for Southway and the other outposts. Since he is missing and presumed dead, I have taken on the task.”

“Yes, sir,” says Lieutenant Goss.

“Unfortunately, there is no standard report format. Some information is included one month and missing the next. You may even have to search the document for the name of the related outpost. Apparently each commander reported things his own way. That’s something we are going to change. But, not until I’ve gotten some sleep. Once you get those reports sorted, get some rest. I’ll need you early tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Captain Yen, I’d like you to continue to assist Lieutenant Goss tomorrow. The other captains should be leaving and you can return to organizing your company after that.”

“Yes, sir,” says Jalan.

Major Erida stands. “The walk to my quarters will do me some good. I’ve been sitting in this chair too long. I’ll see both of you tomorrow at first light.”

“Yes, sir,” says Goss and Jalan in unison.

Erida leaves. Jalan stays and helps sort the reports. Every report is signed by the post commander that submitted it. This is the only thing consistent across all the reports. Goss and Jalan find it easiest to locate the last page of a report and use the commander’s signature to determine from which outpost the report came. It takes much longer to determine the order of the reports by date. Some of the reports have a title page with the name of the outpost and the date. There could once have been a title page on each report. At least that might explain why so many of the reports did not start off by stating those two bits of critical information. If there had been title pages on all the reports, most of them are missing now. Jalan has no idea why. The pages of each report are not bound in any way either which makes it possible for pages from one report to end up mixed with another. Jalan cannot understand why that would be the case. It does not seem consistent with his understanding of lancer discipline. Why would the officers in charge of the outposts behave in such a haphazard way?

Jalan is not sure what Major Erida got out of reading all the reports except a headache. His eyes are itching and he is ready to go to bed by the time he and Lieutenant Goss finish sorting. Goss and Jalan add a title page to each report that does not have one and call it a night. Lieutenant Goss locks the door of the Command Room when they leave.

Δ

Jalan knows he needs to rise early. Before he goes to bed he drinks a lot of water because that will wake him. It turns out that waking early is not a problem. In addition to needing to relieve himself and the worries of being a new captain, someone starts tolling the estate’s bell. He pushes himself up and out of bed to look out his bedroom window. The sun has not risen but Jalan can see well enough that sunrise cannot be far off.

After a quick scrub of his face at the wash basin, he dresses in a fresh set of cloths and combs his hair. Then he goes downstairs to the kitchens to see what he might find. There is some day old bread, butter and cheese along with some apples in a bowl, all sitting on a table in the kitchen. Mistress Dahlia is there, but she doesn’t even bat an eye when Jalan helps himself to some bread with butter and an apple.

“If you’ll be rising this early, young captain, I can have a little something ready for you each day,” says Dahlia.

He stops to consider her offer. It seems likely that being a captain would continue to mean rising early. “Yes, please,” says Jalan.

“Likely they intend to keep at that bell each morning. You come down right after and I’ll have a breakfast ready for you.”

“I will,” says Jalan. “Thank you, Mistress”

Having done what he can for breakfast, Jalan leaves the house through the kitchen’s exit. The morning air is cool, especially compared to the heat from the kitchen’s oven where Dahlia is baking today’s bread. Jalan runs to Barracks One, not because it is necessary to run, but because he wants to run. There was no time for exercise yesterday. His body seems to miss it. He has got to find a way to make exercise and practice part of his schedule now that he is a captain. It feels good to move.

As he nears the stables he sees a double column of riders forming up. The corral has a dozen horses in it. There are more men, both mounted and others standing next to their mounts, which have formed two loose groups. Captain Burk rides along the double column. As Jalan nears, he can hear Burk checking that each man is ready. At the end of the column are two large wagons covered with canvas sheets. It is probably some of the locally woven sailcloth. House Yen grows flax that is used to make the cloth. And, under the cloth will be supplies needed for Burk’s men.

Teams of four large draft horses are being hitched to four more wagons. No doubt the two groups of milling lancers are Captain Martus and Sert’s men awaiting their turns to form up and ride out. Jalan believes all three columns could have formed up at the same time if the captains had thought about using different mustering points on the estate grounds. They appear to have all picked the one spot everyone has always used. Maybe he could ask Goss about it.