Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
“I’m going to talk to Garen’s men Thursday and I’d like for someone to eavesdrop on some of the conversations after I leave.”
“Sneaky,” Chris said. “I like it.”
Kevin sat down and picked up the mug of scog Chris had set out for him. “I’ve got a question. Is it my imagination or are there more people than usual in the dining hall lately, especially during dinner?”
“Not your imagination.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“You took Callie to Nandelia.”
“Huh?”
“Ainsley tries, but she’s not much of a cook. Most of the guards and soldiers eat here before they head down to the tavern to drink scog and play Octuro.”
“Have you eaten down there since Callie left?”
Chris shook his head.
“Maybe Ainsley will get better with time.”
“Hope so. Otherwise Fenway needs to find a new cook,” Chris said. “Did you get Freida settled?”
Kevin laughed. “That girl can cry. She cried when her parents got here. She cried when she told Cryslyn and the children goodbye, and she cried some more when she told Doreen and the others down there that she was leaving. When we got to the settlement where her parents and some of the other captives are living, she started crying again. But yes, she’s settled, and hopefully done crying by now.”
“How did it go with Hayden?”
Kevin told him about his conversation in Crinsor Run.
“So you’ll be gone most of the afternoon?”
Kevin nodded. “But when I get back, everyone who needs to have a say in the matter will have had it. Whether we make the right decision or the wrong one, no one will be able to say I didn’t let them know about it.”
“We got a letter this afternoon you might want to check out,” Chris said. “You know those letters we sent out last week requesting updates on the sorcerers?”
Kevin nodded.
“Well, Kirken, the district minister in Brystal, decided to share our letter with his sorcerer.”
“Why?”
“Because his sorcerer has an apprentice who should have been on his own for at least a year, but who’s hanging around because he’s interested in one of the local women. Kirken thought you might want to update the apprentice’s status to novice, so he told Calhoun, his district sorcerer, to do an evaluation of Maury, the apprentice. Both Kirken’s evaluation of Calhoun and Calhoun’s evaluation of Maury arrived today.”
Kevin sat up on the edge of the couch. “Did Calhoun give any indication he might be willing to take a new post?”
Chris shook his head. “His letter was about Maury and his evaluation of the man. He didn’t mention a thing about himself.”
“What was Kirken’s evaluation of Calhoun?”
“From everything he said, Calhoun’s a top-notch sorcerer. I looked up the information we have on him, but there’s not a lot. Unless he’s gotten married since the files were updated, he’s single. And that sums up what we know.”
Kevin leaned back. “But if he’d be willing to take Lormere and Maury could move into his position...”
“It would make things a lot simpler, but there’s only one way to find out.”
“Go talk to him.”
Chris nodded. “How’s tomorrow morning looking?”
“It just got filled,” Kevin said. “Hope he’s home.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Alek was on standby Tuesday, so he went with Kevin to Brystal. While Kevin talked to Calhoun, Alek wandered around town striking up conversations with the residents. It was almost lunchtime before they got back home.
As soon as they arrived in Kevin’s office, Chris came in and shut the door. “So? What happened?”
Kevin looked at Alek. “You first.”
“No one had anything bad to say about either sorcerer, but they seemed to like Maury better than Calhoun. I got the feeling Calhoun might be a little standoffish, but Maury grew up in the area and fits in well.”
“Glad it’s not the other way around,” Chris said.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll let Cpt. Darrell know we’re back,” Alek said as he turned to leave Kevin’s office. “Let me know if you need to go anywhere else.”
“Thank you,” Kevin said.
After Alek pulled the door to, Kevin said, “I’m not sure Calhoun’s happy there, even though he’s been there more than ten years. He said he’d been considering asking for a transfer ever since Maury was ready to handle things on his own.”
“What’s the problem? Money?”
Kevin shook his head. “He’s single, no family to support, so money’s not his top priority. He told me he’s tired of being hot. He said he’d be willing to relocate to Lormere and give it a try, at least for a couple of years, provided I agreed to let him transfer if the cold proved to be too much.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I agreed. I told him if he decided it wasn’t for him, I’d find him another position.”
Chris looked at the map on the wall. He put his finger on Brystal. “It does get hot during the summer there, muggy hot, can’t breathe hot. The humidity’s horrible. I had a cousin who lived in that area when I was growing up. I thought it got hot in the city until I went down there. I don’t blame him for looking for someplace cooler, but Lormere is the extreme opposite.”
“I know, but since he’s willing to give it a try, I’ll go see Kirken tomorrow and see if he’s willing to let Maury take over Calhoun’s position. If he is, we’ll draw up the contract.”
“What if he says no?”
“I’ll tell him to start looking for a new sorcerer because Calhoun’s taken a new position, at my request.”
“Have you asked Maury what he wants to do?”
Kevin shrugged. “He’s a novice sorcerer with a girlfriend and no job. What could he possibly object to?”
~ ~ ~ ~
A couple of hours before dinner Tuesday afternoon, Rhianna knocked on Kevin’s door. She had a basket of pastries with her and a big jug of water. “Blair made some extra pastries this morning, so I grabbed some.”
“What’s with the water?”
“I thought we’d pick up a teapot and some cups from home and have tea with our pastries on the island. Are you ready to go?”
Twenty minutes later, when Kevin, Rhianna, and her parents arrived on the island, the sun had just cleared the mountaintops to the east. Kevin flew Hayden up high enough that he could get a good idea of the layout of the island. He showed him the plateau on the northern end and explained that he thought it would be a good place for Landis to work on her magic.
Then he flew Hayden around the valley and pointed out the streams and caves. “The guards can live in the caves near the valley floor. I want to put Warren and Torrey in the cave we’re meeting in. There’s another one nearby where I can set Taelor up with a good supply of bandages and herbs. It’ll make a good clinic. And there’s one on the other side of Warren’s with four good-sized rooms. I thought Landis could use it. We can set up a sitting room, a small kitchen, and two bedrooms. Rhianna can stay there when she visits.”
“Is it safe here? I mean as far as weather goes. Are there a lot of bad storms?”
“I asked Yara about that. She said there are some storms, mainly in the fall, which is why she suggested staying in the caves.”
“When do you plan to bring Garen and his people out here?”
“Soon. I want them settled before I bring Landis.”
Hayden nodded.
After Kevin and Hayden finished their tour, Kevin went to Willow Canyon to pick up Landis. When they returned, he used the pretext of checking out some of the other caves to give Landis a chance to visit with her foster parents and Rhianna. After he’d given them half an hour to talk, he and Rhianna prepared the tea and set out the pastries. While they were eating, Kevin told Landis about Garen and his men.
“I remember Garen vaguely, but I don’t know him well enough to trust him, not yet anyway,” Landis said.
“If you’d rather they not be here, all you have to do is say so,” Kevin said. “I can bring some of my guards if you’d prefer.”
Landis shook her head. “I’ll need my own when I leave. Guess I’ll have to trust someone sometime. Might as well start now.”
~ ~ ~ ~
When Kevin got to the office Wednesday morning, Chris followed him into his office and handed him a map to Kirken’s house. “Are you taking a bodyguard with you?” Chris asked.
Kevin shook his head. “Not this time. You’re the only one who knows I’m going this morning. I told Calhoun I’d talk to Kirken, but I didn’t say when.”
“Are you going anywhere else?”
“I’ll probably go see Darwyn when I leave Brystal and let him know what’s going on.”
Chris nodded. “Okay. But don’t be gone too long. People around here get nervous when you go off by yourself.”
Kevin laughed as he turned the key and left for Brystal.
Shortly after he knocked on Kirken’s front door, Kirken’s wife opened it. “Myron,” she said as her eyes widened. “Kirken didn’t mention you were coming by. Won’t you come in? Can I get you something to drink? Maybe some coffee? Some tea?”
Kevin smiled as he followed her into the house. “Thank you, but I’m fine. Is Kirken available?”
“Of course. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
Kevin sat down in her living room while she darted off down the hall. A few minutes later, Kirken walked into the living room and sat down opposite Kevin. “Myron, it’s nice to see you again. What can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to you about your sorcerer.”
“Calhoun?”
Kevin nodded.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
“More like an opportunity.” Kevin explained that he’d offered Calhoun a new position and that he’d be leaving Monday. “I’m sorry to take your sorcerer away, but it’s a bit of an emergency and he’s doing me a big favor by agreeing to move.”
Kirken shook his head. “Is that why you wanted updates on the sorcerers?”
“Not really,” Kevin said. “I did need someone to take over a position, but that wasn’t the reason for the updates. However, from the sounds of the evaluations, you had two sorcerers who could fill that spot. So I decided to offer it to Calhoun and see if he was interested. If he’d turned it down, I’d have offered it to Maury.”
“Why did you go to Calhoun first? He’s already a district sorcerer.”
“From what you said, Maury’s interested in a local woman. I figured she probably has family here and wouldn’t want to leave. According to our information, Calhoun’s single.”
Kirken smiled. “I wondered if that had something to do with it. If Maury’s willing to take the position, I’ll be happy to hire him. Have you talked to him?”
Kevin shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you first. And I thought you might want to make the offer yourself.”
“Does he know Calhoun’s leaving?”
Again, Kevin shook his head. “I asked Calhoun not to mention it to anyone until I’d had a chance to talk to you.”
Kirken nodded. “I’ll go see Maury right now. If he’s willing to take over, we’ll get started on a contract.”
“If he takes the job, I’ll witness the contract while I’m here Monday. Be sure you have a copy for me to take with me.” Kevin stood up. “If he’s not interested, we’ll find someone else for you. We have several applications in our office.”
Kirken stood up and offered Kevin his hand. “Thank you, but I feel pretty sure Maury will want the position. See you Monday.”
~ ~ ~ ~
When Kevin left Brystal, he went to Lormere. He found Darwyn at a farmer’s house helping replace a barn roof. Kevin offered to help and between the two of them, they had the new frame in place in record time. While the farmer and some of his friends finished up the roof, Kevin and Darwyn wandered back towards town.
“I guess you’re here in answer to the letter I sent you a couple of months ago,” Darwyn said.
“I take it you still want a new post?”
Darwyn nodded. “Like I said in my letter, the people around here are great. I have no complaints, but I can’t take another winter.”
“I’ve got a position I can offer you, but it has a lot of strings attached.”
“Such as?”
“Well, for one thing, it could last anywhere from four to maybe seven or eight years, and if you take it, you’ll have to stay there for the duration.”
“Is it cold there?”
Kevin laughed and shook his head. “No. I don’t think you’ll see any ice or snow the whole time you’re there.”
“I’ll take it.”
“Let me finish,” Kevin said. “There are no towns anywhere near there, no taverns and no stores. It’s a closed community with no visitors and no outsiders. The people who live there won’t be able to leave either. Once you go, you stay. The only way in or out is by key.”
Darwyn waited a moment for Kevin to explain. When he didn’t, Darwyn said, “There’s got to be a lot more to the story than that.”
“There is, but the only way you find out more is if you go there to live, but once you’re there, you’re there for good.”
“What kind of work would I be doing?”
“Same type of stuff you do here. You’ll help people build homes, barns, whatever they need, help them put in gardens, clear up any debris after storms, things like that.”
“If there aren’t any stores, how will we get what we need? Will we have blacksmiths? We’ll need nails, tools, wood. Will there be a sawmill?”
Kevin shook his head. “There won’t be that many people there. But I’ll see to it that you have what you need. All you have to do is let me know and I’ll bring it to you. I’ll be there on a regular basis. I’ll bring a lot of the food in too, and most of the clothes.”
“What about injuries?”
“That may be a problem. There won’t be a sister in the area but you’ll have someone who’s been a chapel assistant.”
“So we’ll have access to herbs.”
“And someone who’s experienced in preparing them.”
“Well, that’s more than a lot of people have,” Darwyn said. “All right. I’m in. Have you found someone to take over for me here?”
Kevin nodded. “His name’s Calhoun, and believe it or not, he wants to go someplace cool. He’s tired of being hot.”
Darwyn laughed. “He may get more than he bargained for up here. Did you warn him about all the snow and ice?”
“I did, and I also told him if after a couple of years he finds the cold a bit too much, he can let me know and I’ll find him someplace else. But he’s willing to give it a try.”
Darwyn nodded. “I’d like a chance to introduce him around.”