I could see that.
“What do you want to do?”
“Continue with you, sir, if that’s acceptable.”
“I’d hoped you would . . . but it is a matter of choice.” He fingered his chin. “Because of your injuries, and because we’re shorthanded, I’m going to change your training schedule. Starting next week, you’ll spend a glass with Clovyl, right at first afternoon bell, and he’ll give you just the right amount of exercise to help you heal. After that, you’ll report to Maitre Dyana. She will teach you how High Holders behave and some of their particular customs and mannerisms, and what they signify.”
“She was raised a High Holder, wasn’t she?”
“You noticed. Good.” He lifted a long rolled tube-rather large papers rolled to form a tube a yard long-and handed it to me. “These are the plans for the Council Chateau. By the end of next week, I expect you to be able to draw every floor from memory. Keep them out of sight in your room, and don’t take them out of it until you bring them back a week from Jeudi.” Then he stood. “I will see you this Jeudi morning. We will work on some imaging skills that will not take much strength. They’re a matter of technique and knowledge.”
After leaving his study, I carried the Chateau plans back to my quarters and began to study them. In less than a quarter glass, I understood why he’d given me a week. There were rooms and passages that no one could ever have guessed were even there.
I took my time getting to the dining hall, but Menyard and Reynol were the only ones I could see of the group with whom I usually ate.
“You’re looking healthier, Rhenn,” said Reynol.
“I’m feeling better.”
“Where’s Claustyn?”
Menyard shrugged “On assignment. Field imagers don’t say where, and we don’t ask. He left sometime yesterday.”
“You’ll say less than that,” observed Reynol.
“Even if I wanted to,” I replied, “I’ll have far less to say. How can one say anything about what never happens? That would be like writing a history of a place that never existed.”
Both of them laughed.
At that moment, one of the seconds sitting an empty space away from Reynol handed over a platter of chops, and I could see a dish of stewed and spiced apples following. “I haven’t picked up one of the newsheets. What’s happening in Caenen or Cloisera?”
Reynol shook his head. “We probably won’t hear until someone actually invades, and the news will be a good week late, if not two.”
“Who’s stronger, Ferrum or Jariola?”
Reynol frowned. “That’s hard to say. Ferrum has more heavy equipment, and they’ve even got something called a landcruiser-an armored thing powered by steam that can travel over land without rails. The Oligarch has more trained troops . . .”
As Reynol went on, I got the feeling that a war between the two would be long and bloody and in no one’s interest, but wasn’t that true of most wars?
44
There is a hidden advantage to imaging what appears
to be nothing.
Jeudi morning was damp, raw, and drizzling. I was back in Master Dichartyn’s study, more than a little curious about the imager techniques I would be learning. Instead of saying anything immediately, he looked at me and fingered his chin, a sign that a lecture, a question, or something else to make me think was about to be delivered.
“Rhennthyl . . . have you ever considered the governmental uniqueness of Solidar?”
“Compared to other governments?”
“Against what else did you have in mind in comparing Solidaran government?”
I winced. I hated asking stupid questions. “Solidar offers the greatest representation of crafters in its government.”
“With only three guild representatives?”
“Sir, you know far more than I do, but nowhere in anything I have read does it mention that other lands allow any craft participation.”
“Not as crafters. But in most lands, those who possess a certain amount of wealth do have a voice in government, and some of those are the more successful crafters.”
“There’s a difference. The wealthy individual represents his coins, while the crafters represent the interests of those to whom they must answer-other crafters. Also, there is an imager on the Council, and the councilors have to represent different parts of Solidar.”
“What does that mean, Rhenn?”
“The Council has to represent more than those in power in L’Excelsis.”
“Does that matter when the Council has power in and of itself?”
I forced myself to stop and think before replying. “A Council member has power because he is a member of the Council that governs Solidar. As a representative of a guild or as an imager, such a member may not have had power to influence government before being selected as such a representative and may not have such power after he ceases being a Council member. Those with wealth can almost always purchase influence in one fashion or another.”
“What does that mean for the average person in Solidar?”
“I would judge that the average person in Solidar has less to fear from government than in other lands, and more of them have a chance to voice their concerns without fear of retribution.”
“Most carefully worded, Rhenn, and generally accurate. Now . . . what government structure in the world has changed the least over the past four centuries?”
“Ours. You’re suggesting our power and stability rest on wider representation of power?”
“I’m trying to get you to make the connection. Why would this be so?”
“Because we have to spend fewer coins in things like putting down revolts and in having more patrollers in the cities?”
“Or in collecting tariffs and taxes,” added Master Dichartyn. “This creates a long-standing and real problem for the Council. Some both within Solidar and in other lands do not like the example that Solidar presents to the world. Those here feel that their own power is limited by such diversity. The outsiders understand that our power rests on the diversity of our political structure because it allows us to tax our people less and devote more of those taxes to maintaining and expanding our power. They have spent centuries trying to undo what the first Council began, both by external threats, such as attacks on our shipping and merchants, and by internal attacks, such as attempted assassinations of councilors and others in Solidar.
“If no organization in Solidar did what we do, Solidar would long since have returned to despotism or mercantile oligarchy centuries ago-or we would have been forced to spend tens of thousands more in golds every year on non-imager counterspies and secret patrollers and more, and that would have destroyed what Solidar is. If any group under the Council’s control-or anywhere in the government-did what we do, they would eventually control Solidar, with close to the same result. That is why the standards set for imagers are so high. That is another reason why you need to know the laws as well, if not better, than any city justice or civic patroller. Now . . . can you explain why we can do this without being corrupted by power-as an institution?”
That seemed direct enough. “Because the Collegium has a structure to minimize the dangers of corruption.”
Master Dichartyn nodded. “That is part of the answer. The second part is equally simple. We also can never hold power because the people would not stand for rule by imagers, and we weed out any imagers who do not understand that. Above all, you need to remember that. Sometimes . . . let us just say that once or twice in the past, certain masters failed to realize that basic truth, and disaster for both the Collegium and Solidar was narrowly averted.”