The outer doors, portals of solid gold, were closed with a loud clang, sealing off the chamber from the rest of Qualinesti. Immediately Gilthas felt stifled. He wanted to throw the doors open, to admit sunlight and air, but Rashas had informed him that the volatile nature of today’s topic required that the meeting be held in secrecy.
“I call the Thalas-Enthia to order on this day of Fourth Gateway in the month of Spring Dawning, in the year of Krynn three hundred eighty-three years after the Cataclysm.”
The murmuring of the senators in the room died away, and many of them looked at him expectantly, curious as to the topic that had brought them here on such short notice. It irritated Gilthas to see that some elves looked past him to Rashas, but he was determined to conduct this meeting in a way that would give the reactionary senator no cause to intervene.
“We have just received an urgent report from the western wilds of the kingdom. General Palthainon has ridden for three days over forest trails to deliver this important message. I now call upon him to make his report known to the Thalas-Enthia.”
Palthainon, still wearing his mud-stained boots and travel-worn tunic, stood at the foot of the rostrum. The costume was for effect, Gilthas knew. He had been in the city for at least six hours since making his report to Rashas at dawn. Nevertheless, the garb served to focus the attention of the senators on the urgency of his mission. Every eye was on the general as Palthainon climbed four steps to take a position on the highest step, save for the rostrum itself. His back to Gilthas, he turned to address the gathered elves.
“You have perhaps heard disturbing rumors out of the west, stories of banditry and robbery dating from the beginning of this summer. They have been regarded as tall tales, for the most part. Who would dare to challenge the mastery of the Qualinesti in our own domain?”
The general’s remarks were greeted with mutters of astonishment: “Who indeed?” As Palthainon went on to describe his own mission of investigation, begun at the insistence of Rashas, of course, Gilthas tried to remember what he knew of this tall warrior who was so unusually broad-shouldered for an elf.
Palthainon had been an appointee of Rashas, so Gilthas assumed that the warrior’s loyalty lay firmly with the elder senator. He had captained a company during the War of the Lance, when the Qualinesti elves had fled to exile on Ergoth while the unstoppable dragonarmies had claimed their homeland. Palthainon had grown rich in the practice of war, though, perhaps because he had never actually fought against the hordes of the Dark Queen. Instead, his campaigns had been limited to subjugating the Kagonesti, the wild elves, who had roamed free across Ergoth before the coming of the Qualinesti. According to his reputation, Palthainon’s company had never been beaten in battle... and if the number of wild elf slaves he had sold in the markets of Qualimori and Daltigoth was any indication, the reputation was well earned.
Gilthas’s attention snapped back to the present as the warrior continued his story.
“At first I was skeptical of the tales, but then I interviewed two noble elves, high lords of unimpeachable reputation, and their tale was the one that convinced me. They were both part of an overland caravan, journeying south from Caergoth with a load of gemstones and spices, having set forth to barter good Qualinesti steel and leather goods. They were not overly cautious—only a dozen guards—for they had already passed the border stones into Qualinesti. Naturally enough, they felt quite secure with the sanctity of our nation.
“I grieve to tell you, elves of the Thalas-Enthia, that their caravan was attacked in the middle of the night. The bandits number many—the nobles estimated two hundred or more, but experience has shown me that even the most perspicacious of witnesses is untrustworthy on matters such as this. Still, the guards were overwhelmed, the cargo stolen, and the bandits made their escape into the darkness of the woods.”
There were cries of outrage throughout the chamber, and several elves stomped their feet as they agitated for action. Gilthas held up a hand, but the gesture wasn’t enough to calm the gathering into silence. Instead, he spoke loudly, asking his question in a voice that carried over the grumbling.
“Good general, you interviewed both of these noble elves?” he asked.
“Yes, Honored Speaker, and their tales matched in every detail. It may interest you to know that I spoke with them separately, so that they did not have the advantage of each hearing the other’s testimony.”
“A splendid precaution,” Gilthas agreed. “But I take it that, since they were able to talk, neither of them met with harm during this episode?”
“No, Honored Speaker. As a matter of fact, neither of them showed the mark of a single wound.” Palthainon’s tone was a little scornful as he shared this information.
“And the guards... were many of them killed?”
“Their testimony included no remarks as to the state of the guards,” the general said with a shrug.
And you didn’t think to ask! Gilthas wanted to voice the rebuke but decided that it was more politic to bite his tongue. “Still, we can assume that if great bloodshed was wrought among the escort, the nobles would have mentioned the fact as part of their testimony.”
“It is a logical assumption,” agreed the warrior.
“I fail to see what difference the relative wounding of the victims bears upon the facts here,” Rashas interjected. “Clearly a crime has occurred.”
“Very clearly,” Gilthas agreed genially. “I merely wish to establish the exact nature of that crime.”
“The crime is robbery, theft of legitimate imported goods!” declared Palthainon. “We have evidence and testimony to that effect.”
“Yes... in fact, we’ve had testimony to that effect for a week, if I recall correctly.”
“But this is testimony from reliable sources!” the general retorted.
“To be sure... and since this testimony is the same as we heard days earlier, doesn’t that prove that the other sources were reliable as well?” Gilthas was actually enjoying himself.
“Enough!” Rashas snapped the command, and the Speaker felt as though a leash had been jerked tightly around his neck. The senator continued, obviously doing his best to speak in a level and reasonable tone. “We now have the proof we lacked before. Doesn’t this suggest that the Thalas-Enthia proceed to the consideration of some sort of action?”
“It does,” Gilthas agreed, forcing himself to reply in kind.
Senator Fallitarian, a doddering elder known to be a fervent supporter of Rashas, made the motion. “We should send a company of warriors to the west... patrol the trails, bring the rascals to justice!”
“Here, here!” The suggestion was echoed throughout the chamber.
“A single company?” Rashas interjected, with a deliberative scowl. “Two hundred elves to hunt down and capture a band that might be their equal in numbers, if we are to believe the words of the witnesses?”
“We should make it at least three companies,” Gilthas suggested. “That way, they can patrol a larger area and will be readily available to reinforce each other should the bandits prove to be numerous.”
“Excellent idea,” Rashas concurred.
Gilthas was paradoxically annoyed with himself to find that the senator’s praise pleased him.
“Three companies it is!” Senator Fallitarian fell into rank. “I submit that General Palthainon should be appointed their general.”
That motion, too, passed with a mere voice vote. Palthainon was authorized to raise six hundred Qualinesti warriors from the clans in and around the city and to outfit them with armaments from the city armory. He was given a week to organize his three companies. Then he would embark for the west, where he was granted full authority to decide how to deal with the bandits. The senate suggested that he try to bring the leaders back to the city for trial, but even this notion was couched in polite terms, and very few of the gathered nobles ever expected to see any of the bandits in Qualinost—at least, not alive.