Jayge fretted over the encounter all the way to Lemos Great Lake—especially after comparing his impression of the Lady Thella with descriptions he had heard of the worst of the Lemosan marauders. No one mentioned her by name, and fortunately Armald was not bright enough to make the connection. Lady Holders remained Lady Holders, just as traders remained traders. Armald was less certain about dragonless men, but that person would have unsettled anyone.
What worried Jayge was the knowledge that the renegade had command of a disciplined band that was well able to cause trouble for the Lilcamp-Borgald train. He had irritated her, and though Temma had called him foolish to stew over it, he could not help himself. He was also certain that Thella’s appraisal had been too purposeful—and the trader train had a long way to go to get to Far Cry.
They had taken shelter from Threadfall not far from Plains Hold, and, as customary, Crenden and Borgald offered to send men for ground crew the next day. Nazer and Jayge rode into Plains Hold to find out where Holder Anchoram wanted them to crew.
To Jayge’s surprise, Lord Asgenar himself came in on a blue dragon, dismounting with the ease of long practice, smiling, and greeting the many extra folk assembled at the Hold. He seemed popular, and Jayge halted his runner near the anxious trio of mountain holders Asgenar stopped to speak to. The Lemos Lord Holder was tall and slightly stooped in the shoulder, with a full head of blondish hair, slightly dampened from his riding helmet. He had an open face, a clear eye, and an easy manner—a different sort of lord to Corman, Laudey, or Sifer, the other Lord Holders Jayge had seen. But Asgenar, like Larad of Telgar, was a relatively young man and not so hidebound as the others who had enjoyed the independence of Interval.
Listening, and Jayge prided himself on his keen hearing, he heard that the major complaint of the anxious holders was lack of adequate protection from raids.
“If they just came at us, fair and square, and it was a matter of strength or skill, Lord Asgenar, it would be one thing,” a Beastmaster was saying. “But they sneak in when we’re out in the far meadows or doing our Hold duty, and they whip in and are gone before anyone knows they’ve been. Like that Kadross Hold theft.”
“All the eastern Lord Holders are being hit, not just Lemos…”
“And the Bitrans are turning honest folk away,” someone muttered angrily.
“Some of you already know that I’ve started mounted patrols on random swings. I need your help. You’ve got to inform the Hold when you see anything unusual, have unexpected visitors of any kind, or are expecting carters or journeymen to deliver. Be sure to lock up your holds—”
“Shells, Lord Asgenar, they broke open all my locks and took what they were after,” a mountain holder complained bitterly. “I live up yonder.” He pointed to the north. “How’m I going to send you word in time?”
“I don’t suppose you have a fire-lizard?” Asgenar asked.
“Me? I don’t even have a drum!”
Asgenar regarded him with what Jayge thought was genuine sympathy and concern. “I’ll think of something, Medaman. I’ll think of something for folk like you.” And Jayge could hear the sincerity in his voice. Then Asgenar raised his arms to quiet the sudden spate of questions. “Telgar, Keroon, Igen, Bitra, and I are convinced that all the major thefts are the work of one group, despite the range of their strikes. We don’t know where they are based, but if any of you living up in the Barrier Range see any traces of large group movements, anything unusual, bring word to the nearest drum tower. You’ll be compensated for your loss of time.”
“Will if we can, lord,” Medaman said. “We’ll be snowed in for the winter anytime now.”
“That’s easier,” Asgenar said, grinning broadly. “Just tack out a bright cloth—or your wife’s Gather shawl—on the snow. F’lar and R’mart keep sweepriders out all the time now. They’ll be told to check it out.”
That suggestion went down favorably, and Asgenar was able to continue on to the Hold. Jayge wanted to hang around a little longer, but Nazer, once he had packed the new agenothree cylinders on the burden beasts, wanted to start back.
“I need my sleep if I’m to work ground crew tomorrow,” the other man told Jayge with a huge yawn. Jayge grinned and shooed one of the pack beasts back into line.
The ground crew did not have much to do, as extra wings of dragonriders had been assigned to protect Asgenar’s forests. Only one tangle of Thread got through and was quickly flamed into char. Nevertheless, Borgald was punctilious about duties to the Weyr and never let members of his trains skimp ground crew service. Crenden complained of the loss of two days’ travel but only to Temma and Jayge. A brown rider stopped to thank the crew, but though he was courteous enough, he kept the exchange to a minimum and flew off southeast instead of back toward Benden Weyr.
To make up for the time lost in discharging their Weyr duties, they started the train rolling again as soon as the massive beasts could be prodded out of the cavern shelter and yoked up. They kept on the road night and day until they reached their usual campsite on the far edge of Great Lake. A patrol from Lemos Hold stopped by for a cup of klah and general gossip but declined an invitation to stop the night.
“They offered us escort,” Crenden told his son disdainfully.
“All the way to Far Cry.”
Jayge snorted. “We can handle ourselves.”
“That’s what Borgald said.”
Jayge thought he caught a hint of uncertainty in his father’s eyes. “They have a patrol. We can mount a patrol.”
“We could also—” Crenden’s eyes narrowed as he looked deep into the campfire’s flames. “—take a different route.”
“If Thella hadn’t been scared off by Asgenar’s guards,” Temma said, emerging from the darkness to join them, “I’d worry more.”
“What say, Temma?”
She grinned as she hunkered down and swung the klah kettle over to pour herself a cup. “Chatted up one of the hold ground crew before we pulled out. Thella’s quarry—those thieves of hers—are a harmless joiner and his family, and they’re now in Benden’s charge, you’ll be glad to know.” She winked at Jayge. “Let your conscience be easy, lad. Though it’s a shame Asgenar didn’t catch that pair.” Temma pulled her mouth down in regret, then smiled. “But they didn’t take the girl either. That’s who Thella was after, the girl who hears dragons!” Temma looked skyward for a moment, her expression briefly envious. “That could make very useful listening in times like these. And more reliable than one of those fire-lizard creatures they’re bringing up in droves from the Southern Continent.”
“Southern?” Crenden regarded her in surprise.
“Brother, I think we’re going to have to talk to Borgald. He’s far too traditional in his attitude. I think we ought to look for trade possibilities with the south ourselves.” Temma chuckled at Crenden’s surprised reaction. “We’ll get through this journey first and see what we hear at Far Cry. They’re always up on the latest rumor.” She rose. “Nazer and I will be first patrol. Wake you at second moonrise, Jayge. Get some sleep.”
“Don’t you fall asleep,” Jayge countered with a snicker. “Private joke,” he added as he felt his father’s disapproval.
After resting the beasts three days, the Lilcamp-Borgald train yoked up to begin the final leg of the long journey up the Igen River Valley. The track ran partly through forest and partly along the riverbank. They did not have to worry about Thread, for they would not be far enough north to be involved in the Telgar Fall.
Halfway to Far Cry, just where the track narrowed, with a steep drop to the river on one side and rocky forested slopes on the other, the raiders struck. Afterward, Jayge realized that they had chosen the best possible point for an ambush. There was no room for his people to maneuver to avoid the rockslides that were loosed, battering the lighter wagons and sending three down the drop into the river. Even one of the big ones, hit with an enormous mass of rocks, was tilted off-balance and fell, the legs of the helpless burden beasts pawing for footing.