“I’m still going, and so are Zhaneel and Keeth,” Skan spoke up firmly. Judeth nodded, as if she had expected as much. “In that case, since I’m going to divide the searchers into three parties, each gryphon can go with one. I’ve already sent out a gryphon with a Gate-mage; but he’ll be coming straight back, and so will the two still out there while weather cooperates.” Judeth cocked an eyebrow at Skan as if she expected him to object to this, but he didn’t. Amberdrake could certainly understand why. A gryphon on the ground was severely handicapped; Skan, Zhaneel, and Keenath would be as much a hindrance as they were a help. The two who had been on patrol would be exhausted, and the one who had ferried the Gate-mage even more so.
Judeth continued. “Now, here’s the current plan. We’ll Gate in here—that’s the closest I want to get to this area with anything that depends upon magic.”
She stabbed down with her index finger. Here, the point where her finger indicated, was on the line that Blade and Tad had been expected to fly.
“The Gate-mage and a small party will stay here, at a base camp, holding the area for the rest of you. We’ll divide up; the party with Skan and Drake in it will go north, up to the top of the area, and then in. The one with Ikala leading it, including Keenath, will go straight in. The one with Winterhart and Zhaneel will go south, then in. That way we’ll cover the maximum area in the shortest possible time.” Judeth straightened, and looked straight at Skan again: “And in case you’re wondering why I haven’t put you two in on the expected line, it’s because the two gryphons out there already flew that line and didn’t see anything before weather forced them down. So either the missing patrol didn’t fly that line, or it’s going to take an expert in that kind of territory to find signs of them. That’s Ikala, not you; he’ll be leading a party of people all used to moving quickly, and after he scouts the line on the ground, he’ll be covering the areas north and south of that line. I’m putting you two on the likeliest alternate track; Tad always had a tendency in training to stay on the northern side of a given flight line. My guess is, if they’re anywhere off the line, it’s in the north.”
“But that’s just a guess,” Skan stated. “They could be south.”
She nodded. “And the gods know I’ve guessed wrong before; that’s why the third party. The parties are going to number eight; one gryphon, one Healer or trondi’irn, or whatever comes close—that’s you, Drake—two mages, and five fighters, all experienced Silvers. Any smaller is dangerous, any larger is unwieldy. Don’t bother to pack at all; you’ll be taking standard Silver kits including medical supplies, and you aren’t going to have time to change clothing. Besides, by the time you make a camp at night, you and your clothing should be sluiced clean.”
Her stare at Amberdrake said, as clearly as words, And if you don’t like that, you don’t have to go.
He stared right back at her. Try and keep me from going and you’II have a fight.
She waited for him to say something, staring into his gaze with challenge in her stance, but it was she who finally dropped her eyes. “This is an in-and-out mission, the faster the better. As of this moment, consider yourself facing a real enemy, a powerful one, if he can drain all the mage-energy out of a place. I don’t know what’s caused magic to leach out of that area, but I have to assume it’s a hostile, and it isn’t going to like having twenty-four people traipsing all over its territory. As soon as the mage gets to the Gate-point, we’ll be bringing it up, and I don’t want it up for longer than it takes to pitch all of you through it. Is that understood?”
Once again, she stared at him as if her words were meant for him alone. Her tone of voice implied that, given the opportunity, she would “pitch” Amberdrake through the Gate. He simply nodded, as did everyone else.
“Good. From now until you leave, you are all sleeping, eating, and everything else right here.” She smiled thinly at their surprise. “That’ll be quicker than trying to gather all of you up once the mage gets into place. I don’t intend to waste a single minute on any dallying. I’ll have sleeping arrangements brought in; the mage I sent out is being carried by Darzie, so I expect to hear that they’ve made their landing within the next full day.”
Amberdrake was impressed, as much by the identity of the gryphon as by the speed with which the duo expected to reach their destination. He wondered what Judeth had promised to get Darzie to fly a carry-basket at all, much less try to do so breaking a record and in bad weather. Darzie was not a Silver; he was one of a new class of gryphons who were primarily athletes. Whether as acrobats, fast couriers, or actual racers, these gryphons earned a very fine, even luxurious, living by serving the Haighlei appetite for speed and spectacle. Darzie was the best of the fast couriers and one of the fastest racers—he was a more consistent flyer than gryphons who actually clocked the occasional faster time. It was hard to imagine what hold Judeth could have over him to induce him to risk injury and strain in this way.
But maybe he was being uncharitable; maybe Darzie had actually volunteered. . . .
Not without blackmail.
It didn’t matter, so long as Judeth had gotten him, whether it was through bribery or blackmail, or a combination of both.
Maybe she’s following my example. The gods know she has enough power of her own to leverage just about anyone in this city into doing her bidding at least once.
“Any questions?” Judeth asked, and looked around the room. “No? Right. Fall out, and for those of you who haven’t slept, I’m calling Tamsin in to make you sleep.” There was no doubt who she was targeting with the daggers of her gaze, and both Amberdrake and Skan flinched; but she wasn’t finished. “That includes me; we won’t be any good to anyone if we aren’t rested when the call comes. Right, Drake?”
Her question came as a surprise, and he was doubly surprised to sense the compassion and sympathy—and worry of her own—behind the words. It penetrated even his defensiveness.
“Ah, right,” he admitted sheepishly, relaxing just a trifle. So she does understand, and she’s forgiven us. . . . He had not hoped for it so soon, but he welcomed it as a tiny bright spot of hope in the midst of too much grief.
“Good. Glad you agree, because you’re going to be one of the first to go to sleep.” A commotion at the door proved to be bedding, food, and Tamsin all arriving simultaneously. “Now, stand down, all of you, and get yourselves taken care of. I’ll be watching to see that you do.”
And she did; standing over them all like a slave-master, to see that every member of the three search parties ate, drank, and submitted to Tamsin’s touch. As Judeth had warned, Amberdrake was one of the first, and after one look at Judeth’s expression, he knew better than to protest.
So he crammed down a few mouthfuls of food as dry and tasteless as paper, drank what was given him, and laid himself down on a standard, military-style sleeping roll. He closed his eyes as Tamsin leaned over him, and that was the last thing he knew until the rally-call awakened him.