Storm Warning - Mercedes Lackey [30]
And if it was Rubrik’s plan to keep them from noticing pertinent military details about Valdemar—well, Karal, for one, was too tired by now to take note of much of anything. He wasn’t likely to have known how to tell if something was strategic or not. Ulrich was exactly what he appeared to be, a scholar. The Priest had spent his life in studying magic and the Writ and Rules of Vkandis; Karal was at the beginning of those very same, intense studies, and the very thought of having time to study military strategy as well made Karal want to laugh.
Then again, how could Rubrik possibly be sure of that? True, he was only sixteen, but that was the age many young men were commissioned as officers in the Army. He could be a military spy; a successful spy presumably would look like something harmless.
Like some Priest’s rather young, green, and confused secretary, I suppose.
He knuckled his foggy eyes and stifled a yawn, while Trenor walked briskly behind Honeybee. What was truly mortifying was that Ulrich, who should have been in worse shape than he was. actually seemed fresh and alert after his night’s sleep. He talked at length with Rubrik, in Valdemaran this time, supposedly in order to refresh his memory and increase his proficiency. Karal listened while their escort rattled on about the people who lived along this road, what crops they grew, what beasts they herded. Pretty boring stuff, but it did sharpen his Valdemaran. And for the first time in any language study, they did have a reason to ask “how far to the Palace?”
The landscape gradually flattened until, by afternoon, there was nothing on either side of the road but farm country, and the terrain had turned to gentle, rolling hills. Trees lined each side of the road as a windbreak, and more trees were planted in windrows between each plowed or fallow field. A warm breeze crossed their path; warm enough to make him sleepy all over again. He caught himself nodding more than once, jerking awake as he started to lose his seat.
They couldn’t avoid people now; every time they stopped to rest, there would be some curious farmer or passing merchant who wondered who they were and what their business was. Rubrik was friendly, but close-mouthed, describing them only as “foreigners.” For most people, that seemed to be enough of an explanation.
“Been a mort’o foreigners, lately,” said one old man, as he drew water from his well for their horses. Rubrik agreed and did not elaborate, so the old man’s curiosity went unsatisfied. Karal and Ulrich politely pretended that they had not understood him.
But Karal watched their escort closely all during the afternoon after that. He set himself a mental exercise to keep himself awake, trying to determine what choosing this man as their escort meant to their status, and hence, their ongoing mission. Of course, this was not technically anything he needed to worry about, but Ulrich would probably be asking him questions, sooner or later, to see what he had reasoned out for himself.
So while Ulrich talked in Valdemaran about the weather, the corn harvest, the other “foreigners” that had been in Valdemar because of the war, Karal watched and listened and thought.
While “crippled” Rubrik might look unsuited to this position, he was certainly bearing up under all this hard riding better than the two “able-bodied” people he was escorting. He didn’t need all that much help, really; just what Karal or the occasional common horseboy could provide. His white mount took care of the rest. His command of Karsite was excellent, as Ulrich had already noted; how many people were there in Valdemar who were fluent in Karsite? There couldn’t be many.
Rubrik was well-versed enough in the current situation in the Valdemaran Court that he had been able to answer most of Ulrich’s questions so far. This business of hurrying them on their way could be a very clever means of making certain they didn’t do anything really impolite—or politically unfortunate. Limit the contact,