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Things became even more crunched this week (and still are until I finish two assignments for publishers), so I haven’t answered everyone’s posts & emails. They’re not lost, I’m just out of time and brains. But…I did locate a new snippet for you. It needs a bit of introduction…actually it’s two snippets, the second one, in particular, pruned extensively.
Place: Fox Company winter quarters, Valdaire
Who: Captains Selfer and Burek, discussing a captain with a temporary contract whom Selfer hired while Burek was away in Andressat, recovering from his wound. Harnik is an older man, and…well, you’ll see.
That evening, Harnik was off duty. Burek and Selfer ate supper together. “What do you think of him?” Selfer asked, nodding to the empty place.
“I’m not sure,” Burek said. He was not sure how much to say. “Is he a little deaf, maybe?”
“Maybe. I don’t know if I made the right choice–what Lord Arcolin will think. It’s clear to me that Harnik thinks he’s senior–he is older and more experienced, I don’t dispute that. But I feel as if he expects to be made senior captain when Arcolin comes.”
“Captain Arcolin wouldn’t do that.”
“No, but…Harnik’s always giving me advice, telling me what I should do. And he talks on and on about what they did in Clart Company. Clart’s a good cavalry company but they’re not infantry and it’s not the same. And Lord Arcolin’s Company has its own traditions already.”
“And yet Harnik is one of us now, until Captain Arcolin comes down, so…”
“So we must get along with him. Yes, you’re right. But I have orders directly from Lord Arcolin, and so do you, from before he went north. I worry that Harnik may step beyond those, present himself to merchants or even potential employers as having more authority than he does.”
“Surely he wouldn’t–”
“The day before you came, we got a load of fodder from a supplier this Company doesn’t use…Harnik had authorized it, rather than asking me who our suppliers are. I had some on order, and–that’s why the stable lofts are stuffed. Our usual supplier wasn’t happy; I hated to make Harnik look bad…I’m not sure what to do, Burek. This is the first time I’ve had a separate command down here. I was junior to Dorrin Verrakai.”
“Did you tell Harnik not to do it again?”
“Of course. He puffed up a bit but then apologized…only in a way that convinced me he thought my objection silly.”
………………………………
By the time Burek took over for the second watch, Harnik had not returned. Selfer shook his head. “I hope this won’t be a habit, now that you’re back.”
Harnik reappeared while Burek was making rounds for the second time, his voice a little slurred. “Well, lad, it’s no night to be coming up that hill from the White Dragon into the face of the wind. I almost turned back and begged a bed there, but I knew you depended on me. Can’t leave you two young bravos without a graybeard to back you up.”
So. This was near insubordination, but what could Selfer do with a half-drunken older man in the middle of the night? “Captain Selfer has tomorrow’s schedule posted in the guard room,” Burek said, in as neutral a voice as he could manage. “You’ll be taking both cohorts for a march after the morning chores.”
“In a snowstorm? He can’t be serious.”
“I believe, Captain Harnik, that Captain Selfer has done this before.”
“We’ll see what the morning brings,” Harnik said, and stumped off to his quarters, muttering to himself. Burek could just hear a phrase or two…nothing flattering to Selfer. He continued his rounds without waking Selfer, making sure that the sentries had their sib in shelter every second turn of the glass.
Selfer came into the guardroom before the end of the watch, carrying a pot of sib with him. “He’s snoring loud enough to hear in the courtyard,” he said. No need to give the name. “What time did he come in?”
“My second round,” Burek said. “And he’d been drinking. Said he’d almost decided to spend the night at the inn.”
“Um.” Selfer poured sib for both of them. “Anything else to report?”
“No. I thought perhaps some enterprising thief might think we didn’t man the walls on such a night, but nothing happened.” Burek stretched. “I have one more round–better get to it.”
“Go on, then. I must think what to do.”
What to do about Harnik…Burek thought about that as he went from sentry to sentry. Did he and Selfer really need a third captain with both of them healthy? But Captain Arcolin had told Selfer to hire one for the winter. In those few days he couldn’t tell how much help Harnik actually was……
Yet…if the man was a drunkard, if he could not do the work for which he’d been hired, if he continued to show disrespect of Selfer as his commander and Burek as a fellow officer…they would be better off without him. ….
It was light enough now to see the steady fall of the snow, the smoke from the kitchens disappearing into it, the shapes of the buildings and the piles of snow covering roofs and ground. Burek loved the silence of snow and the smell, so clean and pure; he stood a moment in the middle of the north wall parapet and let the snowflakes land on his face until they caught in his eyebrows and chilled his eyelids. Then, laughing at himself, he turned his back to the slight breeze, blinked the snow away and looked down into the courtyard. One of Selfer’s corporals for the first round of daytime sentries out of the mess, looked up, spotted him and called “Relief ready, captain!”
“Relieve the posts, corporal,” Burek called back. He retraced his steps to the first post and waited until the corporal and his little troop were up on the parapet, then walked along with them as each post changed shifts, and down the steps by the front gate.
He expected to find Harnik and Selfer at breakfast in the mess hall, but only Selfer was there; he waved Burek over. “Guard changed, Captain Selfer,” Burek said. “Nothing to report on my last round, either.”
A cook’s helper came over with bowls of porridge and a basket of hot bread. The captains’ table already had a pitcher of honey and box of salt. “Here, Captains. Ham next.”
Burek poured a stream of honey into his porridge and sprinkled salt on it. “I thought Golden Company’s mess was good, but this is better.”
“Wait until you rotate up to the north,” Selfer said. “There’s a pastry cook at the stronghold as good as any you’d find in a Valdaire inn.”
“I’ve never seen the north at all,” Burek said. He ate rapidly, glancing now and then at the door, expecting to see Harnik.
“He’s still snoring,” Selfer said. “I banged on his door, and he grunted; I thought he was awake. But then when I got my boots on, and walked past his room on the way out, he was snoring again.”
Burek grinned. “We could give him a snow bath.”
Selfer thought about it, then shook his head. “Bad for discipline, for the troops to see a captain dumped in the snow. But…we could take a bucket in, if he’s not up by the end of breakfast.”
“I can take care of the morning chore details,” Burek said. “The jacks detail is all out of my cohort anyway.” A server arrived with a platter of ham steaks; Burek stabbed one and pulled it onto his plate.
“You’ve been up all night,” Selfer said, cutting his own. “He should do it.”
“Yes, but if you need time to settle things with him, I can be out of the way and ensure the others are.” Burek wondered what was holding Selfer back. They really did not need a third captain, and if Harnik was going to cause trouble, better let him go now.
***
They started out of the mess hall only to meet Harnik coming in. “Sorry I’m late, lads,” he said. “Something wrong with the ale last night, I think. Burek, can you take the work details this morning? I’ve got to get ready for the main exercise.” Without waiting for an answer, he went in to breakfast.
***
He assembled the troops in the courtyard, ready to march. Finally, he went to Harnik’s quarters and knocked. “They’re ready, Captain Harnik.”
The door opened; Harnik’s face was even more flushed, and Burek could smell the drink. “Is my horse ready?”
“Your horse?”
“Of course. I’m not going to slog through the snow like a–” He stopped, peered past Burek. “It’s snowing too hard. We can’t go out in this.” He shut the door in Burek’s face.
Burek stared at the wooden planks for a moment, trying to think how to handle this–he did not want to leave Harnik alone in the compound, not after what Selfer had told him. …
Selfer arrived near midday, with four other riders. Burek stared: Aesil M’dierra of Golden Company, Nasimir Clart of Clart Company, a Gird’s Marshal, and the hard-faced, one-armed man he remembered as head of the mercenaries’ hiring hall. Selfer, when he dismounted, had an expression Burek recognized with relief: the senior captain had come to a firm decision.
……………………………………………..
Comment by Celina — September 29, 2011 @ 10:57 am
I sense trouble… Next book is going to be so exciting!
Comment by Nigel — September 29, 2011 @ 11:09 am
I sense that its going to be another book that I will re-read many times.
Have gone through the earlier serials (Vatta, Serano and Paks) now around 4 times in the last 3 months!
They are so readable and now I can spot odd discrepancies…
Comment by Corinne — September 29, 2011 @ 11:39 am
Something that has been bothering me for awhile and this reminded me again. What happened to Captain Pont, junior captain to Cracolnya? He was in the Company during Oath of Gold during the memorable supper, but somehow is gone in Oath of Fealty. There are no major battles during the time between books and he seemed competent in Sheepfarmer’s Daughter.
Comment by elizabeth — September 29, 2011 @ 11:51 am
Quite a few people quit the Company when Kieri didn’t take them back south or when he re-admitted the Girdish Marshals to his domain. Not all those who left were mentioned, and Pont was one of them. He is competent, but he just preferred to go somewhere else. In that span of time, Kieri was letting anyone leave who wanted to and had fulfilled their first contract. I don’t know where he is now, but he wasn’t in the mercenaries’ hiring hall when Arcolin went looking for additional captains–I suspect he’s now running someone’s private guard. He was originally hired after Tamarrion’s death, so it’s possible that he wasn’t Girdish and didn’t want to be part of a defined Girdish military unit–but equally possible that he was just ready for something different. He might pop up again, or he might not.
Comment by Corinne — September 29, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
Thank you! That explains much. If I recall correctly, he was the only Captain that did not leave for further training, death, or disconcerting shadow. I think you wrote him as a follower of Tir since he cursed using Tir’s name. Sorry to disturb the flow and thank you for the snippets and everything else!
Comment by tuppence — September 29, 2011 @ 8:28 pm
I hope that Selfer has double checked the quality of that extra fodder order. I can see all sorts of sinister possibilities unfolding.
…que spooky synthesizer music…
Comment by Zunni — September 29, 2011 @ 11:15 pm
Intriguing! It makes me crave more… I can’t wait for your next book to be published; I’m so looking forward to it.
Comment by Jenn — September 30, 2011 @ 7:30 am
OH I can’t wait.
I am almost tempted to start the count down. But one must show some restraint.
Thank you for the snippet.
Comment by Richard — September 30, 2011 @ 8:17 pm
Nigel, spotting those minor discrepancies adds interest, doesn’t it? They become like old friends one is comfortable with. Lets not spoil the game for anyone else by revealing those not already mentioned somewhere in these pages.
Elizabeth, I was slightly worried you might have simply forgotten Pont (having lost those old notebooks) but now I see how leaving him out makes room for more story. Author’s privilege and readers’ gain.
Corinne, Pont was certainly at the meeting when Kieri told the captains he was re-admitting Marshals, Arcolin said of course he’d stay and all the others nodded. (It’s in the book.) My thought for what it is worth: Valichi’s real job was captain of the guards left north when the Company goes south. Kieri staying north makes Valichi a spare captain so would mean an end to Pont’s prospect of promotion to a senior when Valichi retires.
Comment by Eir de Scania — October 1, 2011 @ 1:34 pm
Snippets are always welcome! 🙂
Comment by Deborah Durbin — October 3, 2011 @ 1:37 am
Thank you Elizabeth for the snippet. I read the first two books and enjoyed them immensely. I can hardly wait for the third book.
Comment by elizabeth — October 3, 2011 @ 10:58 am
Richard, the more I think about it (and I hadn’t thought much about it; I just knew he was gone) I think it was a mixed motivation.
He isn’t Girdish, and though he gets along with Girdish, he doesn’t look forward to any new restrictions that might be put on him. That alone wouldn’t be enough to send him away, if they were still campaigning in the South–Cracolnya isn’t Girdish either. But Cracolnya’s cultural background is the most different (and most northern) of all the captains; Pont gets along with him but doesn’t feel any closeness. Like many of the soldiers who stayed in past their first contract, he liked campaigning–the activity, seeing the sights, seeing all the different cities and people. The North Marches are–to him–terminally boring except in orc outbreaks or invasions and that doesn’t happen every year. He can’t advance as a soldier, as an officer, except in war. The longer he’s “idle” (as he sees it) the less he has to offer any other employer, and he’s not going to advance in the Duke’s Company unless it’s death opens up opportunities…and that’s likely only during active campaigning.
Kieri will give him a good recommendation, based on his service…so he takes himself off to find another military unit where he can either start at the top (on the basis of his experience) or look for promotion. M’dierra would hire him, for instance; so would Sofi Ganarrion. Clart might, though he’s not a cavalry officer (he rides well and he’s observed a lot about cavalry operations during Siniava’s War.) The Cold Count probably would not. Various city militias might hire him (both north and south); it’s fun to imagine him shaping up a unit of Vonja militia. It’s also possible that he might, now that Arcolin’s campaigning the Company in the South, re-apply to Arcolin even though he knows Arcolin is Girdish and plans to keep Kieri’s word as far as allowing/encouraging Marshals in the North Marches.
North of the mountains, he could probably find work with one of the peers maintaining a fairly sizeable militia. He would not want to work for Dorrin, though if she and his employer allied, he would get along with her as well as he did in the Duke’s Company. He’s an honest mercenary; he won’t sell out to someone he thinks is criminal (and that includes Alured.)
Comment by Jim Elgar — October 3, 2011 @ 7:38 pm
I think I remember the Marrakai realm borders Finthea and the Dwarfmounts.Would patrolling the Marrakai southern line of forts be exicting enough for Pont, cashing in on the Phelan-Marrakai friendship.
Comment by Cindy — October 3, 2011 @ 7:45 pm
Thanks for the snippets! It’s going to be a long wait for the book.
Comment by Laura BurgandyIce — October 4, 2011 @ 8:49 am
What a fun little taste… makes ya hungry for more, doesn’t it? thx
Comment by Richard — October 4, 2011 @ 1:38 pm
And what’s more, thinking “What is there here worth my staying for?” rather than “I must get away before a Marshal comes” explains Pont not having blurted out immediately, in front of everyone that he was off, the way Barra did. Which is why we never saw him go. Reader is happy.
It’s beginning to look like, if Selfer ever gets to knight school, he’ll already know nearly everything they can teach him. (Don’t answer that, not before Book V hits the shops!)
Comment by ellen — October 5, 2011 @ 1:40 am
Great snippet!!! Can’t wait for the book!!
Comment by Daniel Glover — October 6, 2011 @ 2:27 pm
Hoping you are not getting even more crunched of late Elizabeth. It (getting crunched) has been going around a lot up here in Minnesota.
Comment by Merewen — October 8, 2011 @ 4:40 pm
This was a great snippet, and I really can’t wait to see what happens to Harnik.
One thing that kept bugging me at the beginning, though, was the way that Selfer and Burek kept alternating between Lord Arcolin and Captain Arcolin. Did you do that on purpose?
Comment by jjmcgaffey — October 11, 2011 @ 9:37 pm
Hmm, I hadn’t noticed that – Selfer calls him Lord Arcolin (and once, just Arcolin); Burek calls him Captain Arcolin. Yet Burek was the one hired after Arcolin became a lord. Very odd. Is Selfer reminding himself that Arcolin’s not just Captain any more, perhaps?
Comment by elizabeth — October 11, 2011 @ 10:06 pm
Merewen & jjmcgaffey: Yes, the dual usage is intentional. Selfer is Tsaian and served under both Duke Phelan and then Duke Verrakai (who had been a captain); he knows from Dorrin (after Autumn Court when she tells him Arcolin wants the cohort to leave her and rejoin the Company) that Arcolin has now been granted a title. Selfer is very aware of Tsaian honorifics and is trying to be precise. Burek was hired by Arcolin in the South; he is not as familiar with Tsaian terms or ranks. He called Arcolin “Captain” and Arcolin accepted that, so that’s how he thinks of him. (Aesil M’dierra is “Captain” or “Commander” to her troops, as well.) It was his understanding (and–last year–Arcolin’s feeling) that his northern title was for the north, and in the south he’s “just” a mercenary commander. Remember that although Arcolin was granted the land and promised a title, allowing him to style himself “Lord Arcolin” in the north, he did not actually receive the title until after that first campaign summer, when Burek was his junior. He was named Count at Autumn Court. So he felt uncertain, in that summer. With just the one cohort–he felt “Captain” was the more appropriate title. Arcolin has changed since he went back north; he has begun to settle in as a peer (events in Echoes will advance his influence and understanding); when he comes down again he’s not just a merc, but feels that he’s a peer of Tsaia as well. Burek, meanwhile, is beginning to grasp, from Selfer’s usage, that maybe he should change over, but it’s not a habit yet.
In time, Arcolin’s northern title will percolate into universal Company usage, but right now it’s somewhat confusing to “his” cohort (his original cohort) who have only ever known him as their “Captain” and will have the hardest time changing. Historically, the same thing happened with Phelan; he was “Captain” to his troops at first, and then gradually became “My lord” as a count, and then finally duke. But we don’t see that transformation directly in the books, only the result of it. And Arcolin isn’t as touchy about his rank as Kieri was–he’s been addressed as “Captain” so long that he’s very comfortable with it (remember, he started as one of Halveric’s sergeants.) Kieri, as a young hotblood, had ambitions and wanted to be recognized and respected. He advanced in rank young (and deservedly), another reason he wanted it known and used.