Death's Sword Book 1: Finding and Seeking

Chapter 19, part 1: Day 26

"Namarth? Namarth! What utter idiocy has possessed them? Do they think the rest of the Council will sit idly by and let them claim Namarth all for themselves? No, they will not!" Saisiko the Abbot of Water Magic stroked his long, silky beard then tugged it, angrily. "So this is how Chang regards his colleagues, is it, that we are not to be trusted with this news? We shall see about that. The next meeting of the Council of Magicks is scheduled for two tenday's time. I shall bring it up there and challenge him," he said, speaking so fiercely that he was spitting with the rage he felt, "Perhaps it is time the council had a change of Arch-Chancellor!"

"They must have raised a considerable sum of money already, Saisiko," interjected the College treasurer, "Should we raise our rates still further to try and catch them?"

Saisiko shook his head angrily, waving one hand dismissively as he spoke, "No, no, no. We will do as we agreed previously. Keep to the new rates, press harder for new business and get the money in as fast as possible. Start recalling all the loans you can, then recruit any extra sohei that you can, make arrangements for hiring kujamai in all the major cities. Doubtless we will find slim pickings; those accursed Thaumaturgists will be ahead of us on this road. You have two days, then I will start to contact the other colleges, make alliances against the sorcerors. We will bring them to heel, force them to tell all they know of this story. Then we'll know what to do next."

He gestured with one hand; a vase of twigs flung itself through one of the screens with great force. "The fools. The greedy fools!" he shouted.

Inwardly, the treasurer quaked. Namarth loose once more; if the old stories were to be believed, that sword lived at the eye of the hurricane. Death and destruction reigned all about it, fear rode ahead of it. And there it was, heading directly for the frail web of alliances that had brought the Council to power in this land. All the coin he had carefully built up, all the taels of silver and gold! Kujamai, more sohei, more wands and focii; soon his vaults would be empty. Then - no money, no bribes. No bribes, no power. No power, no security. No security, no money.

Mankoon looked at the time ahead and foresaw a very bleak future for himself. Perhaps it was time to retire and live off the wealth he had already accumulated for himself. His mind rapidly calculated the sums he had scattered across the various cities, the likely prices he could get for his properties. He decided to liquidise his assets anyway; he judged property to be an unsafe investment in the near future. Pearls, perhaps, or gems - they would be a more secure stock.

Having mapped out his own plans, Mankoon settled himself in his own chamber within the College building, large silver bowl full of water in front of him, and cleared his mind of all thoughts. Then he closed his eyes and began contacting the other branches of his College, Naming each in turn to make contact, issuing orders, giving instructions, dispensing advice.

It took nearly two hours to complete his rounds. Exhausted, feeling drained, Mankoon picked up a tiny golden bell and rang it once, twice. A servant shuffled into the chamber, bowed low. "Sake, quickly," croaked Mankoon, "Then dim sum, shredded beef with ginger and kjava." The servant ran off to do the treasurer's bidding.

The day after the Death Mage's attack, Rolf spent most of his time riding alongside Rana. The elves were renowned for their bowmen and the archer was eager to learn what he could. Rana did indeed carry a fine longbow, which Rolf could see was covered with minute characters and pictograms carved into the wood, a thing of great beauty. The human found the elf curiously reticent and poor company, however. Disappointed, Rolf dropped back and allowed Tania to pester him with small talk instead.

Susoo, meanwhile, was talking with Kleymin, trying to wring every scrap of detail of the previous night from the boy. Tzumak rode with them too, listening carefully. At length, the Grand Inquisitor decided that she could learn no more. "A Death Mage," she said, face twisted as though the words brought an unpleasant taste into her mouth. "Worse still, he got away. He will probably have gone looking for help. We're in trouble, boy, be in no doubt of that." She raised her voice slightly, "Tzumak! Is there anything you can do to make us harder to follow?"