chambers.”
“Yes, sir.”
Quaeryt quickly made arrangements to use the first private room, then hurried in to rearrange the furniture so that he and Vaelora would sit behind the circular table … and so that all the other chairs were against the side wall. The two of them had barely seated themselves when the two factors entered the room.
Quaeryt wasn’t in the slightest surprised to see the comparatively young factor Jarell as the first of the two men to enter the private chamber, since Jarell had emerged as the most diplomatic of the factors when Southern Army had stopped in Daaren in the fall. As before, the clean-shaven Jarell had his straight brown hair slicked back from a high forehead, and he smiled winningly directly at Vaelora. With him was a much older man, white-haired, who Quaeryt thought might have been watching with Jarell at the time the imagers had rebuilt the bridge over the Phraan. He did not smile. Both men bowed.
“Might I present Factor Palumyn?” offered Jarell, his voice deep and pleasant. “He is the head of the factors’ council of Daaren.”
“You might,” replied Quaeryt. “We are pleased to see you both in health.”
“There have been many rumors,” Jarell went on, “about your return, Lady and Commander…”
“And you would like to know what happened?” Quaeryt smiled. “Submarshal Skarpa now holds Liantiago and Antiago for Lord Bhayar. The Autarch Aliaro and his palace and most of his armies have been destroyed.”
“Destroyed … not defeated?”
Quaeryt shrugged. “His forces were defeated at Suemyron and again at Barna, and twice more between Barna and Liantiago. From what we could determine he gathered all his remaining forces and imagers into the palace fortress at Liantiago in an effort to force us to concentrate our troopers so that he could destroy all of us. In the end, it worked out the other way. There is a rather large gully where the Autarch’s palace used to be. There might be a thousand surviving Antiagon troopers.”
“I see.” Jarell paused. “Might I ask if this was a costly victory?”
“Not terribly. The submarshal’s regiments remain close to full strength.” Quaeryt smiled again. “They will likely remain in Antiago for a time, but the forces assigned to Lady Vaelora are more than adequate for any duties within Bovaria. We did rebuild several bridges on the river road between Daaren and Geusyn. You factors might be interested to know that before the last encounter, when we destroyed three Antiagon warships and their imagers, Aliaro’s forces destroyed Ephra totally, and leveled Kephria and Geusyn. We rebuilt the harbor facilities at Kephria and left several companies there to maintain order while the city recovers. But with the destruction of Ephra and the far better harbor at Kephria under Lord Bhayar’s control … and few Antiagon factors remaining…”
The older factor nodded. “Are you suggesting … or insisting?”
“Merely suggesting. I would think it would offer an opportunity, and certainly some factors will take advantage of it.”
“Who would risk that?” asked Palumyn almost scornfully.
“I do know of one Antiagon factoring and shipping family that is very interested,” replied Quaeryt.
“You would let Antiagons…”
“Lord Bhayar intends to treat all factors under his rule equally. As I said, I just wanted you to know, and I trust you will pass on the information to other factors.”
“As you intimated might occur … when you were here in late fall, we have received notice from Lord Bhayar that all factors are being assessed an additional tariff of ten golds,” said Jarell. “Such an amount … when we have already paid this year’s tariffs…” He shook his head.
“If you had paid to have rebuilt the bridge across the Phraan … how much would that have cost you?” asked Quaeryt.
“We did not need a new bridge … and not one so … massive.”
“I’d wager that every factor in Daaren has
“Yes, sir.”
Quaeryt quickly made arrangements to use the first private room, then hurried in to rearrange the furniture so that he and Vaelora would sit behind the circular table … and so that all the other chairs were against the side wall. The two of them had barely seated themselves when the two factors entered the room.
Quaeryt wasn’t in the slightest surprised to see the comparatively young factor Jarell as the first of the two men to enter the private chamber, since Jarell had emerged as the most diplomatic of the factors when Southern Army had stopped in Daaren in the fall. As before, the clean-shaven Jarell had his straight brown hair slicked back from a high forehead, and he smiled winningly directly at Vaelora. With him was a much older man, white-haired, who Quaeryt thought might have been watching with Jarell at the time the imagers had rebuilt the bridge over the Phraan. He did not smile. Both men bowed.
“Might I present Factor Palumyn?” offered Jarell, his voice deep and pleasant. “He is the head of the factors’ council of Daaren.”
“You might,” replied Quaeryt. “We are pleased to see you both in health.”
“There have been many rumors,” Jarell went on, “about your return, Lady and Commander…”
“And you would like to know what happened?” Quaeryt smiled. “Submarshal Skarpa now holds Liantiago and Antiago for Lord Bhayar. The Autarch Aliaro and his palace and most of his armies have been destroyed.”
“Destroyed … not defeated?”
Quaeryt shrugged. “His forces were defeated at Suemyron and again at Barna, and twice more between Barna and Liantiago. From what we could determine he gathered all his remaining forces and imagers into the palace fortress at Liantiago in an effort to force us to concentrate our troopers so that he could destroy all of us. In the end, it worked out the other way. There is a rather large gully where the Autarch’s palace used to be. There might be a thousand surviving Antiagon troopers.”
“I see.” Jarell paused. “Might I ask if this was a costly victory?”
“Not terribly. The submarshal’s regiments remain close to full strength.” Quaeryt smiled again. “They will likely remain in Antiago for a time, but the forces assigned to Lady Vaelora are more than adequate for any duties within Bovaria. We did rebuild several bridges on the river road between Daaren and Geusyn. You factors might be interested to know that before the last encounter, when we destroyed three Antiagon warships and their imagers, Aliaro’s forces destroyed Ephra totally, and leveled Kephria and Geusyn. We rebuilt the harbor facilities at Kephria and left several companies there to maintain order while the city recovers. But with the destruction of Ephra and the far better harbor at Kephria under Lord Bhayar’s control … and few Antiagon factors remaining…”
The older factor nodded. “Are you suggesting … or insisting?”
“Merely suggesting. I would think it would offer an opportunity, and certainly some factors will take advantage of it.”
“Who would risk that?” asked Palumyn almost scornfully.
“I do know of one Antiagon factoring and shipping family that is very interested,” replied Quaeryt.
“You would let Antiagons…”
“Lord Bhayar intends to treat all factors under his rule equally. As I said, I just wanted you to know, and I trust you will pass on the information to other factors.”
“As you intimated might occur … when you were here in late fall, we have received notice from Lord Bhayar that all factors are being assessed an additional tariff of ten golds,” said Jarell. “Such an amount … when we have already paid this year’s tariffs…” He shook his head.
“If you had paid to have rebuilt the bridge across the Phraan … how much would that have cost you?” asked Quaeryt.
“We did not need a new bridge … and not one so … massive.”
“I’d wager that every factor in Daaren has
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