Chapter 3 - Commander Savate
“When we talk of the Great Houses we think of the most powerful, loyal servants of Her Eternal Majesty, standing tall above the other nobility of their province. Of course a Great House from Altana in the far south would have little power in northern Vass Karan and ultimately the power of the provincial Houses pales in comparison to those of Trevayn. Regardless, each of them provides invaluable leadership to the Empire’s people.”
Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini
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Ester didn’t bother to speak. Her will was enough. Desire became reality and the world bent around it. A wall of force blasted a bearded man who had been wildly slashing at Sergeant Cino hard enough that he went tumbling head over heels back down the dock with a yell of surprise.
Sound vanished as everyone froze, Watchmen and attackers both. Had she just killed the man? She didn’t want to kill anyone, but it was him or her! Ester frantically glanced between the staring men. The smugglers had stalled, looking unsure. Great Spirits let them break!
Then the man she’d struck started to pick himself up off the ground and the silence was broken by Captain’s Musa’s chuckles, growing in volume into full on belly-laughter.
“Oh, hahaha! You had me worried for a second there. Not bad. Not bad at all.” The bearded man was already advancing to join his fellow thugs again. Maybe she’d been a bit too careful. She didn’t really want to hurt anyone. She still remembered the sound that man’s arm had made in the inn. “Focus on the girl, but don’t kill her. Even a hedge witch will fetch a decent price, hurry up and kill the rest.”
Ester saw Sergeant Cino and Laro’s shoulders droop ever so slightly, even as they raised their spears again. She’d underpowered that one. This was life or death. For them. For her possibly worse. Who’d want to buy a hedge witch? What for?
With a chorus of yells the smugglers threw themselves forward again.
More power. She wouldn’t fail now.
Ester spoke to fuel the spell, pouring every ounce of her will behind it. A single word. “Sazëch.”
The Captain’s clothes erupted as light bathed the dock. Everyone except Ester flinched away from the wave of heat that followed it.
Ester was left blinking the bright spots out of her eyes. Maybe she’d overdone that one a little bit. The smugglers were edging further back. She glanced behind them at where the Captain stood. Had stood. The charred, smoking mass there looked nothing like a person. She could smell the smoke. Ester’s stomach churned and she quickly looked away. The smugglers were wavering again, more hesitant than before. How much more would she have to do to make them stop?!
Before she could make up her mind one of the smugglers broke his paralysis and with an incoherent yell threw himself forward. In an instant he was past the stunned Watchmen, almost upon her.
Ester didn’t have time to think, she just reacted. A twist of her mind, a gesture shaping her fingers just so. The fist of invisible force smashed into his stomach with a crunch. Hard enough that he collapsed straight to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He didn’t make a sound. Was he dead? She didn’t want to go close enough to check. She just wanted to sit down and try not to vomit. Focus!
Ester pulled her eyes off him and back to the others. “Surrender to Her Majesty’s Watch or I will burn you to ash where you stand.”
After a moment’s hesitation, one of the thugs carefully lowered his weapon to the ground. Then another and another.
Sergeant Cino and Laro stood frozen in place as Ester stared at the surrendering smugglers, struggling to suppress the adrenaline-fueled trembles in her hands. Eventually she managed to speak.
“Sergeant…”
He jumped and gave himself a shake before nodding jerkily and moving forward to secure the prisoners.
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The next day Ester found herself struggling with exhaustion in Commander Savate’s office. By the time the prisoners had been secured and she’d staggered numbly back to the small, whitewashed room she’d been given in the Watch headquarters, it had already been well into the early hours of the morning. Even then, sleep had been difficult to grasp.
She’d lain there, trying to ignore the tremors in her hands as disgust warred with exhaustion in her. The fight playing over and over again in her head. The way the Captain had simply vanished in flame. The look on the face of the other man she’d killed as he choked up blood onto the stone of the docks. Her own failure to act until the last second… Even when she’d finally passed out, her sleep had been troubled by nightmares, leaving her tossing and turning.
The office was small, smaller than she would have thought a man of his rank would have. A simple desk, strewn with paperwork. A high-backed chair behind it and a couple of smaller seats arranged to face it, one of which she occupied, forcing herself to sit up straight despite her lack of sleep.
Just as it had the first time she’d seen it, it confused her. It wasn’t like she’d been invited into noble homes while she was at the Academy, but she’d still had some glimpses into how the nobleborn lived. She’d expected more decoration, more ostentation. But it was almost entirely functional. The only adornment was the crest and portrait adorning the walls to the Commander’s left and right. On one side the two open hands on a mountain background of Vass Karan and on the other the stern visage of the Undying Queen. Not even his own house’s crest anywhere.
“You wanted to see me Commander?” At least if they were sitting she didn’t have to look up to meet his eyes, he really was a huge man.
“Yes, thank you Ester.” Technically they were peers, if not for his position as head of the Watch. She was fairly sure that strictly speaking he should have called her Lady Ester. “That was quite the display last night.”
Ester didn’t like the slight hint of censure in his tone. “What exactly do you mean by that?” As soon as she snapped the words she wanted to take them back.
“Watch your tone girl. You just killed two people with magic. Do you know how many laws you broke?”
“What?!” Fury shot through her. “They were murderous thugs who were trying to kill us without provocation!”
“Is that so? Whose word do I have for that? Yours? Sergeant Cino has been with the Watch for over twenty years. What if he said that you had provoked the whole thing, that you should be under arrest with those that survived your actions?” The Commander’s blue eyes bored into her with frightening intensity.
Ester couldn’t quite stifle a gasp. She forced herself to meet the Commander’s eyes, refusing to quail under his gaze. “I would say that he is a filthy liar who takes bribes from criminal scum! If he wants to try to arrest me, he will see how that ends.”
“Hmm.” Suddenly the Commander looked away, a hint of tension left his body. “Perhaps you might be some use to me after all. You’ll be pleased to know that Sergeant Cino said that you saved his and Laro’s life. I think he’s too terrified of you after last night to actually make any accusations, even if he wanted to. Which, to be clear, he does not.”
It took Ester a few seconds to find her voice. “Wait. So that was a test? A deliberate provocation just to see how I would react? Why under the Throne would you even do something like that?”
Commander Savate shrugged, completely unapologetic. “I had to know what I was working with. You’re… I will be frank with you since you’ve had a trying night. You’re what? 20? 21? I asked for someone experienced, with some steel to them. They sent me a fresh graduate from the Academy, so green I half expect grass to grow out of your toes. Worse, they sent me a woman. When I first met you you meekly nodded and ducked your head to my rudeness. Obedience is desirable in a subordinate, but you are hardly a typical one. So yes, I needed to see whether you would actually stand up for yourself, or whether you were the kind of Mage who really just wants to hide from the world and sit and read books in a comfortable room. You hardly looked as impressive as your predecessor.”
Ester could hardly believe her ears. “You… you…” She wanted to use the kind of words that would have seen her severely punished at the Academy. Instead forced her voice into calmness, clamping down hard on the urge to set the office and the Commander on fire. “That was both unnecessary and thoroughly unpleasant.”
“Unpleasant, yes. Unnecessary, I disagree.” Great Spirits she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. As he spoke she ran through a basic calming exercise. “As you’ve found out, working in the Watch can be dangerous.” His smile did fade at that and his voice softened. Marginally. “Normally a Watchman might serve for years before killing someone, not days. I apologise for that, sincerely.”
The sudden change in tone threw her again. He actually sounded sympathetic. Why couldn’t he just act consistently? Tell her what he wanted! And now he was dragging her thoughts back to last night. Blinding fire. Charred ashes still smoking. A bearded man coughing up blood onto the stone of the dock. Abject terror. “It was… I did my duty…”
Ester did her best to stop her hands from trembling, to stop her mind from going back to that fight.
The Commander gave her a long, searching look. “It’s good that you’re not happy about it. The Watch is one of Her Eternal Majesty’s many limbs in the Empire, but we’re not the Imperial Army or the Inquisition. Sometimes we may have to kill, but it’s an unfortunate reality, not what we want to do.” He suddenly looked a little older. “Normally after one of the Watch kills someone their comrades take them out. Get them drunk, tell stories together and help them forget. The first time you kill is never an easy moment for any sane person and I wouldn’t want anyone who felt comfortable with it serving under me.”
He didn’t need to explain why Sergeant Cino and Laro wouldn’t be taking her out drinking. It was still difficult not to feel bitter.
“This isn’t the sort of conversation to be had with someone who joined the Watch only days ago.” The Commander shook his head. “It will likely haunt you, but just remember this, you did your duty, protected your comrades and you survived. That’s what matters.” He reached out, slightly awkwardly across the desk as if he was about to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder, froze and then withdrew his hand without touching her.
The awkward silence grew and stretched. The Commander seemed to have become as uncomfortable with the situation as she was. Eventually he gave himself a shake.
“How old are you anyway?”
“19.” Ester met his eyes defiantly, half-expecting him to return to the mild contempt he’d affected before.
“Huh.” He genuinely looked surprised. “Common born I presume?”
Of course he’d have to bring that up. Irritation mixed in with the bitterness she already felt. An irritation that had been nurtured through her seven years in the Academy. Who did he even think he was? “I am a Chartered Mage.”
“Of course you are.” She wasn’t sure whether that was directed at her birth or her current status. “The fact that you’re here tells me enough.”A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Before Ester could question that he pressed on.
“So the question comes, how do I use you.”
There was only one correct response to that. In the absence of anything civil to say Ester retreated to duty. Some of her teachers would have called it platitude. “However best serves the Throne.”
“Of course.” The Commander gave her a thin smile. “You will need to continue to go on patrol occasionally.” He held his hand up to forestall a protest that Ester hadn’t been planning to make. “Your purpose here isn’t to tramp around on the streets like a Watchman. That would be a waste bordering on the criminal, but you still need to get used to the city and to our daily work.”
“Very well, but what is my purpose here then?” It had been all very well when she was first sent here. She’d been given a high handed tale of serving Her Eternal Majesty by helping the Watch to crush crime, but any illusions Ester had had about that had died last night.
“The Watch has many roles. Too many really, but not all crime is mundane. Open defiance of the Throne is for the nobility and the military to deal with.” Ester breathed a sigh of relief at that. “However, where criminals abuse the power of magic I need to have an answer to that. Since Farhad died I’ve had to rely on Caille. He’s done well enough, but the last year or so has been quiet.”
Farhad? Caille? “I’m sorry Commander, who are they?”
“Oh.” He blinked a couple of times as if surprised she’d asked, although Ester doubted much surprised him really. Was everything a test or affectation? “Farhad was your predecessor, he died about a year ago. Choked to death on a bone of all things. Caille is an Adept who contracts for us sometimes. He used to work for House Rutane before that, but is mostly retired these days.”
“Choked to death?!” She hadn’t heard about that. Had it been deliberately hidden from her? Or was it simply that no one had cared enough to say anything?
“Mmm, very unfortunate. Obviously we checked for foul play, but there was none. Even Master Atrectus,” he saw Ester’s questioning look, “one of your kind who’s made Vass Karan his residence, investigated. It seems Mages look after their own.”
Ester wasn’t so sure about that, not after her time in the Academy. They certainly didn’t kill each other though and sometimes accidents did just happen. It didn’t exactly make her feel better about Vass Karan though. The firmness of the Commander’s tone when he’d said that the death had been investigated broked no question. He certainly sounded certain about it. Nevertheless, she still found it hard to believe that a Mage had died from something so mundane.
“What about the smugglers? What were they trying to protect?”
The Commander shrugged. “That was an odd one alright. Most of what was on the boat was nothing special, food, some wine. Tariffs unpaid, so they were certainly smugglers, but worth dying over? Probably not, they could likely have talked their way into the mines. The interesting thing though was they had some,” he coughed slightly awkwardly, “special cargo.”
“Special cargo?”
“Imbued drugs.”
Ester couldn’t help but gasp. “You mean poisons, mind breakers?” That would certainly be more than enough to see a smuggler hang.
However, the Commander shook his head. “No, I don’t think so anyway. Caille has had a look at them, but he’s an Adept. I wouldn’t want to rely on his views. That’s one of the reasons I wanted a Mage here.”
“So what does he think they are?”
“Well, that’s the strange thing. Caille reckons they’re… party substances. The sort of thing that a degenerate noble might enjoy at a private event. Illegal, for the most part, but more embarrassing than truly harmful.”
“But illegal is illegal…” The Empire’s penal code was hardly lax, especially when it came to crimes involving magic.
The Commander shrugged again, awkward for a brief moment. “Well there’s illegal and then there’s really illegal. You’ll learn soon enough. If we tried to stop noble houses from getting their relatively harmless pleasures… well we’d never have time for anything else.” That was as honest as anything she’d heard since coming to Vass Karan and unsurprisingly it didn’t fit with most of what she’d been taught.
“What er… what do these drugs do?”
He hesitated, “That’s why I want you to take a look at them and tell me. Earn your pay.” He was clearly avoiding something there, but she couldn’t work out what.
Regardless, there was only one possible answer. “Of course, I will go and examine them as soon we are done here. What will happen to the men who attacked us though?”
“They’ve all got an appointment with the hangman this evening.” The Commander’s words sounded utterly matter of fact, but Ester’s stomach still lurched. They’d have killed her if they could. She’d even killed two of them. Certainly anyone who tried to murder members of the Watch like that deserved to hang. But she still hated the thought of people dying because of her. Even thugs like those men. The Commander didn’t notice her disquiet, or possibly pretended not to. “As soon as they tried to kill Watchmen their lives were forfeit.”
Ester knew he was leaving the other part unsaid. Raising a hand against a Chartered Mage was also punished by death. If the Mage didn’t get you first of course. Presumably he was just trying to soften the blow for her. She wasn’t quite sure whether she appreciated or resented that, so she chose to ignore it.
“What about House Velia? They said they were serving them. Is that not being investigated?”
That had clearly been the wrong thing to say. Commander Savate pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “If only it were that easy.”
“Why? What is difficult about it?”
“Do you even know who House Velia are?”
“Of course I do.” She kept her voice utterly confident and certainly didn’t mention that she’d asked Sergeant Cino once the fight was over.
“Then surely you understand why things aren’t that simple.”
Ester shook her head. “Surely the men can be interrogated and action taken?”
That got her another sigh. “Is this what they teach you at the Academy?” He ignored the way Ester bristled at that. “How do you think this works?”
“They were caught smuggling and claiming to work for House Velia, smuggling is bad enough, but then they attacked a patrol of the City Watch. Surely no stone would be left unturned to find who they were working for.”
The Commander looked less than impressed at her words. It reminded Ester far too much of certain tutors at the Academy. “That’s how it should work, yes. The men insisted on being questioned that they were in the service for House Velia and should be freed. What do you think happened next?”
Ester nearly said what she thought should have happened, but she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. She tried to imagine a world of corruption, without the Throne’s protection. The Commander had said they’d hang, so they hadn’t escaped. “It turned out they were lying and had nothing to do with House Velia?”
“Close enough. In accordance with the Laws of Her Eternal Majesty, a representative of House Velia was contacted.” Was that a hint of irony in his tone? “Alciar, the Count’s second son came to the Watchhouse. He was unfailingly polite and brought their majordomo with him. They looked carefully at the men we’d captured and declared that they had never seen them before in their lives. They also requested,” he grimaced, “politely demanded, that the men be charged with insulting a Great House for their claims.”
“Insulting a Great House?!”
“Well, making false accusations of criminal activity would seem rather insulting to me.” Ester could not say that she appreciated the flippancy, even if irritation underlaid the words.
“So they can just deny it and that is that? That is… outrageous! Those men attacked an Imperial Institution! Surely you are not just going to let it go?”
Savate shrugged. “I could investigate further, but what would I find? The men had nothing on them that linked them to House Velia, so it’s their word against the Count’s. I know how that would go. I could try to find more evidence I suppose. Can you cast truth spells?”
Ester shook her head. Something like that was beyond her. For now anyway. One day, maybe…
“It probably wouldn’t help anyway, I doubt anyone other than their Captain knew anything and, well, he’s not saying very much after you dealt with him. So, it would require a great deal of resources to investigate further. Worse, it would make an enemy of one of the most powerful houses in the city. Soon everyone involved in the attack on the Watch will be dead, order has been restored and justice done.” He didn’t sound like he believed it.
“But you’re the head of the Watch. You have the backing of the Throne!”
“I might have, I might not have. We’re a long way from Trevayn and House Velia is strong and known to be a loyal supporter to the Throne.”
“So you think they are innocent?”
The Commander shook his head. “No, I have no idea whether they are or not. I just can’t do anything about it. If I had more evidence, that would be one thing. As it is, well the Great Houses get away with a lot. Unless you have an inquisitor up your sleeve…” he paused as if he almost expected her to reveal she had, “there’s nothing more I can do.”
“Surely you can’t seriously be saying that? That someone can attack the Watch, try to murder your own people and you can’t do anything about it?!”
Ester half expected him to take umbrage at her tone, but his response was mild. “It’s the reality of the situation. Nothing more, nothing less. They’re a Great House and as long as they don’t cross certain lines they can get away with a lot.” He grimaced. “No one from our side died, the only evidence we have is the word of criminals looking to save their own miserable hides. As I said, if I had more to go on it would be different, but until then, I’ll just have to get on with my job.” A warning note entered his tone. “As do you.”
With a moment’s effort, Ester schooled her features into neutrality. They always had said she needed to work on that at the Academy. “I understand.”
Oh yes, she understood perfectly well. The Commander would do nothing, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t. He had his reasons not to want to, but they didn’t bind her. He’d made the mistake of not explicitly ordering her to drop the matter. She’d do her own investigations and when she found proof then she’d take it to him and they’d be able to bring the Queen’s justice down on House Velia. Of course, she reminded herself, only if they were indeed guilty.
“If that was all?” Ester made as if to stand from her chair.
“Hmm. Oh, yes there was one other thing. Lord Alciar left you this.” The Commander opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out an envelope. “He said something about welcoming Vass Karan’s newest mage to the city.”
Ester reached out and took the envelope. It was heavier than it looked, made of thick, expensive paper. On the front was her name, written in a fine hand using a blue ink that seemed to sparkle in the light. Ester focused on it and felt the taste of magic on her tongue. Narrowing her eyes she opened her mind further, scrutinising the envelope. Nothing dangerous, just a small illusion, but very expensive nevertheless. That sort of thing was available to any student at the Academy, but even in Trevayn she knew that ink of that kind would be out of reach to the vast majority. On the other side was a seal. What looked like a pair of axes on a star pressed into blue wax.
After a moment’s hestitation she opened the envelope and pulled a card out from within it.
“The honourable Count Arnos Velia of House Velia cordially requests the honour of Lady Ester Mazar’s presence at his soirée at the Starfall Palace on the evening of…”
She quickly scanned her way through the card, no, the invitation. Some kind of social evening. One organised by House Velia. She had to resist the urge to throw the thing across the room. Were they mocking her?!
The Commander must have seen something in her facial expression. “He said that his father wanted to put this unpleasantness into the past and welcome you to the city.”
“I see.” Ester truly didn’t want to go. She didn’t have any appropriate clothing. She’d never even been to a soirée at a noble’s house before and she had no desire to make polite conversation with anyone from House Velia. However… if she was going to be investigating them, she could hardly ignore this opportunity that had just been dropped into her lap.
“You’ll be going I assume?” When Ester hesitated the Commander frowned. “You can be as reclusive as you want to be when the Throne is done with you, but for now you work for the Watch, which means you work for me. It’s important to me that the Watch is seen to be present in high society as well as low. You’ve just been complaining to me about not taking action against a Great House because I don’t have the power, but you’re turning down an opportunity to go and make connections some of the most powerful people in Vass Karan’s society?”
It was hard to argue with that. “I don’t have a dress for it.” Great Spirits, could she have sounded more petulant?
Commander Savate’s lips twitched at that. A tiny movement that vanished as soon as it came. “So that’s your biggest issue? It doesn’t matter though.”
“What do you mean it does not matter?”
“You’re a Chartered Mage, you can wear whatever you bloody well like.”
That gave Ester pause, there was something to it. Maybe. But he was still wrong. She could remember the comments at the Academy, some subtle, others less so. Clothes marked who you were and your status in society, she had had that made clear to her more than once. She might have the title now, but simply going to an event dressed poorly would undo all of that work. She’d heard enough snide stories about this or that lady who had committed social suicide by re-wearing last year’s dress to an event. It might not matter so much to her, it wasn’t like she was particularly involved in noble society anyway. That didn’t mean she wanted to sabotage herself from her very first appearance. Things were meant to have been different in Vass Karan.
Commander Savate must have seen something in her face because he sighed and ran his hand through his close cropped, grey hair. “Look, I don’t know how they do things in Trevayn, but you need to remember, you’re not some apprentice here. You’re a Mage, you have your Charter, directly from the Throne. The normal rules simply don’t apply. You could walk in wearing a torn dress you borrowed from the cook and people would still need to show you at least some respect.”
That was just wrong. Perhaps in theory or with people who didn’t know any better it might be true. But she knew enough, she knew that wasn’t how things worked with the nobleborn.
“You may be right,” it was the closest she’d come to accepting his point, “but even ignoring what I want, is that how you want me to portray myself? Someone who cares not for social mores or who has not the sense to even attempt to conform with them?”
Commander Savate sighed again. She hoped it wouldn’t become a theme of their conversations. “You have a point, but you also have a salary. Or had you forgotten? Her Eternal Majesty is paying you well for your service. You might not be able to compete with the finery of the Great Houses, but if you want to dress well you certainly have the means. I’m told that Venel Cutlis does excellent work at prices that the more hard up houses can afford. I would suggest that you pay him a visit straight after you’ve looked at the contraband, you should have time to get something put together.”
Well there went the last of her arguments. The last thing Ester wanted was to be spending time at a tailor’s, but Commander Savate’s position was clear and his logic was difficult to argue with. Better to acquiesce gracefully than to continue to fight a losing battle.
“That makes sense Commander, thank you. I will go and see this Cutlis.”
“Excellent. Was there anything else?”
Ester could recognise a dismissal perfectly well.
“Thank you, no.”