LE5739 - Falcon Rising, page 12
"A sponsor does not have to actually attend the Trial of Bloodright, Star Colonel."
"My reasons are not exactly in accordance with Clan traditions," he said uneasily, "but they are, I feel, justified."
Samantha nodded. "As part of my current tour of Iron-hold, I am overseeing the progress of the bloodname trials for Marthe Pryde. I would be most interested in your honest opinion."
Ravill cleared his throat before speaking. "I felt it was in my own interests to observe this Trial of Bloodright. I assume you know the circumstances surrounding the event."
Samantha nodded for him to continue.
"To sponsor a freeborn warrior for a bloodname reflects ultimately on me and my command role. I may always be associated with this folly. Still, the Khan—"
"I caution you to take care what you say about Khan Marthe Pryde."
"You requested honesty!" There was an edge of anger in Ravill Pryde's voice.
"All right, Star Colonel. Honesty."
"All I meant to say is that I acted at the request of the Khan to sponsor Diana. I registered my disapproval at the time."
"Yes, I have seen the record. I know that Khan Marthe is pleased by your loyalty and cooperation."
"I feel I must protect my interests here. I hope to one day rise further in the Clan hierarchy and—"
"That is obvious, Star Colonel. I applaud your ambitions."
Ravill clearly did not know how to take Samantha's words. "This . . . this quest of Diana's could impede my progress, so I wish to know fully what happens here."
"If I had been brought into the formative stages of this decision," Samantha commented, "I would have discouraged this Diana from even dreaming of a bloodname for herself."
Ravill Pryde's grunt was, Samantha supposed, his way of laughing. "You do not know Mech Warrior Diana," he said. "She is as stubborn as... as stubborn as—"
"As stubborn as Star Colonel Ravill Pryde, perhaps?"
She meant the comment in a friendly, conversational way, but—like many of her attempts at affability—it fell flat. Ravill Pryde was obviously irritated by her suggestion.
"She is stubborn, that is all," he said lamely.
"Star Colonel, in your opinion why did not Diana's freeborn status disqualify her from the competition?"
"I believe that data has been misconstrued. Khan Marthe seems to think that Diana's heritage, as Aidan Pryde's daughter, makes her special. I do not agree, but she does have the Khan's support, and somehow this ugly Star Commander named Joanna is involved. I tell you, Khan Samantha, that this Joanna has been a—"
"I would suggest, Star Colonel, that you refrain from indulging your dislike of this warrior in my presence. Work out any bad feelings in a Circle of Equals. That is what the circle is for. Anger left to fester, well—"
"Anger? You do not know what anger is, until you have met Star Commander Joanna!"
Ravill Pryde stood in place and hardly moved, while Samantha fidgeted somewhat. She felt a need to pace, go back toward that wall with the uneven OmniMech holo and straighten it. But instead she tried to stand still, too.
"In the matter of Diana's bid for a bloodname, it will occur and there is no way I or Khan Marthe could stop it now, even if we wanted to."
Ravill Pryde slammed one fist into the open palm of the other. "The Steel Vipers are complaining incessantly about our Clan's soft treatment of freeborns. It has happened at least once before that a freebirth has won a bloodname, but no true Clansman can condone it. Personally, I believe there should be a formal ban on any freeborn laying claim to a bloodname, then we would not have the arrogant surats looking to raise themselves beyond their caste."
Even I have broader views than this narrow-minded, brain-frozen Star Colonel. But, brain-frozen or not, he is a ristar, and his beliefs may become the majority view. He is obviously ruthless. His record as a command officer is admirable, especially distinguished when you consider his heroic actions at the second battle ofTwycross, but he does not instill confidence, not in me, at least. Kerensky forbid he could become a Khan of the Falcons. I have little ambition for myself, but whatever else Idol will have to stay ahead of this runt. You are on my surat list, Ravill Pryde. Forever.
She dismissed him and watched him walk crisply out of the office. A moment after the door closed, it opened again and Grelev took a step into the room, asking Samantha if there was anything more he could do. She said to summon Star Commander Joanna to her.
* * *
As she awaited Joanna's arrival, Samantha Clees reflected on her interview with Ravill Pryde.
Dealing with the Star Colonel brings back my feelings against all male warriors. I thought I had beaten that.
At one time Samantha had resented all Jade Falcon men. She had gone around with a chip on her shoulder, abusive to all and often insolent with male superior officers, actions that definitely held her back. After being bested in a Trial by a fellow female warrior, she had to listen to her opponent claim that Samantha had lost because she had no discipline. The other warrior said that resentment colored all her actions. The words had gotten to Samantha, and thereafter she worked on mastering both discipline and her emotions, and the self-training had led to her becoming a much better officer, eventually Galaxy Commander of the Gyrfalcon Falcons. Even now, though, when she encountered a man like Ravill Pryde, the old anti-male feelings rose briefly within her.
Grelev brought in Joanna, who did not look as if she wanted to have this interview. She greeted Samantha according to custom, then stood silently at attention as she waited for Samantha to speak. Samantha told her to relax, but even the other warrior's at-ease stance looked pretty stiff. Samantha offered her a seat, in order to encourage informality, but Joanna refused. She positioned herself behind the piece of furniture, often putting her hands on the back of the chair, sometimes using it as a pivot when with her other hand she gestured to support her statements, and sometimes as a focus of punishment as she battered the back of it with her fist.
Joanna's reputation for rising to anger easily apparently was justified. It exploded almost instantly. And with the most logical question.
"Do you believe that you do the Clan a disservice by remaining a warrior when you are past the usual solahma age?" Samantha asked.
Joanna's eyes blazed. "I serve the Clan."
"But, when Star Colonel Ravill Pryde wanted to reassign you to homeworld duty, you protested."
"And I still protest! I am a warrior, and that is that. I trained Marthe Pryde and I will not bow down to her any more than I will bow down to you! You cannot question my codex and you know it! If you tried to reassign me now, I would protest and, more than that—"
"Do not say it. We do not question your courage or your loyalty, Star Commander Joanna," Samantha said, with more control than she thought herself capable. "In this, well, delicate situation, you have taken on a great responsibility as the coach of Mech Warrior Diana."
"Do you find my role in Diana's training team inappropriate, because of my advanced age?"
"I am not concerned with your age, Star Commander, but there may be others who believe that having a Clan hero as coach perhaps distorts the warrior's claim. And in this case it is especially important to—"
"Examine my codex before you start making such claims! My ratings as a training officer for sibkos is enough justification for my ability to train any warrior, free or true."
Samantha sighed. "Your ability is not in question. I am referring to a volatile situation that has already caused brawls and challenges for Trials of Refusal."
"Trials that should have been allowed to proceed, but for Risa Pryde's intrusions."
This Joanna could certainly rattle the most patient of listeners, and Samantha did not consider herself patient.
"Star Commander, do I understand you to say that the turmoil you and your group have created during your current stay here on Ironhold is beneficial to your cause?"
"I think I meant that, yes."
"Explain, please."
Both of Joanna's hands grasped the back of the chair as she clearly tried to speak without her characteristic anger. "I believe in turmoil. When I was a falconer, I always kept my charges off-balance. I punished them more severely than they deserved, withheld deserved praise. I used punishment liberally and never felt a day was a success unless I saw blood on at least one cadet face. To me, right now, Mech Warrior Diana is the equivalent of one of those cadets. I mean to make her life more miserable day to day. I intend for her to be undistracted by any weakness, always ready to cut a throat if it means victory."
Samantha agreed that the methods Joanna described were necessary, even admirable, for warrior training. She had just never heard them expressed so baldly.
Joanna talked on without interruption for another minute or so, finishing with, "So you see, I cannot regret any turmoil we have caused here on Ironhold. We have our goal, the bloodname. Anyone who gets hurt, or even killed, on our way to it is not significant to me."
"Not significant?" Samantha said, this time feeling her own anger "Even if they are trueborn and your charge is freeborn?"
Joanna's rage left her suddenly. Her gray eyes went cold. She looked more dangerous than she had when shouting with anger. She spoke in a detached, colder-than-her-eyes voice.
"I am Jade Falcon. Forever. I grew up in a sibko of brawling warriors who were taught the ways of killing even before we were cadets. Although many flushed out of training, several passed their Trials of Position. Unlike me, most won their bloodnames when they competed, usually on the first try."
Although Joanna maintained her detachment, Samantha thought she detected a slight vocal interruption, a gasp or an emotion threatening to interfere but failing, during her comment about her own failure to get a bloodname. Samantha suddenly imagined what it must have been like all these years for this warrior without a bloodname and without the glory of an honorable death.
Distracted by her thoughts, she missed the next section of Joanna's speech. Her concentration returned as Joanna said, in a slightly stronger voice:"... saKhan or not, you have no right to suggest that my support of a freeborn warrior in any way changes my loyalty toward the Clan or trueborns. I merely believe that, at a time when we need all our warriors to continue the cause, it is not inappropriate to allow a proven warrior of whatever origin to seek the bloodname."
"Well-argued, Star Commander," Samantha said. "I will take your words into account. Dismissed."
Samantha's abrupt dismissal caused a flicker of surprise to cross Joanna's face but, in fine warrior fashion, she wheeled around and exited the room. After she was gone, Samantha took a moment to regain her calm.
This warrior could rattle anyone. On the other hand, the anger in her is quite similar to what I felt early in my career. Stravag! Joanna is the warrior I might have become if I had not turned my career around. I do not enjoy thinking of that.
Samantha began to pace again. To the door, back to the room's single window.
If we were Smoke Jaguars, or even Steel Vipers, this problem would not exist. They do not allow freeborns to be warriors. Perhaps a better policy, certainly a less complicated one. But I would not wish to be either a Jaguar or a Viper. As Joanna put it, I am Jade Falcon—to the core.
Since we allow freeborns to be warriors and have gained by using them in roles where trueborns would be wasted, we have established the dilemma of what to do with those freeborns who are extraordinary warriors. Mostly, our freeborns are not in circumstances where they would make any claim to deserve a bloodname. But. . . Aidan Pryde was a hero and his daughter is not only a warrior with an outstanding codex but her genetics are untainted, except for the circumstances of her birth itself.
The fact is that she is a freeborn, however, no matter what heroic matter is in her blood or her cursed codex. As I have told Marthe, she has unsettled our Clan merely by opening the possibility of a freebirth winning a bloodname.
Samantha stopped pacing. She stood at the room's single window and stared down at the streets below. Far below, from this vantage point. As a leader, she had been raised above Jade Falcon warriors, perhaps too far, perhaps from a height like this top floor of the Jade Falcon Tower. She whirled around and began to walk more slowly across the room's thick rug.
This Joanna is our conscience, an angry warrior, capable of responding to challenge fully and without doubt, the kind of warrior we think we are but do not regularly succeed at being. No subtleties, no secrets, no deceptions. If anyone can push MechWarrior Diana to the bloodname, Star Commander Joanna can do it. And there is a part of me that irrationally believes that she will. Perhaps Marthe has finally convinced me. A part of me sees Diana's situation as a grand experiment, and I am most anxious to learn the outcome.
Samantha stopped pacing again and her eyes scanned the room. The surroundings still made her uneasy. But she felt better when she went to the crooked OmniMech holo and finally straightened it.
13
Jade Falcon Headquarters Warrior Sector
Ironhold City, Ironhold
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space
19 February 3060
"Enter, but be ready to have your legs shot off for the interruption," Ravill Pryde shouted rudely.
Samantha smiled before entering. Clearly, he was not expecting a visit from his saKhan. Who would?
When he saw it was Samantha, his face reddened slightly, but he did not get flustered. He merely stood up and said in a laconic voice, "I was expecting a subordinate."
"It is my duty, Star Colonel Ravill Pryde, to inform you that Khan Marthe Pryde—in her capacity as a senior member of House Pryde—has appointed you acting Leader of House Pryde for the current Trials of Bloodright. Although other higher-ranking officers are present on Ironhold, they are involved in vital war preparation activities. You are here, by your own admission, to observe the bloodname contests as an interested party. Your have no other official military duties to prevent you from attending to this post. As the commander of the Falcon Guards, you are the logical choice. You will hold the post of House Leader until the formal election, which will be held when a quorum of representatives of House Pryde can be assembled for the vote."
"House Leader?" Ravill Pryde said, clearly astonished. "But Risa Pryde is the—"
"Risa Pryde is dead. The Grand Melee must be postponed a few more days. Since there have already been too many delays, it is necessary for you to take over immediately. You must learn your duties as Oathmaster with all possible haste. You are known to be a quick study, after all. Khan Marthe Pryde wishes the bloodname Trials to resume as soon as you are ready. Of course it will be necessary for you to supervise all the aspects of the Trials."
Samantha stopped and indicated he could respond now.
"Did someone kill Risa Pryde, assassinate her? Did she lose her life in an honor duel? Was—"
"Risa Pryde simply died. The medexaminer used some term like cardiac arrest. A rare death but not impossible. Warriors die. It happens."
"But Risa Pryde was not ailing," Ravill Pryde insisted. "Someone must have wished her harm."
"Our medtechs assure me that the body was fully examined. There was no foul play, no sign of a fight. Risa Pryde merely died. Her heart stopped. Why do you smile, Ravill Pryde?"
"Was I smiling? I did not realize. I was just thinking, how shamed Risa Pryde must be, wherever she is. If there is any afterlife, she must be cursing up a storm."
"Afterlife? Who cares about an afterlife? What is now is what is important. The Trial must take place. Within the hour you will receive all the information you will need regarding the role of House Leader. Please arrange for the ceremonial robes and familiarize yourself with the Bloodright coin ritual. I have instructed my aide, Grelev, to see to it that everything is properly done. He will also be here within the hour."
"I do not wish an aide. I can—"
"You will accept the gift of Grelev with grace and dignity, Ravill Pryde, quiaff?"'
"Aff."
Samantha turned and abruptly left. As she walked back to Jade Falcon Tower, she was conscious of the many people in the broad boulevard that bisected Ironhold City who pointed or nodded surreptitiously toward her, obviously noting the presence of the saKhan among them.
What will this mean, Risa Pryde's death? There will be some reaction, I think. As Ravill Pryde said, warriors simply do not die in bed—although Risa Pryde died at her desk.
Samantha had been summoned to Risa Pryde's office after it happened. She had looked down at the older warrior's head resting on the desktop. How peaceful she looked. Not sad, as Ravill might have expected. It was as if she had merely gotten tired and put her head down for a doze. Perhaps she never knew she was not dying a warrior's death. She would never have had a thought about it. And why should there be an afterlife? Life is enough. Warriors die before the battle is won, leaders die before their goals are achieved, Khans die in flames. There cannot be an afterlife for warriors. How could it satisfy them?
* * *
Grelev handed Ravill Pryde a rather thick sheaf of bound papers.
"What are these?"
"That is the manual for the Leader of House Pryde."
"I have to read all this?"
"I have marked the relevant passages you need now. You can absorb the rest at your leisure."
"What leisure?"
"I will help. I am proficient at scheduling."
"You are proficient at scheduling. You think highly of yourself."
"I am as good at scheduling as I am at combat skills."
"I do not like you, Grelev, and I do not need your help."
"The saKhan's orders, Star Colonel."
"Stay out of my way."
"I will wrap myself in the background shadows, sir."
Grelev paused. "After I provide your daily schedule and indicate where in the manual you can find—"
