5.Death of Chaos
LX
Nylan, Recluce
“YOU CAN ALMOST hear the chaos buildup in Candar... I can sense it from here.” Heldra looks toward the half-open door. “Where's Maris?”
“Picking up a message from the traders. He shouldn't be that long.”. Talryn fingers the black ceramic mug. “I can sense the chaos, too. I asked Gunnar about it. Even he's worried. He thinks the levels are as high as when Fairhaven fell. Maybe higher. I wouldn't know. Then, he's rather older than we are.”
“He claims he's survived through the working of order, but I still wonder about that explanation,” muses Heldra.
At the dull clunk of the outer door, both councilors look up. Maris steps into the Council Room, glances around to see no one besides the other two Council members are there, and closes the door behind him.
“Hamor has invaded Candar. More than twoscore ships- the new ones-hold Freetown. Colaris and his personal guard were taken and executed. More troops and ships are expected.”
“Almost twoscore ships in Freetown? You're certain?” Heldra's eyes flick from Talryn to Maris and the scroll he holds. “All steel-hulled and steam-powered?”
“That's the report. The Emperor's regent holds Freetown.” Maris strokes his beard, his fingers fluttering nervously.
“What will your traders do?” Heldra turns her back on the harbor below and the flat blue of the sunlit Eastern Ocean framed by the Council Room window, waiting for Maris to answer for the traders.
“What can we do? Avoid Freetown, but we're blocked from Delapra and Southwind. Freetown is the biggest port on this end of Candar... and with Hamorian warships there...” Maris shrugs and turns toward Talryn. “What about the Brotherhood? Can we build another trio?”
“In time to do any good? I doubt it.” Talryn picks up the heavy black ceramic mug and examines it.
“Avoid Freetown? Is that all you weak-kneed traders can think of?” snaps Heldra.
“We could transfer our shipments to Renklaar.”
“And what will happen to costs?” Talryn's rumbling voice sounds almost indifferent.
“They'll be forty percent higher,” admits the former trader. “We'd have to use riverboats to get to the Jellico road above Hydolar.”
“I rather doubt that trade is our most immediate problem,” rumbles Talryn. “Hamor now has almost fourscore warships in and around Candar. Our trio may indeed be able to pick off the dozen or so in Dellash. Then, if they can race eastward to Freetown in what-seven days in good weather-they can try to bottle up the Hamorians in the Great North Bay. That leaves Summerdock, Southport, Biehl, and Jera all under Hamorian control when the next fleet arrives-and it will.”
“I don't understand this,” protests Heldra. “How can they do this under the Balance?”
“They are, aren't they? I told you how earlier. Besides, that's not the question. What do we do? Surrender all interest in Candar?”
“According to your logic,” observes Maris, “we don't have any choice.”
“But how can they?” questions Heldra again.
“They're mechanically increasing the amount of order in the world. The Balance is mechanical. Our predecessors restricted the growth of order so as to limit the growth of chaos. Hamor has never had such scruples. Also,” adds Talryn with a smile, “after Justen's demonstration of the full power of order, no one on Recluce was exactly too enthused about creating an equal amount of chaos. Even his brother turned away from him on that.”
“But... what's happening? If Hamor is putting that much order into the world, and Candar, isn't there going to be a huge chaos focus-somewhere?” Maris sets the scroll on the table.
“Of course. We were talking about that before you got here.” Talryn nods toward Heldra. “Chaos is seething beneath Candar, even beneath the Gulf, I think. If you send out your senses, it doesn't take much to find it. There's even some building beneath Recluce.”
“Great,” mumbles Heldra.
“I'm not a mage,” snaps Maris. “I wouldn't know.”
“Take my word for it.”
“So why don't we have wizards and chaos focuses popping up all over? According to your lectures, that's usually what happened in the past.”
“Let's see,” muses Talryn ironically. “Antonin almost destroys the midsection of Candar. The conflict between Lerris and Gerlis turns a valley in the Easthorns into the equivalent of the demon's hell, and the entire world hears the reverberations. Sammel is now wielding enough chaos power to burn water, and all of Candar is rumbling with chaos deep beneath the earth. Does that answer your question?”
“Just what are we supposed to do, then?” asks Heldra.
“Have the Brotherhood build some more black iron destroyers, and beg Gunnar for help. Or Justen.”
“Justen? Do we want that kind of help?”
“Can we survive without it?”
“And how do we pay for all of this?” protests Maris.
Both Heldra and Talryn just look at him.