Angel of Storms (Millennium's Rule, #2)(65)

The rebels had decided that all recruits should be met at the market to be questioned and tested before being allowed to come to the base. Frell, as the strongest of the leaders and therefore able to read most minds, now spent a great deal of his time occupied in this task, which he was clearly unhappy about as it meant he had to be left uninformed of the rebels’ plans. Ceilon thought it was a neat way to resolve the issue of Yira’s ex-lovers antagonising each other, despite the fact that neither had shown any intention of doing so.

He’d also come up with the idea, several days before, of asking “second tier” sorcerers to volunteer to go out into the worlds and seek recruits, which had the advantage of keeping them busy and out of mischief as well as increasing rebel numbers. When asked why he hadn’t volunteered Tyen had pointed out that the only people he could approach were former Liftre students and teachers, and Yira had already recruited the ones likely to join the cause.

As a result of the recruiters’ efforts, the number of new arrivals had increased dramatically. Tyen always brought a few into the cavern on his supply trips.

“Surprised?” Tyen asked Daam. The quiet newcomer was younger than Tyen had been when he’d joined the Academy, and his round face only enhanced his youthfulness. His father had sent him to join the rebels, angered that his son’s training at one of the smaller schools had been left unfinished, and having no use for a half-trained sorcerer.

Daam nodded. “Yes. I was afraid there’d be only a few of us.”

“These aren’t all sorcerers,” Coben said, looking around at the crowd. “They’re mostly servants.” He was tall and muscular, and the son of a prince. Tyen had disliked him the moment they’d met.

“They’re family,” Tyen corrected. “And sorcerers who haven’t yet earned the right to join the leaders. As you are.”

Coben sniffed. “Not for long.”

Tyen wasn’t sure whether to be amused or annoyed by the man’s arrogance. Sorcerers! he thought. So full of their own importance and superiority. “What makes you so sure of that?”

“You need us,” Coben replied.

“I’ve been here over twenty days, and they haven’t seen fit to include me yet,” Tyen told him.

Coben sniffed again. “So where do we train?”

Tyen held back a bitter laugh. “Ask the leaders. There’s two of them now,” he said as he spotted Ceilon and Yira standing near the entrance to the meeting room. “I’ll introduce you once we’ve distributed the…”

But Coben was already walking away. Tyen shrugged. “Oh, he’ll make friends quickly,” he muttered.

As he turned back to Daam, the young man smiled. “What do you need me to do?”

Tyen took out his list. “First we divide everything into piles–one for each family–then we hand them over, making sure nobody takes anything they didn’t order. Finally there are a few people we make deliveries to.”

To his relief, Daam didn’t complain about being asked to do a menial task. When they were nearly done Tyen heard his name called. He looked up to see Yira walking towards him, a broad smile on her face.

“What are you so happy about?” he asked.

“They’ve agreed to have the families moved somewhere safer.”

He smiled. “Congratulations! Is this the part where you delegate me the task and saunter away?”

“Actually, no.” Her grin vanished as she turned to face the room. “They want me to move them. Now.”

“Now as in immediately?”

“Yes. They’ve picked a location and sent me out to deliver the bad news.”

“Where?”

“Six worlds from here. A remote temple. Apparently people will have to get used to eating lots of fish.”

“So everyone is going to the same place.”

She nodded. “Ceilon insisted. It means they can all be contacted quickly.”

Tyen sighed. “If they can be contacted quickly they can all be reached quickly. Will every leader know where this place is?”

“Yes. They are afraid that, if only a few know and are killed, nobody will be able to find their family.” Her eyes strayed to the servants standing by Coben’s bags. “They don’t look like someone’s family.”

“No. Servants.”

“They’ll have to go, too.”

Tyen nodded. Daam, he saw, was gazing at Yira in admiration. He hid a smile and looked down at the remaining supplies to be delivered. “I guess that was a wasted trip, then.”

Yira shrugged. “I’m sure the rest of us will make good use of it. There will be food available where the families are going. The hard part will be getting them there in one move.” She looked around the cavern and frowned at the chaos. “This is not going to be easy.”

Tyen shook his head. “Which is why they’re not safe here. Did anyone offer to help?”

“No.” Yira’s shoulders sagged.

“Well, since you’re one of the leaders, you can recruit all the new sorcerers–and the ‘second tier’ ones.”

She straightened. “You’re right. First we should gather the sorcerers together and let them know what we’re doing. Then perhaps we’ll divide the families into groups and designate one to each sorcerer. We’ll have to get them through the tunnel to the front cave, as we can’t leave from here. We should bring all the sleds at the bridge to here…”