But the High General felt that a large barn would have been more practical, and could have housed all the workers’ horses as well.
Up the wide white stone steps he strode, nodding once in warning to the young pages dressed in short red coats who hurriedly opened the heavy doors for him. Once one of them was a bit too slow, but now that his arm was finally healed he wasn’t ever going to make that same mistake again.
Without breaking his pace the High General marched through the broad and crowded hallway, dispersing citizens and a couple of red-jacketed administrators. He walked directly to the largest oak doors which again were promptly opened for him. Word traveled quickly among the pages. His lieutenants struggled to keep up as the general plowed through the waiting room where he never waited. With another nod to the records-keeping men sitting at the large desk, the High General headed straight for the open doors of the grandest office in the building where he finally stopped at the broad and highly polished desk.
The occupant was waiting, and had counted down in his head the moment the highest ranked soldier, acting as the aggressive wolf he was, would stand in front of him.
Still, he said casually, “High General, I believe you’re early.”
“Is that a problem, Mal?” the officer said, clearly not caring if it were. He pulled several folded parchments from his jacket pocket and handed them across the desk.
Chairman Mal, dressed in his bright red jacket with tails, and a white ruffled shirt that matched his ruffled white hair, took the documents and opened them. “So the last fort will be ready on time?”
“I have assurances from the captain in Edge it will be ready ahead of schedule, Chairman. Each new fort will be manned in the next three weeks.”
“Good. Excellent,” Mal nodded, but the High General didn’t move to leave. Something else was on his mind, and Mal knew what it was.
The High General turned part-way to his two assistants, made a slight motion with his hand, and the lieutenants left the grand office, shutting the door behind them.
Typical of the alpha wolf, Mal thought, sending away his pack so he could deal with the threat alone.
The general’s tolerant pretense vanished as he leaned on the desk. “Now, as for those unexpected ‘visitors’ to my office this morning . . .”
“It’s only three administrators, High General,” Chairman Mal said in a calming manner. “You know as well as I that the world still fears the power of the army. But this is a way to demonstrate that the army is working hand-in-hand with the Administrators. Three of them on the Command Board of the Army? Why, it’s a perfect balance!” Perhaps calming wasn’t the correct term; maybe goading.
“Balance?!” the general growled. “It used to be just General Cush and I, and with the inclusion of three administrators, I assure you there is NO balance! Get them OFF!”
Mal stretched his lips into a smile. “You and Cush are such large men, the two of you easily outweigh three slight administrators.”
The High General was not amused.
Mal nodded once. “You may add a colonel or a major, if you wish, to the Command Board.”
“Oh, how generous,” he sneered. “You’ve said the people still feared the power of the army, but maybe they should start fearing you. They may not see what you’re doing, but I do.”
“There was reason to fear the army in the past,” Mal intoned. “People have very long memories, General. You know that.”
“Especially when their memories are prolonged unnaturally by constant reminders,” the general scoffed. “What was that notice read at every school about the killing squads? We haven’t had killing squads since my father’s time, since Querul the Third!”
Mal held open his hands. “Merely reminders of how much better their lives are now that the Administrators are in charge.”
“You’re tainting the image of the army to do so.” The High General’s low voice rumbled like thunder. “My father and I changed every aspect of it to reject the abuses of the Queruls, but you continue to make it sound as if the army is to still be feared.”
Mal’s pacifying demeanor fell away. “Tell me, General—what’s not to fear about ten thousand men armed with swords and long knives, and the knowledge of how to use them?”
“Use them to protect the world, not destroy it! My soldiers are disciplined and controlled. There’s great comfort in that, not fear, especially now.”
Mal squinted. “You sound worried, High General.”
“Not worried,” he said solidly, “just ready. As should be everyone in the world. Tell them, Nicko, what I learned from that spy. They’re coming in numbers and with plans we’ve never before encountered. The people have to know they can trust the army to protect them.”