Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,64

training. So he likes to train but he fancies himself as being above the common soldiers. “What’s your name?”

The young noble straightened up as he answered, “Emory Tallowen, Your Grace.”

“From now until this is over, address me simply as ‘sir.’ You will be doing all the things I just listed, Mister Tallowen. Although each of you will be provisionally entered into the rolls as lieutenants, you will have very little authority. Do not expect any special treatment and don’t think you can order the sergeants and corporals to do anything. Most particularly, I will be paying close attention to whether any of you attempt to use your limited authority to get out of ordinary chores. You will be setting up camp, digging latrines, and all the rest of it.”

Tallowen’s face turned red. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Does your family have any other sons?”

“What?”

Will smiled maliciously. “I’m just wondering in case you decide to take your pompous outrage any further. The weregild for the oldest, or heaven forbid, an only son, is significantly more—not that I’m unwilling to pay whatever it might be.”

The young noble’s mouth fell open in shock. Will waited a few seconds, then continued, “If you want respect or privileges, you’ll have to earn them. Otherwise, I expect you to keep your mouth shut and your complaints to yourself.” He took two steps back and raised his voice once more, projecting loudly across the field. “Dismissed!”

Chapter 18

Will had difficulty focusing on his classes, as his thoughts were continually occupied now. The military planning sessions were partly responsible for that, but his role there was less involved. He didn’t have experience with the levers of power, or the practical matters involved with organizing and provisioning an army. Truth be known, he wasn’t much behind the other lords, for it was Martin Bradshaw who truly shined when it came to organizing the food, livestock, supplies, manpower—everything required to make it possible for an army to function. The man was a miracle.

The other lords contented themselves with planning their route and coming up with a rough timeline. Other than that, there wasn’t much that could be done. Will listened and intervened when it was necessary to make a choice and the others couldn’t agree. Other than that, he simply did his best to educate himself regarding every decision made. He paid particular attention to Martin—the man knew how to organize.

What truly kept his mind busy was training the two hundred student sorcerers. Each week he introduced a new spell to add to their journal. Most of the spells were rather basic, and given the years of study they’d had, a portion of the students already knew some of them, but the point was standardization. If I’m going to give orders to them, I need to know for certain that they can use the spells and exactly what they can do, he told himself. He consulted Arrogan frequently, and the old man agreed with him on that front. The spirit of his teacher also made numerous recommendations, both about the spells chosen, as well as the training they focused on.

A few months wouldn’t be enough to get any of them to the point of reflex casting, and if it did, it would only be with a single spell. “The point-defense shield would be great, but it isn’t nearly as useful for an army,” the ring had cautioned. “A force-wall, or a long-range attack spell would be better, but again, you don’t really have enough time to hope they’ll manage to reflex cast those either.”

“Then what should they spend their time on?” Will had asked, feeling somewhat frustrated.

“You’ve already started them on it. Have them focus on increasing the number of spells they can keep prepared in advance.”

“Half of them can’t even manage one, and only a handful can manage two,” Will informed his grandfather despairingly.

The ring grunted, then went on, “That’s not too bad—these days. In the time you have, you can reasonably expect to get most of them to two, and a few of them will probably surprise you and manage three. In any case, focus on defensive and utility spells. They have elementals, after all. With those, all manner of attack and defense options become possible with little training required.” The old man’s voice held a faint tone of disgust, one which Will had gradually come to agree with. “The most important thing is that they memorize the spells you give them. That way, no matter what happens, they can always produce the