Discordant Harmonies 2: Severe Notes

Chapter Seventeen

Of course, they were assigned another patrol. Géta hunched in his cloak on his hated mount and thought unkind words about the Rector of the post and Owée. There was no reason for them to go on a six-week patrol when there were plenty of other Mages available, so he knew this was punishment for him approaching the sresaph Jalza with his concerns. What made it worse was the fact his concerns were valid. He didn't have to ask to know if the other sresaph Jalza had survived neither of them would have objected to helping him. They'd have listened, given Géta advice, perhaps even done what they could to train him. But no, Jinée had to send them out to ranches—which had been against clearly-stated regulations regarding a border post.

Each post was supposed to have a minimum of two sresaph Jalza. It was a requirement. _Neither_ of these sresaph Jalza were supposed to be sent out on missions, though they could be in extremis—which hadn't been the case with either of their sresaph Jalza. They were primarily for the post's convenience, absolutely necessary for scrying out where they could expect attacks to be made and when surprise attacks they hadn't been given Visions about made it past the border. It made things a lot easier to deal with on the border.

But Jinée didn't obey regulations, and had probably lied about sending out the sresaph Jalza in desperation to cover for Gifts they "needed" to have elsewhere in her requests to Éethin for replacement sresaph Jalza, so her mismanagement wouldn't be noted. After all, she'd sent both sresaph Jalza out before, and they'd returned hale and whole, so she may not have thought they could be injured—she may have, in fact, had a somewhat overconfident view of their abilities.

According to what Géta had learned, the Rector hadn't had any particular dislike of the two previous sresaph Jalza, so there hadn't been any kind of active exclusion going on; it had simply been Jinée's lack of concern for regulation which had induced her to send them out. Then Isé was mortally wounded. Healers tried to save him, but his wounds, combined with the infection from his torn bowels, which the Healers didn't catch right away, ended his life shortly after he returned from his mission. Owée was his replacement, and now they were waiting for another to take Siléenia's place.

The whole situation with Jinée's disregard for regulations may not have made it anywhere near Éethin's attention if not for Inski testing the border. But when things had heated up out here, and Jinée continued disregarding the rules, people started complaining up the chain of command. Unfortunately, only Éethin decided who to post out here. And the regulations which were supposed to guide Jinée's decisions out here also tied the Grand Matriarch's hands. Éethin couldn't do anything to change the leadership until there were a certain number of complaints which came via the chain of command from their post. It was a measure meant to keep the complaints of people who simply disliked their post commander from pulling strings on the system.

And Asthané had shared with him the most recent letter from Éethin just this morning as they ate their early breakfast. Part of the reason why she hadn't done anything yet was because she didn't have complaints from enough different people to meet regulations. Only four people had been sending such complaints up the proper paths: Asthané, Géta, Néja, and—since he'd become Géta's Custodian—Wodé. She had plenty of complaints from them, but she needed complaints from six other people, and nobody cared to complain because they apparently enjoyed the laxness regarding regulations out here.

Without complaints from ten people, Éethin apparently felt it would be unwise to act, even in her capacity as supreme priest of the Empire. She was, according to Asthané's thoughts on the situation, trying to ensure that people didn't accuse her of nepotism because of his complaints and the fact that it was fairly well known in the secular government and by quite a number of the permanent members of Capitol Temple that she and Asthané were "close." Certainly closer than she was to most other members of Capitol Temple. And if people thought she'd removed Jinée due even only in part to Asthané's influence, that could ruin the strength of her authority as Grand Matriarch, and her successor, though identified and willing to take up the duties of Grand Patriarch, was at least decades from being prepared for doing so—and "jumping" him up to that position so early in his service to the Temple could ruin his authority over it.