Heroes' Reward (5 page)

Chapter Six

When the
annoying staff member from the day before came to deliver my breakfast, he was
not pleased to find Taro in my room. He didn’t say anything about it, though,
just pinched up his mouth for a moment.

“You’ll be
meeting with the council in an hour,” he announced stiffly. Then, his voice
acquired a tone of glee as he continued. “The entire council.” Then he flounced
out of the room.

The entire
council? There were currently seventeen members. They were all going to
interview us? That was going to take all damn day.

Lots of
questions. Probably all about the same things they’d interrogated us about in
years past. Taro being able to cause events and possibly heal people. His
ability to channel at the place of his birth. What the Empress had done with
us. What had happened in Middle Reach. Possibly everything we’d done since we’d
Bonded.

I had grown
weary of being asked the same questions again and again, but there was an
advantage to the repeated inquisitions. Taro and I had our lies down cold.

For this
meeting, Taro chose to dress entirely in black, his hair pulled into a ribbon
at the back of his neck. This made him gorgeous – as did everything else – but
also rather severe, almost untouchable.

I couldn’t
create this effect myself, but following his example, I chose my clothing with
care. I’d been told that wearing my hair pulled back from my forehead gave me
an aura of severe disapproval, so I tied my hair into a tight bun and dressed
in sharply cut trousers and a tailored shirt, hoping to make a chilly
impression.

The staff member
returned to lead us through the winding corridors and knocked on a door that
looked like every other door in the building. After the invitation to enter, he
opened the door for us and waved us inside. Then he quickly closed the door
behind us, appearing as though he was making his escape.

We found
ourselves looking at a black wooden table I guessed to be about thirty feet
long. Twenty-one pairs of eyes looked back at me, not seventeen. An
unprecedented increase in the size of the council, as far as I knew.

A quick scan
told me that along each side of the table were five Pairs, with a Shield
sitting at the head. The only chairs in the room were the ones occupied by the
members of the council.

So we were to
stand before them, like miscreants standing before the Headmaster’s desk, being
chastised for violating rules.

The elderly
heavy-set man sitting at the head of the table announced, “I am Shield Devo
Regulos, Speaker of the council.”

The Speaker of
the council set the schedule of all meetings, kept everyone to the code of
conduct, and broke the ties of votes.

“Let me
introduce everyone.”

Oh, sure, I was
going to remember twenty more names. Not likely.

There was the
Premier Pair, of course: Source Wongoi Zoffany and Shield Jules Sato. There was
a treasurer and a secretary, as always. There were Pairs who managed the
Academies, who arranged the rosters of posted Pairs, who managed supplies and
maintained a relationship with the monarch.

But there were
others with tasks I’d never heard of before. One Pair was dedicated to managing
incoming personnel. I had no idea what that meant. Another procured what was
called
specialized supplies
, which seemed to mean goods other than
clothing, food, and maintenance materials.

And then,
Regulos said, “In the interest of saving time, we will commence with an
explanation of what we know. Please avoid insulting our intelligence by
disputing the facts. Source Karish, we know you can create events. We know you
have some talent with healing.” Taro opened his mouth, no doubt to object, but
Regulos cut him off by raising a hand. “And Shield Mallorough, we know you can
cast.”

I’d gotten so
used to denying that allegation it was difficult to keep my lips together.

“One of the
reasons we allowed you and your Source to remain in Flown Raven as long as we
did was due to our belief that you would best learn to hone your skills under
the tutalage of Healer Nab Browne, who is reputed to be particularly gifted in
this area.”

It had been
ridiculously optimistic for me to hope the council didn’t know of Browne.

But if they
thought I was going to confirm that Browne was a caster, they didn’t know me.
“I have no knowledge of Browne being able to cast.”

Regulos grit his
teeth for a moment. “We know she can cast, Mallorough. Denying it is futile and
childish.”

I said nothing.

“You are not
adept at deception, Mallorough.”

I was fantastic
at deception. I fooled people all the time. Really. The council had apparently
been watching us for years, collecting information from all over the continent.
I was sure it was something other than our lies that had tripped us up.

“And now that we
have all acknowleged these facts, you will tell us all Browne has taught you.”

I was not going
to help the Triple S drag Browne into anything.

Regulos sighed
wearily. “Mallorough, we can keep you and your Source here for the rest of
today. And tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. We
will
get answers.”

Ah, hell.

Fine. If it were
just me, they could ask me forever. But Taro was involved, too. If it had to be
a choice between Taro and Browne – Taro and anyone – Taro would always win. But
I would tell them as little as possible. Omitting information wasn’t actually
lying.

Then I spent –
what? – three hours? – telling them every spell I had ever learned, how
difficult it had been, and that there were some spells I had just not been able
to perform. However, I refused to confirm that Browne had been my teacher. From
time to time, they would ask about Browne again. Each time, I refused to
answer, and each time they would move on, for a while. Eventually, they decided
to stop retreading that ground. Perhaps they accepted that that was a line for
me.

But then, they
probably already knew a lot about her, anyway.

By the end of
it, my feet were starting to hurt. Taro’s were probably killing him. But his
throat was unlikely to be as dry as mine, as he hadn’t said a word since we’d
come into the room.

As if my
thoughts had touched his, Source Wincinty, of the Pair responsible for managing
new personnel, asked, “Source Karish, when did you become aware that Shield
Mallorough was learning to cast spells?”

Taro looked at
me. He raised his eyebrows.
What
should I do?

I raised mine in
response.
I have no idea.

And then Taro’s
posture altered. With tiny shifts of shoulders and spine and hips, he suddenly
changed from severe and formal to casual and relaxed. He grinned. “I don’t
know. She did a lot of running around without me.”

“Really.”
Wincinty’s flat tone was thick with disbelief.

“Really and
truly.”

“A Pair as …
close as you, and you didn’t speak of something so important?”

“Why would she?
It wasn’t as though I could do it.”

I realised that
Taro hadn’t known half the stuff I’d been up to in either High Scape or Flown
Raven. I was appalled. It wasn’t as though I’d been deliberately keeping things
from him. And he’d never expressed much interest in my casting. Just as I
hadn’t really shown a lot of interest in his gambling or his steeple chasing.

We had no
interests in common aside from channelling. Why were we lovers?

My feet were
starting to throb. It was hard to resist shifting them.

The council
members were shooting glances back and forth, apparently surprised that Taro
had so little to say.

Or so he
claimed. And they believed him. Who was a bad liar?

“All right,
then.” At this point Shield Tam Dunn, part of the Pair who managed relations
with the monarch, assumed the role of inquisitor. “We don’t know if you are
aware of all of Emperor Gifford’s violations of Triple S authority, beyond
compelling Karish to swear an oath of fealty at the coronation and sending you
to Flown Raven. But you are no doubt aware that the Emperor is merely expanding
a practice initiated by his mother, the Empress Constia.” Dunn opened a thick
journal, flipping to the front. “The Empress retained the presence of both of
you at Erstwhile for weeks, and kept Karish for several months thereafter. This
not only prevented you from performing your duties, but having a valuable
Source dancing attendance on a mere titleholder demeaned him and the Triple S
as a whole.”

Mere
titleholder. The Empress. Interesting.

“We require the
details concerning why, under orders of the Empress, you abandoned your post
for over a year.”

The Empress had
forbidden us to speak of it on pain of execution. As far as we were concerned,
her death didn’t necessarily free us from silence, as it was possible she’d
left someone behind to keep an eye on us and to carry out her orders if we
violated her instructions.

But that was a
long time ago, and right then, I was tired.

Fine.

I told them
almost everything, including the fact that the reason for our journey had been
to find a relative of the Empress, one who might prove worthy to choose as an
heir should Gifford fall short of the Empress’ expectations. It was at the
point when I was about to claim we hadn’t found any such relative that Dunn
interrupted me.

He said, “You
found Aryne. She goes by Malkar.”

How could they
possibly know that? Did they have a spy somewhere?

“Headmistress
Tausen tells us that while Malkar has shown a lamentable lack of skill with
channelling, her mind is extremely quick. She can maintain a civilised manner.
She has a strong personality. These are valuable traits.”

Maintain
a civilised manner. I didn’t like the sound of that. To me, it
implied the council didn’t believe Aryne was actually civilised, just that she
could behave as though she were. There were many who thought those from Flatwell
lacked simple courtesy, education, any understanding of a complex society. I
expected better of the Triple S.

“It’s possible
the Emperor might moderate his behaviour should he learn that there is another
with Imperial blood,” said Regulos. “Especially when that other is under the
control of the Triple S.”

Under the
control. That was almost funny. They had only as much control as Aryne granted
them.

“There are other
members of the royal family,” Taro pointed out.

Premier Sato
said, “In the past two years, three members of the extended Imperial family
have died from an inherited weakness in the blood – a weakness which may have
caused the death of the Empress as well. Some believe that the Emperor is
likewise affected. This might be the cause of his increasingly erratic
behaviour. There’s a chance that being more distantly related, and raised in a
different part of the world, Aryne may prove to be heartier stock.”

But what if
Aryne had the weakness, too? That would just be her sort of luck, and damned unfair.

“To continue
with the list of offences,” said Dunn, “The Empress took it upon herself to
appoint professors to both Academies.”

That was news to
me.

“We responded by
forbidding the students to attend their classes.”

I remembered
that! Having our schedules rearranged, leaving large gaps during certain days.
How did I miss the information that the professors of those classes had been
imposed on us by the Empress?

“This was
followed by an volley of threats,” Dunn explained grimly. “The Empress
intimated she might cut our funding. I reminded her that the Tripartite Act
guaranteed support for the Triple S. She suggested she could have the Imperial
Council overturn the act. We pointed out that without sufficient funds, the
Academies couldn’t properly train our Pairs, thus creating long-term problems
for everyone.”

A standoff that
the Triple S would probably have lost. They had to eat, while Constia could
have let the various hot sites suffer catastrophies until the Triple S gave in.

“While I
wouldn’t claim that the Empress actually conceded the point, she did suspend
her more blatant violation of our rights. Nevertheless, behind the scenes, she
continued to press the limits of her authority, interpreting old laws in new
ways. And she did send her own Pair on little excursions no one knows about.”

There was always
a Pair stationed at Erstwhile, even though the site was cold. It was a matter
of prestige for the ruler and a nod to the important relationship between the
two institutions. A serious Pair, one who valued their skill and the work
they’d been trained to do, rarely aspired to be posted there. They were treated
like pets, shown off at parties, and taunted for the easy lives they had.

“The Emperor has
chosen to expand on his mother’s activities. He has been posting Pairs wherever
he wishes. Source Karish isn’t the only Triple S member who has been forced to
swear fealty. Gifford, like his mother, has attempted to send favoured regulars
to our Academies to provide instruction. He has also sent us people he has
deemed Sources and Shields, and when, inevitably, they prove to be otherwise,
we send them back. He finds this offensive and arrogant. And now he is also
threatening to revoke the monetary obligations of the Crown. When he was
reminded of the Tripartite Act, he showed it even less respect than his mother
had, claiming that as High Justice, he has the right to make adjustments to the
law without the input of the Imperial Council.”