Heroes Adrift (31 page)

“Appearances can be deceiving.” I doubted anyone looking at Aryne would contemplate for an instant that she was the future Empress.

The future Empress. Zaire. I needed to sit down.

“Are you sure you don't know what this woman wants with me?”

“One does not ask the Empress to explain herself.”

“So why did she send you?”

“She sent Taro. He has gained her favor and her trust. I was just expected to go along.” I went to the side bar, looking for something to drink. All there was, was wine. I had an inexplicable craving for tea.

“You don't seem the sort to just go along when you don't know all the answers.”

“You don't know me very well.”

She ground her teeth. “So that's why you picked me up? Because I was a member of this family you were looking for?”

There was an element of hurt in her anger. I had no idea what the source of this sudden shift in mood might be. “We allowed you to join us when you followed us,” I reminded her, “because we realized you were a Source. We had no idea, at the time, that you were of interest to the Empress.”

“And that's it, right? Because I was useful to you?”

I snorted at that. “Useful? Are you sane? In no possible incarnation are you useful to us.”

I realized the words were a little harsh as soon as they were out of my mouth. The slight widening of Aryne's eyes before they narrowed confirmed the opinion. I sighed. “Sit down.” Instead, she crossed her arms and glared. “Fine. You stand. I'll sit down.” And I did. But I knew I shouldn't be doing this. This should be Taro's job. He'd be able to make Aryne feel good about this.

“We were sent by the Empress to find members of a family who were important to her,” I said. “We came across you. We realized you were a Source, and we realized we had to take you with us. As you wished,” I reminded her. “It wasn't until later that we realized you were a member of this family the Empress was looking for.”

“So what's going to happen now? Am I going to be a Source or not?”

“I don't know. That will be up to the Empress.”

“The hell it will be!” Aryne snarled.

I raised my eyebrows to suggest she should go on.

“I didn't come here to have someone else telling me what to do!”

“You'd be told what to do at the Source Academy if you went there.”

“But you and Taro would be there.”

I frowned. “We don't live there. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You said everybody went to the Academy!” she accused me.

“Yes, for a while. Then they leave to work out in the world. Taro and I live in High Scape. That's where we work.”

“You never told me any of that!”

“I never thought of that. I never knew you'd made that assumption.”

“So you're just going to cut me loose? To this Empress or to the school?”

Oh lords. I really never imagined that this might be an issue. “I'm sorry, Aryne. I never realized you thought to stay with us.”

She scowled and said nothing.

“Surely you can see you can't stay with us.”

“'Course not. I'm not stupid.”

“Oh, Aryne. I'm sorry. I never thought you'd be expecting that.” She had never said or hinted that she thought she was going to stay with us indefinitely. And I was sure we'd told her the Academy was in Shidonee's Gap and we were posted in High Scape.

“Wasn't expecting nothing,” she denied.

“You can't stay with us. You really need to go to the Academy.”

“'Course.”

“Why would you even want to stay with us?”

She shrugged. “No reason.”

Aye, I'd blown it. I didn't know what else to say. All I could do was wait for Taro to come back and hopefully fix it.

Fortunately, he didn't take long. But he didn't enter the room with his usual flair, and that was never a good sign. He looked at us solemnly. “Someone die in here?”

“Aryne is finding the state of ignorance a difficult one to bear,” I said.

“Ah,” said Taro. “I can sympathize.” He grabbed one of his travel packs from the wardrobe near the door. “Her Majesty wants us to stay at the palace.”

I groaned. “All of us?” I had expected Aryne to be moved to the palace, and Taro and I to be sent on our way. There was no reason for us to remain in Erstwhile at all. Unless, damn it, the Empress was taking this opportunity to keep Taro with her indefinitely, as he would no longer be weakened, according to her, by the lack of his Shield.

“All of us.”

“Is that bad?” Aryne asked.

“Not really,” I told her. “I just feel like I'm being watched all the time while I'm there. And you will have to be blindfolded the whole time.”

Aryne scowled.

“The Empress has given us her word that no one under the age of sixteen will be in Aryne's presence,” said Taro.

“A difficult thing to guarantee, I think.” There were dozens of servants younger than that working in the palace.

He shrugged. “She wants us over there.”

And that was that.

I didn't want to move into the palace. Not that there weren't wonderful things about living there. Exquisitely comfortable rooms, embarrassingly solicitous service, every possible food provided on a whim.

But I hated feeling watched all the time, and I knew, within the palace walls, that I definitely was. Not for myself, but because I was the partner of Taro. Part of me worried that the Empress had some grand plan in mind for Taro, one that wouldn't benefit him or anyone else who mattered to me. Part of me just found the whole thing irksome, the courtiers with their stupid little word games. And part of me felt that restlessness that came from not being able to do my job because someone else had decided there was something more important they needed me, or my Source, to do.

There was nothing more important than what Taro and I were born and bonded to do.

Worst of all, moving into the palace meant I had to get a whole slew of dresses, because Zaire forfend I be seen in the same thing twice.

I was tempted to show up in one of my Flatwell costumes. To attend to the Empress. Wouldn't that raise eyebrows?

She expected us to move that night, which of course we did. We were shown into adjoining apartments, Taro and I expected to share while Aryne had a smaller suite off to one side. Taro and I argued about whether Aryne should stay in our suite—I wanting to keep an eye on her, he claiming I didn't have the skills for being parental and I shouldn't waste my time, the prat. Aryne, of course, was firmly on Taro's side. So she stayed in her separate suite, crowing with triumph as she jumped from settee to settee in the large sitting room. She was either being prepared for her future, or spoiled for it.

But it did give us some privacy. It was the first time I'd been alone with Taro all day. “So what did she say?” I demanded.

“Who?”

Who did he think? “The Empress.”

“About what?”

I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic, and snapped it shut while I looked at him. He stared straight back at me, eyes neither narrowed in irritation nor widened in feigned innocence. “You can't tell me.”

“There's nothing to tell.”

“It's all right, Taro.” Well, not really. I hated the fact that the Empress was telling him things he couldn't tell me. But that she was, wasn't his fault. She was the one who'd pushed me into this mess and then refused to tell me what was going on.

“There's nothing to tell,” he insisted. “She was disappointed that we found only one, and she wanted a little more detail about Aryne's circumstances. She did tell me who Border was.”

“Who?”

“What he said he was. One of her personal guard. One of her most trusted. Except his name is Henry Thatcher, not Border. She sent him out to check on the family. Only he left and she never heard from him again.”

“And she didn't send someone else after him then?”

“Apparently not.”

“Why not?”

“Maybe she suspected he was up to no good. Maybe she didn't want to tell anyone else the secret.”

Maybe she hadn't really cared overmuch. She'd felt, perhaps, that she had to do something for the sake of honor or family or whatever, and when that didn't seem to work out, she could say to herself she'd done her best and forget all about it.

Only something had caused her to change her mind and send us out.

Did she really think Prince Gifford was going to be that bad a ruler? Sure, I wasn't all that impressed with him, but he hadn't struck me as being feebleminded or grossly cruel. So what was so wrong with him that she felt it necessary to bring in a collateral heir?

I couldn't imagine, but it didn't have anything to do with me. “What about us?” I asked. “Why does she want us here?”

“She said it was for Aryne's sake, to allow her to have someone familiar about in these new surroundings.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I see no reason why she would lie about it.”

“That is true, I suppose.”

“For now, she doesn't want Aryne to know why she's here,” Taro said.

“That's obvious, but why not? I mean, I can understand why she doesn't want Aryne to know what her intentions for her future might be, but why not let her know she's one of the family?”

He shrugged.

I really got the feeling there were things he wasn't telling me. However, if the Empress had taken him into her confidence and sworn him to secrecy, I certainly wasn't going to give him a hard time over it.

All right. Time for a distraction. “So, did any of the—?” And I cut myself off.

“What?” Taro asked.

I had been about to ask if any of the gorgeous courtiers had caught his eye.

I was expecting him to fall into old patterns. So I was falling into old patterns. Only it wasn't appropriate for me to go first.

Why wasn't it appropriate for me to go first? It was going to happen anyway. Why shouldn't I make the first move?

Because I didn't want it to happen at all, and I didn't want to hurry it along. “What?” I asked back.

“What were you going to say?”

“I don't remember.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Hm,” was all he said, indicating that he didn't believe me. Then he grinned. “Did you see how big the bed is?”

“I didn't really think about it.”

“Ah, my young friend, all the things I have to teach you. And so much room to play!”

I couldn't help smiling at that.

We were expected to eat a late evening meal with the Empress. In her bedchamber, of all places. The Empress was already in bed, dressed in a nightgown. A short table had been brought into her spacious bedchamber, set for three, so that we might all face the Empress while we ate.

A bizarre setup. Something about it struck me as rude, though I couldn't quite put my finger on why.

The food on offer was incredible. Sugared spice bread, thick slices of ham, herbal eggs, and fruit. Not the kind of fruit one would find on Flatwell. This stuff, I had to admit, seemed rather common and bland.

“Tell me, Aryne,” the Empress said, after we had all greeted each other and had filled our plates, “what is your family name?”

“You mean like Leavy's name is Mallorough?” Aryne said through a mouthful of bread.

The distaste didn't show in the Empress's expression. “Yes.”

“Islander's don't do that.” Aryne swallowed. “I should use my mother's name, but I don't know it.”

“Here, you need a family name,” said the Empress.

Aryne looked up at me. “Can I use yours?”

I choked on my mouthful of ham.

The Empress chuckled. “You can't use a family name unless you have been adopted into that family, child,” she said. “And our Shield here doesn't have the authority to adopt you into her family.”

“She's a woman grown,” Aryne objected, with no acknowledgment that she was contradicting the Empress.

“Shields can't adopt.”

“Why not?”

“It's a long explanation, Aryne,” I told her quietly. Though, really, not so long. Shields didn't pay for goods or services, and neither did their children, until their children were old enough to work. No one wanted Shields and Sources to be able to invite others in for the free ride. “I'll tell you later.” I really just wanted the girl to shut up. I'd told her to answer the Empress's questions and nothing more.

Of course, when had she ever listened to me?

“Don't worry about it, child,” said the Empress. “Everyone here has a family name. Arrangements will be made for you.”

Aryne scowled. I hoped she didn't come out with some declaration that she could choose her own family name, thank you very much.

She didn't.

“What do you know of Erstwhile, Aryne?”

Aryne looked blank, for a moment. “It's where you live,” she said, in a rather pathetic start. “You have a court. Laws are made here.”

“Do you find the law interesting?”

I had to shoot the Empress a look, there. Really, “the law” was an abstract concept to someone of Aryne's circumstances.

Now Aryne looked irritated. “No, ma'am. It's too easy to bend. Pounds on those who can't stand up for themselves.”

“Really?” The Empress raised an eyebrow. “Can you give me an example?”

“Riding around a village a while back, there was this old man sleeping under a bridge. Could tell he had nothing. His clothes were dirty. He was dirty. And he was skinny. And he was just sleeping there. Wasn't hurtin' no one. But then these two—what are they? Runners?—woke him up and pulled him away, and they were arresting him! Just for sleeping under the bridge.”

“It's against the law to sleep under bridges,” said the Empress. “And the law applies to everyone. Were a nobleman sleeping under the bridge, the Runners would have done the exact same thing.”

Aye, sure. Somehow, I doubted it.

“But a nobleman wouldn't need to sleep under a bridge, would he? He'd have a house to sleep at.”

“An interesting theory,” the Empress said coolly. “Perhaps if you had a better understanding of how the law works, you would not dismiss it so casually.”

Aryne shrugged and stuffed another piece of bread into her mouth. I thought about squeezing her arm or kicking her ankle, but she probably would have no clue why I was doing it.

“We have an extensive library here. Perhaps you would enjoy reading some of the treatises on law.”

Was she crazy? What child Aryne's age would want to read something like that? What person of any age would want to read something like that?

Aryne scrunched her nose up. “Don't like reading,” she mumbled.

“Can you read?” the Empress asked.

“Some.”

“Have you been in school?”

Aryne laughed shortly. “No.”

“Would you be interested in going to school?”

“These two say I have to.”

“Really?”

“Because Aryne's a Source, Your Majesty,” Karish said hastily. “I thought that the Source Academy might be an option.”

“Ah, yes. Indeed.”

And then the examination of Aryne was over, and she was free to eat as enthusiastically as she wished. The Empress spent the rest of the meal speaking to Taro, asking him what he thought of Flatwell and to describe his experiences there.

He gave a highly edited account of our journey. He spoke of working as a laborer for the troupe, ignoring the Empress's chuckle. He didn't mention what I did, for which I was grateful, and the Empress didn't ask.

There was a bitterness in his voice at times, which he made no effort to hide. That surprised me. He was usually so careful with royalty. It surprised the Empress, too, who frowned at such times. He affected not to notice.

All in all, a very uncomfortable meal, and I wasn't sure I understood the point of it. I was thrilled when it was over. We headed back to our suites, and I was wondering what we were supposed to do next. I wondered when Taro and I would be told to pack up and leave. We'd done our job. Why weren't we allowed to go home?