Heroes Return (28 page)

“I have no idea,” was his less than reassuring response. “Nothing came of it the last time they questioned us.”

“They had more material this time. And they seemed more hostile.”

“Probably because of that stupid oath I made to Gifford. They don’t like his poaching on their territory.”

“It’s up to them to educate the Emperor on their territory, not us,” I grumbled.

“Do we have to talk about it? I’ve been answering questions about it all day.”

“You have a point.” I was still worried and resentful about it, but there wasn’t much I could do except stick to my story and see what happened. Worrying about it would accomplish nothing.

Besides, there was something more interesting to do, something we hadn’t done in a long while. I stroked his nearest cheek with a finger. He smiled. I kissed him.

There was the sound of a throat clearing from the door. Taro and I broke apart and I bit back some inappropriate language. It was Lila. Again.

“My apologies, sir, ma’am. Shield Kaagen and Source Pedulla wished you to know that they want to speak with you as soon as possible tomorrow.”

They were still up? That couldn’t be good.

“Thank you, Lila.” Taro sighed.

After that, I was too embarrassed to participate in anything other than sleep.

It took a while for me to fall asleep, however, tired as I was. And when I did sleep, my head was filled with disturbing dreams that I forgot as soon as I woke up. And when I woke up, I remembered that first thing in the morning I would be enduring more questions from the council Pair.

I made sure to have breakfast first.

Kaagen and Pedulla met with both of us in the library. They sat in the only two chairs at the table, and it was clear Taro and I were expected to stand. Taro dragged two chairs over to the table so he and I were sitting as well.

“I’d like to begin by saying we’re disappointed in you both,” said Kaagen. “You both went to great lengths to avoid answering questions. We expect better from our members.”

Neither Taro nor I gave a response to that. I was disgusted with myself for feeling ashamed. We had good reasons for being careful with what we said.

“However, your evasions were as informative as your answers would have been.”

I was pretty sure that was just a ploy to make us feel uncertain.

“For example, without either of you answering the question about the nature of your relationship, we have confirmation of it. You would have merely denied intimacy if there were none. As well, we have confirmation from one of the servants here.”

Lila, probably. That girl was annoying.

“I would think the council would have more important things to worry about,” said Taro.

“You feel violating one of our most stringent taboos is unimportant?”

“It’s not a taboo,” I interjected. “It’s merely discouraged.” But at least he wasn’t calling it a perversion. I’d been accused of that, too.

“And discouragement isn’t enough?”

“People discourage all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I really wasn’t sure. It had just sort of come out of my mouth without my mind’s direction. “Other Pairs have engaged in intimacy. You never did anything about it.” As far as I knew. “Frankly, I believe it’s none of your business. Especially as none of the reasons for discouraging such relationships have occurred. We function perfectly well.”

“And what happens when the relationship ends? Can you guarantee that you will continue to function well?”

“Of course.” I would see to it.

From my peripheral vision, I was aware of Taro looking at me. What, was he about to disagree with me? Did he not think we could be professional even when things went wrong?

“This is just another example of a habit of defiance you are exhibiting.”

“We’re not being defiant.” We were doing what we had to do. And no, they didn’t understand that, and I couldn’t tell them that, but they were creating another complication that we really didn’t need.

“We disagree. And we will be keeping a close eye on you. Expect more visits from us. Shield Mallorough, it is your task to write the reports, not Source Karish’s. We will be expecting them more often and in greater detail. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

“And I would encourage you to dissolve the unnatural aspect of your relationship.”

Oh, go to hell.

I was pleased to see the back of them. They wanted more detail? I’d give them detail. I’d tell them the exact shade of green of the grass. I’d tell them how many birds were in the sky. I’d give them so much detail they’d come to hate the sight of any correspondence from me.

Chapter Twenty-one

Taro was gone when I woke the next morning, as was his custom. I was used to that. I didn’t know what he did all day. Gambled, I supposed. I realized I had seen far less of him since we reached Flown Raven than I had at any other time since we’d been bonded. I missed him.

Maybe this would end our allegedly inappropriate relationship. Not the opportunity of another lover, but the dearth of common interests, which was made obvious in all the free time we had. That seemed worse, somehow, than losing him to someone else.

I went to the sitting room for breakfast. Reid was there, but no one else. “Good morning, Shield Mallorough,” he greeted me heartily.

“Good morning, Academic Reid,” I answered. “You seem in high spirits.”

“I am. In fact, I’d like you to come to the library after we eat, if you can spare the time.”

Time was all I had. “I would be delighted.”

“Your hair is lovely, by the way,” he added with an artificially innocent air.

Of course, everyone knew what had happened to my hair. I had put out the rumor that I had merely dyed it back to orange. The only people who I was sure believed me were the Guards, because none of them came to interrogate me about it.

The Guards didn’t seem terribly bright.

Reid had a satchel with him. It seemed to me that he was always carrying it. When we got to the library, he closed the door behind us, then took paper and the book from the satchel, laying them on the table. Then he pulled open the hardened bottom of the satchel—a secret hiding place?—and pulled out more paper. “I really shouldn’t show you these, yet,” he said in a low voice. “But I know this is of great interest to you, and relevant to what you do. Just don’t tell anyone, all right?”

“Of course.”

“Please take them to the corner.” He pointed. “You’ll be out of sight from the door. If anyone comes in, I’ll sneeze and you’ll have to hide the paper.”

“Certainly, but what will you be doing while I’m reading your work?”

“Working on the papers I plan to give the Guards.” He grinned.

Sneaky fellow.

I went to the corner of the room, the one hidden by one of the stacks. I unfolded the papers. I started reading. Most of what I saw was a long-winded version of what Reid had already told me. Then I came to a description of a spell, a spell meant to call rain.

Could it possibly work? Maybe it hadn’t worked for the First Landed, but apparently the magic of the world had been fading under their regime. Would someone be able to work that spell now? Would I? After all, I was already able to affect the weather to some degree. Would this spell allow me greater accuracy?

I heard a creak, and Reid sneezed. I silently folded the paper and hid it behind four books. Then I took a book from a different shelf and opened it at random.

“Good day, darling.”

I blushed. I hadn’t been expecting anything like that. It definitely wasn’t one of the Guards.

“Good morning, Lady Daris,” I heard Reid say.

“Find anything for me?”

That was a curious question for Daris to be asking Reid.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Reid answered firmly.

“Of course you do.” There was a bit of a pause, the sound of wood creaking, and then, “Anything in that ancient book that can help me?”

“I’ve already told you, Lady Daris, this book has nothing to do with politics, and little to do with history. I can’t imagine how it can help you.”

“Alex, Alex, Alex.” Daris sighed. “You have a remarkably narrow scope for an academic. There’s no telling how information can be used. All it takes is a little imagination. And I have a great deal of imagination.”

I didn’t. What was she after?

“I was hired by Her Grace to study the book and report my findings to her.” Reid sounded indignant. Like he would never dream of letting anyone see his notes before Fiona. So, really, why was he letting me?

“And how much,” Daris said, her voice lowering into a throaty murmur, “is my sister offering you for your services? Room and board and a few coins? I can give you so much more.”

I heard Reid clear his throat with a nervous air. “I study for the joy of knowledge, not for what can be done with that knowledge.”

“Can you not see how limiting that is?”

“Perhaps, but that is my role, and I don’t care to deviate from it.”

“Then don’t. All I’m asking is for you to hand that knowledge over to me before you give it to my sister, and I will determine whether it is useful to me or not.”

“That is not why I am here. I have an obligation to honor my contract with Her Grace.”

I heard the clink of metal hitting wood. “Think about it,” Daris whispered. There was another creak of wood, and then I heard the library door open and close.

Well, that had been distasteful.

“Shield Mallorough?”

I replaced the book and retrieved the papers, then left my little corner. The first thing I noticed was Reid’s radiant flush, followed by the scatter of coins on top of the table at which he was working.

Reid rubbed his face. I took a seat at the table and tapped a coin with a tip of my finger. “I’m going to guess that she’s hoping you can help her get the title from her sister.”

He gaped at me. “You think she wants the title?”

I couldn’t think of any other reason Daris would care about the book. She didn’t seem the sort to waste the effort to put a spoke in Fiona’s wheel just for the hell of it. “I think she’s bitter that she didn’t get it. I didn’t think she was so bitter she actually wanted to do something about it. What else does she want your help for?”

“She hasn’t said, and I haven’t wanted to ask. She just asked me to report my findings to her before I did to Her Grace.” He rubbed at his eyes. “She has suggested that doing so would help her address some great injustice. I never thought it had anything to do with the title.”

I could be wrong. I didn’t know Daris well enough to guess at her wishes. I just knew she’d made a spectacle of herself the first night Taro and I had gotten here, and her anger was directed at Taro for giving the title to Fiona instead of her. So it seemed reasonable to me that if she was scheming about something, it would be about the title.

I wondered, if she had known about the retesting, would she have fought for the title herself? Maybe hearing about what had happened had started her own little evil mind working.

I tapped the coin again. “This is a bribe?”

He nodded. “More money than I’ve see in a handful of years.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Leave it for the servants to pick up.”

That impressed me. “You’re not going to help Daris?”

He leaned sharply back into his chair, gaining some distance from something distasteful. “Certainly not.”

“What does it matter to you who has the title?”

“Nothing, but there is something . . . dark . . . about Lady Daris. I think she would be a terrible titleholder. When she speaks of justice, I see only greed. She has said nothing to me that makes me think she has been done wrong by anyone. I can’t imagine she would do anything useful or right with any power she might have, no matter what the nature of that power is. I don’t believe being in association with her would be in my best interests. I have heard some whispers of her treatment of the servants. At some point she would become displeased with me, and there is no telling what she would do to me.”

“But really, how could this book help her?”

He shrugged. “What she says is true. There is no telling how information can be used. It takes only a fertile mind and the will to use it.”

I hoped I was being ridiculous, and Daris was only playing a game. For it seemed to me that Fiona was facing opposition on all sides, and it would be particularly disgusting if her parasite of a sister, who had received everything from Fiona including the coins on the table, was aiming for her as well. “What exactly does she want you to do?”

“For now, tell her any interesting findings before I tell Her Grace, and not tell Her Grace anything until Lady Daris gives me leave.” He sighed. “The academic world is not without its politics, but if this is some kind of maneuvering over a title the likes of Westsea, with the kind of twisted bitterness I’ve seen in Daris, I’ve never been put in the middle of such things. I have no interest in starting now.”

The solution seemed simple to me. “If you told Her Grace about it, it might disentangle you.”

“On the contrary, Lady Daris will see me as an active enemy, and then what might she do to me?”

“What can she do to you?” Daris didn’t have any power of her own, did she?

“I don’t want to find out.”

We were talking in circles, and it seemed to me that Reid was trying to avoid making a decision. I didn’t blame him, but dithering in the middle of the road would likely get him run over.

We both turned our heads at the sound from the doorway. It was Taro. I repressed a sigh. Here it came.

I was expecting some kind of accusation. Instead, Taro smiled at me, slow and sweet. “You work too hard, my love,” he said in a throaty voice.