I want to talk to the Hawklord.
Do that tomorrow as well. He paused, and then added, We couldnt have talked to the Hawklord without speaking to Mallory first. I imagine hes guarding the tower. Kaylin, hes made it clear from the start, if I understand things correctly, that you should never have been a Hawk. Nothing would give him more pleasure than correcting an obvious error in judgment. But if he is a vindictive manand I dont discount ithe also appears to play by the rules.
Dont give him the satisfaction. Do nothing that he can use as an excuse. Hell have his own worries, Severn said.
What worries?
His disdain for Marcus was widely known, and Marcus was popular.
Is.
Is what?
Is popular. She began to stumble up the narrow stairs to her rooms. Dont talk about him as if hes dead.
Is popular, he said, gentling his voice as he followed her. Most of the department knows how Mallory regards the Hawks under Marcus, and if Mallory is to succeed, he cant afford to further alienate them. But if you give him an excuse, hell use it.
She opened the door to a darkening room, the shutters wired into a safeand closedposition. She might not have cared much for Rennick, but she shared his view about morning. And still got her butt out of bed on most days.
Ill be good, she told him in the darkness.
Tomorrow.
She nodded again and walked across the room, stepping around the piles of debris that littered it. She removed the stick that held her stubborn hair in place, and sank, fully clothed, into bed.
Sleep, he told her. Just that.
She wanted more. She wanted him to tell her that the bad dream would vanish in the sunlight, that she would wake up and the city would be sane, and Marcus would be chewing his lower lip and creating new gouges on his desktop while he moved offending paperwork out of the way.
But shed grown up in the fiefs, after all, and she knew that what she wanted and what she got had nothing, in the end, in common. She didnt cry.
But she came close when he kissed her forehead and brushed the lids of her closed eyes with his fingertips.
She woke up to a loud, insistent knocking at her door. Daylight had wedged its unwelcome way through the shutters. She had to remember to get them fixed. Say, by putting a block of stone in their place.
She checked her mirror before she made her way to the door, still wearing the rumpled clothing from the day before. She paused. Someone had messaged her. Someone had tried to get her attention, but they hadnt tried for very long. She didnt want to check, besides which, the pounding at the door wasnt stopping anytime soon. She bypassed the mirror, because if the first thing she saw this morning was the afterimage of Mallorys unwelcome face, shed break the damn thing, and the mirror was the most expensive thing she owned. She wouldnt have bothered with the expensegods knew she never had moneybut her duties at the midwives guild pretty much made it a necessity.
Severn was standing in the door frame when she opened the door. He handed her a basket. Breakfast, he told her. Eat.
What time is it?
Not so late that you dont have time to eat. It wasnt precisely an answer. She lifted the basket top, and the smell of fresh bread became the only thing in the room. That and her growling stomach. Hey, she said, as she sat on the bedside and motioned Severn toward the chair. Is this enchanted?
The bread?
Her frown would have killed lesser men. Very funny. The basket.
Yes.
She nodded. I didnt smell the bread at all until I opened it.
It keeps the rodents at bay. More or less.
Whered you get it done?
Evantons.
Hed like it. Its practical.
I think he thought it perhaps too practical. But he took the money. He paused and then added, It keeps the food fresher, as well. It wont last forever, he said, but it lasts longer. Which, given the insane hours you generally keep, also seemed practical.
Waitits for me?
Its for you.
She hesitated, and then nodded. Thanks. Did you talk to Mallory?
Last night.
The Hawklord?
No. Ill say this for Mallory, that paperwork is going to get done before the weeks out.
Ha. Ive seen that pilemost of it was there when I got inducted.
Betting?
Sure. We can pool in the office.
Actually, we cant.
Silence. It didnt last longer than it took to finish swallowing something that could have been chewed longer, judging by the way it lodged in the back of her throat. We cant bet? To a fiefling, it was like being told dont breathe.
Its not in keeping with the formal tone he feels is professional in office environs. He is looking forward to correcting the laxity.
Kaylins bread now resembled clay. Her stomach was kind enough to stop growling, so her throat could pick up the sound.
Change your clothing, he added. And you may have to get your hair cut.
What?
I think you heard me.
My hair?
Its not regulation length.
Neither is Teelas!
I believe he intends for all of the Hawks to sport regulation cuts.
If she hadnt swallowed the mouthful, she would have probably sprayed it across the room. He thinks he can make the Barrani cut their hair?
He hopes to make his mark on the office, Severn replied, a perfectly serious expression smoothing out the lines of his face. I think he believes it will speak well of his tenure if he can be seen to have effected changes that Marcus could not.
Marcus never tried.
No. But there are no Barrani in Missing Persons. There are no Leontines. There are no Aerians.
So what youre saying is you think he failed Racial Integration classes as well.
Pretty much. Oh, I imagine he passed themsome people can pass a test without ever looking at the content.
The Aerians pretty much go by regs. I keep my hair out of the way.
I dont think that will be a convincing argument. Stay clear of it if he brings it up.
What does that mean?
Say yes, and ignore him for a day or two. Your yes will pale beside the very Barrani No hes likely to get from twelve of his Hawks. Hes not a fool. I imagine that the dictate will be quietly set aside as insignificant given the flaws that he obviously sees in the present office bureaucracy. By which I mean reports and paperwork. He will feel the need to impress upon his superiors the qualities that he can bring to the job, particularly if those qualities are ones which his predecessor lacked.
She nodded, and finished eating. Then she picked up what was hopefully a clean shirt, and began to change. It was going to be a long day.
Kaylin?
Hmm?
Someone mirrored you.
Oh, right. I didnt want to look in case it was Mallory. Who was it?
I dont know.
Well look.
Kaylin?
Hmm?
Someone mirrored you.
Oh, right. I didnt want to look in case it was Mallory. Who was it?
I dont know.
Well look.
He was silent for a moment, after which he said, Your mirror isnt keyed?
Hells nothat costs money.
Kaylinthe Hawks would pay to have it done. Some of our investigations would not be helped if anyone could listen in on more sensitive discussions.
Look, if someones listening in on my life, theyve got no bloody life of their own, and theyre welcome to be as bored as they like. Usually its just Marcus screaming about the time, anyway.
She could tell by the set of his lips that the conversation was not finished. He did, however, touch the mirror and ask for a replay.
The mirror hummed a moment, and then went flat.
You said this wasnt keyed.
Its not.
Its not playing.
Crap. If its broken, IllIll She shoved a stick into the bun she had made of her hair, and stomped over to the mirror. What she did not need right now was anything she couldnt afford. A new mirror being her chief concern.
Mirror, she said, in the tone of voice she usually reserved for choice Leontine words. Replay.
The mirror shimmered, the neutral matte of its sleeping surface slowly breaking to reveal a face. A Leontine face.
The mirrors not keyed, Kaylin said, her voice losing heat as she struggled with her very inadequate memory. The woman was familiar. Not one of Marcuss wivesshe knew all of them on sight, having been to their home dozens of times before she was allowed to join the Hawks.
No, Severn said thoughtfully. But the message is. I can wait in the hall if you want the privacy.
Dont bother. Itll save me the hassle of repeating what it says. I know her, Kaylin said suddenly. I saw her when I went to the Quarter for the midwives. Her name was Arlan. But it was supposed to be
Kaylin Neya, the woman said, her voice so hushed Kaylin wasnt surprised when the image in the mirror turned and looked over its shoulder furtively. You came. You helped birth my son, Roshan Kaylarr. He has need of your aid, and there is no one else I can ask. I humbly beseech you, return to him. She looked over her shoulder again. I cannot speak freely. But come again this evening at the same hour you arrived in my den on your first visit. Come alone, if it is possible. Bring only people you can trust, if it is not. I must go. She faced the mirror fully and said a phrase in Leontine before the mirror blanked.
Severn looked at her. What did she say?
You dont know?
I didnt understand all of the Leontine, no.
But you always understand more than I do.
He raised a brow.
She said her throat was in my claws.
Thats what it sounded like. What does it mean?
Shes begging. More than begging. Shes promising that shell do anythinganything at allthat I ask of her in return for this favor. No, its more than thatshes saying that if I dont do this, she faces a fate worse than death. Yes, its a little over the top. They dont use it much. She closed her eyes. Her son was the only cub in her litter, and he barely survived the birthing. If somethings gone wrong with him
She would have called you now, not at some unspecified hour.
Thats what Im thinking, Kaylin replied, rearranging her hair thoughtfully. Im also thinking that it cant be entirely coincidence that somethings wrong in the Quarter at this time. I went in to help with the babyLeontines dont usually call in the human midwives, but it was an odd birth. None of her wives were present and she was alone. The entire place was empty. I left the midwives behind because it was the Leontine Quarter, and they allowed itbarely.
She looksand I admit Im not an expert in Leontine physiologyyoung. Maybe she has no wives yet.
Maybe. And maybe she got my name from Marcus the first time I visited, and maybe she can tell us something about whats happening to him.
Careful, Kaylin. You dont want to start an intercourt incident.
I never want to start an incident, she replied, opening the door. Then again, I never want to stand in the rain getting soaked either. Some things are just beyond my control.
As if in reply to this, he reached into his pouch and pulled out the heavy, golden bracer that she wore when she wasnt with the midwives. Or, more accurately, when she wasnt being called upon to use the strange magic that came with the marks on her arms, legs and back.
Thats why you came? she asked, taking the bracer and clamping it firmly shut around her wrist.
That, he replied, and to make sure you get to work on time.
Clint was on duty. If she had the timing right, hed flown to the Southern Stretch, slept and flown back, without much else in between. He didnt look surprised to see her and, given she had been on time two days in a row, this said something. It wasnt a good something, but it was something. He let them both in without a word, although he returned Severns nod as they passed.
Her first stop was the Quartermaster. Given the silent war theyd been waging for the past several weeksover a stupid dress, no lessshe expected bad news. She had no doubt at all that the acting Sergeant had asked for a general inventory of items, and the various Hawks those items currently resided with. Kaylins minor problem was that shed lost one hauberk, one surcoat and two daggers. If she had lost them in the line of Official dutywhich did happen in some of the messier takedownsthat was considered an expense for the Departmental Budget; if shed lost themas she hadto work that must remain unofficial, she was going to be out the money.
Or out the door.
Begging was something shed done in her time, but it didnt come naturally now. Nor did letting down her guard. She had, however, decided to take Severn at his word. She needed to play nice, to be official.
The Quartermaster was clearly in the middle of the inventory that she guessed hed been asked to take. He took about five minutes to look up, a sure sign that hed seen her coming.
He surprised her. I see youve managed to hold on to the surcoat for a day. Color me surprised. He bent below the counter and came up with two daggers, in reg sheaths, in his hand. Put them on. Dont lose them.
She was almost speechless.
I dont like your attitude, he told her. I never have.
She nodded. The fact that she felt the same about him was not something the conversation needed at the moment. It seemed to bemiraculouslygoing well on its own.
But youve earned your rank, such as it is. And youve got keen sight. Maybe in ten years, experience will grind the edges off you. Maybe it wont. But if you want to get yourself cashiered, itll have to be for a better reason than losing armor and weapons while saving the City. Ive marked the loss as in the line of duty. If he asks, lie. He paused and added, If you repeat that, Ill have a sudden change of heart. Is that understood, Private?