'Oh, he's worse, I do pledge you,' Ari said, 'He does not hear excuses; we are weapons in his hand, and woe betide the weapon that fails. As a Commander of Hundreds expects each man to tend to his equipment and see that it is in top condition, the Commander of Dragons expects that we are to do the same with our beasts. It's bad enough to face him when he's giving you a commendation; it's got to be a thousand times worse when he's about to take you apart. But the inquiry proved that Horeb was not as much to blame for the incident as Reaten was. Apparently Coresan had been proddy for the last week; Seftu only got interested when she went up in the air and he saw her start to display instead of obeying her rider.'
'Huh.' Sobek, of course, was just as guilty, but he'd already been punished to the extent that the arm of the Jousters reached, Vetch had to suppose. 'So what's to do with Reaten, then?'
Ari cleared his throat, and it sounded embarrassed. 'Well, here, you see, I have a dilemma. What happened to Horeb is very much public knowledge. Plenty of underlings knew about the interviews, and plenty more saw him going into and out of all three of them. The result of the inquiry is also public knowledge. However, the same cannot be said of what's to happen with Reaten. If I tell you, it's gossip that the—ah—
'Serfs, slaves, and servants aren't supposed to know,' Vetch supplied, the words leaving a bitter taste behind as he spoke them.
But this was Ari—and Ari was not like anyone else. 'True. This is not the sort of thing that should be gossiped about—
He winked. It was a very sly wink. 'Well, as you know, I could just be talking to myself, or to my dragon. In fact, I believe I will talk to my dragon,' was Ari's response, and he looked up at Kashet, who craned his neck around to stare into his Jouster's eyes, looking for all the world as if he wanted to hear this gossip himself. 'Now, as for Reaten, when he recovers, it's rumored—just rumored, mind—that his interview will be at the hands of the Royal Commander himself. Isn't that fascinating, Kashet?'
The dragon snorted, as if he was skeptical of how much good a mere dressing-down would change Reaten's ways.
'Really? On the whole, I would tend to agree with you, Kashet, given what 1 know about Reaten.' Oh, now Ari did look sly. 'You see, Kashet, Reaten is noble, himself, and he seems to be under the impression that anyone of noble blood need not concern himself with orders and instructions. Fortunately I have it on more substantial authority that Reaten is going to be demoted back down to merest apprentice, no longer permitted to fly or fight until the end of the Floods. And that if the Great King didn't need Jousters so badly, he'd be sent packing after his dragon boy. And furthermore, since the Royal Commander is of sufficient rank to cow anyone other than the Great King, he has decided that Reaten's father is going to sit in on the dressing-down, just to give a bit of familial emphasis to it all.'
While Ari didn't sound gleeful, there was no mistaking the satisfaction in his voice. 'If you were to ask me, Kashet, I would say that the punishment is certainly fitting.'
And serve him right, too, was Vetch's conclusion. Anyone who hadn't noticed that his dragon was looking to mate didn't deserve to be a Jouster, and if he'd been depending on his dragon boy to tell him what Coresan's condition was, he'd been completely a fool. He should have seen she was too thin, he should have immediately seen how restless she was and checked her over himself. Noble or not, when he undertook to become a Jouster, he took the same oaths to obey his superiors as any warrior or officer, and that meant every order, every rule, not just the ones that suited him. If he felt taking proper care of his dragon was beneath him, well, he should have just resigned and gone off to serve as an officer or something in the regular army.
And through his foolishness and Horeb's—the latter not having the good sense to notice when his he-dragon had begun a courtship flight!—Tia had nearly lost two Jousters and two dragons. That they hadn't, had been a miracle, due in no small part to Ari—who had been 'rewarded' for his wisdom and skill by taking on the duties of Reaten and himself combined.
Well, that wasn't entirely true, as he learned that very afternoon.
'Well,' Haraket said very quietly as Vetch obtained Coresan's dinner, 'Your Jouster's done it again.'
'Done what again?' Vetch asked, his eyebrows puckering in confusion. Surely Haraket didn't know how much about Horeb and Reaten that Ari had told him…
'He didn't tell you? Huh. Well, I'm not surprised.' Haraket sighed. 'He's been given quite a bit of recognition, in a ceremony last night. He's attracted the attention and the notice of the greatest and most powerful in the land, Vetch, and not for the first time. Ari was awarded the Gold of Honor at the hands of the Great King himself, two armlets and a full broad collar.'
Vetch blinked. 'He got a ceremony? By himself?' was all he could think of to say. If the Great King had held the Gold of Honor ceremony just for Ari—well, it was certain that Ari wouldn't be a mere Jouster much longer.
And then what would happen to Vetch and his plans?
'Well, no,' Haraket admitted. 'There were something like forty others. But still! Two armlets and a collar! Everyone else, or nearly, got just bees or armlets, and only one other person got more than Ari did, and he was a Commander of Hundreds. And do you know what he did with them?'
Vetch shook his head, but he already knew he was going to find out. He could tell from the vehemence that Haraket was showing that the Overseer was only using Vetch's presence as an excuse to vent his own exasperation. Though why he should be exasperated about Ari getting a great honor, Vetch could not imagine.
