Four and Twenty Blackbirds

'There is that, but I wouldn't have lasted a year on a third shift,' agreed the second man, and tucked into his food with a will.

There seemed to be plenty of that food; at least, the novices kept serving the Guards as long as any of them wanted further helpings, although the Priests and their fellow novices were apparently restricted to single servings.More of that asceticism, he decided, grateful that they did not impose their rules on their secular servants. At the end of the meal, all of the Brotherhood rose as one and filed out again, leaving the Guards to wipe their plates with the last of their bread and make a more leisurely exit.

'High Bishop will want to see you, I'd expect,' Othorp said, as Tal hesitated just outside the door, not certain what he was expected to do next. 'I doubt she finished with you before dinner. You remember the way.'

He nodded; he would have made a poor constable if he couldn't remember a few turns and twistings of corridors. A constable was supposed to be able to negotiate an unfamiliar neighborhood in the dead of night.

They parted at the first intersection of hallways, and Tal made his way back to the High Bishop's office. There was no one outside, and he tapped tentatively on the door, wondering if he was supposed to have gone first to Kayne.

But it was Kayne who opened the door, and she seemed pleased enough to see him. 'Come in, please,' she said. 'The High Bishop is just finishing up some business, but she has already mentioned that she wanted to talk with you before Evening Services.'

Evening Services! He'd forgotten that part of Abbey life! His dismay must have shown on his face, for Kayne chuckled. 'Oh, don't worry,' she whispered, a conspiratorial sparkle in her eyes, 'The Guards aren't expected to attend all the Services. Just one of the ones on Sevenday. It's like the rest of the Abbey life;we have vocations; we don't expect you to, and we don't expect you to abide by the rules made for those who do.'

He sighed, just a little, and hoped his relief didn't show too much. Kayne gestured him inside and shut the door behind him.

He resumed the chair he had vacated only a few hours ago, and waited for the High Bishop to finish whatever she was doing. It seemed to involve a great deal of paperwork, and some whispering between herself and her secretary. Eventually, though, Kayne went trotting off with a huge sheaf of papers, and Ardis turned her attention back to him.

'This is a little backwards,' she said with a crooked smile. 'I usually know all about someone before I engage them, and I would like to rectify that situation now so I know what kind of man I am dealing with.' She settled back into her chair, and clasped her hands in her lap. 'So tell me, Inquisitor—what kind of a manis Tal Rufen? What does he care for? What does he despise? What makes him the man he is?'

Her shrewd gray eyes regarded him soberly from beneath winglike brows the same color of gold as her hair.

'Tal Rufen is a man who never wanted to be anything other than a constable,' he told her. 'As soon as I was old enough to play, I had a baton I'd made from an old broomstick and a constable's cape from a scrap of canvas. The others would play at robbers, and I'd capture them and hang them. When I got old enough, I learned everything I could about the job, and as soon as they'd take me, I applied. I've been a constable since I was sixteen, and if they'd taken me younger, I'd have gone. If you're looking for what drives me, that's it.'

'And do you consider this position to be a step back for you?' she asked unexpectedly.

He had to think about that for a moment. 'No—no, I don't think so. This is what being a constableshould be like. You've put me in a position to be able to do my job again, which was more than my Captain was doing. When this case is over, though—'

'You're afraid it might turn into a glorified Bodyguard position,' she stated, with a little nod.

He shrugged. 'I don't know. I don't think I'd be satisfied to stand at attention at ceremonies for the rest of my life.'

A brow lifted. 'I don't think there will be any danger of that,' she told him crisply. 'You may not pursue investigations as . . .' She paused to search for the correct word. ' . . . as tense and distressful as this one. But you will be pursuing investigations; I have needed someone with your skills to aid me as a Justiciar for some time, and now that I am High Bishop, I need your skills more than before. Magic isn't always the right way to find the answers, and when it is useful, it doesn't always supplyall of the answers. I mislike making a Judgment without all of the information.'

He nodded grave agreement, and she continued. 'Now, besides wanting to be a constable all your life, what else are you?'

'Dull.' He laughed. 'As a person, I'm afraid I tend to become my work. I don't have many interests outside of that. Games—skill games, not cards or dice. Reading. History, mostly.'

She smiled at that, and he wondered why, but she made no comment. 'Parents?' she asked. 'Other ties?'