especially in dealing with the Council and High Holders. The second reason is that you still have trouble distinguishing when to be patient and when not to be.”
“So you’re going to send me off to the armory or something?” I almost didn’t care-except I did.
“No. I have an idea, but I’ll have to talk to Maitre Poincaryt about it. I’ll have to brief him tonight anyway after the mess you made. He shouldn’t find it out from anyone else.”
I almost snapped back that, if he’d told me more, we wouldn’t have had such a mess. If I’d known about Vhillar . . .
Then again, that was hindsight. Besides, expressing my anger at him wouldn’t help me any, and he already warned me about impatience once.
“Now . . . get some rest. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
After he left, I did close my eyes, then.
72
Trust does not demand details.
When I woke the next morning, every muscle in my body, or so it seemed, felt stiff and sore. Getting out of bed was torture, but I staggered to the jakes and back to the room, where I sat on the single straight-backed chair. I didn’t even want to think about climbing up into the bed. One of the obdurates brought me tea, and then Master Dichartyn arrived, still in his exercise clothes.
“You’d do anything to avoid exercises, wouldn’t you?” But he did grin. “How do feel?”
“Achy-sore, dull pain everywhere, except when I move, and then it’s not so dull.”
“You’re young. You’ll recover.”
Since he still hadn’t told me what lay ahead of me, and he wasn’t volunteering, I had to speak, before he left. “Last night you said I couldn’t return to the Chateau and that you’d have to consider something else.”
“Oh, that.”
He was baiting me, but I managed to say, “Yes, that. At my age, knowing one’s future does matter somewhat.”
“Not so much as you think,” he answered wryly. “Matters seldom turn out as planned, as you should know. Still . . . I did talk to Master Poincaryt, and he agreed. It’s an assignment that has been necessary now and again. You’ll be assigned to the civic patrollers as Collegium liaison. That will allow you to become a Maitre D’Aspect, but you already have those skills. So that won’t be a problem. You’ll also be in a visible position, which may work to your advantage in other matters. Then again, it may not. That will depend on you in large part.”
I didn’t care for the implications of his words about visibility. They referred to whatever attack High Holder Ryel was certain to initiate against me, and I could only hope that I would be prepared, because I had a strong feeling that whatever Ryel did would bypass the Collegium. I’d already seen enough of High Holders to understand that. But there was no point in saying so. I only asked, “Is this a hidden rank, or can I tell people?”
“You can tell anyone you want to-even the young lady-because we and the Civic Patrol want it known that their liaison is a master imager.”
“Why a liaison to the Civic Patrol? Or is that a way of shuttling me aside? Why couldn’t I just be a field operative?”
He shook his head. “That would be a waste of your talents. Besides, the liaison position is a far better choice for you.”
I hated having to drag things out of him, but he was also demonstrating that I needed to be patient, I supposed. “Begging your pardon, sir, but could you explain that?”
“That’s why I’m here. First, you have the basic and even more than basic imaging skills to handle it, and it will give you a chance to observe a side of life that will give you the necessary experience.”
This time, when he paused, I just waited.
“You’ll be appointed, effective Lundi morning, but you won’t report for at least another two weeks. That will give you time to heal some. Also, the patrol commander can make sure that everyone knows what you did outside the Chateau. Patrollers are impressed by imagers who risk their lives to save their comrades. They’ll be glad to have someone like you. The other aspect of the position is that, while they can only request of you, the same is true of you. You cannot give patrollers orders. Do you see why this is ideal for you?”
I wasn’t sure that I did. Going from working in the Council Chateau to effectively being an assistant to the patrollers-that was ideal? I tried to gather my thoughts together, and Master Dichartyn smiled faintly, but let me.
Finally, I replied. “I’ll be able to use imaging to help them, and perhaps protect a patroller now and then. I’ll have to figure out things before I can say anything because I can’t order anyone to do anything. That means I’ll have to be logical and precise enough that they’ll do what I suggest.”
He nodded. “It’s not a demotion of any sort. It’s a different path, and it is frankly a harder one, but there are some consolations. As I mentioned before, the first is rank. To be a liaison, you have to be at least a Maitre D’Aspect. That’s because, without master status, no one above the street patrollers will pay much attention. The second is that you’ll learn a great deal more about L’Excelsis and the way things truly operate.”
“I’m ready to be a Maitre D’Aspect?” Attractive as the idea was, I didn’t want a rank that I couldn’t carry out.
“You have all the imaging talents already, and the basic knowledge of the Council and the Collegium, as well as great knowledge of the factoring and trade and artisan classes. What you lack is the knowledge of a wider range of human experience. Without that, the combination of your instinctive abilities and your imaging capabilities will get you into greater and greater difficulties. I won’t gloss this over. If you are not careful, you could still get into great danger in this position, but Master Poincaryt and I both feel that this is by far the most practical way to get you the experience you need.”
I still wasn’t totally convinced of that, but I was fully convinced that it was the only true opportunity open to me after the night before-and experience or not, I still didn’t see what else I could have done.
“What do you think you should tell the others about last night?” he asked.
Again, I had to think a moment. “I should tell them that you discovered something, and I was working with you. I’d just finished when I saw the wagon, and I realized that they were going to open fire on the others, and I just did what I could.”
“You don’t think you should say anything about Vhillar?”
“No. It should remain an unfortunate accident, and people will lay it at your feet or Baratyn’s, but they won’t know for certain, and that’s how it should be.”
“What will you tell them we were working on?”
“The assassins, if they ask.”
Master Dichartyn nodded. “You realize that it must always be that way? In other events as well?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the less anyone knows, the more protection offered to imagers and the Collegium. There’s no reason to hide the explosion. That was too open, and that’s why it should be my fault.”
“Your fault?” The question was bland, and that concealed and revealed at the same time.
“Yes, sir. If I’d been more observant and more careful, I wouldn’t have had to use fire to blow up the wagon, and that wouldn’t have injured me and killed the driver.”
“That’s not true, you know?”
“Yes, sir, but it’s better said that way, because it implies that senior imagers could have handled it better. It also sends a message that junior imagers, when attacked, can overreact.”
Master Dichartyn laughed. “I hadn’t thought of the last point. Except for you, and perhaps Martyl, it’s probably not very accurate, but it will help in these times.” He paused. “I heard something about a wedding?”
