to read those around her, there was still so much they did that baffled her.
'Well then, I suppose introductions and brandy are in order all around,' said Everess. 'Where the hell is that gravedigger Paet?'
'Right here,' said Paet, stepping out of his office. Paet had no love for Everess, that was clear, even without a thread to read. And when a thread finally did connect the two, it was green and brown both ways, with a hint of violet fear emanating from Everess. He was afraid of Paet, only a little, but she knew he would never let it show.
She watched the connections form between all of the men in the room; it was a fascinating, nascent web, but she didn't have time to consider it all because Everess was introducing her all around. The sad, angry man with the cane was Paet. The confident, intelligent one was Styg Falores, but she was to call him Ironfoot. And the breathtaking one was Perrin Alt, Lord Silverdun. A lord, no less!
'But not much of a lord,' said Silverdun, after Everess gave his title. 'You can simply call me `Silverdun.''
Sela suppressed a silly grin. She would call him whatever he liked!
Then fear soaked her. Surely these weren't the appropriate emotions for someone in her position. Although the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't actually know what her position was.
'Have a seat here in the mission room,' said Paet. 'Now that we're all assembled, it's time to talk about why we're all here.'
'Just so,' said Everess. 'You may begin, Chief Paet.' Everess wanted Paet to remember who was in charge. Paet behaved as though he didn't realize it, but Sela knew he did.
Sela sat as far as possible from Silverdun, who seemed to be studiously ignoring her. The thread between them was so strong that she could almost feel his thoughts. She was adrift on the sea of him, trying to ignore him and failing.
He looked at her, an eyebrow raised. He smiled a faint, almost imperceptible smile and shook his head ever so slightly. No. He waved his hand in a quick gesture, and the thread between them simply vanished. He was gone. She almost lurched in her chair at the sudden loss of him. She looked down, and when she looked back at him he had the oddest look on his face. She had no idea what it meant. Sadness? Confusion? Curiosity?
No one had ever done that to her before. It was disarming and distressing. At least now, however, she could concentrate on what Chief Paet was saying. And just in time, it appeared, as he was now addressing them all.
Paet sat on the edge of one of the tables and looked across at Silverdun, Ironfoot, and Sela in turn. 'I cannot tell you how happy I am to see the three of you sitting here before me,' he began. Which was strange, since Sela could easily sense that he was in no way happy. What he was feeling was more like a grim satisfaction. But it had been Sela's experience that people rarely said what they truly felt.
'It has been five years since there was another Shadow in the building other than myself. Five years since my ... injuries precluded me from performing active fieldwork. For most of that time, I've been afraid that there would never be another.
'The events of the past year, however,' Pact said, tapping his cane against the edge of the table, 'have demonstrated to the Crown just how crucial our efforts are. And despite the objections of some members of Corpus, who believe that what we do is unsavory at best and morally reprehensible at worst, Lord Everess has convinced the queen that our work ought to continue.'
Everess beamed. There was a time when Sela might have thought him a fool for being so easily flattered, but she realized now that there was nothing that Everess said or did that was not calculated. He was a fascinating man.
'I realize,' continued Pact, 'that the three of you have been kept mostly in the dark as to what it is the Shadows actually do. There are two reasons for that. The first is that we have strict rules about secrecy, and we do not discuss our missions, tactics, or strategy anywhere outside this building. There are no exceptions to this rule. Thus, we could provide only the vaguest of notions about what it was that you've gotten yourselves into.
'And the other reason,' he said, not smiling, 'is that if we had told you the extent of our work, there's a chance that you wouldn't have agreed to join us.'
Silverdun and Ironfoot chuckled, as did Everess. Sela, however, did not. 'That wasn't a joke,' said Pact. The chuckles stopped.
'I will not equivocate,' said Pact. 'You will be asked to lie. To cheat. To steal. To kill, when necessary. You will be sent to the most dangerous places in the known worlds. If you are caught, we cannot in most cases admit publicly that we are aware of your existence. You will routinely be asked to perform duties that would be, to even the hardiest Fae soldier, impossible. And in return you will receive a bit of money, but almost nothing in the way of prestige, or honor. Quite the contrary, in fact; you may over time lose whatever sense of honor you once had.'
'Somehow I don't see that being much of a problem for Silverdun over there,' quipped Everess.
Silverdun made an extremely rude gesture toward Everess. 'Pray, continue,' he said to Paet.
