Heroes' Reward

by Moira J. Moore

  I couldn’t help it. I snickered.

  White frowned and looked in my direction, sort of.

  “If you would excuse us, me,” Browne said quickly. “There are supplies I must buy for elixirs I must make today.”

  “Of course. I don’t want to keep you from your duties. I will see you tonight.” He gave her a slight bow. “Good day, Healer Browne.”

  “Good day,” Browne stammered.

  It was only once White was gone that I realised I should have left the two alone for their conversation. White wouldn’t have initiated a discussion of that nature if he’d known I was there.

  Oh well.

  Her mind clearly absent from what we were doing, Browne turned around and headed back to her cottage. I wondered if she had forgotten I was there. I had to catch the door to her cottage before she could close it behind her, leaving me outside.

  I spent a few moments watching Browne pick up things and put them down and perfectly align the pots hanging from her wall. It was only when she moved to clean up the casting materials that she seemed to realise – or assume – that I was still there. “Where are you?” she demanded a little sharply.

  I scrubbed the powder of butterfly wing off my forehead.

  Browne’s gaze settled directly on me. “I have to say, that last bit is disturbing.”

  “And I have to say,” I responded. “I still can’t believe that works. It seems too fantastic.”

  “It does have its limitations. I could hear you walking beside me. And your indulgence in other sounds.” She glared at me.

  I tried to layer a solemn expression over my lack of repentance.

  Someone banged loudly and frantically on the door. I jumped at the sound. Browne didn’t. I suspected she was used to it. “Healer Browne!”

  “Enter.”

  Carson Bench, Browne’s assistant, opened the door, his gaze falling on me. “Shield Mallorough,” he gasped, having apparently been running. “A Pair has arrived. They asked to see you immediately.”

  Damn.

  The appearance of other members of the Triple S was never – never – a good sign. Usually it meant Taro and I were going to be grilled for hours or even days about everything we’d ever done that the Triple S considered odd or inappropriate. Five years with no such interference had made me hope we’d been forgotten, as unrealistic as such a desire was.

  What the hell did they want now?

  Chapter Two

  Fiona’s butler, whom I adored, was looking out for my arrival. “Lord Shintaro and the Pair are in Lady Westsea’s private office,” he said, escorting me through the foyer.

  Fiona had offered up her office for our use many times. It and her bedchamber were the only rooms the servants wouldn’t just stroll into whenever they felt like it.

  Taro didn’t like dealing with the interference of the Triple S council, either, but no one would know it from his manner as he addressed the other Pair. “Are you sure?” he was asking, his posture relaxed, a smile on his face. “Her Ladyship has a truly beautiful selection of reds. And believe it or not, this fish oil liquor is unexpectedly tasty.”

  Fish oil liquor. A collection of words that should never be strung together.

  The Pair swiftly rose to their feet as I entered. The first thing I noticed was that they were very young – much younger than had I expected – much younger than any other Pair that had been sent to us before. If I had to guess, I would say they were freshly Bonded.

  “Shield Mallorough,” said the Shield. “This is Source Zelan Ming. I am Shield Sanna Kebit.” I clasped his forearm, and then that of his Source. “We have come to replace you.”

  I was, for a moment, shocked speechless. It wasn’t as though Pairs weren’t transferred: it happened all the time. It was just that the Triple S had decided to leave us in Flown Raven – they had told us so – and the Emperor had lost all interest in us since Taro’s mother died. I’d truly begun to think we were going to spend the rest of our lives in Flown Raven, and that possibility didn’t disturb me. I’d come to like it there.

  Kebit took a letter from his purse and held it out to me. It was sealed with the Triple S stamp. I broke it open. The message was short.

  Greetings Shield Mallorough:

  The bearer of this missive, Shield Sanna Kebit, and his Source, Zelan

  Ming, will be assuming the position of Pair of Westsea.

  Who had ordered the transfer? Our last transfer had been imposed upon us by the Emperor. He’d told us in person, at his coronation. He hadn’t had the authority to do so – placing Pairs was under the purview of the Triple S council – but the Triple S had chosen, for their own reasons, to let the violation slide. Had they now chosen to defy him? And if so, why?

  You and Source Karish are to return to Shidonee’s Gap.

  I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Called back to Shidonee’s Gap. Where the Source and Shield Academies operated. I had left the Shield Academy knowing that if I were ever called back, it would be because I had committed an irretrievable mistake, failed in my duties, or committed some unforgiveable crime. At the time, I had thought those were the only reasons a Pair would receive such an order.

  Taro had later told me that there was another reason for a Pair to be recalled: if someone showed an unprecedented talent, that person was taken somewhere and never seen again.

  Taro and I had not failed, we hadn’t made a mistake, and we hadn’t committed a crime. That anyone knew about.

  Before you begin your journey, you will spend sufficient time assisting Shield Kebit and Source Ming in settling into their new post. Kebit shares your talents and would benefit, as would all of the Triple S, from making the acquaintance of those who have been instructing you.

  Kebit shared my talents. The talent to which the letter referred was obviously not Shielding. Some other talent was being carefully, discreetly, alluded to, and I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

  I looked at Kebit.

  Apparently one of his other talents was reading the words in the head of another. “Aye,” he said. “I can cast.”

  He could speak of it, but they wouldn’t write of it.

  So I was to introduce him to Browne. I didn’t know if the Triple S council knew of Browne’s identity, but clearly they had guessed I’d been receiving training from someone.

  I wasn’t going to just bring Kebit to Browne without warning. It would be up to her whether she’d have anything to do with him.

  Once this settlement has been arranged, you and your Source are expected to travel to Shidonee’s Gap with all speed.

  Good health to you,

  Shield Kayan Lucitani, Secretary, Source and Shield Service

  Just … hell. I gave the letter to Taro. “You are newly Bonded, yes?” I asked Kebit.

  “Yes,” Kebit responded solemnly.

  “Congratulations.”

  This young Shield, fresh out of the Academy, allowed himself a small smile. “Thank you.”

  I opened the door and hailed the nearest servant. “Hiroki. Can you escort Source Ming and Shield Kebit to our suite and arrange for some refreshments for them?”

  “Of course, Shield Mallorough.”

  I turned back to Kebit. “I’ll speak to Her Ladyship about your arrival and what kind of arrangements might be made.”

  For one thing, whether they were to live in the manor. Fiona wasn’t required to provide accommodations to the Pair. She could have let us stay in one of the local taverns. She had housed us because she liked Taro, she was related to him, and he’d arranged for her to get the Westsea title in the first place.

  One did not summon the Duchess of Westsea. One asked if one could see her at her convenience. Fiona wasn’t the sort to make people wait just for the sake of making them wait, to remind them of her importance. She was the sort to be constantly moving around, out on the grounds performing physical labour, or talking to the tenants to see if they had needs that weren’t being addressed. She was busy.

&
nbsp; However, it wasn’t long before the door opened and Fiona strode in. “You’re being replaced, aren’t you?” she asked bluntly.

  The news was already making its way among the residents.

  “Unfortunately,” said Taro.

  “Well, it had to happen sometime, I suppose.” She offered us whiskey, which both of us declined, before pouring some for herself. “It’s too bad. Not just because I’ll miss you both. Which I will.” She smiled at us. “But I know some of the tenants think one of the reasons I’m managing as well as I am is because they believe you” – she gestured at Taro with her snifter – “are here to keep an eye on things. Give me advice. The power behind the throne, so to speak.”

  There were tenants who had resented Taro for abjuring the title. They felt he was the natural heir and hadn’t had the right to enable Fiona to inherit instead. Possibly some of them believed the skills for doing the job well were inborn.

  Taro closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How can whales remain unseen by so many?”

  There were still people who refused to admit Fiona was an excellent titleholder and they wouldn’t see anything that contradicted them. They enjoyed their increased prosperity while claiming everything had been better in the good old days, when a proper Karish held the title. The illogic was baffling.

  “I believe they want Shield Kebit to learn about casting,” I told Fiona. “I think they may have chosen him in particular for this reason.”

  Fiona’s eyebrows flew up. “Why?”

  “They didn’t say and I can’t guess. They’ve asked me a lot of questions about casting in the past, but I’ve always received the impression they disapproved of it.” Though maybe what they truly disapproved of was the fact that I was learning about it without their permission or supervision.

  “I don’t like this,” said Fiona. “I’m not prepared to expose my people to accusations of violating casting laws.”

  “I understand completely. And it’s not as though you’re legally required to arrange for their instruction. I certainly don’t have the authority to force you. Nor does the Triple S.”

  Fiona spent a moment in contemplation. “I’ll put it to Browne. She would be the one to provide any instruction, and introducing newcomers to the local healer wouldn’t be seen as unusual.”

  Fiona had so much common sense.

  “I’ve been ordered to arrange for their settlement in Flown Raven,” I added.

  “They can live here. All the better to keep an eye on them until I know what they’re about.”

  I sighed. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”

  She smiled. “You’re assuming this is all about you.”

  “Well … aye.” And I was embarrassed. Sometimes I was so inward thinking.

  “Ah, the arrogance of youth.”

  She was only a few years older than me.

  Taro and I went to our suite. We started pulling out some of the stuff we had to pack, then looked at the enormous piles with dismay.

  “I can’t believe how much we’ve accumulated,” said Taro. “It would be impossible for us to take it all.”

  “We could give it away,” I suggested.

  “We’d have to rip our braids out of all the clothes first.”

  “Ugh.”

  Sources were identified by a black braid sewn into their clothing on their left shoulder, Shields by a white braid. It was illegal for regulars to wear them. It would be a nitpicky task, pulling out the braids, and we had a lot of clothing. Still, we couldn’t just bin it all. That would be a vile waste and would be interpreted by the regulars as a lack of gratitude.

  We didn’t see the other Pair for the rest of the day, nor the day after. In addition to dealing with the clothing we were leaving behind, I went through my records about all of our experiences with channelling in Flown Raven and rewrote those portions I didn’t want strangers reading. During this process, I received a note from Browne asking me to visit her the next day an hour before dawn.

  This meant the casting Circle was meeting. At a ridiculous time of the day, at a secret location. Maintaining the fiction that no one knew the casting Circle existed.

  So, in the darkness before dawn, I pulled out the ridiculous yellow robe such occasions demanded I wear, silently climbed down the many stairs of the manor, and made my way through the cool and slightly foggy air to Browne’s cottage.

  Browne greeted me with, “I understand you and Source Karish are leaving.”

  I accepted her cup of tea. “Aye.”

  “We’ll miss you.”

  That was sweet. “Thank you. I’ll miss being here.”

  “Do you know this Pair at all?”

  “No.”

  “Not even the Shield? I always understood that the student populations of the Academies weren’t all that big.”

  “They aren’t, but Kebit could be eight years younger than I. I wouldn’t have interacted with him.”

  “That’s unfortunate. I would have liked to get an opinion from you on their character.”

  “I can’t imagine the council would have sent an inferior Pair to a post as important as Flown Raven.” Bureaucrats did stupid things all the time, I knew, but someone would have to be really drunk for a really long time to send an incompetent Pair to one of the wealthiest titleholders in the world.

  After we had finished our tea, Browne and I went to Farmer Snow’s lot, joined along the way by other casters, young and old, from various occupations. Casting talent, which not everyone had, could show up in anyone.

  There were, including Browne and myself, twenty members of the Circle. The number twenty was important to them because people had ten fingers and ten toes. They’d given me no other explanation, and seemed surprised that I didn’t understand the significance.

  A chorus of “Fair morning, Shield” greeted me before we stood in a circle to welcome the sun. We did this by humming, which would have struck me as bizarre and ridiculous if I had been merely been told of it, but which I found beautiful to participate in. It made me feel connected to the others. It was nothing like my connection to Taro, of course, but still, it was pleasant.

  Once the sun was properly up, Browne announced, “You may have heard that Shield Mallorough and Source Karish are leaving us.”

  Of course, they had.

  “You may also remember that we promised Shield Mallorough that, should she be transferred, she would be released from the Circle.”

  There were grumbles in response, which surprised me. Why would they have difficulty with this? This issue had been decided five years before, when I’d first joined the Circle.

  Mitloehner, an older man who still resented the fact that the rest of the Circle looked to Browne for guidance rather than to him, said, “I don’t like it. If she isn’t bound to us, there is no reason trust her discretion.”

  Discretion. He had no idea how discreet I could be.

  His lack of faith irritated me. I said, “Where I’m going, no one’s going to care about a bunch of regulars playing with spells.”

  Aye, that offended all of them, if their scowls and stiffening postures were any indication. Good. That would make them feel more inclined to let me go.

  “Where will you be going?” Browne asked me quickly, perhaps to divert the tone of the conversation.

  “Shidonee’s Gap. Back to the Academy.”

  Gidean frowned. “But you are a particularly talented Pair, right? It doesn’t make sense to take you out of the field.”

  I shrugged. “The people in charge don’t always make sense, do they?”

  As that was a sentiment absolutely everyone in the world had, I got some smiles and the subject was dropped.

  “All right, then, back in the circle,” Browne ordered.

  Because releasing me from the group wasn’t merely a matter of saying farewell. They had used a spell to have me join: it required another spell to let me out.

  Browne gave everyone a candle and then sat in the centre o
f the circle. She lit her candle. “I call the Order of Casters of Westsea. Share my light and show our bond.”

  Gidean stepped forward. “I am Morgan Gidean of Flown Raven. I seek knowledge.” He lit his candle from Browne’s. “I share strength.”

  “Do you release Shield Dunleavy Mallorough from our Circle willingly and in good faith?”

  “I do.”

  “Thank you for your trust.”

  Gidean stepped back, and Berlusconi stepped forward to repeat his actions.

  This ritual was considerably shorter than the one we had performed to enable me to join the Circle. That one had taken all damn day.

  After everyone else had played their part, it was my turn. “I am Shield Dunleavy Mallorough.” I lighted my candle. “I share strength.”

  “You wish to leave our Circle.”

  “Yes.”

  “You will honour the sanctity of the Circle and guard its secrets.”

  “I will.”

  Browne placed her candle on the ground and clapped her hands three times. “You are released.”

  Yes, a much simpler ritual. I was grateful. I didn’t really have a lot of time to spare.

  “We have other subjects to discuss,” said Browne.

  Then no one said anything.

  Oh, it was time for me to leave. Now that I was no longer part of the Circle, I was no longer privy to any further Circle business. “It has been an honour to be a part of your Circle,” I told them. “Thank you for the trust you have shown me. Good day.”

  I would miss working with the other casters. Most of them were friendly, and I had learned so much not only about casting, but about Flown Raven and the people in it.

  My walk back to the manor was much longer than usual, because everyone I encountered stopped to say farewell and good future.

  And Smith Lobien bluntly asked me, “Is this Pair as good as yours?”

  “I imagine they must be, if they were sent here. This site is very important.”

  “Shouldn’t that mean we’d get a more experienced Pair?”

  I didn’t feel I could tell him that the reason the new Pair had been sent was because Kebit could cast and the Triple S thought Flown Raven was the best place for him to learn. That information wasn’t mine to give. “Source Karish and I were assigned to High Scape, an extremely active site, straight out of our Academies.”