Today's Reading
Arno told the woman, "Best you stay." He examined Kirra with eyes the color of wintry mud. "You did not mention her looks."
Barret replied, "I told you she was attractive."
"This one's beauty goes far beyond such an empty word. A single gesture from such as this and the dead would gladly rise from the grave."
Kirra had never met such a man, whose look carried no desire or anything like a real emotion. His gaze was as impersonal as the way he spoke to Elder Barret. As if Kirra was not in the room at all.
Arno asked, "You are absolutely certain we can trust this one?"
"All the items we've brought to you during the past year and a half, she's the one covering our tracks."
When Arno continued his examination, Elder Barret pressed, "Can you make this work?"
"Before, I was uncertain. Now, yes. Definitely." A long pause, then, "We should forge her counterfeit identity and gradient as a Three."
"No," Elder Barret countered. "We planned a Four Plus. We should stay with that."
The woman standing beside Arno's desk spoke for the first time. She was blonde and youngish and incredibly pale, like she had never in her entire life stepped into sunlight. "Four will hamper this one's placement."
"She's young," Elder Barret said. "She'll have no idea how to fit in."
"She can learn," the woman said. "I'll teach her."
"In time, yes," Elder Barret said. "But at first, with the world watching..."
"Yes, true," Arno said. "All right. Three Minus. And you say she's willing to work hard?"
"I've yet to determine her boundaries."
Both Arno and his assistant looked pleased. The old man said, "We'll start her training tomorrow morning."
"I and the clan thank you," Elder Barret said, and motioned for Kirra to depart. "Until tomorrow.'
Elder Barret spent the transit back describing Arno Held and the role he played in maintaining the clan's singular position. Arno was a master at gaining both power and wealth, yet staying all the while in the shadows. He held no official position, he made no grand alliances. Instead, Arno lived and worked in stealth, finding partners he could trust, and doing whatever it took for them both to succeed. By the time they left the transport and walked toward home,
Kirra had pretty much accepted the opportunity as real, and she could genuinely see this as her chance to escape. Finally. At long last.
As they approached the residence Kirra thought Elder Barret looked so very sad. The older woman had gotten exactly what she had intended. Kirra remained firmly linked to Elder Barret and the clan. Just the same, Barret's expression was tragic. It was not until they approached the central playground that Kirra forced herself to say, "Thank you. So much."
Elder Barret directed them to the same bench they had occupied three days earlier. "I thought you would someday become vital to our clan. Perhaps even take my place."
Kirra's gut reaction was to shout at the rising second moon, scream her revulsion to the idea. She clenched down tight, toes to hairline, and buried the response deep.
Just the same, Elder Barret nodded understanding. "You'll let me handle Silver?"
Kirra released a cautious breath. "With pleasure."
"Arno's assistant is named Dell. She was a Fifth Warder. You can trust her."
"All right."
"Any questions, any concerns, you come to me. Not them. To Arno and Dell you show a silent compliance. Nothing more. They may appear pleasant enough. But the threat is always there. The danger. You understand what I'm saying?"
Kirra nodded. "The man who didn't speak."
"His name is Quinn. Think of him as the hidden blade."
"How long will I be held to this agreement?"
The older woman nodded, clearly approving of the question.
"Three years is the plan. But I'd suggest you aim on four. If Arno insists, you'll have no choice but wait."
Given the alternatives, Kirra knew without question she could hold her breath that long. She said, "I owe you everything. And I always will."
Elder Barret rose to her feet. "I suppose that will have to do."
This excerpt ends on page 12 of the paperback edition.
Monday, July 20th, we begin the book Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer.
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