Chapter 41 #3
He heard the footsteps an instant before he felt the magic, a slight pressure like the movement of a spring breeze.
He turned, bringing his hands up automatically, giving him more options for what came next.
His first thought was that the woman in front of him looked far more like Thesan than like anyone else he knew.
Or perhaps Thesan’s mother. Except that was wrong, given the hair.
Her dark hair was coiled up in a braid around the crown of her head, the way Ursula did to be practical.
There were a few small dots of colour from cornflowers with their striking blue tucked into the braid.
But she was sturdy, comfortable in herself.
She was also dressed simply, with no jewels or rich fabrics or even embroidery.
She wore a green dress that came to mid-calf.
Flowing, certainly, a fashion from before clothing rationing.
Not that such things would bother her here.
But also not something ancient or even mediaeval.
Sensible shoes, as well. Mother would not approve, and there was a joy in realising that Claudio didn’t care.
Not a queen of sovereignty waiting for a knight, then.
He knew his lore and legends reasonably well.
He made a bow, because certainly that was the polite thing to do.
Then he folded his hands in front of him to make it clear he was calling no magic to them, before bringing one to his chest, over his heart.
“My Lady.” That form of address was certainly proper; he knew that too.
“Claudio.” There was something very like Thesan in that, a pleasure at seeing him, that brought forth a pleasure in him at being seen. A mistress of incantation, whatever her many other magics included, to make that warmth so tangible so quickly, just three simple syllables. “What do you think?”
He had to laugh. “Many things, my Lady. Would you give me some direction to best serve your pleasure?”
That made her spread her hands, palms open and trailing a shimmer of magic like water to renew the land.
Small flowers sprung up where the droplets landed, abundant wildflowers.
“The land. Broadly defined.” That was a hint.
He knew it as soon as she said it, that whatever they were speaking of, it was not simply the physical.
Of course it wasn’t. It would never be, not here.
“The tapestry, inside.” Obviously, she would know what he referred to.
There was no doubt of that. “I am thinking of the ways it is worn, the places that need care more. The places—” He thought about the spots that had faded or were made of near-broken threads.
“It is about the land, but it is also the people on the land. There are reasons that Fairlight and Veritas and Schola shine more brightly and are more whole. They had less damage from bombing, from all the ways the land can be harmed, but also the people there had less harm. Not none, but— in ways that are healing as they should.”
She inclined her head just the once, but made no comment. He continued. “I am thinking that the places where the tapestry is wounded are as much about the people as the land. I know a bit about the land, and a bit about the people.”
“And London, or Manchester, or York?” Her eyebrow arched. “Trellech?”
“People who’ve had holes torn in their lives.
In quantity, as well as the impact on the land.
” Claudio took a breath. “Matty—” She obviously knew the name, but he went on anyway, because naming this mattered.
“My lover and partner, he can’t spend much time in London.
For a number of reasons, but because of how much it’s damaged, and how those sharp edges hit his personal wounds. ”
He was rewarded with a small smile at the way he’d named Matty, named what Matty was to him. What they were to each other. “He seems an excellent sort on brief acquaintance. I look forward to having him in my walls more often.” She nodded once. “What will you do when you go back through the door?”
“Take a deep breath. Figure out how to do more of what needs to be done. How to get others on the Council to go along with the idea. That’s the tricky part, of course.” Claudio met her gaze and saw her nod.
“Your theory about the seats is— mmm.” She looked away, across the landscape, as if choosing her words carefully.
“There are pieces of information you do not have, that no one has had for many years. But in the main, it is a reasonable foundation. Do not assume it has all you need to know, and you will do well enough.”
Claudio nodded. “No tidy summing up of the world ever matches reality.” He hesitated and then risked a question. “And Mother?”
“You are correct when it comes to your mother.” That was said with amusement and no little affection.
Of course, this Lady had chosen Mother, as much as anyone else.
Fondness was understandable. “She has come far enough along the path that I can more easily—” Here, she lost a word, or it did not fit into English at all.
She frowned, then said, “That if I show her a thing, she will understand it. Not a certainty, but more than a few years ago.” That, honestly, had been a bit more than Claudio had expected.
“You choose your battles. You and your brother.”
That made Claudio smile more broadly. “I will be glad to be with him in this work. And Gabe, and a number of others.” He considered, then said, “Is there a message for Alexander, or for anyone else?”
“Ah, you have a kindness in you.” Her hand moved, and again there was that scattering of water and the rush of flowers, the colours that spoke most of Alexander’s heritage.
They radiated a coral orange, a turquoise blue, and a deep red.
“He knows. All is well.” Then she nodded at him.
“You come up the tower to me a month from now. You may come before that if you choose. But in a turning of the moon, we will talk of what you have learned and what you think might be done about it.” It was courteously framed, but he was clear that it was indeed an order.
“My Lady.” Claudio bowed once, and when he looked up again, she was gone, footsteps made of flowers trailing away down the hill and disappearing as he watched.
He waited until there were only the lasting grass and clover and flowers, then he turned and went back towards the keep, opening the door he’d come from.
The other side was the landing, where he’d started. Gabe was leaning up against the wall, facing it, a few steps down on the landing. He immediately came to attention, but Claudio caught his face changing from worry to focus. “You’re the last out. I was beginning to get a trifle worried.”
“How long?” Claudio let the door close behind him, not looking back. There would be time here, again, in the future. In a month, he had his orders.
“Getting on for half-nine. Boethius came out half an hour ago. The others before that.” Gabe rummaged and then looked up, his hands still empty. “What do you need?”
Two and a half hours, then. Claudio shrugged, letting it ripple through him.
“Statistically speaking, the catastrophic Challenges are the shortest.” It took a moment for it to register on Gabe’s face, and then he was laughing, taking the couple of steps up to clap Claudio on the shoulder and pull him into a fierce hug.
There was a moment of checking on the practical matters, an offer of water, and a chance to clean up.
Claudio considered, ran the usual mental check, and shook his head before they went down.
Gabe stopped by the double doors, then looked at Claudio.
“Go to.” It was permission that Claudio didn’t need, especially not after what the Lady had said about Matty.
He walked through the door, nodded at the people clustered on either side.
Matty looked up instantly, and Claudio signalled him, the bohort signals they’d been improving.
Nothing complex to sign, just ‘May I’ No antecedent, no details. Just the request for permission.
Matty instantly moved his hands, agreeing.
And so it was that Claudio took long steps, feeling the roll of his hips, the arch of his back, how everything had changed.
Then, there he was, and there Matty was, and he was kissing Matty as if his magic depended on it.
Matty was shocked. He could feel that. An instant later, Matty’s hands were on his back— decorous but strong— and he was kissing back for all he was worth.
Neither of them rushed it. Doing the thing thoroughly mattered more.
It meant that by the time Claudio pulled back, Orion was right there, pulling him into a fierce hug, then Gabe for another, and Isembard clapping him on the shoulders.
That done, Claudio turned to face his mother and his new colleagues for the necessary formalities.