Page 3 of Brave Truth

“Work tomorrow. I’ll need to stay late to finish something up. Thursday, I’m dining at Fairlight with Orion and Hypatia, likely also Cammie and Duncan.” He was looking forward to that tremendously, a chance to be with his friends and not have to keep up an infinite number of walls and shells. He’d come to like Duncan a great deal, though they’d not had the intensity of a friendship forged in the fire of war service the way he had with Cammie and Hypatia. And of course, he and Orion had chosen each other as brothers when Claudio was sixteen, and had each other’s backs ever since.

“I gathered Tiberius is doing quite well?” This too, seemed like a harmless inquiry. His son was apprenticing as a talisman maker with a pair of men— brothers-in-law— who lived in Schola village. That connection had been thanks to Thesan in particular. Mereid and Grisial were the grandchildren of Vitus Deschamps, a well-esteemed talisman maker now largely retired. Mereid’s husband Ifan Owens had learned to work as a duo with Grisial during their own apprenticeships.

Mereid herself was a Trivium teacher at Schola, which was why, he thought, Thesan had suggested it might be a good fit. On the other hand, Thesan had dozens of connections that Claudio never saw, given her teaching and the sheer number of her students over the years. He’d long since given up trying to map why she suggested this person or that, at least unless he needed a distraction and wanted to play with the chains of possible connections from known information like their school year and professional trajectory.

At any rate, while Mother had been disappointed Tiberius hadn’t wanted to go into alchemy, she had not been able to argue with the results. Tiberius was only halfway through his first year apprenticing, but he was already thriving with it. When they had supper, Claudio could be certain of a dozen questions about different stones and their magical applications, as well as Tiberius sharing the lore he was learning.

Tiberius, though, found the practical and artistic aspects just as interesting. And Claudio had been bound and determined that Tiberius should get to have that, the chance to follow his heart as Claudio hadn’t. Not at that age, certainly. Tiberius was just starting to work with shaping and carving small, less precious stones, mostly the quartzes. Of course, each stone required some different techniques for setting, inscription, or carving.

Figuring out what to say about that, of course, took a moment. “He’s doing very well. They asked me to come out for supper with them in a few weeks and see some of what he’s been doing. The shared interest in the materia, of course, is fascinating, even if I don’t do as much directly with stones as some, outside my working stones.”

“Mmm.” Again, that was his mother’s neutral noise, and it put Claudio into a more cautious mode. He was excellent at patterns, that was the thing, and he had extensive experience of Mother’s habits. Not that he’d ever tell her some of this, knowing at least meant he was not flat-footed about what would come next. Or rather, not as much. Then she went on. “I invited Electra to call to speak about arranging a marriage for Tiberius. It’s not at all too soon to begin discussions. She declined and said I should speak with you about it.”

His ex-wife was, in fact, a solid ally when it came to their children. Claudio would never say the first thought that crossed his mind, that arranged marriages had not been kind to anyone at this table. Or, he was certain, to the previous generations of the family, except in the most mercantile of definitions of success.

Fortunately, whatever her reasons were, Electra had agreed that they would not seek to arrange marriages for either Tiberius or their daughter Minerva. Though in Minerva’s case, she was only just ten and a half. They were currently more concerned about her tutoring school and presumably her time at Schola to follow.

Of course, he didn’t rush his answer. That wouldn’t do. “As you remember, Mother, our marriage contract agreed that in such matters, she’d defer to the Warren side. That was restated in the divorce agreement.” That was the first piece. Then he went on. “I have discussed it with her, and more relevantly with Tiberius. We do not intend to arrange a marriage for him. Assist in a negotiation if he’d like, but not arrange a match. I’ve told him he should focus on his apprenticeship, though of course he’s attending a range of the apprentice gatherings and parties, and those of his larger social circle.” Tiberius was not a social butterfly, but he got along well with a range of people.

“Ah.” It was Mother’s most unreadable mode, even though Claudio had extensive experience with her. “If that is what you and Electra agreed.” She considered her options. “May I speak with Tiberius about some specific gatherings he might consider, then? Or whether he’d like an invitation to certain social events through the spring?”

Claudio had at least managed to have that awkward conversation with his son, because he’d been fairly sure Mother would suggest something of the kind around this point. “He’s aware you’d likely take an interest, and he’s glad to consider specific events. But he’s giving priority to his training.”

“I suppose that is difficult to argue with. I’ll see about a meal with him sometime, then, to discuss the spring calendar. There are a couple of galas where if he could escort me, we could spare you for the evening.” That was an unfair tack, honestly, because there was no good way for Claudio to argue against it. Those evenings were not his idea of a good time. Tiberius would find them somewhat less grating, at least if Mother weren’t actively matchmaking.

“Let him know the specifics then. And me, if you want me to potentially keep the evening clear.” Gabe would help him figure out which really were priorities. Or rather, Gabe’s mother, who was just as gifted with the mechanics of social warfare as Mother was. And much kinder about it, honestly. Or at least, they had the sort of goals Claudio found easier to work with. Then he waited.

Fortunately, Mother let it drop. She began a conversation about one of the estates that had recently come on the market, a more academic interest in the landscape. It wasn’t one of the demesne estates, of course. But it had been in the holdings of one of the cadet lines of a landed family, and it had an unusual renovation history.

Mother was apparently considering a bit more work in some of the estate buildings here. She was contemplating a wide range of workspaces, perhaps including looking for leases for skilled crafters who did magical work. That was certainly an intriguing proposition, and possibly a benefit for everyone in the equation. And he noted they might keep an eye on a space to be refitted for Tiberius, eventually. Though he was nowhere near the point of doing independent work yet, and wouldn’t be for some years.

They finished the meal, and Claudio retreated to his rooms. They’d previously been his father’s. When he’d first come back from the war, every time he opened the door, he’d felt as if he was trespassing. Now, four years later, they did truly feel like home, with very little of Father’s choices visible other than the sheer location of the walls. And of course, he’d never been invited up as a child, not more than once or twice.

He had a long bath, soaking out the day’s strains, put on a dressing gown, and went across to his private office. He had several hours to work through notes on a treatise on illusion work he’d been puzzling through. It was not remotely a form of magic he felt competent in, but most people weren’t. It did, however, come up enough in Penelope work he’d been trying to get a better grasp on the theory of the field as a whole.

Close to eleven, there were the sounds of steps on the stairs, and then a knock on the door. He’d left it open for a reason, and he called out, “Come in, Tiberius.” The warding would have alerted him if it had been anyone else, including Mother. Even Mrs Moore and the maid only came up after checking first.

His son edged into the door, looking well-turned out. He was filling out now, no longer as gangly as he had been a couple of years ago, and he looked quite sharp in a suit and tie. “Father.” It came with a smile. “Just wanted to check in. Grandmother caught me on the way in. She’s in the library still.”

‘“Ah, sorry. I thought about writing a note, but you’d already had warning of this and I wasn’t sure if you’d see it in time.” Claudio spread his hands out. “Do tell her no if she has ideas for your social schedule that you don’t like. I’ll figure out escorting her as needed.”

“I left my journal here. It would have been rude to have it at supper.” Tiberius shrugged. “No, it’s fine. I was more—” He hesitated for a second. “I was worried it had been a difficult conversation for you.”

It had been, but that didn’t matter. “That’s not yours to worry about. I know I’ve said that. Let Mother be difficult at me. I’m more than used to it. No reason you should have to deal with it.”

“Grandmother’s had decades longer to be difficult at you,” Tiberius pointed out, with impeccable logic. “And she’s not nearly as awful with me. Maybe because she knows I have other options.” He did, too. There was no reason he couldn’t take a room in Schola village, for example, or a flat in Trellech. He was living at Auctoritas, the family estate, for decent reasons, but that wasn’t binding. Even if Claudio enjoyed having him about the place, and not just because Mother was in fact easier to live with when Tiberius was here.

Claudio refused to argue further. Tiberius had a point after all, and he was also just as well-trained in rhetoric as Claudio, even though he had less experience with it. Instead, Claudio took a breath, deliberately chose what kind of father he wanted to be, and said, “Thank you for checking on me. It went better than it might have. Duel sometime to get it out of my system a bit? Tuesday, at the earliest, my tomorrow’s endless.” His Monday had, in fact, filled up, as he’d more or less expected it might.

“Tuesday would be grand. I should be home for supper. We could do it before or after. Let me know?” Tiberius looked eager for it. He was not, in point of fact, as good a duellist as Claudio was now, or even as good as Claudio had been at that age. But he hadn’t focused on it the way Claudio had. And he hadn’t had the years since to learn a number of tricks from Orion and Isembard and then Gabe and others. He was still good enough for it to be interesting for Claudio, and it was educational for Tiberius, in a way they both enjoyed.

Chapter 3

Tuesday, January 24th

“Ah, come in, Lawson. Good to have you back.”

Matthew pushed the office door closed as he came in. Master Greaves had one of the corner offices on the first floor of their building, as befitted someone with his status as a senior administrator for the Ministry as a whole. He was leaning back, as if everything was going his way.