Page 68 of Brave Truth

“Forty minutes?” Matty craned his neck and peered at the clock. “Is it that late? Half an hour. I’m starving.” It was past nine, so that made sense. Claudio nodded, patted him on the shoulder, and went off to grab his necessary kit and a change of clothes, leaving Matty to the larger bath. Half an hour later, he was in a shirt, tie, linen jacket, and slacks. Matty came out of the bath wearing a sports coat and slacks and a rather delightful black tie with red boars on it.

“Mmmm.” Claudio looked him up and down, pleased. “You also clean up well. Making a point with the tie?”

“Possibly.” Matty took a breath, letting Claudio see him bracing. “Show me where we’re going?”

Claudio led them down the stairs, watching as Matty obviously felt the warding shift. Mother was almost certainly either gone by now or sticking to her rooms. There was no sign of her in any of the shared spaces downstairs. When they got to the dining room, however, Tiberius was waiting, sitting in one of the chairs by the window. He stood up immediately. “Father. Matthew.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here still this morning. Everything all right?” Claudio glanced around. Normally, Tiberius would have been at his apprenticeship by now.

“They know. It’s fine. They’re expecting me by ten,” Tiberius hesitated. “I wanted to make sure— I mean.” He faltered, then took a breath and dived into it."I just wanted to see you before anything else. To say I wish you happiness, and I hope that dealing with Grandmother isn’t—” He didn’t put an adjective of any form on the end of that.

“Thank you.” Claudio said it as warmly as he could. He’d been reminded last night just how much that mattered. “Thank you for coming last night. And to the party. It— it felt wonderful to have you there.”

“I’m going to go tell Minerva about it this afternoon. Special visit.” Tiberius hesitated for a moment, then went on. “Um. Mother said there’s already gossip. There will be more in the evening paper. They’ve been on to her about it. She’s refused to comment already, other than to pitch the library roof fund again.” He added to Matty, “I presume we may reasonably suggest that you also approve of books being well-protected from the rain?”

Matty blinked, but then he smiled. “I had not thought I needed to express an opinion, but obviously, yes, repairs to the roof are important. I make regular use of the library, and I appreciate the books being dry when I do. Am I expected to do anything other than agree with the sentiment at the moment?”

Tiberius smiled back, slightly more relaxed. “No, no. Though when things settle a bit, turning up at one of the various events might be a thing. Not without discussion in advance, and how to handle anyone difficult, and all that. Only if you were willing.”

Claudio couldn’t help smiling at it. Tiberius was being cautious, and he recognised that. “I’ll be checking in with your mother as soon as we’ve had a chance to eat and get into the morning. I’m glad that’s how she’s handling it.” Claudio would be terribly busy with notes, at least, this afternoon. Even if what he really wanted was to take Matty upstairs to bed and do a range of things there.

Matty cleared his throat, and Tiberius immediately added, “Oh, and welcome to Auctoritas! Perhaps we’ll get more of a chance to talk? And Father, can you look at your schedule and find a time that’s not Wednesday evening for supper that works for you? Since your Wednesdays will now be busy. Maybe Mondays?” Given that Mother generally had supper elsewhere on Mondays, that was likely their best choice.

Claudio laughed at that. “Yes. It’s at the top of a list, upstairs. I need to talk to Gabe and Doyle about some of the scheduling. I’m seeing them tomorrow and debriefing with Gabe after.” He added to Matty, “Ten to our meeting, if that’s not a problem.” Matty shook his head. Claudio then added. “Matty was starving, and I see Mrs Moore hovering with food. Do you mind if we start?”

“I won’t keep you. I ought to get on myself. Just— good luck, all right?” Tiberius waited for a nod, then came over and cautiously offered a hug, which Claudio returned firmly. He shook Matty’s hand and then grabbed his satchel and disappeared.

Matty said softly. “Your son has a good heart, doesn’t he?”

“He does.” Claudio looked after him. “And he’s learning how to show it, which is something of a miracle. Mostly not my doing, either.” That was a tender point. It would continue being a tender point. “Here, let’s tuck in.”

Both of them focused on the food rather than any conversation. Claudio felt like anything he wanted to say didn’t fit in the space. Certainly he didn’t want to risk Mother turning up. And Matty was rather obviously hungry indeed. They got to the end of the meal before Claudio’s various warnings made the ring on his right hand shift in a particular pattern. “Mother’s on her way. If you want to duck it, out that door into the garden.”

Matty shook his head, but he set down his fork and straightened in his seat. Mother appeared a minute later, just long enough for her to have crossed from the far side of the library to the dining room. Claudio pushed back his chair and stood, all proper manners, a second before he heard Matty do the same on the other side of the table. “Mother.”

“Claudio.” She nodded at him, then looked directly at Matty and nodded. “Good morning, both of you.”

That put it at something of a stalemate. Claudio had a dozen things he was curious about, well, a dozen to start with, right this moment. Hundreds, given enough time. He found he couldn’t figure out how to ask any of them. All of them seemed slippery, as if he’d never get a grasp on them. It was safest and certainly sensible to see what Mother did next. In the end, he settled for a mild “Good morning.” He couldn’t ask if she’d slept well, or wonder if there had been difficulties last night.

Mother looked at him steadily for a long moment, then she cleared her throat. “I’m sure you’ve already been warned that there is a great appetite for gossip. Would you prefer to give them somewhere to focus, or will you be ducking comment? And do you have a version of your biographical profile you’d prefer ready?”

“The profile is on my desk in the library, in the labelled folder.” An easy question, honestly. “As to the gossip, I suggested to Matty we might arrange a room at Bourne’s or something of the kind this afternoon.”

“That would do, yes.” Her gaze moved to Matty, “Not sharing a House, though of course the Den would be accommodating under the circumstances.”

“Or the Arthur.” That was the club for officers, and both Claudio and Matty qualified. “Not that we’d want to put them to that sort of trouble. Plenty who would prefer to keep their quiet.” His voice got a slight edge to it, and he took a breath to modify it. Or try to.

Mother simply nodded. She was not, he realised, becoming defensive, and that was going to gnaw at him for ages. It would likely require deconstruction with Gabe and Orion, and likely Isembard and Thesan as well. “I hope you slept well? If you need a Healer, of course, I’d be glad to escort whoever it is from the warding.”

“No, quite well, thank you.” Claudio considered his words and selected them precisely. “It was not a physically demanding challenge, it turns out.” He didn’t offer to talk about it more with her.

To his utter surprise, she did not pry. Instead, she looked back at Matty, and then cleared her throat. “I asked my son some weeks ago if he would introduce us. He set a condition I had not then met.”

Matty stood tall, and he sounded utterly steady. “Claudio mentioned that to me, of course. I’ve found he is quite insistent about making certain I have all the necessary information at my disposal to make my choices.”

Mother blinked, something in that utterly not what she expected. Then she took a breath and came closer before offering her hand. “Good morning. I’m Silvia Warren. Do call me whatever you’re comfortable with. Welcome to Auctoritas. I’m sure Claudio has made you feel at home, but please let me or our housekeeper know if there’s anything you need. Now, or any future visit.”

If it were not for the fact that Claudio desperately wanted to know what happened next, he would have required a fainting couch. He focused on Matty, who certainly had some idea of just how many rules of etiquette Mother had just utterly ignored.