Page 69 of Brave Truth

He took her hand, shook it, and then said, “Matthew Lawson, Magistra Warren.” That was a nice touch. That was the title Mother had fully earned as an alchemist, not one brought by marriage, but also not relating to the Challenge or Council. “Claudio has been an entirely thoughtful host, besides the other considerations.” He did not add any ridiculous comment about being glad to make her acquaintance that was certainly not true.

Claudio considered the information before him, and then said carefully, “May I ask what brought this on, Mother?”

“Something I saw last night.” There was a faint quaver in her voice, the sort of thing that no one but Claudio or his father would have noticed and that Claudio absolutely wouldn’t comment on. “Would you have time before Wednesday for a conversation at Dinas Emrys? I’m sure you have a number of other things already arranged or in your diary?” Her voice was entirely neutral, verging on pleasant. Claudio contemplated the options.

“Today for the gossip, and well. I do want a little to get my feet under me properly. Matty, you’re welcome to stay the night again if you like, but Mother, you have supper plans, still?” She nodded. He knew that those weren’t something she wanted to rearrange.

Claudio considered the options. “Gabe and I have arrangements to talk through things, then there’s the Materia meeting, and I’ll need to discuss who will be taking my place. That’s part of the conversation with Gabe and Doyle first thing tomorrow. Matty and I normally go for a drink after, but perhaps a little later in the evening? Half six or seven, depending on the timing of supper?” He was not certain whether the pub would be a good idea, but they could sort out the location of the drink later.

Mother considered for an instant. “Seven. If you’d meet me at the doorway, I’ll key you into the warding while we’re at it. Or if Gabe would prefer the honour, come up earlier in the day for that.” That was a fascinating comment as well. Clearly, they would be going upstairs into the Council spaces. Claudio made a mental note to rearrange what he packed in his satchel tomorrow, as well as his pockets and other accoutrements. A good reason to spend the night here, then. Much easier to do it without rushing that way.

Matty glanced from Mother to Claudio and back again before he said, “That would work well for me. Should I expect you later in the evening, then?”

Claudio said firmly, “Yes, unless I let you know otherwise.” He managed it before Mother could get a word in. She waved a hand agreeably. Or at least, that would be how Claudio would read it if it were anyone else.

Then she inclined her head. “I won’t keep you. Tiberius was late leaving this morning?”

“He had permission. He wanted to catch me and let me know he’s going out for a long chat with Minerva this afternoon. I’ll figure out a time to see her, but Electra’s been quite clear about the gossip on her end. To the benefit of the library roof, apparently.”

Mother’s mouth twitched up. “Just so. Tomorrow, then, if I don’t see you otherwise. I expect to have a few more appointments here and there, if I can set them up. Matthew, do have a good day, around the annoyances of the public demanding details. And Claudio, you did well.” She didn’t give either of them time to come up with something to say, just nodded once and disappeared. Those last three words hit Claudio like a cannon, and now he did sit down before his knees went out.

Claudio waited until he was certain she was out of earshot and then said. “That was not at all what I expected. You all right?”

“Mmm. Yes.” Matty looked after her. “You? Is she?”

That was an excellent question, and one that Claudio was not entirely sure how to answer. “I—” He gestured. “I don’t think she’s ever said that, right out? Not in decades. And I don’t know about her. But I do know that Mabyn was expecting to see her today, and that should be...” Well. It would have to do. “Tomorrow?”

“First, lay out the strategy for today. Is this something we can get Orion and Hypatia to help with? Would they? And then let me think about tomorrow after the meeting. Might want to pop in to check with York about what he’d prefer. And get another change or two of clothes, if I can do it without people spotting me.”

“I can arrange that.” Claudio let out a long breath. “All right. How about a walk around the estate, get you sorted with the portal, and then we can figure out what else we’re doing?” He certainly needed a chance to settle his nerves.

Chapter 44

Tuesday, August 15th

Matty made it down to their usual meeting room before Claudio turned up. They’d expected that, and Claudio had written a note when he left Veritas, so he wouldn’t be long. But it always took time to get through the streets, and more so today. Matty was sure a dozen people at least would be stopping Claudio if they saw him. Better and worse that he was coming through from the Guard Hall, not Portal Square.

For his part, Matty had stayed put in his office once he got in that morning. The Warrens’ housekeeper had arranged a packed lunch for him, at Claudio’s suggestion, so going out hadn’t been necessary.

Instead, there had been a stream of people, all with some nominally relevant question, mostly there to get a look at Matty. Matty welcomed each of them and answered whatever their excuse of a question was. Then he continued looking like a steady and responsible man of middle rank at the Ministry, and sent them on their way without gossip. In between the calls, he took a number of slow breaths.

Miranda, head of the enchantments department, had stopped by. But she’d mostly just said she wasn’t going to bother him. Matty expected that Bertrand Greaves would call him in later in the week. But Greaves was still up north at a country house shooting party for the start of grouse season. The Glorious Twelfth, a grand tradition for people who cared about grouse hunting, had considerately fallen on a Saturday this year. Greaves had indulged in a longer than usual shooting weekend as a result.

That was a problem for tomorrow, or possibly Thursday or Friday. It could wait. Certainly, the land under his feet kept shifting, and Matty was trying not to anticipate too much ahead of where he was. He and Claudio had spent a fair bit of last night talking about that, after the various obligatory portions of the day. Matty had found the chat with the press to be fascinating to observe and nerve-wracking to be part of, but Claudio had felt the actual articles had come out as expected or a bit better.

Matty had far less experience to judge from, but they had avoided any sort of obvious slur, using adjectives like ‘surprising’ and ‘unexpected’ rather than ‘disgusting’ or ‘blatant’. Claudio expected they were waiting to see what else shook out, whether they could get particularly cutting quotes from any of the others on the Council.

That wouldn’t happen one way or another until Thursday at the earliest, once Claudio had been to his first meeting. He’d added, with a hint of amusement, that it might also be people not wanting to risk Orion turning up and punching them. Not, Matty thought, that Orion actually would, but he’d make it clear he could if he chose to.

At any rate, Matty had done relatively little actual work. But he’d been fully caught up on Friday. Tending to the few things that had come in on Monday did not actually take long. The Ministry would survive if he did not dig into some of the longer-term projects for a day or two.

When he’d arrived, he’d not have dared think that. The thought made him need to put down the current paperwork, make a fresh cup of tea, and contemplate it. Matty could name a number of ways that Claudio had changed his life, but he had not actually expected that one.

He could feel the anxiety there, the sense that there were lurking tasks that mattered, but now, somehow, he could set it aside. Logic could win out over the fears or the flashes of what happened when that went wrong. The question was if this were temporary, a result of the chaos and excitement of the last few days, or whether it was lasting.

At three, he fended off the last curious caller, bringing his satchel with him. There were quite a few items on today’s agenda. They were working out the final orders for the schools for Minerval term, and what that would leave for others out of those stocks. The proposals had mostly been sorted out earlier, of course, but the final quality assessment had been yesterday, and that shifted a few of the numbers around. And of course, they’d be getting a changeover in the school representative on the committee next week, plus Claudio’s replacement, who would bring their own demands.

He locked his office door, went downstairs, and set up, putting out his notes in the proper places. He added a charm to project the agenda on the clear patch of wall. That was a Penelope trick, and an exceedingly handy one. Claudio had taught him in a few minutes. Though it took being able to feel a little twist in the magic to fix the image usefully rather than having to concentrate on it. And it was much easier with something simple, like a few lines of the agenda rather than some complex diagram. He’d just finished that when Tess Manfred showed up, decidedly on the early side for her.