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By Root 607 0

companion, the Lord Patriarch, since his mentor seemed to be having a particularly intense discussion with that worthy gentleman. It seemed to be an extension of an earlier conversation but was couched in very vague terms; Karal couldn’t figure out exactly what they were talking about. He wondered if the Lord Patriarch was the person Ulrich had been meeting with this afternoon. There were offshoot Temples of Vkandis here in Valdemar, Temples whose members had defected from the Mother Temple when war broke out with Karse, holding their allegiance to Valdemar—or the older Writ—higher than their allegiance to the Son of the Sun in Karse. Given all that Karal had learned about those times, it could be they had placed their allegiance correctly! But could Solaris be planning on bringing these strayed sheep back into the fold? That would certainly cause a great deal of upheaval in the offshoot Temples at least, and make for more diplomatic incidents at the worst.

He wasn’t too surprised when after dinner he found himself alone again, excluded from the suite by more “confidential conversations.” But this time the library was empty, so that was where he went.

And that was where Rubrik found him.

There was someone else with him; a young woman dressed in a uniform very like that of the young Herald students, but colored a light blue rather than gray. She was thin and earnest, with a nose that was a match for Karal’s, deep-set brown eyes, and short, straight brown hair—scandalously short, by Karsite standards. She was not exactly pretty, but her face was full of character and hinted at good humor.

“I thought I’d find you here,” Rubrik said cheerfully, as he limped up to the desk where Karal was leafing through an illustrated book of Valdemaran birds. “This is the person I wanted you to meet. Natoli, this is Karal; Karal, my daughter Natoli.”

Daughter? Oh, no—is this some kind of matchmaking ploy?

His eyes widened involuntarily at the thought, and he frantically tried to marshal some kind of excuse to get away, but Rubrik’s next words collapsed that notion.

“She’s one of what the Heraldic trainees call ‘the Blues,’ for their uniforms,” Rubrik continued. “What that means is that they share classes with the trainees without being Heraldic, Healer, or Bardic trainees themselves. Some of these students are the children of nobles, but many are lowborn or of the merchant classes, young people with high intelligence who distinguished themselves enough to find patronage into the ranks of the Blues. Most of Natoli’s friends are mathematicians and crafters, like Natoli herself.”

The girl nodded briskly, with no attempt at flirtation, which relieved Karal immensely.

“I’ve asked her to give you a tour of the Palace and Collegia as a Blue would see it, then introduce you to some of her friends.” Rubrik grinned. “You might be surprised. Some of them actually speak rudimentary Karsite.”

Before Karal could stammer his thanks, Rubrik limped off, still chuckling to himself. His daughter examined Karal for a moment, with her arms crossed over her chest and her feet braced slightly apart.

Evidently she approved of what she saw. “Actually, Father doesn’t really understand what I want to do,” she said, with no attempt at making small talk. “I’m going to construct devices, engines, we call them, to do the work that several men or horses are needed for now.”

“What, like wind and water mills?” Karal hazarded, and she grinned with delight.

“Exactly!” she replied. “And I want to build special bridges too, that would allow for the passage of masted ships and—well, that doesn’t matter right at the moment. There’s still some sunlight, would you like to take that tour now?”

She seemed friendly enough, even if she wasn’t like any female Karat had ever encountered before. It occurred to him that he was meeting a great many women here in Valdemar who weren’t like the females he knew at home. He nodded, and she motioned to him to get up and follow her. “You’re in the Palace library, I’ll show you the others, and the classrooms for the three Collegia first,