Sendar leaned back in his chair—a modest affair of simple design and unornamented wood and leather, chosen for comfort rather than ostentation, and bestowed a penetrating look on the King's Own Herald. He and Talamir had known each other and been friends for a very, very long time.
In fact, their friendship dated from the hour that Talamir had been Chosen by Taver as King's Own Herald on the death of his predecessor—a premature death, brought on by too much stress, too much work, and a brainstorm. Talamir had been so young, uncertain in his office, and disoriented by the bond with Taver, which was so strong, and so life-altering.
Sendar, on the other hand, had been a very young King, but not at all uncertain in his office. Young, he might have been, but he'd been schooled in his duties since he could toddle. He'd been a handsome young man then, blond and tall and strong, with chiseled features worthy of a god, and an idealistic nature tempered with that finely-honed sense of irony. He was handsome still, though there was as much gray in his hair as gold, and age and care had continued to wield a cruel hand against those features, chiseling lines of worry that gave him a rather stern look. Kingly, but there was no doubt that people found him intimidating on occasion. His own sardonic sense of humor didn't help on those occasions; he rather enjoyed being intimidating now and again.
"He promised that he would give us a trial," Talamir told the King, knowing how Sendar would react. Sendar liked audaciousness; he'd loved it in his Queen, who had boldly proposed to him rather than the other way around, who had met every challenge, even the illness that killed her, with spirit and determination.
Sendar laughed as Talamir had expected, a dry little chuckle.
His daughter, Princess Selenay, who had been staring rather fixedly at nothing at all as she listened, made a face. "I don't see what's so funny," she objected.
Selenay might one day grow into the dry wit her father possessed, but at the moment, she was in a stage where she took everything quite seriously and earnestly. Talamir found that uniquely endearing, as did her father.
"Not funny, my dear—ironic," Sendar told her. "A Karsite, of all things, giving us a chance to prove our good intentions. If you'll recall your history, you'll know why that seems ironic."
Selenay hesitated, toying with the end of her single braid, then evidently decided to be as forthright as her father. "He must be a man of honor, or Kantor wouldn't have Chosen him, so why should that be ironic? Can't Karsites have men of honor, too? It seems to me he has every right to require us to prove ourselves."
"Perhaps because the Karsite leaders have broken every pact they ever made—and have even made war on their own people?" Sendar suggested mildly.
She flushed as Talamir gave her an opaque look, but persisted. "Why should that mean he shouldn't demand we prove ourselves, though? The Karsites—well, how much do we know about them? Next to nothing; maybe in their minds they had honorable reasons to break their pacts. I mean, I should think that this man would have more reason to be suspicious—"
Sendar shook his head.
:Chosen, don't just dismiss her because she's young,: Taver cautioned. Clearly, this had gone from a discussion of one man to a more abstract problem.
"Well, I still don't see why, just because there are a few bad people in charge of things in Karse, we should assume that nearly everyone that comes from there is bad," she said stubbornly. "Well, look, one of them has just been Chosen! I don't see why there shouldn't be as many men of honor there as here."
"The problem with that assumption is that once a man of honor sees what his leaders are doing is wrong, shouldn't it be incumbent on him to do something about it?" Talamir asked the princess, who made a little grimace of impatience. "With the sorts of things that the Sunpriests have been doing, even the most devout worshiper of Vkandis is going to run out of excuses for their excesses."
"What if he can't?" she asked. "Do something about it, I mean."
"If nothing else, he should leave," Sendar pointed out. "By giving his support to a bad leader, he reinforces the position of that leader. People see that he is good, and since he continues to act in support of the leader, however inadvertently, they assume there is must be very compelling reasons for the leader to act as he is, and they continue to bear the intolerable."
Talamir nodded. Selenay looked uncertain, but not entirely convinced.
She'll learn, he decided. Experience, that was what she needed. "The point is that it's rather ironic, that this Karsite, who has already had his own leaders turn against him and try to execute him for the use of a Gift that has been the saving of their own people, should then expect us to prove ourselves to him. Not that we blame him at all, we just find it ironic."
"I can see that," the girl replied with a frown. "But I can also see why he has even more reason to want us to prove ourselves."
"What do you propose we do with this fellow?" Sendar asked, changing the subject. "There are bound to be objections to his presence once more people discover where he's from."
"I don't see any point in even trying to keep that a secret," Talamir replied, shaking his head. "It'll be out no matter what we do. It's a pretty problem, and one that isn't easily going to be solved. We can hardly expect people to set aside old grievances."
"It's one I wish we didn't have." Sendar looked as if he was getting a headache. "I suppose all these things happen for a reason, but I would be happy enough for this to be occurring in someone else's reign."
:Everyone always says that,; Taver observed.
Taver should know :I suppose they do.:
"So, so, so. You and I have enough on our plate, I would say, without complicating our lives with this most difficult of Trainees." Sendar pursed his lips. "Who can we delegate to bring the young fellow over to our side and make him admit to himself that his own leaders didn't deserve his loyalty?"
"Gerichen," Talamir said, instantly. "That young Sunpriest. He's—" He groped for words. "He's transparent. Eventually, I suppose he'll learn to mask what he's thinking, but for now his openness will work for us."
"All very well, but what about within the Collegium?" Sendar persisted. "We need a Herald—"
"Jadus, I think. He's taking a turn at instructor this term. And Elcarth. Both of them are so utterly different from anyone Alberich will have encountered before." He thought for a moment longer. "I'll have to keep an eye on things, though. The instructors can hardly be expected to act as nursemaids to him. I'd like to assign another Trainee to him, but there just aren't any that are adult at the moment. I can't have anyone younger acting as his guide. He'll resent it—"
Sendar nodded, but Selenay spoke up.
"Make him my bodyguard," she suggested.
They both turned to stare at her.