“Got to be the Choosers, then. My supernatural lifeguards. I’d ask them to back off but I don’t know how to talk to them. The one time they did turn up was in Hovacol. I didn’t know I was summoning them, then. That was pure instinct.”
“Whatever, we have to take the amulet off so this can heal.”
“Thank you.” With depthless sarcasm.
“I couldn’t get here sooner. My time is as full as yours is.”
“Is that true for my sister and daughters, too?”
“Yes. For Heris in particular. Though the family has the impression that you’re fed up with our pestering.”
“The occasional pester would be nice.”
“But only when it’s convenient for you.”
Yes. He did resent people dropping in at their convenience rather than his. Just now Februaren was keeping him from seeing Helspeth.
“Let’s take a chance on the dedication of your guardian angels. Have Asgrimmur ask the Shining Ones how they can protect you without driving you crazy.”
“I used to worry that I’d have them underfoot all the time. Now I’m irked because I don’t. I have no idea what they’re up to, except that one is in Arnhand with that Connecten madwoman called the Widow.”
“Must be hell to work with beings whose attitudes are so much like your own.” The old man grinned.
“You think there’s a life lesson to be learned?”
“Lesson or no, you see the point.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. But I really would like to be kept informed.”
“You want to send a message to Anna or the girls?” The old man tinkered with Hecht’s amulet as he talked. “You don’t see Vali or Lila because Muno has them on a crash education course. They’re too damned tired to come aggravate their daddy.”
“So it’s not about me being surly because they come whenever they feel like it?”
“Oh, it’s that, too, of course. You do put on the attitude. About Muno, though. He’s determined to include them in the deal when Heris takes over as the Twelfth Unknown.”
The itching in Hecht’s wrist went away. “Damn! That feels so good.”
“Maybe you won’t be so nasty, now. Anything for Anna?”
“Let me write a note. How is she?”
“Well enough. Forted up in her house. Comes out for the occasional command performance at Muno’s townhouse. She’s happy, considering her circumstances.”
“Circumstances?”
“Her man is hundreds of miles away and not particularly interested in visiting. How is the wrist, now? All right?”
“It’s wonderful.”
“Keep using the ointment. I’ll take that.” He snagged the note to Anna, turned sideways, and was gone.
The Commander of the Righteous did not get to St. Miniver, Martyr, chapel that night.
* * *
Hecht was studying maps prepared by the Shining Ones. They were wondrously detailed and generously annotated. Any commander would have been thrilled. He was unhappy only because the Instrumentalities continued to duck him.
Asgrimmur arrived. “You want to see me?”
“Occasionally, yes.” Hecht glanced at his wrist. It was healing nicely. “In fact, frequently, lately. You’ve let your personal appearance slide.”
“Indeed?”
“Why is whatever is happening in Antieux more important than our preparations here? Why is a skirmish in the Roessen more important?”
“The old girls have been carrying tales.”
“No. I can’t find them, either. They do, however, generate the occasional useful report. In your case I’ve started to think our arrangement is a waste. There’s been no payoff for me.”
“I follow my conscience.”
Odd answer. “What does it say about keeping your word?”
Grimmsson shrugged.
“Come with me. We can’t talk here.”
A half minute later Hecht shut the door of a quiet room.
“I know about your travels from the Bastard. I see the Shining Ones less than I see you. I can’t get hold of them.”
Grimmsson looked baffled. “Why not? You could see Fastthal or Sprenghul any time you want and a summons to Hourli will get her here in less than an hour.” Grimmsson stopped. He stared. “Are you having memory problems?”
“Sometimes. What do you know about that?”
“I’m marveling that you would handicap yourself by forgetting that you can summon any Shining One you want any time you want, Hourlr excepted.”
“All right. I’m a virgin. I have no clue. I’m worse than a virgin. I’m a dimwit four-year-old. Tell me what to do.”
“Commander, just say, ‘Hourli, it is necessary that I speak with you.’ Using that formula. Add the time and place and what guise she should wear if you think that’s necessary.”
That seemed awfully simple.
“Write it down. Right now. Make notes of where you put the information. You’ve been told all this before. The formula will work for your guardians, too, though you might not like what you see when they arrive. They’re slower to manage their aspects.”
“And you?”
“I’ll respond to the formula, too, though almost certainly not as fast as the Lord High Duke of Arnmigal might like.”
“I’m a Grand Duke, not a Lord High Duke. So. Sprenghul. I need to see you. Right here, right now. No excuses.”
“You messed it up already. Write it down! It has to be exact, and by will, so impossible things don’t turn up during a casual conversation. And you can’t summon the Shining Ones from inside a quiet room.”
“Yeah. Stupid me.” He had paper and quill, now. “The exact formula, then.” He wrote.
Asgrimmur said, “There have been unconscionable oversights in your supernatural education.”
“What supernatural education?”
“With the Unknowns in your family? You may have the talent of a stone yourself but you should have some idea how things work.”
“They never took time to teach me.”
“You sure it was them who didn’t take time?”
“You’re right. I always found an excuse.”
“Suppose Sprenghul heard your summons? If you’d gotten it right? When this isn’t your house to destroy?”
“She’d really…”
“She would. The Choosers aren’t smart. Arlensul was brighter than the other two put together but she was still dim enough to get herself knocked up by a mortal.”
Hecht turned toward the door.
“Hold up. Sprenghul did stir some. You named her name. You may hear about apparitions and unusual activities out there.”
“Conjuring plausible explanations seems to be where I excel. Poor Destiny. She rode the wrong chariot this time.”
“What?”
“Nothing goes the way it should around me. My story is all about things that don’t work out according to someone else’s plan.”
“In which case the Enterprise of Peace and Faith is doomed.”
That was not what Hecht meant. “Possibly. But it will be an interesting venture, even so.”
“Even so. Are you done with me, Commander?”
“For the moment. But I want to make my point again. I want to be able to ask questions.”
“No problem. Just ask the right questions, in the right place, at the right time.”
“Meaning?”
“Don’t demand trivia or information you could develop yourself if you weren’t lazy. Or that has nothing to do with the Great Work. Don’t call the Shining Ones out in public. A meeting should be necessary, not just because you’re feeling left out or because you want to remind everybody that you’re the guy in charge. The Shining Ones are giving you the information you need to make your crusade work. They do so in a timely manner. Where they are or what they’re doing otherwise is of no import to you or to the Enterprise. The fact that you want to know something has little bearing on your need to know it.”
“I don’t get to decide my needs?”
“No. All the stamping and roaring in the world won’t change that, though I do think that you could make yourself obnoxious enough to chase Hourli away altogether, despite her crush.”
Hecht heard that as a cautionary suggestion, not a real threat. “I have no problem with their work. I just want to know what they’re doing. And why.”
“Are your ears full of shit? What did I just tell you? How will knowing those things help you with the Enterprise?”