Page 58 of Claiming the Tower
“It would appear to be a great deal of fuss and bother if it were, yes.” Erasmus chuckled, and Hereswith was pleased she seemed to be finding the right approach with him. There was a narrow road with men of that sort of generation, giving due respect to their experience without having hers dismissed. “I think in the astronomical metaphor, so you may consider this central act of the Council, the negotiations and maintenance of the treaty with the Fatae to be the sun, around which all else orbits.”
“Astronomy was not my best subject at Schola, but I can indeed follow that much, yes.” Hereswith said it with a smile. “And then, various aspects, reacting to that gravitational pull, but with their own orbit and axis and such?”
“Exactly. Now, hmm.” He paused, as if he were not sure what to say. “Gervase does well with the administration, and heavens know we need someone who can manage all of that. But he is not, shall we say, a particularly inspired or inspiring leader. To be fair, I’m not sure most of us want that, exactly, in this case. Competence goes further. But he also— forgets, I think— that other people might want additional information, or have a different perspective.”
“That is true of many people. Competence, well. I value that. You can work out much of the rest if you start with competence.” The framing of it gave Hereswith some further thoughts as she continued to observe Gervase and several others.
Erasmus considered, then nodded as if deciding. “Would you mind telling me your understanding of how things are? You have little to go on.”
Hereswith gestured. “Four fortnightly meetings, and the first one, everything was entirely new.” Her hand indicated the books she had set out. “That is why I was working my way through the notes.”
Erasmus took them in, tilting his head, considering which pile she’d already explored and which she hadn’t. “Backwards?”
“Sometimes it makes it easier to see the patterns and decisions. And in this case, I wanted to follow the line of what we are apparently doing back to how and when and why it was decided to do that. Going the other direction, it’s both difficult to decide when to start, and there are dozens of threads that go nowhere.”
“You have a different take on the problem than most. I would have thought you were inclined to be, mmm. Orderly and systematic in your review. This is that, but from the opposite direction.” Erasmus nodded. “Go on, then. Now I am curious.”
“As opposed to simply lending a hand?” Hereswith asked, venturing to nudge the formality just slightly. He nodded, and she went on. “There have been at least five issues I can count. They are not, it seems, directly related to the Crimea, though that has some impact on the Council’s negotiations in various directions.”
“The Army, the Navy, how a war riles up people in many ways. You’re young enough not to remember the Napoleonic Wars, the way those shattered lives, but far away, yes?” Erasmus looked a little shadowed at that. “It’s a particular type of fear, and one that is harder to deal with for being difficult to name or pin down.”
“I can see that.” It mirrored much of the history she’d learned at Papa’s knee, the looming idea that the Vikings weren’t here, invading this year. But they might be in the spring or the year after. No one could tell. No one had certainty. Danger and change and chaos could strike at any moment. That was true all the time, really. Hereswith was not naïve.
But there were times in Albion’s history when most people might hope the danger would pass them by for a bit. Or, perhaps that it was so general it was a certain thing, and one could at least plan for the change. “And that is true of the Fatae, as well. There are mentions of various signs of that— crop failures, markings that are not a problem but are not expected, odd coloured flowers or animals. Or the specific reports about mines and such.”
“Just so. There are some informative patterns in how such things appear— or at least, so I’ve argued. Gervase isn’t convinced, but he allows me to raise the point.”
“Allow?” Hereswith ventured the question. “How does that hierarchy properly work?”
“I would also have thought you someone who preferred a single known leader.” Erasmus settled a bit further back in his chair. “You do not look like a wild warrior woman, bent on upheaval of order and virtue.”
It made Hereswith flash back to the memory of being in bed with Bess, where there was anything but decorum. She let herself smile, let herself be seen to smile, and that was something Papa would have appreciated a great deal. “I do not propose the application of woad. Wales, like Scotland, is awfully chilly in the winter. But I do?—”
She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “When I decided to make a Challenge, I knew that it meant choosing a path few walked. And knowing there are reasons for that I did not understand and might never understand. I value building community, a collective better than the sum of its parts. I am idealistic in that particular way, like many of Horse House. But I also know that sometimes you need to break a fence or leap it to do what’s needed. Not blindly or wildly or just because lashing out is easier than discipline. But because the fence no longer serves.”
“Huh.” Erasmus considered. “I begin to see why Blanch was so interested in you.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. “Look. Let me give you a bit more of an idea of some of the personalities. You’ll want to do your own evaluation, of course. Mine is biased.”
“Of course.” Hereswith inclined her head. “But you are well known for precision in your observations. I’d be a fool to turn down anything you wished to share, even if I measure it again myself.”
That made him chuckle. “Indeed, indeed. When you are making social calls again, I will remember to invite you to supper. You might find some of my family interesting to observe that way. Now, let’s see. We’ve an hour or so. Where to begin.” It was a rhetorical question. He began by laying out half a dozen families and interrelationships as they were now, sketching a bit of the history, and coming back to the current concern.
They had to stop before they were finished. Long before. The meeting called, and Erasmus had a few things to pull together for something he handled. Hereswith took a minute or five in her office, before squaring her shoulders and going to the Council room.
Chapter 39
Late that night at Verdant Court
Bess was on the edge of actually worrying. It was past ten— getting on for eleven— and Hereswith had not come home yet. Bess had ended up settled in the window seat, looking out at the front path and the small grove of trees that obscured the portal. There was food waiting, and tea and drinking chocolate, but Bess had ignored that for hours.
Finally, after the clock on the mantel had chimed eleven, she saw the flicker of light from the portal, and then a figure moving across and to the house. Bess did not go down. It would unsettle whichever of the footmen had stayed up to tend to the door. Not long after, she heard the steps outside the door, and then there was Hereswith, with an expression Bess couldn’t read.
“You needn’t have sat up. We really should work out some arrangement for me to come in without people waiting up, shouldn’t we?” Certainly, she sounded herself, and not upset. Not that Bess had the largest experience of the range of Hereswith moods to work with yet, not up close. Then Hereswith paused. “Are you all right?”
“I was worried,” Bess admitted. “I don’t know why.”
“Ah. Well. I’ve a few things I’d love to talk about with you. Can you help me undress? There’s a small stain on the sleeve of this dress. I’ll wear the other tomorrow, but I’m also not expecting to go out. Friday, to the Keep again.” Hereswith had made a number of plans. It sounded like, that was very much the tone of someone who had rearranged a dozen items in her diary.
Bess certainly wanted to hear what was going on, so she got on with the helping. Once the clothing was off, Hereswith waved away a nightgown. Bess held out one of the silk dressing gowns. “If you want me to pay attention to the conversation, some cloth between my eyes and your glory, please.”
