Ch. 178 The Man with the White Staff

Chapter 178: The Man with the White Staff

Edric left with the northern party three mornings later.

He carried our answer, Aurelia’s letter, and a small parcel Beatrice insisted contained provisions for the road.

He examined its shape.

“Cake?”

“Bread,” she said.

He looked relieved.

“With a little cake.”

I left them discussing how much space remained in his bags.

The lessons continued.

Aurelia had begun making me hold a working while I walked.

That sounded easy until I discovered how much of my concentration relied on standing still.

We started with a stone.

Then three.

Then a shield that had to remain facing her while I crossed the chamber.

Evelyn’s task was to alter its shape without breaking my hold.

She narrowed one side.

I compensated.

She widened the other.

I nearly walked into a pillar.

“There is a room around you,” Aurelia observed.

“I had noticed parts of it.”

“Notice the rest.”

By the end of the morning, I managed the length of the chamber without losing the shield.

My wife stood at the far end, guiding a thin ribbon of water around its edge.

I felt the pressure change.

Adjusted.

Kept walking.

When Aurelia called a stop, I lowered the working and recovered what remained of my strength.

No shaking hands.

No need to sit immediately.

Evelyn smiled.

“That was better.”

“I may begin charging for demonstrations.”

“Wait until you can turn around.”

She had an unfortunate gift for finding the next difficulty.

The man with the white staff arrived before noon.

He walked through the lower town in a plain gray robe.

People stepped aside for him.

By the time he reached the castle road, he had acquired a small audience without appearing to notice.

Eliza met him outside the gate.

I learned this from the guard who came to fetch me.

“What does he want?”

“To speak with the king and queen.”

“His name?”

“Caldris.”

“Did he say who sent him?”

The guard hesitated.

Then nodded.

“Othellos.”

I found Evelyn leaving the infirmary.

She listened while I repeated the message.

Then she handed the basket she was carrying to Nessa.

“Where is Aurelia?”

“With the Castellan.”

We sent for them both.

By the time we reached the lower receiving room, Mary had placed fresh paper on the table.

Eliza stood beside the door.

Melody leaned against the wall near the hearth.

There were enough chairs.

For some reason, that ordinary detail steadied me.

We had received difficult people before.

This one would also have to sit somewhere.

Aurelia entered last.

She looked at the empty chair opposite mine.

“Caldris?”

I nodded.

“A god?”

“No. A keeper. His house has served Othellos for generations.”

“Have you met him?”

“His grandfather.”

That gave me very little help imagining the man.

Aurelia removed her cloak.

“Does he carry a white staff?”

“Yes.”

“Then he intends to speak under the protection of an embassy.”

Eliza looked at her.

“Does the staff do anything?”

“It can carry a blessing. We should examine it before it comes inside.”

She said it without alarm.

Eliza nodded and went out.

Caldris surrendered the staff.

He did not like being asked.

I could tell that from the first thing he said when he entered.

“My office is accustomed to certain courtesies.”

I indicated the chair.

“You may sit.”

He was older than I expected.

Perhaps sixty.

Close-cropped white hair.

A face lined more deeply around the mouth than the eyes.

He looked at Evelyn.

Then at Aurelia.

His expression changed.

Only briefly.

“My lady.”

Aurelia inclined her head.

She did not offer him anything else.

He placed a sealed letter on the table.

The straight line within the circle.

Three smaller lines beneath.

I recognized it before Mary reached for the paper.

“For both sovereigns of Greykeep,” Caldris said.

Evelyn broke the seal.

She read.

Passed the letter to me.

Othellos offered recognition.

That was the first surprise.

He acknowledged the restoration of Greykeep, praised the relief given to its people, and proposed the renewal of an ancient understanding between crown and pantheon.

Then came the conditions.

No attempt to cultivate divine power without the pantheon’s guidance.

No instruction in ascension outside an approved house.

Aurelia to attend a convocation at a place Othellos would appoint.

And the children—

I stopped.

Read the sentence again.

The royal children, upon reaching a suitable age, were to be presented for examination and whatever instruction the pantheon deemed necessary.

Evelyn watched my face.

She had already read it.

I set the letter down.

“What does suitable mean?”

Caldris folded his hands.

“That would be determined by those best able to judge.”

“Which would be whom?” Evelyn asked.

“The appointed servants of the pantheon.”

“Would we be consulted?”

“Certainly.”

“Would our refusal be accepted?”

Caldris looked at her.

The pause answered before he did.

“These matters concern more than one household.”

Beside me, my wife became very still.

“Our children are not a matter you may remove from their household because you prefer another answer.”

“No removal is proposed at present.”

I looked at him.

“At present.”

He glanced toward the letter.

“The terms allow for their needs as they develop.”

Aurelia spoke.

“Who wrote those terms?”

“Lord Othellos approved them.”

“That was not my question.”

Caldris met her gaze.

“I prepared the letter from his instructions.”

“Then you understand every provision.”

“Yes.”

Mary’s pen moved.

I noticed Caldris watching it.

He had not asked her to stop.

Perhaps he still believed the record would serve him.

“Why now?” I asked.

“The restoration of Greykeep has attracted considerable attention.”

“That has been true for some time.”

“Recent events have made a settlement desirable.”

“Which events?”

His eyes moved toward Aurelia.

She waited.

Caldris chose his words carefully.

“The disturbance of several ancient restraints.”

“The restraints placed upon me,” Aurelia said.

“Yes.”

“On the strength of a record that excluded my answer.”

“The history is disputed.”

Mary looked up.

“No,” she said. “The original notes survive. Lady Senra Voss has withdrawn the certification that treated the finding as uncontested.”

Caldris turned toward her.

Mary opened the folder beside her elbow.

“I can provide a copy.”

He did not take it immediately.

Aurelia leaned forward.

“Did he tell you why he was afraid of me?”

Caldris’s face tightened.

“My lady, fear is not—”

“He feared that my descendants might become divine. That their ascension would diminish his own power.”

The room fell quiet.

I watched Caldris.

He knew.

Perhaps not every detail.

Enough.

“What happens to the strength of existing gods when another comes into being?” Evelyn asked.

He drew a slow breath.

“It is shared more widely.”

“And each becomes less powerful.”

“Yes.”

“Then your letter concerns his needs as well as ours.”

Caldris looked down at the broken seal.

“He believes the balance must be preserved,” he said.

I thought of Aurelia sleeping behind a wall.

Of the voice at the wayhouse.

Of Caroline’s laugh shaped into something meant to draw me inside.

“Preserved at whose expense?”

“There are consequences to power that mortals do not always understand.”

“I agree.”

That made him look up.

“There is a great deal I don’t understand,” I continued. “I intend to learn. You have brought a demand that I surrender the decision before I do.”

“You would receive instruction.”

“From the people who imprisoned my teacher.”

Caldris had no ready answer to that.

Evelyn drew the letter back toward her.

“We will not agree to these terms.”

“Your Majesties—”

“No examination of the children under an authority they cannot refuse. No removal for instruction. No undertaking that binds their future choices.”

Her voice remained clear.

She looked toward Aurelia.

“And she will answer invitations herself.”

Aurelia nodded.

“I decline the convocation as proposed.”

Caldris turned to her.

“Lord Othellos will expect an explanation.”

“He may begin with the account of my confinement. His order is among the papers.”

For the first time, Caldris looked genuinely startled.

We did not dismiss him immediately.

I wanted to know what refusing would mean.

So did Evelyn.

Caldris could offer no definite answer.

No announced withdrawal of trade.

No declared march.

No precise consequence beyond the pantheon’s displeasure.

Mary wrote that down too.

“Are you threatening us?” I asked.

“I am advising you that this offer may not remain open.”

“Then tell him we have understood the offer.”

Caldris rose.

Evelyn remained seated.

“We will send a written answer. You may stay in the guest house until it is ready.”

He hesitated.

Then bowed.

This time, he included Mary.

After Eliza escorted him out, nobody spoke for a while.

Melody pushed away from the wall.

“I dislike him.”

“The keeper?” I asked.

“I am willing to include several people.”

That drew a tired laugh from Evelyn.

Aurelia sat with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

I looked at the letter.

“He hasn’t ordered an attack.”

“No,” she said.

“He has sent terms.”

“Yes.”

“Does that tell us anything?”

She considered it.

“That he would prefer your agreement.”

It was not much.

It was more than we had known that morning.

We told Helena and Garrick before anyone else could bring them a confused version.

Helena read the paragraph concerning the children.

Then put the letter on the table.

“They are barely a year old.”

“We refused,” Evelyn said.

“I should hope so.”

Garrick stood beside the window.

“What can we do?”

Eliza answered from the doorway.

“Keep their days familiar. Tell me if anyone asks questions that seem unusual. I’ll speak to everyone who looks after them.”

My father-in-law nodded.

Helena reached for Evelyn.

My wife stepped into her arms.

I looked away long enough to give them a little privacy.

Our reply took less time than the discussion.

We refused the conditions.

We offered no child for examination.

We recognized no right to confine Aurelia.

Questions concerning relations between Greykeep and the pantheon could be put in writing and answered without demanding custody, obedience, or an oath in advance.

Mary read it aloud.

Evelyn changed one phrase.

I signed beneath her name.

Aurelia prepared her own answer.

When she finished, she sanded the ink and handed it to Mary.

There were only a few lines.

She would speak with Othellos if he came to Greykeep as a guest and accepted witnesses.

She would not return to his keeping.

I went to the training chamber before supper.

There was no lesson scheduled.

I wanted to lift something.

Preferably something large enough that the effort would occupy every thought in my head.

Aurelia found me beside the basin.

She looked at the water.

Then at me.

“How much?”

“I haven’t begun.”

“Good.”

I rested my hands against the table.

“He thinks he can ask for them.”

“Yes.”

“And I want enough strength that he regrets it.”

Aurelia stood beside me.

For a while, she said nothing.

Then she placed one of the small stones in my palm.

“Begin with this.”

I lifted it.

Held it.

My anger made the stone tremble.

I could have forced it still.

Instead, I waited until I could feel what I was doing.

The trembling eased.

I lowered it.

Recovered the strength.

Then sat down.

Aurelia took the other chair.

“I still want to continue,” I said.

“I know.”

“But not because he has set a date for my fear.”

Her expression softened.

“No.”

I looked toward the door.

“Evelyn will be waiting.”

“Then go to her.”

I found her on the nursery rug.

Carol stood between her knees, holding both her hands.

Garrick was attempting to stack two blocks.

He succeeded.

Then immediately destroyed the result.

My wife looked up.

I sat beside her.

For several minutes, we watched the children.

Then Evelyn said, “He asked us to decide their lives before they can tell us what they want for supper.”

“They are already quite definite about supper.”

“Yes.”

She smiled faintly.

Carol released one of her hands and reached toward me.

I offered a finger.

She took it.

Evelyn kept holding the other hand, and together we helped our daughter stand.