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\hypertarget{chapter-10-menace}{%
\section{Chapter 10: Menace}\label{chapter-10-menace}}

\begin{quote}
``\emph{Threats are useless unless you have previously committed the
level of violence your are threatening to use. Make examples of the
enemies you cannot control so those that you can will be cowed. This is
the foundation of ruling.''}

-- Extract from the personal memoirs of Dread Emperor Terribilis II
\end{quote}

``Do not get between me and my prey, fools,'' the masked man growled.

``Are you trying to talk trash after running away from me for, like,
half an hour?'' I gaped. ``I only hit your head the once, your brains
can't possibly be that scrambled.''

The tall girl with the spear smirked. ``Now now, it's not his fault --
desert vagrants are born with only half a mind,'' she contributed.

I tried not to look too obviously amused. Apparently the Miezan
occupation hadn't done as much to curb the age-old distaste between
Soninke and Taghreb as some of my books had implied.

``\emph{Humans},'' the red goblin sneered. It was an impressive sneer,
even compared to the unmourned Governor Mazus'. I bet she'd practiced it
in front of a mirror. ``You cant get back to your games after we're done
talking.''

``Let's not be hasty, Chider,'' the Soninke replied. ``It's not really
murder if she's doing it to a sand rat.''

Well, that had gone downhill fast. I could sympathize with wanting to
mock some of your fellow countrymen -- I \emph{did} know an uncanny
amount of jokes about southern Callowans -- but she seemed to genuinely
believed what she'd just said. \emph{Right, Praesi. Not the most
morality-oriented people, generally speaking.} With a sigh I sheathed my
sword, keeping a wary eye on the masked wonder.

``Considering you just threw a brightstick at us -- which was pretty
rude, for the record -- it might be a good idea to move before
legionaries come have a look,'' I suggested.

Someone using goblin munitions after the same had been used in an
attempt to off two generals would lead to all kinds of unpleasant
questions, and I was beginning to get curious about what it was the two
fresh additions to this little party wanted.

``Assuming jackass over there is willing to talk at all,'' I added as an
afterthought, noting my ambusher still had his scimitar in hand.

``We claimed a fire pit not far from here,'' the goblin -- Chider,
apparently -- mentioned, turning red-rimmed eyes to my now-silent
opponent. ``I offer you the shelter of my fire, stranger.''

The last words she'd spoken in Taghrebi instead of Lower Miezan, using a
phrasing I wasn't familiar with. My Mthethwa was a lot better, mostly
because I'd practiced it more. My ambusher's mask dipped by a fraction
and he slipped his scimitar back in its scabbard.

``Speak the words,'' the still-nameless Soninke said sharply. ``Guest
right goes both ways.''

The man hissed at her, though he went still when the spear left her
shoulder to point in his direction. I would have taken a step back to
get out of the way even further if I could -- I was definitely up for a
spot of masked bastard stabbing, but the goblin was still a wild card.
She had a haversack slung over her shoulder, and I'd bet piglets to
diamonds that there was nastier stuff than brightsticks waiting under
the leather.

``Fine,'' he spat. ``I take shelter in your fire, hearth-keeper.''

``That's better,'' the veiled girl smiled, her teeth barely visible
through the sheer fabric.

``Is Praesi cultural fun times over yet?'' I asked politely. ``Because
we really need to get the Hells out of here, if we don't want to spend
the rest of the night in Legion custody.''

``A Callowan that speaks sense,'' Chider commented. ``Now I've seen
everything.''

What was it with goblins and insulting me? Did I smell in a way that
pissed them off?

``Wow,'' I retorted with a hard smile, ``a mouthy goblin. Never seen one
of \emph{those} before.''

The Soninke unconvincingly tried to turn her snicker into a cough.
Chider shot her a disgusted look and strode away. Not friends, then,
just allies of circumstance. Good, it would have been tricky to deal
with them if they were intent on sticking together. I had, after all,
already stabbed my only other prospective ally. I made to follow the
goblin, carefully keeping my distance from the man in question. The tall
girl waited for me, offering her arm to clasp when I got close enough.

``Tamika,'' she introduced herself as I grasped it.

``Catherine,'' I replied. ``So what's all this about, anyway? I thought
this whole thing involved a lot more fights to the death and a lot less
talking.''

Tamika shrugged. ``The goblin wants to have a meeting before we dance
the dance, and I see no reason to refuse her.''

She was pretty cordial, for someone who'd just casually mentioned she
wanted to kill me. Chider's fire was easy enough to find, not far around
the corner. She was already sitting on a stone besides it, prodding the
burning wood with a long branch -- our arrival was welcomed by a fresh
new rendition of her earlier sneer, though this time she'd didn't bother
to insult me. This was, I guessed, as close to friendly as she was going
to get. I claimed a log for myself, taking a moment to have a look at my
hand while everybody was settling down. The bleeding had stopped, though
I had a feeling that flexing my hand would tear the cut right back open.
I'd need to have it looked at, if I didn't want it to go bad.
\emph{Unless Names mean you can't take sick anymore}, I mused.
\emph{I've certainly never heard of a hero laid low by fever, not unless
the wound was cursed.}

``So I hear you're the one who arranged a get-together,'' I addressed
Chider when the silence got too heavy. ``Why?''

The red-skinned goblin prodded the fire one last time before throwing
the branch in.

``There's a hero in Summerholm,'' she said, to the surprise of no one
around the pit. ``That means we have another way of solving our dispute
than killing each other.''

Tamika made the same weird clicking sound with her tongue that
Lieutenant Abase sometimes did.

``Hunting a hero is not something undertaken lightly, goblin,'' she
said. ``Besides, there are people in the city with better claim to that
life than us.''

``If you mean Black,'' I grunted, ``then I'm pretty sure he'd approve of
us taking care of the problem.''

There was a moment of perfect silence as all three of them turned to
stare at me.

``Then it is true,'' the masked man said. ``You came here with the
Carrion Lord.''

\emph{Another title? Weeping Heavens, like he doesn't have enough
already.} I straightened my back, meeting them stare for stare.

``Rumours move fast around here,'' I replied, declining to actually
confirm the assumption.

From the way Chider's eyes narrowed at the words, that particular fact
had not escaped her notice.

``Spilling each other's blood will only weaken the Empire,'' the goblin
said. ``This is a better way.''

``Spilling the blood of the weak can only strengthen the Tower,'' the
masked man retorted immediately, tone contemptuous.

``That's a funny thing to say, considering you're the one who's bled the
most,'' I smiled at him.

His hand drifted towards his scimitar, but before he could reach it
Tamika cleared her throat.

``Take that out and you won't live to see morning, Taghreb,'' she told
him in a very friendly tone.

The man scoffed, but after a moment he backed down. Proud, then, but not
completely stupid. Just mostly.

``What's your name, anyway?'' I asked. ``The things I want to call you
won't cut it in polite company.''

``Rashid,'' he told us, as grudgingly as if I'd asked for his firstborn.
``Remember it, for when the devils ask you who sent you to the Other
Place.''

``I'm Catherine, in case you hadn't overheard,'' I told Chider, ignoring
the man. ``So you want us to make a pact, then. A truce until one of us
manages to get the hero?''

``Precisely,'' the goblin replied. ``I do not ask for your cooperation,
merely that you stay out of my way.''

``I could agree to that,'' I mused. ``Seems pointless to have a go at
each other when there's someone out there who wants all of us dead.
Tamika?''

The Soninke rolled her spear between the palms of her hands, face
expressionless.

``It would be a worthy test of my skills, to measure myself against a
hero rather than one of you,'' she finally said. ``This truce would
extend no further than the death of our common enemy, yes?''

I wasn't exactly happy that the dark-skinned girl was looking for an
escape clause before she'd even agreed to the terms, but it was still
better than nothing. It wasn't like I hadn't been intending to keep a
close watch on my back the whole time, anyway.

``Is that a yes, human?'' Chider probed her.

Tamika shrugged. ``I accept those terms. May the Gods devour whoever
breaks them.''

Everyone's eyes turned to Rashid. It was irritating that the mask
prevented me from reading his expression, but I supposed that was rather
the point of wearing it in the first place.

``This was a waste of my time,'' the man replied with undisguised scorn.
``I will hunt this hero, but you are all my enemy.''

He rose to his feet, robes stained red.

``We have unfinished business, Callow girl,'' he said in a tone that he
probably thought passed for sinister. ``We will see each other again, I
promise you that.''

I sighed as I watched him stalk away into the night. My fingers clenched
around the hilt of my sword as I considered whether or not I should
follow him: we were more or less done here and the idea of just letting
the bastard go didn't sit right with me. I'd already killed people for
lesser reasons than the one he'd given me, after all, and his wound had
to have weakened him. \emph{I might not get an occasion like this
again.} I was about to politely take my leave when I saw the two others
were staring me down.

``I know what you're thinking about,'' Tamika smiled pleasantly.
``Don't.''

``You're not the one he wants to stab in the back,'' I replied. ``You
don't get a voice in this.''

``He's still protected by guest-right until dawn comes,'' Chider
murmured. ``Let's not make this any messier than it has to be.''

The implied consequence of breaking said guest-right was clear, though
if they thought whispered threats would be enough to cow me they had
another thing coming. What did I care about whatever Praesi thought was
honourable? I'd work with the Empire, with every monster and murderer
who'd slaughtered their way to power, but that sure as Hells didn't mean
I'd do it following their every custom. What was the point of playing a
game by the rules, when it was rigged for you to lose? \emph{That said,
is getting another shot at the bastard worth alienating these two?} I
weighed my options carefully. Chider I thought I could handle, if I
managed to get up close fast enough. She'd think twice about using
munitions if the both of us were in their range. The Soninke was the one
who gave me pause -- spears weren't a weapon that saw much use outside
of the Free Cities, but the comfortable way Tamika carried hers
suggested a degree of familiarity with the weapon that was very, very
dangerous. In contrast, I had barely a week of sword lessons under my
belt. \emph{Pick your fights, Catherine.} Letting Rashid go was a pain,
but getting into it with the other claimants on ground I hadn't picked
while still wounded was a good way to get myself killed -- especially if
they worked together, which they very well might.

``Until dawn, then,'' I conceded, making a mental note of looking into
Taghreb guest-right and all it entailed.

I couldn't afford to get trapped into situations like this often, and I
had a feeling it would only get worse when we got to the Wasteland. With
a somber nod I took my leave of the other claimants and begun the long
walk back to the Sixth Legion's camp. I might as well grab some sleep
before I got back to work.

By the time I got to the now-closed gates I'd realized I hadn't thought
this whole thing all the way through. Getting out had been easy enough,
which not that I took the time to think about it was rather surprising:
he'd ordered a lockdown of the camp. Then again, he would have had the
time to send a messenger to make sure I'd go through unmolested while I
spoke with Scribe. It seemed ungrateful to complain that my teacher had
anticipated my needs, but there was something about the whole set up
that rankled me. Every move I'd made so far, the Black Knight had
anticipated -- approved of, even. \emph{And that's the part that bothers
me.} I didn't trust the green-eyed man, when it came down to it. I was
beginning to like him, much as that thought would have horrified me a
month ago, but not enough to forget who and what he was. I was still
unclear on what he wanted from me, and the more time passed the more I
was beginning to understand how much of a liability that was.
\emph{There's no place for a man like him in the kind of Callow I want
to make, and he's too smart not to be aware of that.} Which begged the
question of why he'd taken me as an apprentice, and why he was still
backing me when I'd as good as admitted I wanted to take an axe to
Imperial authority in Callow.

There was an angle at play I wasn't seeing, and until I caught it I had
to assume that every action I took he approved of furthered his plans as
well as mine.Building a power base of my own would have to be my first
step. I'd always known how I would go about that, fortunately: I needed
a command in the Legions of Terror, the larger the better. Ideally I'd
need to be assigned to one of those garrisoning Callow, where I'd be
able to use my soldiers to quietly remove the more troublesome elements
of Imperial occupation in my sphere of influence. That plan was why I'd
been so interested in claiming a Role in the first place: Names tended
to make age issues irrelevant when it came to accumulating authority.
History was full of young Named leading armies and ruling cities.
Instead of spending two decades steadily climbing through the ranks
while accumulating experience, I might be able to get a real command in
just a few years. There were two bumps in the road, though.

First, I couldn't do any of this with Black looking over my shoulder the
whole time. The idea that the man who'd masterminded the Conquest would
allow me to quietly turn Callow into a semi-independent vassal state was
absurd. I'd effectively be undoing half of what he'd accomplished by
annexing the Kingdom in the first place. \emph{Which means that at some
point I'll either have to kill him or become trusted enough to be given
an independent command.} I was more inclined to the second, as it
happened: the Black Knight was the most famous monster of our age, but
he was also a thoroughly rational creature. There was no guarantee that
whoever replaced him would be as\ldots{} even-minded. Besides, managing
to kill him in the first place would be tricky. I certainly had a better
shot at managing the deed now that I was headed towards a Name of my
own, but the heroes he hunted down with alarming regularity had Names
too. How did one get the trust of a man like Black, though? I needed to
figure that out, and quickly.

My second problem was that the Empire was at peace. Officers still got
promoted when their predecessors retired or died of mundane causes, but
my best chance at a position of real power was being granted soldiers to
deal with a problem. None seemed in the cards right now, which meant
that even if I inherited a legion it was unlikely to be loyal to me
personally -- my authority would flow from Black or the Empress, and if
I ever went against them the legionaries would balk. \emph{What I need
is for Praes to raise a new legion, one that will look to me for orders
instead of anyone else.} A legion made up mostly of Callowans would be
ideal, but the odds of that actually happening were so low as to be
insignificant. I needed to learn Praesi ways then, enough that the
soldiers would see me as one of their own. A\emph{nd that's exactly what
Black is having me do, which is worrisome in its own right.} Was that
his angle? Making me swallow Imperial customs one mouthful at a time
until I was nothing more than a Praesi with Deoraithe colouring?
\emph{What better tool to keep Callow in the fold than one of their own,
with the power of a Name backing her}. It sent a shiver up my spine, the
idea that the man could have thought that far ahead.

I put aside the train of thought when the legionaries keeping watch at
the gates hailed me. It was clear they'd been told to expect me just
from the way they recognized me when they got close enough for their
torches to shed light on my features. I was allowed in without any
trouble and the sergeant in charge informed me that I had a bed waiting
for me in a pavilion next to the barracks where the Blackguards had been
settled. It was a quick walk, and now that I wasn't stuck in a tense
stand-off with people who might or might not want to kill me I was
beginning to feel tired from the night's events. Not exhausted -- my
body moved just as surely as it had when the sun was up -- but I could
feel my focus wane. The pavilion the sergeant had mentioned stood out
from the surrounding tents by sheer size -- no cloth for this one,
though, only heavy flaps made of leather. There was a light lit inside,
and I was about to enter when I felt something pulse in the back of my
head. The fourth feeling, the strange one. How had I not noticed
earlier? I must have been more tired than I'd thought.

``Thank you for seeing me at this hour, Lord Black,'' I heard a girl's
voice say.

``Your request garnered enough curiosity to earn you an audience,
Heiress,'' I heard my teacher reply.

I peeked through an opening in the leather. Black was leaning back in a
chair, the usual glass of wine in hand as he sat across a Soninke girl.
She was, I noticed, strikingly beautiful. She couldn't have been more
than a year or two older than me, but her skin was smooth and flawless.
I couldn't see her eyes from where I stood, but I could make out high
aristocratic cheekbones and elegantly style eyebrows. The riding
leathers she wore were dyed in red and gold, perfectly tailored to fit
an hourglass figure I could only envy. With those long legs and
eye-catching curves, she was a serious contender for the most stunning
girl I'd ever seen. It took a moment for what the green-eyed man had
called her to sink in. \emph{Heiress.} I could feel the capitalized
letter on the tip of my tongue, bearing that strange weight spoken Names
always did. There was simply no way I was going to interrupt this, not
if they hadn't noticed me. I was in no way above eavesdropping on a
potential enemy, which I was pretty sure this Heiress was. The girl in
question lounged in her seat with all the elegant laziness of a large
predatory cat, her sipping at her own goblet doing little to hide the
way she was studying Black.

``I've looked into her, this\ldots{} student of yours,'' Heiress said.
``She does have potential, true, but you cannot deny I have more.''

Black was smiling, the same always did when at his most dangerous. From
the sudden wariness in the Soninke's body language, she seemed to be
just as aware of that as I was.

``Can't I?'' he murmured, tone sardonic.

``I have looked into her, Lord. She's a nobody. A Laure orphan with a
reputation as a brawler and nothing else to her name. There are
thousands like her all over Callow,'' she replied, a hint a frustration
creeping into her voice.

Rude. I was under no delusion that I was unique, but there was a little
more to me than a \emph{reputation as a brawler}.

``I am, inarguably, smarter than her,'' Heiress continued. ``I know how
the Empire works, and I have real combat experience. I led the troops
that suppressed -''

``That group of bandits at the edge of your mother's lands, I'm well
aware,'' Black interrupted her. ``You show promise as a commander,
though I note you never attended the College.''

``Neither did you,'' Heiress retorted flatly.

She met his eyes squarely and I had to give her points for guts, if
nothing else. \emph{Now would be a good time to tell her that she's not
actually smarter than me}, I silently urged him on, not bothering to
repress my scowl. \emph{Any moment now.}

``Catherine shows promise in other ways,'' he said instead, and I made a
mental note to take some kind of petty vengeance on him at some point.

Seriously, he could have put a little more enthusiasm in that. I didn't
think it likely he'd give me the boot and take the Heiress under his
wing instead -- he'd already invested too much in me, whatever his
reasons -- but this was turning out to be a remarkably one-sided debate.

``Enough to justify passing over all the things I can bring to the table
that she cannot?'' Heiress challenged.

Black's smile widened ever so slightly as he leaned forward, the
atmosphere in the room shifting instantly.

``They \emph{have} trained you well,'' he murmured, voice smooth as
silk. ``Just enough insolence to pique my interest, self-confident
without stretching into the arrogance I so dislike in you nobles.''

Heiress' eyes widened for a heartbeat and then her face went perfectly
blank.

``Lord, I-''

``Am not nearly as good at this game as you seem to think you are,''
Black broke in sharply, and the words rang of steel. ``Did you think it
was the first time the Truebloods tried this? That they had never before
sent one of theirs with a little talent my way?''

The dark-skinned girl went still and my teacher's smile turned ugly. I
let out a shaky breath, feeling the weight of his Role suffocating the
tent even from where I stood. \emph{Heavens Ascendant. I am never going
to get used to that.}

``No one rules forever, Lord Black,'' Heiress managed through gritted
teeth, the white of her eyes showing as she pushed through the terror
permeating the room. ``And you may have beaten the Heir back when you
were the Squire, but she is not you. \emph{And I am not him}.''

He laughed.

``Go home, girl,'' he said. ``Weave your plots, marshal your soldiers.
And when you do, remind your mother of the last time we crossed paths --
that pike over the gates of Ater is still missing a head, and I am ever
a patient man.''

She stood, back ramrod straight, and strode away with barely veiled
fury. I hurried away from the flaps as quietly as I could, stepping into
the shadows a moment before she crossed. Heiress paused just outside the
tent, casting a cold look around her. Her gaze passed over the spot
where I'd hid without pausing, though, which I took to mean it was too
dark for her to see me. A heartbeat later she was on the move again and
I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I waited for her to be
entirely out of sight before entering. Black was still in his chair,
looking irritatingly unsurprised to see me enter.

``Let's skip the part where you reveal you knew I was eavesdropping the
whole time,'' I grunted. ``I'm not in the mood for smugness.''

``As you wish,'' he mused. ``Clever of you to listen in -- very talented
girl, Heiress. You'll need all the advantages you can get.''

``So if you really think she's all that, why did you pick me to be your
Squire?'' I asked, claiming the same seat she'd been in.

He poured himself another cup of wine, raising an eyebrow to silently
ask if I wanted the same. I shrugged in agreement -- the taste was
growing on me, thoughtI doubted I'd ever drink it by the barrel the way
so many Praesi did. \emph{If anyone had told me a month ago I'd have the
Black Knight pouring me wine, though, I would have directed them to a
healer. After stepping away slowly.}

``You're taking this as a criticism of your abilities,'' he noted. ``You
shouldn't. Heiress has been tutored in everything from politics to war
from the time she could first speak. That she is more competent than you
is a reflection of her privilege, not of your own faculties.''

I took a sip from the cup he handed me, wondering whether or not I
should press the subject. \emph{What the Hells, why not? What do I have
to lose?}

``It would be easier for you to train someone who's already been taught
those things, though,'' I pointed out. ``I'll be playing catch up for a
while yet.''

``That she has already been taught is not a point in her favor,'' Black
replied.

That seemed like a good thing until I put another moment's thought into
it.

``So you're sticking with me because I'm what -- more malleable?'' I
scowled. ``Easier to manipulate?''

He sighed.

``I will address this once, because I doubt you would have brought it up
if you had not already been thinking it,'' he said. ``I will not lie to
you, Catherine, or deceive you.''

I was about to butt in but he raised his hand and I paused, frowning at
the fact that I had actually paused.

``Not out of a sense of honor or altruism,'' he continued, ``but simply
because it would be foolish in the long term. It's the way these things
go, you see -- if I deceived to you, you would inevitably find out I did
at the worst possible moment and then avenge yourself in a way that
would lead to my downfall. The amount of my predecessors that died
because they failed to learn that simple, easy lesson is staggering.''

If he'd tried to sell me that he would never steep so low or that the
teacher-student bond was something sacred I wouldn't have trusted a word
of it, but this sort of\ldots{} enlightened self-interest? Yeah, I could
buy that. The more I spoke to Black the more I was beginning to
understand that everything he did he thought of in terms of costs and
benefits -- like a bookkeeper, if bookkeepers invaded neighbouring
kingdoms and put people's heads on pikes. And wore plate. And rode
undead horses. \emph{Gods, I really hope there aren't any bookkeepers
like that out there. Creation is a scary enough place as it is.}

``I'm glad you recognize I'm smart enough for \emph{that}, at least,'' I
muttered peevishly, still not willing to let that particular gripe go
anytime soon.

He drummed his fingers on the table in response to that, and from the
look on his face it looked like I'd actually managed to irritate him.
Huh, I'd never managed that before. In a twisted way, it almost felt
like a victory.

``Petulance is bad habit,'' he said. ``She's \emph{had} to be smarter
than you to survive. The Imperial Court is the most lethal environment
on the continent short of an actual battlefield. Last year the High
Lordship of Okoro changed hands eight times in the span of three days,
all of them through assassination. Her mother is a brilliant woman in
her own right, one who managed to survive Malicia's ascension to power
without loss of influence \emph{while openly supporting the opposing
faction}. Her every move, her every word is measured -- underestimate
her even for a moment and she will have your throat slit without batting
an eyelash.''

I would have liked to dispute that, but I couldn't help but remember the
cold look in Heiress' eyes when she'd left the tent. I'd won enough
fights by being underestimated that it wouldn't do to forget how costly
a mistake that could be. \emph{Alright, then. Tread carefully around
her. People don't get Names by picking out flower arrangements and hers
does have an ominous ring to it.} I responded to Black's sharp gaze by a
nod and he seemed satisfied I'd been properly cautioned.

``You still haven't told me why you picked me,'' I finally said.

The dark-haired man gazed at his cup, swirling the wine in it with a
slow flick of the wrist.

``I'm told you never made friends with anyone at the orphanage,'' he
replied. ``Why is that?''

``I, uh- what?'' I blurted out.

Well, he wasn't wrong, but to hear it put like that was a little
mortifying. It wasn't like everyone at the orphanage had hated me or
anything, though I guess a few of them had, but I'd never made a close
friend the way some of the other girls did. I'd always figured I was
just a loner, and while that made me a little odd there were others like
that in the orphanage so it wasn't \emph{that} odd.

``I guess I never really had anything in common with them,'' I admitted.
``I don't think they were wrong to want the things they wanted, but I
just\ldots{} didn't. It was frustrating, the way they didn't understand
why I was like I am, so after a while I stopped trying.''

``And that angered you, didn't it?'' he murmured, ``That they \emph{just
wouldn't get it}, no matter how many times you tried to explain.''

I shrugged with affected nonchalance, trying not to show how close to
home he'd hit. And he was right, Gods help me. It still stung, the way
they'd looked at me like I was insane when I'd said I wanted to change
things. That I wanted to become someone who could make sure no one like
Mazus ever got as powerful as the Governor had been. I used to think
that I just wasn't articulate enough, that if I'd found the right words
maybe I could have bridged the gap I could feel I had created between
us, but as I got older I stopped believing it. Even I knew there were
some walls out there I couldn't ram my way through.

``They never understand,'' he murmured. ``Even if they love you, they
never quite understand.''

He looked almost sad, and for the first time since I'd met him I could
believe he was as old as he was supposed to be.

``I chose you,'' he mused, ``because I remember what it's like, that
feeling in your stomach when you look at the world around you and you
know you could do \emph{better}. That if you had the authority and the
power, you wouldn't make the mistakes you see the people who have it
make.''

He took a long drink of wine.

``Is it madness, to get frustrated when they don't see the things that
seem so obvious to you? I truly don't know. Gods know I've been called
mad often enough, and I'm sure in time you will be called the same.''

He met my eyes with a sardonic smile.

``The things Heiress knows, you can learn. You will learn. But that
indignation you've got boiling under your skin? That's not something
that can be taught. And it's exactly why you'll beat her, when the time
comes.''

He set down his cup.

``Go to sleep, Catherine,'' he said, rising to his feet. ``Tomorrow
promises to be eventful.''