Missing Elements (The Lament Book 3) (13 page)

Plus he was moving too stiffly.
That just wasn't the way any of them did things. Not even her, though it was in
a very different way.

Tuvin glared at him, and then
twitched, stumbled to the side and started to walk away. It would have
indicated a medical problem or seizure if most people did that, but Guardians
did things like that, at times. Not that obviously, but she thought she got it.
They had to learn to control
when
they moved without rhythm, or not. The
boy was clearly in a trance state, but they all were, except for her. Even
Clark was, for all that he was pretending not to be at the same time. She tried
to focus and just pay attention for a bit, while Saran made a sour face, and
spoke calmly.

"I think Guardian Salle has
the correct idea, Clark. This is
Pran's
duty to see to. We should back
her position, since she's one of ours. Judge Sims won't be in until nearly nine
however, if she holds to her normal pattern. That leaves nearly an hour and a
half for us to use. Let's meet back here at... Call it ten?"

She nodded, but knew that was
going to make a lot of things tight in her daily schedule. Thankfully not
everyone kept the same hours, so it might be possible to find a few people, if
she hustled and didn't slow down too much.

There was also a matter of
finding
food
. Bard Clarice had mentioned that she should eat more and
that was the kind of thing that Pran could get behind in theory. What she
didn't know was how that could be arranged. Saran knew though, and she was
willing to bet that Clark did, too. Everyone there would, except for her, which
might leave her seeming weak, if she didn't get a handle on that kind of thing.

"That sounds good. Clark has
been put in as Bard Clarice's Guardian, hasn't he? Or did that change?" It
was possible that it had, because the whole situation had managed to go
sideways since she'd last heard about that from Saran. The older Guardian
nodded her slightly lined face, and gave her a look that didn't seem all that
suspicious. Of her.

There was a telling sidelong
glance for Clark, who smiled charmingly. It was too obvious really. Not that
the man never cracked a grin, but he was working to seem like he wasn't him so
hard that it
seemed
like an act. People only liked things like that when
watching farces. The rest of the time people wanted to see more realistic
efforts being made. A download would have been desperately trying to fit in,
not stand out.

The idea behind it was pretty
clear to her, certainly, but there still had to be
some
allowance for
craft. Clark wanted people to see that he wasn't himself, so was doing what he
could toward that end. So was Saran, and to a lesser extent, Mara. Tuvin didn't
seem to be in the loop however, and really suspected the man, or thought he was
a fool. That was clear in the way he kept fighting not to look at the large man
the entire time. Salle seemed baffled as well, but shrugged, rather than
analyzing it too much. That probably meant that he wasn't in on the idea of
downloads.

Tuvin however
was
. Not
that she could prove that herself. Not without simply asking, which wouldn't
work for the moment.

Salle spoke first then.

"Here at ten, got it. I need
to get back to my post." Then he vanished, appearing at the doorway only
for her to lose track of him immediately after that.

Saran smiled at her, and didn't
seem to be going
that
far into acting. The woman actually seemed to like
her, most of the time. Which wouldn't mean that a kinetic pistol might not be
coming out in the next moments. So far, so good, as for that morning on that
score.

"
Indeed
, Bard Pran.
Guardians Clark and Mara have both been assigned the duty of watching you and
Bard Clarice. She was most concerned that recent events might have
repercussions for you, which could lead to harm. That's just her being a
worrier, but this will let you continue on with your training. If nothing else
it will make for an interesting story later in life for you. What do you have
planned for the morning?"

Pran had a lot to do, but some of
it wasn't the kind of thing she could just chat about openly. Like trying to
find a secret system of panels and spy tunnels in the place. It might not be
there, but the dimensions of the stone wall in front of her seemed about a half
meter too thick to really be there. Not unless the interior walls of the whole
place were really a meter wide, which would be insane. Especially when some of
them were clearly thinner than that by a good bit.

She smiled, and then grinned at
Mara and Clark in turn.

"Well, I need to arrange for
a message to be passed to High Councilor Sims and explain the situation here,
and then see High Airship Jacques, about playing at his daughter's wedding. Twyla
too, if I can. I need to weasel an invitation for Donal and Riley to it, if
possible." She didn't explain who those people were, and no one asked, so
she went on. "Then, if all goes well, we can finish the trial of our
miscreants here in time to start doing a clay sculpture of Judge Brown. That
should take up most of the rest of my day. I need to build an armature first,
but have what I need for that." It sounded pretty busy for her, but didn't
leave a lot of time for her to pry or snoop, did it?

She also needed to get food in
her. Hopefully the floor boys could set her up with that.

 Which reminded her that she
needed to get with the one from the second floor, who was a witness to the
whole of the fight that had taken place. He'd be needed as a witness.

Pran winked, trying to seem
playful.

"
Annnd
, about twenty
other things I didn't mention, like breakfast, making sure everyone knows to
come to the trial and all that. You know, I really thought that this job would
be all about singing scales while Bard Clarice corrected my posture, most days.
So, I should get to all that. I probably don't need guards, like you said, but
you two are welcome to tag along. There should be food in it, if nothing else.
Besides, it will make me seem important, as I go around making deals and glad
handing." Which was just true. Only
important
people had
bodyguards, and only the very top got Guardian protection. Regular Bards didn't
really rate that sort of thing.

The High Guardian looked at her,
closely and for a long time, then nodded.

"That sounds like a plan. If
you're going to see Jacques anyway, let him know that I do need to have a few
people moved along the line between Gladstone and O'Brien. More or less. I'll
send him the specifics he needs, for the route. I have people traveling to
Gladstone now." Then she just walked away, clearly meaning that she was
dismissed.

The others followed her, which
was a bit odd since Tuvin shouldn't have, to the best of her knowledge. She
shrugged however, and smiled at him, rather than asking about it. Maybe he was
being sent to spy on Clark? Maybe her. It turned out that it wasn't that, he
simply needed to find Robest too, so was taking the same route. He twitched and
flowed through the hallway constantly, but the rest of them moved smoothly
enough. Clark even seemed to be trying to copy how she was doing it, like a
dancer.

It looked funny, if you were
paying attention, since his size made it impossible for him to have had that
kind of training. Yet, there it was, and he managed it pretty well, too.

The chubby floor boy was dressed
in brown and had his golden sash on, but looked tired, and smothered a yawn as
they rounded the corner to his little alcove. The walls on either side were
made of stone, but only an inch thick. On either side of a meter thick stone
wall behind him? That was telling. An inch of stone would even seem solid, if
you tapped on it. On the upper levels the interior walls were made of wood
however, making it lighter. That meant that testing things there would be a
good first step.

Though she could possibly just
ask the Guardians, but that was less interesting. Finding out for herself would
present a bit of a challenge, if she had the time.

"Hey, Robest, I need a
message sent to High Judge Sims. We have a trial at ten, if she'll preside over
it? In the Guardians' offices. Two High Councilors fighting in the hallway. A
real dustup too, not just shouting." She said the words a bit lazily, but
the boy looked at the Guardians with her with wide eyes. Probably afraid that
his cake thieving ways were about to be punished.

Which was just stupid. She'd have
brought a
Judge
for that. Not that he wasn't going to be seeing one in a
bit, which wasn't lost on him, if the tense expression on his face was any
indication.

"Let me write that down.
I'll take it over directly."

As soon as that was scratched
out, in a hand that lacked artistry at all, and looked merely functional, with
a few misspelled words, Tuvin stepped forward. Actually, he did it in a way
that made it seem like he just appeared as the boy looked up. Pran saw the
move, and what was done, which involved using Clark as cover, then waiting
until the boy was engaged in his work before doing anything. It got a rewarding
jump from the floor boy however, who gasped, as if seeing magic.

"I need two meals for High
Guardian Saran and I. That can be delivered to her office, when it's
ready." Then he left, not even waiting for the boy to make a note of it,
which he didn't.

He just nodded at them, and
stood, coming around his little desk on the right, a bit clumsily.

"Gentles, I should get to
this, if there isn't anything else? Do you need food as well? Or more wood for
your fires?"

Pran winked at him then, "yes,
but we'll bug the floor boy upstairs about that. Thanks Robest."

He seemed pleased to hear a kind
word, which was probably a bit rare in his day. People that did the lowest
tasks didn't get high honors a lot, did they? No one wrote plays in their honor
very often, just assuming that the little people were boring and leaving it at
that. There were a lot of things about kings and heroes, but not about stable
boys or bakers.

It reminded her of Apprentice
Roy, for some reason. More to the point, that she could use the story of him
climbing a mountain to fight a plague for Doctor Soros's needs. There had been
a lot of washing involved, she just had to point that out without being
annoying about it. Bury that inside a song about heroism.

She started humming as she walked
away, the chubby boy scurrying as the two remaining Guardians followed along.
When they hit the stairs Mara nudged her.

"A new song? Is it all about
how incredible I am?" It was meant as a joke, but Pran winked back.

"After a fashion. It's about
how the heroic Apprentice
Roy
and two unnamed Guardians climbed a
mountain and saved a village from death fleas, by washing everything really
well. If I write a play about it, I'll be sure to use your name. Guardian
Maria." She grinned, but her poor bit of joking just got a long sigh from
the woman, as Clark cleared his throat.

Brushing at her short dark hair,
Mara seemed a bit distressed.

"That's the way of it. We
aren't
allowed
personal accolades. That's meant to keep us humble and
free of vanity. I suppose that Guardians Maria and Gerald will be part of the
backdrop to the tale then? With the sturdy Apprentice Shipman Royce carrying
half the load himself?"

She shrugged, having not really
thought about it. That wasn't too believable however. Everyone knew that
Guardians were pretty much all inhumanly fit.

"Nooo... I think that
Guardian Gerald there will have to do that, as poor Roy suffers in silence, his
hands blistering on the frozen metal handle and limbs feeling like they were
about to fall off. It will make it seem more heroic when he has to keep
berating the villagers into washing for days on end. If he's strong enough to
carry half the load himself, then the rest of it won't seem like as big of a
trial."

There was no mention of her in
the story, but that was fine. Writing about herself was, she knew, going to
sound like bragging. Neither person with her suggested otherwise either, as
they all climbed the stairs together. They moved as one, their steps in time.
It was strange, considering that two of them were trained to be chaotic by
nature.

What it really meant, she didn't
know. Probably that they were a team, or something.

Pran stopped to find the floor
boy on two, his little alcove occupied this time. It was indeed the same one
that had stood in front of her, to protect her fragile body from harm, earlier.
That was kind of heroic, she thought, since going up against someone with
High
in their title probably induced fear in most people. She would have felt it and
had, though like always that part got blocked out in hindsight. She grinned at
the idea, being true enough, and waved at the boy, not knowing his name off the
top of her head.

"Hello! Our two buddies from
earlier are going on trial at ten. Could you get everyone that saw it happen
down to the Guardians office then? That means you too, so try to make sure you
have your shift covered. Even if it's not, you
still
have to show up.
It's the law, you know." Not that it really was. At least no one had ever
told her that, personally. It just seemed right, and both Guardians behind her
nodded somberly, so she'd either gotten that one correct to their way of
thinking, or there actually was a rule that basically said that.

The boy looked ready to soil
himself at the idea.

"I... Yes, miss. I mean,
ma'am. Sorry. I'm still a bit flustered by what happened earlier. It's more
violence than I'm used to seeing. Are you well? You went down kind of hard
there." He didn't elaborate, but of course the Guardians hadn't been
there. Not that either of them seemed too concerned. She wasn't hurt and they
could see that. A few bruises weren't going to slow her down, as long as they
weren't on her hands or face.

She could hide anything visible
under makeup, but bruising to her eyes or hands would make playing difficult.

"I'm fine. Not even a
scratch. Say, what's your name?"

"Tims, ma'am." He still
seemed too nervous, so she looked around and leaned in, conspiratorially.

"Well, don't worry about the
Judge, Tims. She won't ask about anything other than the case, so as long as
you just answer her honestly, it won't be a problem. Just don't add anything to
make her curious."

Mara cleared her throat, but
didn't add anything, just smiling at whatever assumed crimes a fifteen year old
boy might have gotten up to. Probably with a bit of stolen liquor, or one of
the other floor boys. None of them were girls, but as far as she'd ever heard,
boys weren't that picky, if no one else was available.

He nodded, but didn't acknowledge
her very good advice, which showed prudence, given who was directly behind her.

"I'll pass the word."

They left him there, with Clark
looking at her strangely, and Mara acting like she'd caught her with her pants
down. Literally, it seemed, since she mentioned it, on the way up the stairs.

"A new friend already, Pran?
Roy will be jealous." It was teasing and meant to be friendly, but her
time with Roy had been cut short, due to the fact that he had a
lot
of
female friends on The Lament, and as it turned out, in several of the ports
they'd gone to as well.

"Nothing that adventurous
yet. Believe it or not, I actually
worked
most of the day, yesterday.
Besides, for a good time, I hear that you need to go to
our
floor boy.
Tims here actually seems to be too busy for that, by the look of things. No, we
definitively need Walden." Who wasn't in his cubby at the moment, which
meant going to the Bard office, where a rather run down man stood anxiously,
just outside the door. He was dressed in bright colors, and had a lute case
with him, that was dinged with marks that looked fresh. His face was lean and
had a beard on it, and his clothing looked a bit haphazard. Like it had been
new no more than a week ago, but now had patches on it, for no good reason.
Some of very poor quality and not decorative in the slightest. In short, he
looked like a rich man pretending to be poor, for some unknown reason.

Looking at her, and then the
Guardians behind her, he bowed, going low.

"Gentles. I am the Great
Bard Marin Lester, known the breadth and depth of this grand land of ours. I
come to humbly seek assistance, gaining introductions to the wealthy so that I
may fleece..." He went wide eyed and held it, faking shock at his own word
choice. "I mean,
entertain
them all, and spread joy and love
through this entire city."

Pran didn't know if that was a normal
thing or not, but also couldn't help him much.

"Sorry, this is only my
second day here, so I don't have anyone to introduce you to, yet. If I can get
your name and a location to send a message to, I'll tell the High Bard about
you? If we hear of any work, we can send that along to you? The holidays are
coming, if you don't mind working them? What do you normally do, act
wise?" She glanced at the lute, still standing in the hallway, since the
Great Bard Marin Lester was in her way.

He didn't seem too displeased by
her words or anything.

"Oh, why thank you..."

She was supposed to give her
name, she knew, but Clark did it for her, his face quirking a bit.

"This is Bard Pran. The
assistant to the High Bard, Clarice. I don't want to hurt your chances here,
but we have a lot to get to, since there's a trial in about two hours. Leave a
note and location, and we'll see it gets to the right person." It could
have sounded mean, but instead it was just a bit dismissive. Mara rolled her
eyes, but didn't say anything about it.

"I see. Yes, yes. I
understand, such important people must be busy at all times, aren't they?"
That got him to shift enough that Pran moved through the door, which had the
man practically leaping out of the way to avoid contact with the Guardians.
That was a more normal reaction she thought. The man was important enough to
not fear them, but
smart
enough not to give them a reason to think he
was attacking.

Getting his information only took
a few moments, and when he left, she followed him to the hall and waited for
him to get to the stairs before pulling the little bell that should, she hoped,
summon their floor boy.

Walden came at a trot, his face
fresh and alert looking. A little flirty too, when he saw who was there.

"Bard Pran? Do you need
something?"

She nodded, her face feeling a
bit warm under his gaze. There was a lot of direct eye contact there, and the
boy clearly understood the effect his looks had on people. That made him
dangerous, to her way of thinking.

"Yes, if it's no trouble? We
could use some food. For three. The High Bard's new Guardian detail has come.
We have a trial to see about at ten, so..." She really sort of wanted to
eat before then, but didn't know how long it would take to have anything ready
for them. Dried fruit and oatmeal sounded good, but she didn't ask, since
they'd get whatever was being served, she didn't doubt.

"I'll have that in about ten
minutes for you then, Bard Pran." Clearly meaning to be true to his word,
he trotted off, heading toward the stairs. She watched him leave, his brown
slacks tight enough in the back that it made for a nice enough view.

Inside the office, Clark and Mara
both stood, waiting for her. Mara pointed at the closed door to the work room.

"Is it all right if we check
in there?" It was part of the job, so Pran just jogged over herself and
let them in. It looked the same as the day before.

Almost. Someone had moved things
around a bit. It was a subtle thing, but there were pots out of order on the
large work table in the center of the room. The double line of various sized
things, had been straight when she left the day before, but now three of them
had been pulled toward the edge by several inches.

Other things
felt
wrong,
but she couldn't really tell what was out of order. It could have been that
Bard Lester had come in and helped himself to some things or at least a nice
snooping session, but unless he was an actual spy, that would be crazy to even
try. Pran pointed at it, then moved over and corrected what was wrong.

"Clarice didn't do that. Me
either. Someone has been here. It may mean nothing." Looking around, she
noticed that near the back an easel had been moved to the side. Right in front
of a set of shelves, made of wood that touched the wall there. It was an outside
one too, but didn't have any windows, which meant...

Walking over she took the shelf
by the side and tried to pull. It didn't swing out, but
did
wiggle back
and forth in a way that wasn't natural at all. She examined it while Clark and
Mara both stopped and stared at her, neither calling out helpful hints. There
was a locking mechanism of some kind. She could feel it. It was near the bottom
of the thing too, because the top moved back and forth more than it did down
there. She didn't find it at first, until she reached all the way to the back
of the bottom wooden plank, and ran her finger along the back. It was a bit
away from the wall, and sure enough, inside it was a little lever that made the
mechanism click rewardingly.

Then the thing pulled out quietly,
having little wheels on the bottom, hidden pretty well from view. The space
inside the wall was a lot more substantial than she'd thought at first, being
most of a two thirds of a meter, not half. At least here, on the upper floor.
The inside of it was very clean however.

Part of her wanted to go in and
explore the whole thing, but there was food coming. After a moment she closed
it and put the easel back into place, so it would fall over if anyone opened it
from the other side. It wasn't her job to make things too simple for everyone
else, after all.

"Well, that's one trick of
this place down. Since I know that no one is back there, I think I should let
you know that the floor boy on two might be a download. That's still a guess,
but so far my secret technique seems to be working, and he failed the test. Or
passed it, depending on which way we want to look at things. So did Doctor
Richard Soros, who's staying with Bard Clarice and her husband, Bard Kabrin.
That one is a lot more certain, however. It wasn't just one thing, but about
six. Oh... I also think we need to look at Lyse, back in Pumpkin Hollow. I
missed it before, but there's something wrong there."

Clark blinked, pretending not to
understand her totally, and Mara grimaced.

"Dang. I liked her too. A
bit simple, but she reminded me of a puppy. Harmless and sweet. Which is
probably the point. We'll set up a watch for the floor boy. Can you get us in
to Bard Clarice's house to investigate?"

Pran nodded, since she really
could. Honestly, they didn't need her, if they played it right.

"She's your protection
detail, that's reason enough. Even if people don't normally get protection on
that level, it's probably needed right now. Or... I don't know, a status
symbol? We should go wait for the food. I need to get in to see Jacques and Twyla
too. If I can, before things get too busy. Clarice said that she only works
about six hours a day, a few days a week. She only expects that of me too. Can
you believe that?" Pran grinned, but Mara and Clark both nodded, and the
woman moved over and patted her on the arm.

"We can. Most of the High
Council only works a bit more than that and Bards, frankly, barely have
anything to do here. It's better to keep busy, though. I think I smell
something good." She turned and walked to the outer office then, which
meant Pran followed in time to see Walden coming in with a large wooden tray.
It didn't have oatmeal on it however, but eggs and fried meat slices. There was
also a small dish of preserves and some toasted thick bread slices on each
plate.

She moved to take it and then set
it on Clarice's desk, in the one clear spot that was large enough for it.

"Thanks, Walden. Oh! These
are Guardians Clark and Mara. If you see or hear anything strange, come tell
them about it? They'll get bored otherwise, and pester me to play for them when
I'm supposed to be doing other things." Like sculpting Judge Brown, who
wasn't there yet. Hopefully he hadn't felt too insulted by her fake flirting
the day before. If so... Well, too bad, he had his orders and still had to show
up and do his job, didn't he?

The boy laughed, since the idea
of Guardians doing that was outrageous, but after asking if they needed
anything else, he left. That meant she got to spend whole minutes eating the
delicate and well spiced food. It was savory and sweet, at the same time, and
when she finished, a piece of toasted bread that was still soft in the middle,
she sighed.

"The food here is really
good. At Bard Clarice's too. I'm going to get fat, I bet." She didn't
bother looking down at her middle, since she knew that you could still count
all of her ribs, probably through her heavy black shirt. That was another thing
that would have to go soon. She needed new clothing. That or to embrace her
dark and moody look totally. Wear matching makeup, or something like that.

Clark stood, and looked around,
forgetting his act for a few seconds. It was clear that he'd dropped into a
deep trance state, while they'd eaten.

"We should see about doing
some of those things you mentioned. We need to be a bit early for the trial, in
case the Judge needs us to control the crowd. I doubt that will happen here,
but I've seen it be needed before. We all have."

Which was true, but not something
he'd have
known
, if he were a download. Not that anyone seemed to be
buying that at all, except for Tuvin. Why that was, she didn't truly
understand. It was probably down to the fact that the boy wasn't in on all of
the secrets, and that meant he was jumping to the wrong conclusion. That they
might also be doing the same thing to her came to mind, as well. You didn't
keep secrets by telling people, after all. Both sides were a bit poor in that
regard. Unless everyone had been lying to her.