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light fur from the closet, laid himself down on the little bed in the room
he'd occupied as a child.
He was asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes ...
"All right, where's the key?" a voice said in his ear as a hand shook him
roughly.
The little room was dark, and only one glowbasket was open in the outer
chamber, but the long boots on the figure by his bed told him that F'lon was
up and anxious to leave.
"Oh, sorry, F'lon."
F'lon snapped his fingers for the key as Robinton fumbled for it in his pants.
"If I find that the High Reaches contingent took another dragon back, I shall
be quite annoyed."
"If one hasn't," Robinton replied, "I shall be."
He gave the key over and lay back, wishing he'd been allowed to sleep round
the clock as he heard F'lon stride noisily across the
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outer room, fumble the key into the lock, and swing the door open so roughly
that it crashed into the wall.
"I'd better go after him," he murmured to himself, but he consoled himself
with the thought that C'vrel would have whisked the High Reaches trio off long
before now.
He was right. F'lon must have just received that information from Hayon when
Robinton reached the top of the stairs, for the bronze rider glared fiercely
over his shoulder at him. Then, in one of his lightning changes of mood,
F'lon smiled and waved a hand.
The tension drained out of his face, and he sauntered over to see what he
could find on the depleted refreshment table. Hayon and his younger sisters
and brothers formed a disconsolate group to one side of the hearth; on the
other, Lady Hayara sat with her sisters and brothers who had come to bear her
company.
Robinton made his way down the stairs and stopped one of the drudges. "Would
you know if the MasterHarper is still here?"
She pointed to the hallway and then crooked her finger to the left to indicate
the small dining room.
He found Master Gennell with Lord Grogellan and the
MasterHealer.
"F'lon is up," he told them, "and I gather the High Reaches folk are long
gone."
Master Gennell grinned; Grogellan chuckled and asked, "Master
Ginia, did you get a chance to assess Lord Faroguy's condition?"
She nodded. "His son will see that he has the best of care for however much
longer he is with us," she said solemnly. "It is a condition of the blood for
which there is no cure for a man his age."
"Does Fax know this?" Robinton asked bluntly.
Grogellan snorted and Master Gennell looked about to reproach his journeyman,
but Ginia raised her hand.
"That young man knows a great deal too much about too many matters that are
not actually the concern of a small' - and she stressed the adjective -
"holder."
"Who might not remain small," Robinton said. "That's a very ambitious and
greedy person."
"You had a run-in with him at High Reaches?" Gennell asked.
"Not a run-in, Master, but, as I felt obliged to tell you when I
returned from that contract, he does not permit harpers to teach his holders
basic skills."
Grogellan raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned to Gennell.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, I fear it is."
"But surely someone as thorough as Faroguy would have insisted."
"Faroguy is old, tired and sick," Robinton went on, "and remarks that the
Charter allows autonomy within a hold."
"Which begs the question of whether the hold in question allows the Charter
in," Master Ginia said, catching the point. At
Robinton's nod, she went on, "Frankly, I don't like such an attitude.
Intolerant and high-handed."
"An educated cotholder is far more useful and productive,"
Grogellan said.
"From what I understood, Fax's cotholders had better produce as much as he
expects them to," Robinton said, "and no excuses allowed."
"I shall give the problem considerable thought," said Gennell.
"As will I," Lord Grogellan said. He glanced over at the door and rose. "I
see our rider has come. Will you be back at the Hall soon, Robinton?"
"I'm contracted here, Lord Grogellan, but it's nice of you to enquire."
"Keep me informed, Rob," Gennell said, not needing to make specific what
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information he wanted.
Master Ginia, however, startled the journeyman by standing on tiptoe to plant
a kiss on his cheek. "I promised your mother I
would," she said, and then left him gawping after her.
As he felt his cheeks reddening, he could only hope that no one else had seen
her salutation. That wasn't his mother's style, but he smiled as Ginia
disappeared down the hall.
Raid took hold with no faltering and no hesitation. He called all his
Craftsmen to a meeting the next day and asked if there was any business that
he needed to go over with any of them. Then he announced that his sister,
Maizella, would exchange her espousal promises after the usual period of
mourning, and that Lady Hayara would remain in the Hold until he could find a
spouse of his own.
He naturally would arrange suitable employment for his numerous half-brothers
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