Chapter 37

APRIL 22ND

A t four on the Friday, Griffin wheeled himself into Lamont's office. "This is becoming a habit, sir." He felt a hair more comfortable teasing, now. It was, in fact, the second time since Griffin had come back from Whitby.

"What would you do if I said I have found finishing the week in a meeting with you sets me up well for the next?" Lamont was fiddling with an inkwell on his desk. Then he nudged it aside. "Tea?" Today's tie was a deep emerald green, and Griffin was beginning to wonder if there was a pattern to the rotation, beyond whatever Lamont - or his man - pulled out.

"Please, if you'd like." Tea - and the offer of it - suggested Griffin might be here for at least half an hour. He settled himself in front of the desk.

"I gather we are no longer paying for Mistress Matthewman's housing." Lamont settled back in his chair after pouring from a waiting teapot and sliding a cup over to where Griffin could reach it easily. "And that her work is going well."

That was certainly a way to put it, and Griffin was also sure Lamont had known it before the most recent fortnight's expenses went into the accounting. "Both are true, yes, sir. The courts are still paying her stipend for meals, and for her time when she's working on our particular problem." Griffin considered his options here. "She is a considerate houseguest, and I enjoy her conversation when we're not working."

It was, of course, an odd conversation to have with Lamont, and yet it was also the truth. Griffin felt this might be an appropriate amount of truth, couched properly, for the moment. Lamont inclined his head once, taking his time with a sip from his own teacup before he set it down. "You've been showing her a fair bit of Trellech, as well."

"Yes, sir. It's a pleasure, and she's soaking it up. Doing excellent work for us, as well. The combination of learning and talking with Niobe seems to be bearing a lot of fruit, in several directions. She's also been a great help with my working through the proposal. As I mentioned in the memo on Tuesday, she believes she'll be ready to reset the jet next week, so we can activate it on the first. After our other commitments, of course."

Lamont inclined his head, his eyes half-lidded. Griffin knew better than to interrupt. Griffin had expected more questions about the courtroom work. Instead, Lamont said, "It has, hmm, how do I put this, illuminated some things for me. To your favour, currently."

The currently suggested that might not always be the case. "Sir?"

"I have not chosen an Heir. I have known that if anything happened to me, unexpectedly, each of the three of you could step forward. And there is a name in my private files, should that come to pass. I do not expect it to. I would like to make a formal announcement before the next Council Rites at the solstice."

That put a fascinating spin on it, indeed. Griffin considered what he'd seen of Nestor and Harriet this week. Or rather, hadn't seen. Nestor had been busy with a number of meetings, and they hadn't been in the Courts or the Guard Hall. Griffin didn't know where for certain. He had fewer connections in the Fox's Den or Wishton's or Bourne's than in many of the clubs. But he suspected those were the sort of meetings with the excellent brandy or port, cigars, and a lot of cheerful bonhomie. The right sorts of people, continuing in the right sorts of power.

Griffin kept his face as neutral as he could. "Is there additional information I might offer that would help in your decision, sir?" There was a moment, a nudge from somewhere deep in his heart, and he added, "You know me, you know my work. I will not change my spots now, even for this."

"That is, in fact, one thing I like about you, Griffin. Your steadiness." Lamont gestured at the chair. "Not on your feet, perhaps, anymore, but in all the other ways. And we both know it's steadiness of the heart, of the mind, and most of all of your magic that counts here."

"Sir." Griffin inclined his head. "But not only that, or you'd have decided years ago."

It won him a snort. Griffin would count that as a point in his favour. "You have your dissenters, as we discussed, those who doubt you. And it is not only the question of what I think, what I have judged to be true, but also what is seen to be true."

That was the problem with their justice system. Albion's law was not fundamentally adversarial, the way British Common Law was. They had truth magics, which meant their forms of justice were about making sure they asked the right questions at the right point, with evidence to guide them. But it was also about what people understood, what people witnessed, when witnessing mattered.

Griffin nodded. Then he had to close his eyes. He knew his thoughts would show. Because there was a flashing thought there of what it would mean if he could get Lamont under the truth magics for just a minute or two. To know what mattered, if there was anything he could do to argue his case, persuade, narrow that gap between him and what he kept reaching for.

"Tell me what you were thinking. Just now." Lamont's voice came out almost as a purr. It was impossible to forget that Lamont had all the same expertise in Incantation, in rhetoric, in all the gifts that words brought. And decades more experience. It was absolutely an order.

Griffin squared his shoulders. Truth. Truth had to be his byword, for all sorts of reasons. "I was wishing, sir - not that I would ever ask to do it - that I could ask you a handful of questions under the truth magics."

"It is such a temptation at times, isn't it?" Lamont leaned forward. "I give you permission. Three questions, here. No preparation." Ordinarily, calling the charms would have involved at least an hour of sorting out the framing of the questions.

Griffin blinked several times, swallowing hard. Thoughts were now tumbling over themselves in his head. "May I make a few notes, sir, before I begin?"

"That is fair. It will also let me have more of my tea. Don't dawdle." Lamont leaned back, his eyes twinkling.

It was a perfect challenge. What did Griffin want most to know, filtered by what it was reasonable to ask in this situation, without abusing power? Most of what was rolling around in his head wasn't conducive to a yes or no answer. It was about scope, about whether he had most of Lamont's goals right. He pulled out his notebook, scribbling down the words in free association, then drawing lines. By the time Lamont set his cup down, Griffin looked up. "When you are ready, sir?"

The older man settled himself comfortably in his chair, hands resting in his lap. "As you wish."

Griffin took a breath, calling up the truth magics. They came to him, as they had since he had learned them, like working dogs waiting for the command, or like water rising up and supporting. A bit of both, there was more direction than a pool of water, more flow than a dog. He let the magics swirl for a second, before he settled them around Lamont. He'd called the truth magics plenty of times in training or with a willing participant, as well as in the courtroom or the course of his work. Each time was the same, and each was different. Never the same river twice, as the saying went.

Lamont felt like a tremendous ancient stone statue. Or perhaps not even a statue, something more like a great menhir, a standing stone, weathered and beaten, and lasting far beyond mortal lifespans. Griffin nodded once, then felt the magic smoothing out, the particular resonance and harmony to it he heard and felt when the magic had taken. Lamont wasn't fighting it. If he had, Griffin could not have held it, certainly. Not without a courtroom's magic and architecture and structure to draw on, anyway.

Griffin had not been granted a confirming question, and honestly, part of this challenge was whether Griffin could pull this off without one. Griffin marshalled his thoughts, then asked his first question. "What brings you to name an Heir now, when you have not for so many years?"

"It is well past time, and I am aware of the pressures and tensions caused by not having one." Griffin hesitated for a second, and then leaned into the pressure, just slightly, encouraging a bit more of an answer. Lamont's lips twitched into a smile. "I have delayed because each of you would take the Courts in a different direction. I was not sure which one would serve us best now, and for decades to come. Especially during and after the War."

The long game, of course. Law was, even if the world changed around them. Griffin nodded once, then posed his second question. "If there are matters you have considered asking me or discussing with me, and you have not brought them up previously, what are they?" It was a complex conditional, but Griffin thought that caught the potential thoroughly enough.

Lamont laughed at that, looking pleased. "We might discuss this more in a moment, when we are done with the truth charms, but the gossip about your time with Mistress Matthewman has been informative."

Griffin nodded once more. "We can come back to that." He considered pressing further, but it turned out that was the sort of thing where he would rather not have truth so tangibly present when Lamont answered. Given that there were still things he hoped but did not know for certain. "If you have any concerns about my ability to become Heir and - in due course - into your seat, would you please share them now?"

"My concerns are those I stated recently. Or further back. They have to do, at this point, with how others perceive you and your competence, whether they can have sufficient trust in your ability to do the work." Lamont touched his fingertips to each other, steepling his hands. "I do not have any concerns myself, at this point. Especially now." He flicked one finger, and Griffin promptly let the truth charms fall away, taking a moment to breathe as they receded.

When he looked up again, Lamont was watching him. "You know you are skilled with them. Even when it is me you are calling them to."

"I appreciate you did not resist, sir. And that you expanded the answer you did." Griffin took a breath, measured it with a few heartbeats, and let it out. "Mistress Matthewman?"

"You know people talk." Lamont's voice was very gentle. "Sometimes unkindly. That you have been seen with an appealing and talented woman your age, socially, has caused gossip. Mostly in your favour. She has looked delighted to be with you. And when you have met up with others, she has not looked at them beyond politeness. She has focused on you. People notice."

"Especially extremely observant people, and we know quite a few." Griffin rubbed his face. "You've talked to, oh, half a dozen of those."

"More like a dozen, yes. A couple who came to me to tattle on you. That you were, apparently, skiving off work." Lamont raised a hand. "I know you weren't. You did, however, leave the building at the end of the workday more often than your usual."

"And to be entirely fair, a non-trivial part of my evenings and such have also been spent working. Just at home. With company." Griffin let out a breath. "She and I are still sorting out what that means. I won't press her, even if it matters for ... this. Your timeline. She gets the time she needs."

Lamont nodded. "Perhaps you and she might come and dine with me and my wife? After May Day, I'm afraid I've a dozen commitments between now and then." It was, Griffin suspected, as much of a hint as he was going to get about any actual decision. Either Lamont would let him down privately, kindly, or he would share that Griffin was his choice. Either way, arguing wouldn't change anything.

"Of course, sir. We'd be glad to. I'll check if there's anything she's scheduled that might be a consideration." Griffin hesitated, not sure what else to say.

Lamont was watching him, steadily. "It is not, precisely, that I think you need a partner, though I can also see why some people think so. A married man is, like it or not, seen as more reliable and settled than an unmarried one. People are so often foolish."

"And most people do not see the divorces and marital disagreements that come through our doors," Griffin pointed out.

"No. Indeed." It made Lamont chuckle, then settle. "But the way you have gone about introducing her to Trellech has highlighted, shall we say, the range of people you know. And, perhaps more pointedly, the things you consider important about the city. It has illuminated - along with your actual work - your gifts at forming partnerships, good working relationships, with others. That is certainly one successful and well-proven way to lead the Courts, and to tend the land magic."

"But not the only one." That was the trick of it. Lamont still had only given the tiniest hint of what his preferences were for his successor.

"No." Lamont leaned back. "All right. Walk me through where you are for the room you're preparing. What came out of that meeting you were having on Wednesday, finalising the talismanic work?" The questions Lamont asked from there made it entirely clear he had the full proposal front of mind. He consulted a sheet of notes only for a few of the specific measurement details. By the time Lamont sent him off to enjoy his evening, Griffin felt like he'd sat for an oral exam again, but had come out looking competent.