"The answers we seek lay hidden not somewhere out there, but within."―Joseph Rain
In the chaos following the attempt to assassinate Selenay, there were no classes for two days. Investigations and preparations for the trial took many of the instructors away from their duties. On the third day, classes resumed in a ragged fashion with Bards and even final year trainees taking the place of the Herald instructors.
Elcarth and Teren thought it valuable that the trainees see what an important political trial was like. There was a screened loft in the Great Hall used by the bards when an occasion demanded music without the bards themselves being visible. During the trial, the Collegium encouraged Heraldic trainees to use it for watching the trial proceedings.
Bredin watched parts of the trial when he could. "It was boring." He complained to Lacaral. "They spent so much time arguing about what could and could not be said. Everything was obvious. Why couldn't they just get on with it?"
::It's about fairness, Chosen.:: Lacaral replied. ::Those rules you think are fiddly are there to ensure that the innocent are protected.::
"But they aren't innocent. Everyone knows they are traitors." Bredin said.
::That is the time that you have to be most careful.:: Lacaral said. ::When everyone is absolutely certain that someone is guilty, they stop thinking. That is how innocent people are condemned.::
"But we have the Truth Spell." Bredin protested.
::There isn't a Herald available for every trial. There simply aren't enough to cover every court in Valdemar. Sometimes, the Herald doesn't have the right gifts to use the Truth Spell. And sometimes the Herald doesn't ask the right questions.::
The last part confused Bredin. "What do you mean? 'Did you kill John or didn't you?' It's obvious."
::And if you forget to ask whether Will acted in self-defence because John was trying to kill Will?:: Lacaral asked. ::That one is obvious. But there are subtler problems that require a lot of digging before you get to the full truth. Which is why we have those fiddly rules: To make sure that we dig down to get the full truth.::
Bredin made a face. "I suppose so." He still wasn't fully convinced.
::Don't worry. You will understand it in time.:: Lacaral reassured him.
Bredin snorted. "Now you sound like mom again."
Lacaral bucked. Bredin laughed and stroked his neck.
One thing did bother Bredin and the other trainees: Several of the accused said they thought there was another person behind the Prince and the actor. The alleged hidden plotter had arranged the whole affair and used them for his own ends. Supposedly, only the Prince, the actor and the go-between had known his identity. When the trainees asked their instructors, the Heralds replied that the trainees should not indulge in idle speculation. Bredin asked Lacaral if there were any clues to who the hidden plotter was.
::No. There are a great many people who would like to know who that person was. Devlin Gereton's suicide was entirely too convenient. Putting him under the Truth Spell might have cleared up a lot of the mystery.:: Lacaral sounded frustrated.
"You mean it wasn't suicide?" Bredin asked.
::It is possible Devlin Gereton might have felt remorse and shame. He might not have wanted to face the humiliation of a public trial and hanging. He didn't seem like the type for suicide, though. He could have tried to trade information or blackmail someone in exchange for mercy.:: Lacaral heaved a sigh. ::I guess we will never know.::
A fortnight after the end of the trial, Bredin realized he had not seen Losanir in nearly a moon. It was Rest Day and Bredin was grooming Lacaral before he joined his yearmates for a picnic at the Home Farms. He asked Lacaral where his brother was.
Lacaral's ears drooped in the saddest expression Bredin had ever seen his Companion make. ::Chosen, don't.:: Lacaral said. ::He needs time to himself right now.::
::What happened?:: Bredin asked silently.
::Please, Chosen.:: Lacaral pleaded.
::Another false calling?:: Bredin guessed. At Lacaral's nod, Bredin insisted. ::Tell me.::
Lacaral shook his head. Bredin decided to look for himself. Using his farsight, he 'cast out' for Losanir. He found him at Grey Vale. Bredin gasped in shock. Losanir's powerful muscles had wasted, his ribs showed and his flanks were sunken. Losanir, whose muscles had been nearly a match for Kantor's, was thin as a rail. His head hung low. His coat, mane and tail were dirty and tangled. He cropped half-heartedly at the grass. Two mares stood beside him, nuzzling Losanir and encouraging him. Bredin had never seen a Companion in such a state.
"I'm going to him. Are you going to take me or do I walk?" Bredin asked aloud. His yearmates looked at him curiously.
Lacaral sighed and stood so Bredin could vault onto his bare back. "Where are you going, Bred?" Chan asked.
Before Bredin could answer, his yearmates all looked at their Companions, who told them what had happened. Before Bredin was out of the yard, they were all following.
::Tell me the whole story.:: Bredin demanded as they headed for the bridge between the stable and the field.
Lacaral's flanks heaved. ::You remember the day of the attack on the Queen?:: Bredin nodded mentally to his Companion. ::Just after everyone had gone out for the rescue, Losanir came into the stable to be tacked up. According to the stablehands, he was almost dancing with joy and impatience. They were about to cinch his saddle when he suddenly bellowed as though he was in terrible pain. He shrugged off the saddle and galloped out into Companions' Field. He has been out there ever since just as you saw him.::
Bredin and his yearmates found Losanir at Grey Vale. His appearance dismayed Bredin's yearmates, who lacked Bredin's farsight to warn them.
When he saw them coming, Losanir tried to turn away, but the two mares blocked his path.
Bredin slipped off Lacaral's back and hugged Losanir's neck. "Please, Losanir. Don't give up. We love you." His yearmates surrounded the despondent Companion, hugging and petting him.
With pleas and caresses, the trainees persuaded Losanir to return to the stable, where they groomed him as he slowly ate. Changing their plans, they had their picnic in the stable to keep watch.
"I think we need to keep an eye on him and keep him company until we're sure he's on the mend." Tanis said. "One of us should stay here with him day and night."
"We could organize a watch." Jan said. "We could take turns spending the night out here."
Chan looked doubtful. "We'd be breaking curfew."
"Hang the cur…." Rena said, stopping in the middle of the word as she got the 'listening' look. "Mythil says they'll arrange it." She said as the others' Companions told their Chosen the same.
For the next fortnight, the trainees took turns watching over Losanir until it was clear that the Companion was eating regularly and regaining weight. After that, all of them made time to groom and pet Losanir. One evening when they were all gathered in the stable, the Queen herself stopped by to praise them and thank them for caring for the Companion. Keren and Talamir stood behind her, beaming with pride.
Losanir gradually regained his full weight over the next few moons, but he never lost the air of sadness.
Soon, summer break was approaching for another year. Enro still had not relented on Bredin's banishment. Zelar again suggested that Bredin spend the summer with his friends. Every one of his yearmates invited Bredin to spend the summer with their families. Bredin eventually decided to stay in Haven and make visits to all of them for a few days at a time. By going south, he could spend three or four days each with Chan in Three Rivers, Rena in Westhame and Jan in Pemberton all within a fortnight.
The evening after the rest of his yearmates left Haven for the summer, Bredin had dinner with Ari's family. Master Goran Baylin was a leather merchant, having inherited the business from his father. His home was connected to his warehouse and shop and he had a tannery near the cattle market. He was prosperous enough that he had a cook and a housekeeper, which was fortunate because his wife Charlot was the most witless woman Bredin ever met.
Though Ari had warned her parents not to discuss Bredin's family, they had no sooner sat down for dinner than Mistress Baylin asked "I hear your father is a saddler, Bredin. Are you apprenticed to him?"
Ari and her father looked at the ceiling. Bredin forced a smile and said "I'm now a Herald Trainee, so I don't work in my father's shop anymore."
Oblivious to her husband and daughter's expressions, Mistress Baylin pressed on "But who will carry on your father's trade? It is a son's duty to follow in his father's footsteps." She nodded at Jiri, Ari's brother who was about four years younger than Ari.
Bredin maintained his smile. "I have two brothers to carry on. Asen is halfway through his journeymanship and Raidal is just starting his apprenticeship. So I'm not needed."
"Oh, but surely you were learning a trade?" She persisted. Ari and her father cringed.
"I was an amicus in the Temple of the Iron God when Lacaral Chose me." Bredin said.
"You were going to be a priest?" Mistress Charlot said. "That sounds like a worthy calling."
Bredin shook his head slightly. "I didn't really have a vocation. But Father Toma thought I could learn things that would help me find a career. Maybe I could have been a steward or major-domo to a noble house."
::In a pig's eye.:: Lacaral commented. ::But keep going. You are handling this featherbrain well.::
"Well, that would be step up in the world." She said. "Much better than riding around the country from village to dreary village."
"Charlot, really! Being a Herald is the finest Calling in Valdemar." Master Goran said. "Even the highborn are proud when one of their children are Chosen. Earl Peregrine could talk about nothing else after his younger son was Chosen four moons ago."
He looked at Bredin. "Earl Peregrine has a half-interest in another tannery. I met him at the Tanner's guildhall just after a Companion Chose his son."
Seeing an opportunity to divert the conversation, Bredin said. "I helped Tantris get ready when he was preparing to Choose Kris Peregrine."
"Who is Tantris?" Mistress Charlot asked.
"Tantris is Kris' Companion." Bredin explained how the Companions come into the stable to be tacked up when they are ready to go out and Choose.
"I wish one of them would Choose me." Jiri piped up.
Mistress Charlot looked dismissively at her son. "Nonsense, Jiri. You belong here to follow in your father's footsteps." Jiri subsided; Bredin thought Jiri looked unreconciled to his inheritance. "How do they know who to Choose?" She asked.
"Only they know. Every Herald and Trainee wonders what they see that makes them Choose us." Bredin said.
Ari's mother shook her head and waved a hand at Bredin. "No, no! I mean who tells them who to Choose?"
Goran Baylin rolled his eyes once more and Ari looked ready to slide under the table. Bredin was more amused than dismayed and patiently tried to explain to Mistress Baylin that Companions were fully as intelligent as humans.
::And definitely more intelligent than her.:: Lacaral commented with a mental snort. Bredin struggled not to let his amusement show, though Ari's mother was obviously unconvinced.
"But how will you ever raise a family? Don't you want children?" She asked. From Ari's stone-faced expression, Bredin deduced it was a recurring argument between Ari and her mother.
Teren had warned Bredin and his yearmates to expect that question from families and others. He provided a stock answer. "Heralds spend so much time on their duties that we could not give children the attention they need. Like priests or soldiers, we devote ourselves to Valdemar so that others may raise their families in peace."
The platitude seemed to satisfy Charlot Baylin for the moment and Bredin took the opportunity to divert the conversation by asking her husband about the leather trade. Anxious to forestall more questions from his wife, Goran Baylin gave Bredin more information than he had ever wanted about the business.
At the end of the meal, Bredin and Ari made their farewells just as Lacaral and Pania arrived at the door to take the trainees home.
"That is a remarkable trick." Mistress Baylin said, "However did you teach them to do that?"
"Actually, Mistress Baylin, Lacaral has been teaching me the streets of Haven, not the other way around." Bredin said as he mounted.
::And unlike her, I don't have to pin a note to your shirt in case you get lost.:: Lacaral added.
::That was wicked.:: Bredin mindspoke as they headed back to the Collegium.
::If you don't tell anyone, I won't tell anyone.:: Lacaral looked back at his Chosen with a glint in his eye.
"Sorry, Bred." Ari said. "She just doesn't understand Companions."
Bredin shrugged. "You should see my father and brothers."
Bredin and Ari spent the next three days doing practice in the salle and riding ring in the morning and going about Haven in the afternoon. On the second day, they happened to be at the City Court and went in to watch Herald Mirilin judge cases. Mirilin acknowledged them with a nod and indicated a place behind him where they could stand and watch.
The cases before Mirilin were much less formal than the treason trial Bredin had watched in the spring. They moved along more quickly without the procedural wrangling. Bredin and Ari both noticed how Mirilin kept an issue on track and cut off any wandering into side-paths. In many ways, the cases before Mirilin reminded him of similar disputes in Bransat.
::Just because there are more people in Haven doesn't mean they are any different from your home-town neighbors.:: Lacaral said. ::People are people, wherever you go.::
Bredin and Ari stayed until the court closed for the day. They rode back to the Collegium with Mirilin and now-Herald Brion, who had just gotten his Whites and was helping Mirilin while awaiting his internship assignment. Mirilin discussed the cases with all three of them, encouraging Bredin and Ari to share their thoughts. When they parted at Companions' stable, Mirilin invited them to come by his Court any time they felt like it.
Midsummer Fair started on the third day. The weather turned very hot. Lacaral and Pania carried Bredin and Ari bareback to the edge of the fairground and returned to Companions' Field, where they could relax in the shade. Bredin and Ari walked around the stalls for two candlemarks. They bought some small gifts for when they would visit their yearmates before stopping at a food vendor for a cool snack.
On the fourth day, Bredin and Ari saddled their Companions and headed out the East gate just after sunrise. It was a long day's ride, but they made it to Girard House just before dinner. Tanis and Balint met them where they left the East Trade Road and rode with them back to her father's manor.
Baron Kivas Girard welcomed Ari and Bredin politely enough, though Bredin noticed an air of superiority in his speech. Baron Girard was always courteous, but Bredin did not warm to him as he had to Jan's father the year before. Bredin wondered at the subtle difference until Lacaral explained. ::Baron Nilsen thinks his rank gives him duties. Baron Girard thinks his rank gives him superiority.::
Bredin could find no fault with Baron Girard's actions, but he always felt the baron was talking down to him.
::Baron Girard means well and does his duty. He just assumes that he is better than others and that everyone should acknowledge that fact.:: Lacaral said. ::He is also impressed by the trappings and marks of rank. If you told him you had spoken to Selenay in the stable, he would be very impressed.::
Bredin and Ari spent three days with Tanis and her family. Aside from the polite condescension of Tanis' relatives, the only irritation for Bredin was that Tanis and Ari spent much time in whispered conversations that died away when Bredin came near enough to hear. Once, when they passed a draft stallion being led to the breeding shed, Bredin saw Tanis lean towards Ari, point at him and the two giggled. Neither would explain the joke. Lacaral only snorted when Bredin asked him about it.
After three days visiting, they returned to the Collegium late. Baron Girard had turned their goodbye into a ceremony and they did not get away until mid-morning. The summer sun was setting as Haven came into view. Bredin was sweaty and tired from the long day riding in the hot sun. He longed for a cool bath and a good night's sleep.
About a mile from the city gate, Ari asked "Do you want to come by my room for a while?"
Bredin sighed and shook his head. "Thanks, but I'm really tired. I need some rest."
Lacaral whickered and jigged slightly.
"Oh, we could just relax together." Ari persisted.
"Not tonight. I have a headache." Bredin said.
Lacaral and Pania both snorted loudly and made chuckling whickers.
The two trainees rode the rest of the way to the Collegium in silence.