What Matters Most (3 page)

"I just replaced these a few months ago. I think one of the rafters might be rotting," Raslin said, tapping a few shingles above the rotting spot. They were darker in color than the rest, Kyros noted. If the rafter really was the cause of the rot, replacing it would be serious business. It would certainly take more than an afternoon's work, if not assistance from some of the neighbors. Raslin stared at the shingles, not moving, then asked, "Why are you really here, Kyros?"

"What?" Kyros asked, startled. He sat back, which was a bad idea, as he nearly lost his balance.

"You haven't visited for five years, and then you show up out of the blue for just a week? Don't think I didn't notice you were avoiding some of Ailynn's questions, either. What's really going on?" Raslin hissed, keeping his voice down.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kyros said, setting the hammer and bag of nails down on the rooftop. "How many weak spots are there?"

"Are you in trouble?" Raslin asked, refusing to be distracted.

"You're not sick, are you?"

"No," Kyros said flatly. Raslin was making it easier not to tell him; Kyros' stubborn streak was extra wide when he was pressured. "Can we fix the roof now?"

Raslin stared at him for a moment, and Kyros nearly caved.

Raslin wasn't like the men he'd worked with in Alesdor. He wasn't looking for a way to use Kyros' weaknesses against him.

He was only concerned. "Fine. Check up by the chimney."

Kyros nodded, pushing himself to his feet too quickly. He barely managed to keep his balance, but Raslin didn't say anything, not even issuing an admonition to be more careful. He was probably worried about Ailynn, Kyros decided, and what Kyros being in trouble or ill would mean for his arrangement with Ailynn. He wished there was a way to reassure Raslin without telling him anything that could put him in danger.

Maneuvering across the roof, Kyros carefully inspected the shingles. The shingles below his feet were solid, even near the chimney where Raslin had pointed him. Still, Kyros took his time looking them over, paying more attention to his thoughts than the shingles. He should tell Raslin the cover story … or put him off for the moment by saying that he needed to discuss it with Ailynn first. Raslin would respect that, and then hopefully Ailynn could cement the cover story with him.

Raslin had the rotting shingles out by the time Kyros returned. He was studiously inspecting the opening they'd left, not looking up when Kyros loudly approached. The roof wasn't meant for stealth, but Raslin acted as though he hadn't heard Kyros as he'd clambered across the slope of the roof.

"The shingles up by the chimney look good," Kyros said, which earned him a curt nod from Raslin. Kyros tamped down on a sudden surge of anger. It wasn't as though he didn't want to tell Raslin—it was just better that Raslin didn't know. It was going to be dangerous enough leaving him there without warning him.

Raslin picked up a shingle and fitted in into place. He didn't acknowledge Kyros' presence, even when Kyros passed him the hammer and a nail. Kyros rolled his eyes, but continued to pass Raslin materials as he needed them. Raslin didn't say a single word, and Kyros wanted to shake him.

"Look," Kyros started as Raslin finished nailing the last shingle into place.

"If you want to keep whatever your problem is to yourself, that's fine," Raslin said sharply, cutting off Kyros without looking at him. "Do me a favor and don't try to ply me with excuses, though. You never were very good at them."

"I can't tell you," Kyros said icily, in the tone he'd perfected dealing with the mage candidates who had decided they were somehow better than Kyros and the rest of the 'country' boys who ended up in Alesdor for training. "I need to discuss it with my mother before I can tell anyone else."

"You could have just said that," Raslin said, finally looking at him, and Kyros flinched at the anger on Raslin's face, "Instead of trying to make me think that nothing is going on. I'm not stupid, Kyros."

"I never thought you were," Kyros said, scowling. He couldn't reach out and shake Raslin—they'd both fall off the roof. "I wasn't … there's nothing wrong with me visiting for a week or two."

"Except you just admitted that there's more to your visit,"

Raslin said scathingly. "Which means you're trying to mislead me and make me think that nothing's wrong."

"Because I can't tell you anything, yet," Kyros said slowly, gritting his teeth.

"You should have said that," Raslin said, throwing up his hands. He braced himself against the roof, standing carefully.

"Forget it. I'm going to check the rest of the roof. Go talk to your mother, if it's that important I not be around for it."

Kyros hesitated, but finally nodded. "All right." He stood, but hesitated, not wanting to leave with Raslin angry at him. "I will tell you."

"Sure," Raslin said, obviously not believing him. Kyros gave up, making his way to the edge of the roof where the ladder was positioned as Raslin moved in the opposite direction.

Kyros climbed down the ladder carefully, wondering where he'd managed to foul up that talk. Probably when he'd decided to treat Raslin like he was a possible threat, Kyros thought, scowling at the side of the house. Raslin hadn't tried to work it out, hadn't tried to resolve the argument like he had always done when they were younger. But five years was a long time, and Kyros had no right to expect Raslin to react like he'd done when they were younger. He didn't know anymore how Raslin reacted to anything.

Putting his feet on the ground, Kyros headed into the house.

Thanks to Raslin, he had a window of opportunity to talk to his mother without anyone interrupting, much earlier than he'd expected. Inside, Ailynn sat on a stool by the fire in the kitchen, a pile of laundry beside her. She was in the process of darning a sock, squinting down at the needle she was pushing through the fabric.

"That was quick," Ailynn said, looking up.

"I was getting in the way more than helping," Kyros said, crossing the room to join her. He pulled up a stool next to the fireplace, wondering how to start.

"Are you going to tell me why you've really come home now, Kyros?" Ailynn asked calmly, looking back down at the sock.

"How did you know?" Kyros asked, running a hand through his hair. He was suddenly nervous, which was silly, but then again, it was his mother, and he had to admit to her that he'd screwed up.

"I'm getting older, not stupider, Kyros," Ailynn said, favoring him with a wry look. "You've come to visit after no word for years, you're only staying a week, and you didn't remember that Solstice is in two weeks. Why are you really here, Kyr? Are you in trouble?"

"Unfortunately," Kyros said, shrugging awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I should have made time to come sooner, but there was never … that doesn't matter. I need you to leave with me."

"To go where?" Ailynn asked, pursing her lips in disapproval.

Kyros stifled a sigh; this wasn't going to be easy.

"Away from here. Look, it's …" Kyros paused. He'd had two weeks to figure out what to say and how to say it, and now that he was there, his mind was blank. "There are a lot of corrupt men in charge of the mage guild. The ones on the council for magic are the worst. To get anywhere in the mage ranks… well, it's not a pleasant process. It usually involves doing something underhanded or hurting other people."

Ailynn paused in her darning, looking up at him. It wasn't a damning expression, which Kyros had almost feared. She didn't say anything though, obviously waiting for him to continue, so Kyros did so.

"I didn't do anything I regret," Kyros said immediately.

"There were a number of opportunities for me to get ahead at the expense of others, and I refused to take them. That didn't go unnoticed, and I think it made the council that leads the mage guild nervous. That's the only explanation I can think of, because there was no other reason for them to try to force me out of the school."

"Are you here because you were kicked out of school, Kyr?"

Ailynn asked. "There will always be a place for you here, even if you have to share the loft with Raslin."

"I wasn't kicked out," Kyros said. That would have been too easy. "They tried to force me out, but I fought it. There's a provision, an old provision, that I dug out of the law books. If enough higher-level mage students, assistant mages, or full mages sign a petition attesting to the corruption of the mage council, then the Crown has to disband the council to conduct an investigation."

"I take it the council didn't approve," Ailynn said, her face expressionless.

Kyros nodded. "I'd collected about half the signatures I needed before they found out. I don't know if one of the mages I was working with informed them or if they were spying on me.

I returned one night to my rooms to find them gutted and my belongings trashed. When that didn't deter me, they tried to pressure me in other ways. They cut off my stipend. I received threatening letters. A few of the council members even tried to bribe me."

Ailynn snorted, cracking a small smile. "As though my son would accept bribery."

"I didn't," Kyros confirmed. "So they stooped to dirtier measures." Kyros hesitated. He hated this part, but she needed to know. "My rooms were next door to another mage candidate. His name was Mylis. I was friendly with him—we talked sometimes. Most of the other mage candidates didn't associate with me, partly because I'm not from the city and partly because I don't agree with the idea that they're—that we, as mages—are better than anyone else."

"What happened to your friend?" Ailynn asked quietly.

"He was murdered," Kyros said, just as quietly. "I … he wasn't involved. I didn't even ask him to sign the petition, but they knew of our friendship. They came up with a witness that claimed to have seen us drinking together earlier in the night, and then another who had witnessed us fighting. They planted the knife in my room, and when it was searched a few hours later, they found it easily."

"They'll look for you here, you know," Ailynn said, frowning at him. "It isn't safe, even for a visit. Do you have somewhere else—"

"That wasn't the end of it," Kyros said, cutting her off gently. "I had other friends in the city. They warned me and hid me before I could be arrested. That was three months ago. I stayed, kept trying to find a way to get the council disbanded."

Ailynn's frown deepened, but she didn't say anything, watching him with concern.

"I managed to get almost all of the signatures I needed,"

Kyros said, curling his hands into fists to hide their shaking.

"Then someone who was in the council's pocket managed to get hold of the list. I'd been keeping it with me at all times, to keep the mages who'd pledged their support safe. Someone on the council's payroll managed to steal it. The council pressured the mages who'd signed, and most of them withdrew their support."

"Oh, dear," Ailynn murmured, folding her hands together over the half-darned sock in her lap.

"Then I received more threats, but not against me," Kyros said, remembering vividly the note that had laid out how they would find his family, that each and every relative they found would suffer the same fate as Mylis.

"You mean me," Ailynn said, raising her eyebrows.

Kyros nodded, not elaborating on the threat. "There's a small coastal town in the eastern province. I've visited before, and there are some lovely cottages near the beach there that would make a wonderful home—"

"You want me to leave," Ailynn said, and given the flat tone and the stubborn set to her jaw, Kyros knew he was going to have a devil of a fight to get her to agree.

"If I didn't think …" Kyros started, then stopped, taking a deep breath. "A carriage is coming to take you there. It's a long trip, but I'd feel better knowing that you're safe—"

"And what about you?" Ailynn asked sharply, cutting him off. "Are you planning to stay here?"

"No," Kyros said, shaking his head. "I can't stay anywhere too long. I was planning to go south for a few months, then head back to Alesdor—"

"You're going back there?" Ailynn demanded, her voice growing louder. "I know I didn't raise an idiot."

"I can't just give up," Kyros said, then shook his head. "You'll go, though? It… I don't want you to be hurt."

"I've lived in Ourenville my entire life, Kyros," Ailynn said, shaking her head. "I'm not about to be run off by vague threats.

What are they going to do, come into town and burn down my house? I've done nothing wrong, so they can't do anything to me."

"They'll do more than burn your house down," Kyros said bluntly. "They'll drag you off to Alesdor on trumped up charges for one thing or another. They weren't idle threats, mother, and I'm not betting your safety on the council's sense of honor. They don't have any such thing, and I don't want you hurt."

"I'm too old to start over in a new town, Kyros," Ailynn said, picking up her needle again. She focused her attention back onto the sock in her lap, and Kyros scowled.

"You're not old," Kyros said, refusing to accept that excuse.

"The men who will be escorting you should have a house set up and ready for you to move into—"

"And how do you know they aren't bought out by the council and you're sending me straight into their arms?" Ailynn asked, her needle flashing in the light cast by the fire as she continued to patch the sock.

"Because they have their own reasons for hating the council," Kyros said, forcing himself to be patient. He was asking a lot, even if he wasn't asking it lightly.

"What reasons?" Ailynn asked.

"Jallen is the cousin of the man the council murdered to frame me," Kyros said flatly. "Ambry was driven out of the mage school when he wouldn't back down from badmouthing the council's methods."

"I see," Ailynn said quietly, biting off the thread as she finished the sock. Setting the needle aside, she inspected her work.

"Think about it, please," Kyros said, deciding it was better to not push her to agree to leaving immediately. "I'll be able to visit you eventually, but it won't be safe for me to come back here after this visit."