“I believe so,” Kaiura said. “Though Eskin Badapple’s boy is nearly seventeen.”
“Very well.” He spun the ledger to face her. “I will interview them in order. Can I trust you to arrange it?”
Kaiura blinked, tugging absently at her hair. “All of them, Agathios?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t want to be less than thorough.”
“Of course,” Kaiura echoed. She picked up the book. “Excuse me, then.”
Tanax gave a dismissive wave. Kaiura bowed again and went out, leaving Maya and the others alone. Maya glanced at the door and lowered her voice.
“You’re going to interview everyone?” she said.
“If I have to.”
“What’s the point?” Maya shook her head. “If these people weren’t terrified of us before, they certainly are now. Why would they tell you anything?”
Tanax gave her a sidelong look. “Apparently Jaedia neglected some parts of your education. The Council will be receiving my report.”
“Jaedia—” Maya shook her head. Jaedia would have gone straight to the inn, started buying drinks, and gotten the villagers to tell her stories. “She does things differently.”
“I imagine.” He sighed. “While it’s not my responsibility to educate you, if you must know, this is standard procedure. A nervous subject is more likely to slip up under questioning.”
“What, they’re going to just blurt out that they’re smuggling dhak?”
“Of course not. But they will make mistakes in their answers, and when we compare one interview to the next, a pattern of lies will emerge, depend on it. Then we will know where to direct our investigation.”
“And this is how Dogmatics do things?” Maya said, unable to restrain herself.
“This is how the Order does things. I suggest you learn if you ever want to get your cognomen.”
Maya shut her mouth, biting back a sarcastic reply. Tanax turned to Beq.
“Arcanist-Trainee, I will require your assistance taking notes. Requisition paper and ink from the villagers.”
“Um. Yes.” Beq fiddled with her spectacles, lenses clicking back and forth. “You think there’s a store around here—”
“Just ask for some,” Tanax said flatly. “It’s their duty under the law to provide for the Order.”
“Right.” She gave a worried nod, glancing at Maya. “I’ll just … go do that, then.”
“Don’t dawdle.” Tanax looked around. “I suppose you two had better keep watch outside. Make certain no one is eavesdropping, and tell Kaiura to send the interviewees in as soon as they arrive.”
“Yes, Agathios,” Varo said. He jerked his head at Maya, who’d been biting her tongue only with difficulty.
She glared at Tanax as Varo led her outside, not that the other agathios took any notice. Arrogant bastard. He was only a year older than her at most. Where does he get off—
“I’m starting to understand what you mean by behaving like a typical centarch,” Maya muttered when they were in the hall.
“Well.” Varo rubbed a hand across his bald skull. “Tanax may be a bit more snappish than most. I expect you have something to do with that.”
“Me?” Maya said, lowering her voice only at the last moment. “What did I do to him?”
“I’m not an expert,” Varo said, “but I know it’s rare to see two agathia from different factions on the same assignment. Probably ’cause they’d expect them to fight like cats in a sack. Maybe Tanax thinks your being here means the Council doesn’t trust him.”
“That’s ridiculous. The Council—” Maya shook her head. “It has nothing to do with him, I’m certain.”
“Try to explain that to him, if you get a chance.” Varo yawned. “Well, if the worst we have to deal with is Tanax being an ass, I’ll count this as one of my better assignments. Much better than the time—”
“I can guess,” Maya said, holding up a hand.
“Tore it right off,” Varo said, with a sad shake of his head.
He opened the front door, which produced a couple of high-pitched squeals. Two girls, aged seven or eight, fled from where they’d been pressed against the front of the house, taking cover behind the front hedge. Maya could see several other children of various sizes waiting there, eager for a glimpse of these rare visitors.
She stopped for a moment, affected by a sudden, powerful memory. I was playing with Gyre, and we saw a warbird coming … Her chest tightened, and her hand came up to touch the Thing.
“You all right?” Varo said. “No good with kids?”
“I’m … fine.” Maya shook her head. “Just memories.”
“You come from a place like this?” he said, strolling outside.
Maya followed, looking back at the house, which was a ramshackle two-story affair. It was built on a slope high on the hillside, giving it the look of an animal burrow, partially buried in the rocky ground. A hedge of neatly trimmed blackberry bushes demarcated a small front yard, full of blooming herbs and flowers. Around the side, a dirt paddock was occupied by the massive round shape of a vulpi terminal, its atrophied limbs receding into the rolling bloat of its fatty body, with a pair of more nimble yearlings peering out nervously from behind its bulk. Somewhere, a dog barked.
“Not exactly like this,” Maya said. “My parents were vulpi ranchers, near Threecrowns. It was all open country—you could see for kilometers. But … not so different, really.” She glanced at Varo. “Where did you come from?”
“Skyreach,” he said. “The bad part.”
“I didn’t think there was a bad part of Skyreach.”
“There’s a bad part of every city. Some of them are just better at hiding it.” He shrugged. “Took a test to get into the Order’s scouts when I was eight, with about a hundred other kids. I think I was the only one who passed.”
“That’s quite an honor.”
“I suppose. At the time all I knew was that it meant I wouldn’t have to worry where my next meal was coming from.” He gave Maya an odd look. “I suppose you didn’t get a choice.”
“Not really. My parents …” If she pressed her memory, she could recall their worried faces. And Gyre was screaming. “They knew it was best for me.”
“Of course.”
Varo cut off and stood a little straighter as Kaiura returned, a couple of anxious villagers with her. Two of the children had also attached themselves to her, taking a hand each and trailing nervously behind her like reluctant kites.
“These are the first two on the list, Agathios,” Kaiura said, pulling her hand away from the older girl and gesturing the villagers forward. They were an old man and a younger woman, close enough in looks that Maya guessed they were family. “Some of the others are out in the woods, or at work in the fields. I don’t know if I’ll be able to track everyone down before nightfall.”
“Just do your best,” Maya said. She smiled at the pair, which only made them cower. “You can go inside. He just wants to ask you a few questions.”