The two villagers bowed hastily and went in. Kaiura watched for a moment, then looked down at the children, now huddling around her legs.
“Are they yours?” Maya said.
Kaiura nodded. “This is Sayura and Miura. Bow to the agathios, girls.”
The two little girls gave half-hearted bows. Maya gave them a smile, too, though it didn’t seem to help.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me what this is about?” Kaiura said, lowering her voice. “Life has been peaceful here. We haven’t seen a Legion sweep in two years, and no one has met a plaguespawn bigger than a rat. And now …” She looked at her kitchen window.
Maya bit her lip. Tanax is writing my report. It’s probably best not to contradict him directly. “I can’t say. But if there’s nothing wrong, I assure you that no one has anything to worry about.”
“Of course.” Kaiura’s face was hard, but Maya could see the disappointment there. “Excuse me, Agathios. I should find the next people on your colleague’s list.”
She turned and stalked out of the garden, the two children hurrying to keep up. On the way out she almost ran into Beq, who was hurrying in the other direction with a stack of paper and pens.
“Sorry!” the arcanist said to Kaiura, and then again to Maya. “Sorry! That took longer than I thought. I had to go to four houses before I found one with some paper, and—”
“You’d better go in,” Varo said. “He’s started the interviews. Best not to keep him waiting.”
“Right!” Beq gave a shaky grin. “I’ll go and take notes, then.”
When she was gone, Maya looked around. Apart from the gang of kids behind the hedge, there was no one else nearby.
“So now what?” Maya said. “We just stand out here like sentries?”
“I think that’s the idea.” Varo yawned. “I’m going to go and secure the rear of the house. There was a comfortable little hay shed that looked like it needed … guarding.” He winked at Maya. “Give a shout if you need anything, yeah?”
*
Taking a nap when she was supposed to be keeping a lookout might have been a dereliction of duty, but after several hours it was starting to sound very attractive. They’d been up early that morning, and as the sun rose clear of the tree line, the day was only getting hotter. Maya had retreated to a patch of shade, which was shrinking by the minute as noon approached.
Kaiura had returned several times, escorting families of villagers to their interviews with Tanax. The people she brought were mostly older, plus a few youths in their late teens. She explained that the day’s logging parties had already gone out, so most of the young men and women of the village wouldn’t be back until evening. That made Tanax scowl, but he had enough to keep him busy in the meantime.
When she came inside for water, Maya got a glimpse of her fellow agathios, delivering crisp questions to a frightened old woman. Beq, sitting beside him, looked miserable as she scratched away at a rough sheet of paper, writing down the answers. Maya had considered offering to take turns keeping notes, but watching Beq even for a moment made it clear that was foolish—the other girl’s writing was much faster and neater. It must be something they teach the arcanists.
Instead, Maya went back outside, huddling into the little shade that was left and watching the people of the village. After an interval, they’d emerged, cautiously, to go about the day’s business, working in their gardens and feeding animals, throwing occasional suspicious glances at Kaiura’s house. Even the children at the hedge had drifted off, apparently deciding that nothing interesting was happening after all, or else called back to do chores.
Maya was seriously considering slipping around the back of the house to ask Varo to trade off when another face appeared at the hedge. A girl with a bright purple ponytail and a nervous expression leaned out to look at Maya, then froze when she realized Maya was looking back. Maya cleared her throat.
“Did you need anything?” she said.
The girl took a deep breath to steel herself and approached. She looked about thirteen, with the same golden-tanned skin most of the villagers shared. Maya smiled again, and this time it actually seemed to work. The girl gave a nervous bow.
“H-hello.” Her eyes darted to the haken at Maya’s hip. “You’re one of the centarchs, right?”
“I’m an agathios,” Maya said. “A centarch-in-training. My name is Maya.”
“I’m Streza,” the girl said. “My grandmother told me not to talk to you. But …” Her lip twisted.
“What’s wrong?” Maya said.
“My brother’s missing,” Streza blurted. “Grandmother says he probably just tagged along with one of the logging parties, but I know he wouldn’t do that without asking. And she said not to tell anyone in the village, but you’re not from the village and Father used to say that centarchs would help anyone who needed it even if they didn’t have a reason. And—”
“Slow down,” Maya said. “Has your brother been gone long?”
“Since yesterday,” Streza said miserably. “Some of the logging teams stayed out overnight but I told Grandmother I saw him since they left.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“I think he was playing at the old storehouse,” the girl said eagerly. “We’re not supposed to go up there, but he and I used to play at ghouls and heroes. I saw him on the hill, but I thought he was going to visit Bannie.”
“You haven’t gone to look?”
“Just … just a little bit.” Streza crossed her arms. “There’s a lot of holes in the floor down into the old basement. I thought he might have fallen down, but I didn’t have a light, and …” She swallowed.
“Okay,” Maya said. “Can you wait here for a few minutes? I’m going to go inside and talk to someone.”
Fortuitously, Tanax and Beq had just finished their latest interview. An old man with a wild puff of gray hair stomped out, looking irritated, and Maya slipped in before the next villager could arrive. The heat in the closed-off kitchen was stifling. Tanax was leaning back in his chair, apparently perfectly comfortable, but Beq looked miserable hunched over her paper. She perked up as Maya entered.
“Any luck?” Maya said.
Beq started to answer, then looked to Tanax. The other agathios gave a regal smile.
“The pattern is still forming,” he said, “but I have enough to know something strange is going on. We’ll get to the bottom of it.” He leaned forward. “Nicomidi always said that patience and perseverance are the keys to successful work.”
“I’m sure,” Maya muttered.
“Have you found anything unusual?”
“Not so far,” Maya said. “There’s a girl asking for help, and I wanted to see what I could do for her.”
“Help?”
Maya explained what Streza had told her. As she spoke, Tanax’s frown deepened.
“If the boy’s grandmother isn’t concerned,” he said, “I don’t see why we should be. Surely she would know best.”
“Probably,” Maya admitted. “But it’s a good excuse to poke around. And it might help build a little goodwill with the villagers.”