Page 16 of Brave Truth

Claudio turned into the building, nodding at the woman at the desk at the front. He was a known factor, of course, people recognised the Penelopes well enough in the Ministry, and he had the pin visible as well. “Had a question for Master Lawson.”

The woman just nodded, and Claudio went past, up two flights of stairs, and along to the correct office number. He’d double checked the layout first thing this morning, before he’d got dragged into the ritual problem. Lawson’s office was down at the end of the hall, not quite the corner, and the door was slightly ajar. There were no voices inside, so that was promising. Claudio rapped lightly on the frame. “Lawson? Penelope Warren, if you had a minute for a question?”

There was a slightly odd sound from inside, then Lawson clearing his throat. “Yes? Come in.”

The office was in fact tiny, just wide enough for a desk and space to get around it, with Lawson facing the door. Claudio couldn’t bear to have his back to a door either, not anywhere someone else might enter. He’d more or less trained himself to it at home, but the warding didn’t permit anyone else near his office door when he was in there. Now he put on his calmest smile. “I’d mentioned Tuesday I had a question. Sorry, I’d have stopped by yesterday, but the day kept adding tasks, I didn’t get home until nearly midnight.” He took in the desk, which had a few things out. “I don’t know where you’d prefer to talk?” He gestured. “Here. Or I don’t know if it’s time for your afternoon break or something of the kind. I could come back later?”

“You were out with your work?” Lawson didn’t quite stammer. Then he looked down at his desk and back up. “I was thinking I might go to a cafe, actually. Something like. Stretch my legs. If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Claudio rather liked the idea. “Do you have one you like near here?”

“Bakery?” Lawson suggested it a little cautiously. “You might know it, the Moon and Stars?” He said it as if there were some sort of particular weight on it.

“I do know it. A friend introduced me to it. Well, Ursula Fortier, you heard me mention her, at one or two of the meetings. A niece by choice, technically, or at least she calls me Uncle, when we’re not being professional. That’ll make a nice walk. It’s warmed up a bit, I think it was fifty-two when I left the office.”

Lawson nodded, not bothering to snag his coat, coming out in his jacket. Claudio retreated into the hallway to give him space to lock up his office with a quick touch to the warding panels, and then followed him downstairs and out into the street without further conversation. It wasn’t until they’d gone four blocks, about halfway the way to the bakery, that Lawson spoke again. “You had a question?” They’d come out of the Ministry Quarter, into the mid-range shops.

“To be honest, just to check in, Lawson.” Claudio tried not to sound nervy.

“You did?” Lawson stopped for a moment. “I mean.” He cleared his throat. “You were very kind, Tuesday. I didn’t thank you, but I’m grateful.”

Claudio hesitated. “It can be awkward sometimes. I didn’t want it to be awkward. Certainly not at the meeting. You’ve got enough to manage— and manage well— there.” Then he was momentarily distracted by something in the window two shops down, before he brought his attention back.

“You’ve done that for people before.” Lawson didn’t make it a question. Then he hesitated. “Under the circumstances, I suppose I’m Matthew.” That definitely sounded uncertain, but Claudio couldn’t figure out why.

“Claudio, then. And glad to go out for a drink some other time, if you’re not busy. Well, and if I’m not busy, which happens rather a lot, I’m afraid.” Then he cleared his throat, trying to stay on topic. “Enough times. Someone ought, people don’t, I won’t let myself duck that.”

“And the stone?” Lawson— Matthew— pressed the point.

“A long time ago, when I was at school, in my third year, you’d not have been there yet, right?” Claudio knew that well enough, but asking sounded better. Matthew nodded. “I’d had the sort of rough week that involved someone trying to abduct me. Entirely unsuccessfully, but it shook me up, even though it was just a few bad minutes. Not very long. Two days after that, Orion— um, Lord Sisley, now, my best friend since— turned up. It was the first time we’d really talked like that. He came to check on me. He gave me that rock. I’ve had it ever since. A touchstone, and yes, that’s an awful pun.” Claudio stopped. “I’m babbling.”

Matthew’s face went through a few shifts. Claudio didn’t know how to read them. “I thought you were the sort who had babbling trained out of you in infancy? You always seem so together.”

“Not always. I have bad times, too. The rock helps. It’s not a talisman or anything like that. Just a rock from the beach at Schola. Anyone could have one.” Claudio shrugged, spreading his hands out.

“Not everyone does. Or offered it. No one else has, actually.” Then Matthew’s eyes focused on something. “What’s that on your wrists?”

“Oh,” Claudio kept himself more controlled. “Charm work, today. I didn’t have a chance to change out my cuffs. It’ll come out with some charmwork and bleach. Though I rather like the effect, the colours,” He nodded up towards the windows. “That’s what caught my eye up there. The lampshade, the stained glass one in the window.”

Matthew edged a little closer to that shop window. “Huh.” He looked at it as if the idea of a decorative lamp was rather outside his experience. Though if he’d been living in Nuremberg or wherever else, his housing had likely been rather bleak until recently. Claudio had honestly been wondering if it was the lamp Mother had once sent to Camp 020. They’d not had room for such a thing without one of them risking knocking it over a dozen times a day. But it was an attractive sort of lamp of its kind, jewel tone colours, all the Schola house ones.

“I moved back home— the family estate— a few years ago. Well, a little over four now. Mother had someone come sort out the furniture, but I enjoy looking at pieces. I helped my son set up his own rooms eighteen months ago. Finding the right thing that pleases the eye? It’s a little like the rock, for me. Something steady, something that I want to have there.” He sucked in a breath. “Anyway, the pastry? I don’t know how long your break usually is.”

They went further along the street, with Matthew making a comment or two on the way. That bookshop was one he stopped in at fairly regularly. He sometimes got lunch from that shop. Claudio didn’t press about any of the questions, letting Matthew guide the conversation. They’d managed to get to the bakery before closing, but there wasn’t a lot to choose from. Jam tarts, mostly, but they looked and smelled wonderful.

Once they were both walking back toward the Ministry, Matthew cleared his throat. “Can I ask how you became a Penelope?”

Claudio had to laugh. “Oh, it’s Gabriel Edgarton’s fault.” He considered how to put this. “To start with, I apprenticed originally in Incantation. Before the war, I did the usual sort of consulting work, a range of projects, nothing terribly exciting or, well, necessary. Improving charms on spaces, that sort of thing. I didn’t need the money, but I did like feeling like I was doing something worthwhile.” He brushed past that bit.

Matthew nodded, then his expression changed at a bite of the tart. They were excellent, well-balanced with a flaky crust. Matthew hadn’t been able to keep the pleasure off his face, and Claudio was pleased by that. It was a sign that things were less awkward.

“I was working on something during the war, and I got permission to consult Gabe about some of it. I knew he’d been working on a related project. I expected it would be half an hour, he’d give me something I could use. It turned into three hours. Followed by an invitation to stay for supper with his family and another ninety minutes of wide-ranging conversation. He made it clear early on that if I wanted, the Penelopes would be interested in giving me more scope after the war.”

“Wait, what?” Matthew blinked at him. “Just like that?”

“Oh, Gabe makes leaps of intuition half a dozen times before breakfast some days. About that size. Though in this case, he’d thought about it for at least a few days. He’d consulted Isembard about it too, and—” Claudio thought about that, where to explain it from.

He settled on the basics. “Isembard and Thesan, I mean, you had them as teachers, I know you did. But he had the training of me. And bodyguard, a bit, when it was needed, while Orion and I were in school. When I finished, they sat us down and made it clear that we could be friends. That we could figure out how to be friends as adults. Or well, people learning how to be adults. It was grand having people who weren’t my parents, who just wanted good things for me and still do. Anyway, Isembard told Gabe that I’d listen to what he said, go away, and think about it.”