Page 20 of Brave Truth

“He runs them well. Competent, steady, with a good sense of the actual priorities even when they change. He lays things out. He keeps people to the stated time limits. We end a hair early most weeks.” Which was, in fact, a fascinating demonstration of skill, if a subtle one. “And he’s been making sure we manage a couple of long-term discussions in manageable chunks. Hall was awful at that bit. We’d lurch along.”

“So you’re saying you have found someone who appreciates your own high standards with administrative work, and you might want to chat more about that with him.” Cammie said it with a completely straight face, then added more gently. “You know we all think you should have more friends. We are fine friends. You have the Penelopes. You have more capacity for people, and I can’t imagine why more people aren’t flocking to your door.”

“When they have flocked, it’s been the family name and— well. Mother doesn’t help that these days.” Claudio shrugged slightly. “I enjoyed talking to him. I went round to check, Thursday. He didn’t put me off. We took a quick walk and a chat and got a pastry. The jam tarts from the Moon and Stars.” That, of course, was a key bit of information.

“Well,” Cammie leaned back. “I don’t know anything against him. Certainly nothing that makes me want to go bite him.” That was, in fact, decent praise from her. Cammie was also not subtle about applying teeth as a form of problem-solving, at least metaphorically. She added, after a moment, “I don’t know much about his family, except that I recall he came from London?” Claudio had found that bit, so he nodded. “But he’s living here, so that implies maybe that’s awkward somewhere.” She waved a hand. “Bring me additional points of information. I will do the usual signals magic on them as required.”

“You’re extremely reliable that way, yes. So, what was the bit you were working on yesterday, then? You said Thursday that you had something you were researching, and you put me off.” That topic kept them amiably occupied until Duncan reappeared fifteen minutes later, with Kenna firmly in bed.

They migrated to the dining room and the rabbit stew, still chatting about a particular pattern of possibly encoded historical letters she’d been working on as a side project. It was probably only social gossip from the late 1700s, but there was a chance there was something else in them.

Chapter 14

Tuesday, March 14th

Matthew went into the meeting on Tuesday as fully prepared as he could be. His notes from last week had been fine up until the last few minutes, and Claudio had sent along a note in the journal with the last section of his own notes on Friday, along with the actual proposal he’d written up that went to everyone on the committee. That was a kindness Matthew didn’t know how to process. It was kind and it was thoughtful. But he also was sure it was not any particular effort on Claudio’s part.

The meeting itself went well, too. Claudio made a point— Matthew could tell— of easing a couple of points along. But he did it so deftly that Matthew wasn’t sure anyone else noticed. There was still energetic debate, of course. Something would be wrong if they didn’t have that. It was, however, a productive debate. Better yet, it set things up nicely for a gap in meetings.

Next week was the equinox, when quite a lot of people took advantage of the official holiday to take a breather. The Courts and schools would be in spring recess a week longer, so they wouldn’t be meeting as a group until April 4th. They usually met if one person was missing, but two or more usually meant at least considering a pause.

At the end of the meeting, everyone but Claudio wandered off, with a few friendly comments or promises to pass along that title of the book they’d mentioned. That felt good, too, that people finished the meeting in an amiable state of mind. Claudio, however, lingered, taking his time packing up his notes. Once everyone else had gone, he quietly asked, “Drink? Or do you have somewhere you need to be?”

“Drink, grand.” Matthew said it before he could even think about it. “Same place good for you?”

“I’d love a chance to try a bit more of what they have on offer.” Matthew wasn’t sure how to take that, but Claudio seemed pleased. Matthew shrugged on his jacket, finished putting his notes away, then glanced at his bag. “Mind if I stop up at my office, rather than carting it around?”

“Not at all. Meet you in the foyer? You don’t need me hovering.” Matthew wouldn’t have minded it, but the foyer was in fact designed to have people wait in it. He went up to his office, taking a minute or two to leave things ready for the next morning. When he came down, Claudio was on a bench on the right, looking perfectly poised, reading a small book. He put it away immediately, so Matthew didn’t get a look at the title.

They walked along quietly. When they went past Aelfdane’s Art and Antiques, Matthew thought about saying something, but then he wasn’t sure how to start the conversation. Thank you for making sure there was colour in my flat. I’m sure you didn’t mean to do that. Thank you for reminding me that beautiful things exist, and has anyone mentioned you’re easy on the eyes? Thank you for treating me the way you did, not like something broken and discarded. None of that was remotely a thing he could say or imagine saying.

The pub had plenty of space, thankfully. They put in their orders at the bar— food and drink both, though Claudio was trying a different cider than last time. Matthew only knew about this because he’d asked about the options. Matthew had cider instead of beer; he liked both. But he wasn’t sure if Claudio was intending anything. Cider was a clearer signal if a signal was actually relevant.

York gestured at a table near the back. “Fine to put up a privacy charm or a sound charm, if you want. Likely to get noisy in here in twenty. Gather the apprentice league match was short, and the third Ministry team will be celebrating once they wash up.” Mid-week, it was the lower-ranked teams, and less of an interesting thing to watch, even if they hadn’t been busy with work.

“Hah.” Claudio claimed his glass. “Let me know if they get too rowdy and you need a hand, yeah? I’ve got training for that.”

York acknowledged it with a smile, and Matthew led the way to the indicated table. Just space for two of them, a half-wall separating them from the next spot. That helped with the charms, Matthew knew. Claudio settled in the chair and asked, “My charms or yours?”

“Yours, please.” Matthew added, taking a minor risk. “You’re trained for that, too, aren’t you?”

It earned him a broad grin. “And I’ve got a particular delight for figuring out which one’s best in a particular place and time.” He half-closed his eyes for a moment, not rushing the decision. Then there were a few quick movements of his hands and fingers and a glorious peace and quiet in their bit of space. “Is that good for you?”

“Grand.” All right. Matthew might generalise that he liked watching Claudio be deft with magic. It was not limited to bohort, just that bohort gave the man opportunities. It also suggested a topic of conversation. “Do you still play bohort?”

“Pickup matches with friends sometimes. It is not considered entirely sporting for the Penelopes to play more generally, unless they spread us out on other teams. We know entirely too many odd tricks. And our schedules are horrendous, so it’s also not fair to put us on teams when we can’t make it half the time.” Claudio did not seem to mind the schedule either. He said it with a bit of a grin.

“Any plans for the equinox break? Or do you get one?” Matthew hesitated. “I suppose the sort of thing you do doesn’t actually take holidays.”

“Or rather, there are different sets of problems more likely to show up. People are a little more likely to take a break from their usual work, so fewer problems with alchemy labs or unstable magic of various kinds. But we’re a little more likely to see a ritual gone wrong, or the sort of problems of putting families that don’t get on together in one place for too long. Not all the time, but people need to be available to help. I’m taking a couple of days’ holiday, actually, though they know they can call me in.” Claudio shrugged amiably.

Before Matthew could figure out what to ask next, he took a sip of his cider and went on. “We don’t have particular family customs, so I’m spending the time with Thesan and Isembard at Schola. He wanted a hand trying out a new technique for managing the salle. And Thesan always does some maintenance on the school telescopes around now. I can help with some of the charms, and I can certainly stand there and hand her the right tool on demand.”

“That seems like a working holiday?” Matthew paused, to see if Claudio would be offended, but he got a smile back. “But pleasant?”

“It gives me an excuse to turn down other things I don’t want to be at much, and,” he shrugged, “I like the time with the two of them when it’s quiet and we don’t need to rush. Ursula— their daughter, obviously— and her husband are hosting something later in the week. I’ll go to that if I’m not called out. See my other friends.” That had something a little wistful in it. “You?”

“Oh, no one to do things with, really. We’ve the week off work, of course, standard Ministry schedule.” They got a week at the spring equinox, a week each for summer and winter solstice. Plus three solid weeks on their own schedule, not that Matthew had any plans to take any of that. He wouldn’t know what to do with it. “I did book onto a tour of one of the estates, up in Cumbria. They’ve been doing some interesting things with the gardens and materia.”