Page 21 of Brave Truth

“I should see if Ursula and Jim would host a tour, actually. Though I’m sure she’s thought about it and has a plan for the best time to do it.” Claudio leaned back. They kept up the conversation about the various enticements and encouragements for the magical estates to grow or not grow certain things for a fair bit. It was long enough that the bohort players and their supporters filtered in and got established. York had brought out their food, and both of them ate between bits of conversation, not rushing either.

Finally, Matthew worked up the courage to say, “You’d mentioned friends, but I’m a little curious about who. Besides the professors.”

“I get on well with all the other Penelopes, though we don’t always socialise much together on a regular schedule. Different times we’re free and all that. Supper with the Edgartons every fortnight or so. They make a habit of everyone being there for Friday evening, unless there’s a true emergency. That’s a grand wrangle. They’ve got an extended household with a wide range of interests.”

Matthew made a mental note that this was obviously a safe topic to come back to sometime. Claudio went on, a hair more deliberately. “I have supper with my son, Tiberius, Wednesdays, when Mother’s busy. I see Minerva— that’s my daughter— Sundays for tea. She’s not yet eleven. She’ll be at tutoring school next year. Mother on Sunday for supper, unless she’s got another invitation.”

“And friends?” Family was different, obviously. Also, he wasn’t entirely sure how to ask about the divorce, or what seemed a cautious relationship with his mother. Well-defined boundaries, certainly, of a kind Matthew absolutely hadn’t figured out how to have.

“Ah.” That got a warmer smile. “I mentioned Orion. We’ve been friends since Schola. Claimed each other as brothers after my third year. He’s loyal to the end of the world, also stubborn and prone to arguments. Keeps me from getting a stuffed head, among his many other virtues.” There was absolute fondness there, though Matthew didn’t think it was a more romantic or sexual fondness. On the other hand, plenty of people had in fact fooled around with their best friend at one point or another.

Claudio went on. “Hypatia Ward, now Hypatia Sisley, and Cammie Gates-Clark were both assigned to the same project Orion and I were, the end of the war. Obviously, that worked out well for Orion, but we all ended up close and with complementary approaches to magical innovation. Hypatia mostly does Materia work. You might have read her articles by now if you’ve caught up. Orion’s on the Council, you knew that?”

Matthew nodded. Claudio gestured with one hand. “And Cammie does cryptography and codes, you know that bit, but also patterns of information in general. We have supper every Thursday, often with a couple of other people, depending on who’s free. Cammie’s husband, Orion’s younger brother, people like that. And sometimes I see one or the other at other times, depending. An evening out here or there at one of the clubs, being sociable. We’ve got a monthly poker game, for example.”

“It—” Might as well say it. “Honestly, I’m envious of that. I get along with people, but no one like that. Steady.” It felt like admitting failure.

“I do not know how I got lucky enough that Orion and I sorted things out like we did. And then Cammie and Hypatia, too. I wish everyone had those kinds of friends. The world would be a much better place.” Claudio lifted his cider bottle. “Should say, I’m enjoying this. And I— actually, there’s something I wanted to say, but I don’t actually know if it’s relevant?”

That made Matthew a little wary, but he was fairly sure by now that whatever Claudio said next could be managed. He nodded. Claudio set down his cider and spoke carefully. “I had supper with Cammie on Saturday, actually, and asked her a bit about you. Same year and all. She mentioned she hadn’t known you to be closer to anyone like a partner. I just wanted to say that, um. Whatever the reason for that might be, it doesn’t bother me. Used to all sorts these days.” He seemed entirely earnest, by any measure Matthew could think of, though someone like Claudio surely knew how to seem earnest when he wasn’t. It was a survival skill in his sort of social circles.

That was simultaneously wonderful to hear and utterly confusing. Matthew could not figure out, not fast enough, how to ask for clarification. He managed a garbled “Um.” Then he tried again. “Thanks. For saying it. Guessing’s rotten.”

Another man, with a better grasp on his wits, could have put a sentence together about whether that was why Claudio had gone to the bother of getting divorced. The friends he’d mentioned, the close ones, were all married. Not that it stopped rather a lot of people having an affair, and certainly people made other arrangements that weren’t actually cheating. Matthew could not get his mouth to do anything useful, though.

Claudio nodded, hesitated, then said, “Figured it might be easier to have it said.” Then he glanced up, as the bohort crowd was getting louder. “Do you want to stick around, or are they too much now?”

Matthew took a breath. “Thinking I might get home. The charms are great, but I’ll have a headache trying to keep track of what they’re doing if I stay.”

“Can’t have that.” Claudio nodded. “Might drop you a note if I come across something interesting. I often do when I’m raiding the bookshelves in Thesan and Isembard’s rooms.” It seemed entirely friendly and ready to let the awkwardness drop.

“I’d like that. Always looking for something new to read.” There. Both of them could find a continuing subject, which was good. Claudio pushed back from the table, and Matthew followed. They walked out together, except for the bit about getting through the crowd near the front. Outside, Claudio gave him an amiable wave and set off for Portal Square. Matthew waited and then took the roundabout route back to his flat.

Chapter 15

Sunday, March 19th

Claudio came out of the guest room, stretching. It had been a delightful day in every dimension. He’d been out at Schola since yesterday, and it had been every bit as restorative as he’d hoped. He’d spent the morning and early afternoon working on the salle’s enchantments with Isembard and a couple of hours working with Thesan on the school telescope maintenance. It was exactly the kind of practical and fiddly magical work he found most relaxing.

They’d had supper downstairs with the couple of other staff still around over the holidays, then come back up to wash and settle in for the evening. Leo, their son, was off at Arundel with his sister, at least for tonight. It made a quiet and comfortable feeling in their rooms.

Thesan was on the cluster of sofas by the door, her feet up. She’d changed into a loose housedress, with a well-loved cardigan over it. As Claudio considered his options, Isembard came up the hall from their bedroom, patting Claudio on the shoulder as he ducked into the little kitchen to put on the kettle. Thesan, though, looked at Claudio and tilted her head. “You’ve been thinking about something?”

“I usually am,” Claudio pointed out, because that was true. Thesan spread her hands, acknowledging the point, and just waited. He glanced behind him to the kitchen, then said. “Had a conversation that went a little oddly on Tuesday and I’ve kept coming back to it?”

“Well. We’ve time, nowhere to be, other than maybe an hour or two of observing later if the weather holds long enough.” Thesan reached over for her darning basket. “Tell me about it?” Isembard came out, and she added, “Us.”

The thing was, Claudio wanted to talk it out with people who’d listen and quite likely help. And these were the people he trusted most in the world for that sort of advice, though these days Gabe was also very much in that group. They’d known him for decades. They’d both taught Matthew Lawson, too, and they stayed in touch with their former students in ways they kept firmly to themselves.

If he’d messed up in a way that might be a problem for Matthew, they’d have an idea how to make it better. He took a breath and laid it out. The summary version, not getting into anything specific, other than that Matthew had had a bit of a bad turn.

As he came to the end, Thesan got the expression on her face that she had when she was about to figure out how to explain some bit of social dynamics to Orion. Claudio had never had that look directed at him, and he was entirely uncertain what to do about it now, other than sit there. The kettle sounded, but Thesan held up a finger when Isembard moved to get up. “Moment, love. Claudio, can I ask which pub?”

“Urania’s Apples. Why?” Claudio paused. “I suppose you might know it, given the name.”

That obviously amused her. “Isembard, my love. This is a cider conversation, not a tea conversation. And slice up one of the stored apples, because we might as well have the full set of symbology?” Isembard raised an eyebrow, the way he did when he was missing a piece of something, but he got up and went into the kitchen. Thesan went on, choosing her words carefully. “There’s some context you’re missing that I’m quite sure is relevant. Give me a minute, and I’ll figure out how to explain it.”

Claudio took a breath, suddenly feeling very on edge. But he was with people he trusted. They were in a room he knew was safe and private in all the ways Isembard’s skills and Thesan’s determined sense of community could make a space. Neither of them was showing any signs of being angry with him, or even mildly annoyed. He wasn’t sure he could deal with that. It felt like all of his skin was raw, almost sunburned. Not a problem he usually had, though he’d talked through that sensation with Orion a few times.