Mags was not as surprised as he might have been, because he was rather occupied with the question of why Bear had lied when he’d handed over the notes he had taken. “Sir, that’d be . . . real good of ye,” he said, hoping he sounded grateful and sincere. “Ain’t no secret.” He described how he had been found, the raid of the Guard on the bandit strong-hold, and what little he could remember. The old man nodded. “So, nothing more than due diligence to find this. I will assist you as I can.” He finished his soup and Mags got up to let him get out. “Of course, that will have to wait for some time, until things return to normal. We’ve left the Archive building snowed in; there seemed no good reason to heat it in this emergency, and it didn’t seem likely that anyone would want to get in there.” He chuckled then, just before moving away. “Well, perhaps your eager Healer friend. He was terribly anxious to discover whether your research privileges would expire when you found what you were looking for, and whether his were independent of yours. I was able to reassure him on that score.”

With that, the old man worked his way into the press of people trying to get fed, and was gone, leaving Mags feeling distinctly uneasy.

Bear had been acting oddly since coming back from Midwinter holidays. He had tried to act normally, but sometimes he had been sullen, almost angry, and now that Mags came to think about it, when the idea of checking the Guard reports had come up, though Bear had been relatively quiet about it, there had been an oddly keen quality in his interest. And when Mags had gotten them all permission, there had been a light in Bear’s eyes that was all out of proportion to the somewhat dull prospect of reading old reports.

And now this.

Why would Bear lie?

He bent his mind toward the stables, where Dallen, like the other Companions who were not immediately needed, was drowsing in a kind of semihibernation. Even the Heralds working down in Haven were mostly not bringing their Companions. There was just no room for them in the narrow snow passages, and there was not that much for the Companions to do except pass an occasional message.

:Dallen?:

It took the Companion a few moments to respond. Mags explained to him what had just happened, when he was sure Dallen was awake enough to take it all in. :Why would Bear lie?: he asked.