“I want him to have a good life,” Arvid said, looking out the window. On this side, the old palace had a long drop to the street below, already heading down the hill.

“So do all parents,” the Marshal-General said. “If you’re able, stay in Fin Panir. Let him attend the grange near the inn as a junior yeoman. He’ll gain skills and friends both. When he’s older, perhaps he’ll qualify for the school up here if he wants, or perhaps he’ll ’prentice to some craft or trade. You say he was on a farm for a while—did he seem to like that?”

“Yes, though after what he endured in the Guildhouse, he would have liked anything.”

“Can he read?”

“Not much, though he’s learning.”

“Granges offer basic reading skills—that will be Marshal Cedlin, near the inn. What about his fighting skills?”

“None, so far as I know.”

“Then the junior yeoman program will be good for him. I’ll write a note to Marshal Cedlin. Do you plan to keep him with you or foster him out?”

“He wants to stay with me,” Arvid said.

“That will do for now,” she said. “Now as to you—you’re still in your probationary year as a Girdsman, and that means you need a place to attend drill. Did you stop at any granges as you trav-eled?”

Arvid felt himself flushing. “No. We spent only one night in Fiveway, and I was more concerned to avoid the thieves I knew infested it. And no more than one night in any town since.”

“Gird said nothing to you about that?”

“No.”

“Well, now you’re in Fintha—and even more, in Fin Panir—you’ll need to attend drill regularly. For the time being, that’s at Marshal Cedlin’s grange; I’ll include that in my note to him. I want you to tell me—and him—about any instance that Gird speaks to you. Now, for employment—you write a fair hand, do you not?”

“Yes,” Arvid said.

“Good. I need someone to compile the notes I’ve made during recent meetings into a coherent report. Our scribes are overloaded. Will you accept that employment?”

“Yes,” Arvid said, “though I do not want to be away from the boy all day.”

“A half-day, mornings,” she said. “He can go to the grange for his schooling then. Will that suit?”

“Yes,” Arvid said. He did not want to ask how much, but she was already answering that.

“It will pay for your board at the inn, and we’ll take care of your mounts if you’ll agree to lend them—two of them, anyway—when we need them.”

“Certainly. Use all of them, if you can.”

“You’ll start tomorrow. I’ll write the note now, and you can take it as introduction to Marshal Cedlin.”