She reached over and took his hand. “I want Penderrin safe, Bek. If this involves your sister, it probably involves her enemies, and her enemies are too dangerous for a boy to deal with.” She glanced over at the Druid airship. “I hate it that we’ve become involved in her life again.”
He straightened and took her in his arms. She let him do so, but her body remained stiff and angry as he held her. “Don’t be too quick to blame this on Grianne,” he whispered. “We don’t know anything for sure yet. We don’t even know that Pen is missing. All we know is what we’ve been told, and we can’t really trust that.”
She nodded and inclined her head into his shoulder. “What if he’s telling the truth? We can’t dismiss that possibility, either. Just because he hasn’t told his story well doesn’t mean it isn’t true. We can’t take chances with Pen’s safety.”
He pressed her against him reassuringly. “Nothing will happen to Pen. Remember who raised him. He isn’t without resources or skills. If he’s disappeared, it may be because he wants it that way. What we need to do is to discover the reason. But we have to go to Paranor to do that. Are you willing to take the chance?”
She backed out of his embrace, and he saw the familiar resolve reflected in her green eyes. “What do you think?”
SIX
Shadea a’Ru walked alone down the lower west corridor of the Druid’s Keep, listening beyond the soft scrape of her footfalls for other sounds. The air was warm and stultifying outside the walls of the Keep, but cool and resonant inside. A barely audible whisper of faraway voices reverberated off the stone walls like motes of dust dancing in the light.
She listened to those voices carefully, but only to make certain they did not follow her.
They would be serving the noon meal now, and a period of rest would follow for those who cared to take advantage of it. Few would. The Druids she led knew there were consequences for any failure to complete their work. She kept them guessing as to what those consequences might be or when to expect them. She let them work without supervision or deadlines because her unpredictability was all the incentive they required. A little uncertainty and a few object lessons were strong motivators.
She did not visit acts of reprisal on those who disappointed her; she knew better than to do that. She did not use her office to punish outright. She had learned a long time ago that consequences must be administered in more subtle ways. A few well-chosen examples set the tone. She provided them early on, within days after gaining the position of Ard Rhys, a clear indication of her expectations. She chose two younger Druids, ones lacking in broad support, ones whose presence would not be missed. She called them into her office and simply dismissed them. She sent them home without offering them even the smallest clue as to how or why they had failed. They might apply for reinstatement, she advised, once they had determined the nature of their shortcomings. It was a fair and just approach to the strict demands of the order’s disciplines, and no one could find fault with how she had handled things.