thatâd be useful. And two, that I reckon Tuck can make all manner of useful things for your handmaidens. A wench has got a lot more places she can hide things than a man does, just cause she has all those skirts and petticoats and shifts and things.â
âAnd hair ornaments, and jewelry,â added Dia, pursing her lips thoughtfully. Mags dug into his beltpouch and pulled out his new set of lockpicks, passing them over to Lord Jorthun, who looked them over with a knowledgeable eye.
âThese are better than my set,â he told Mags, passing themback. âI am extremely tempted now to see if I can transplant the fellow and his keeper to my own workshops.â
âItâd be safer for them both,â Mags admitted, âBut the poor manâs not right in the head. He might not take to the transplanting. I can ask, though.â
âIn the meantime, just for the sake of caution, Iâll have my man see about buying out the current owner of the building his âshedâ adjoins, so there is no chance anyone else gets the idea of taking it over.â Jorthun smiled thinly. âI would imagine making some repairs, and offering any vacant rooms or apartments to members of the Watch at a greatly reduced rate will put paid to the notion of this Cobber Pellen or any of his crew coming around and making further trouble.â
âThat it should, my Lord,â Nikolas replied, with a wry smile.
âSo, now that we have disposed of businessâhow goes the planning of the wedding?â Jorthun said, obviously expecting
one
of them, at least, to have some sort of spluttering reaction.
But if that was his intention, in this, he was disappointed.
âThatâs all in Diaâs hands now, my Lord,â Amily said smoothly. âAnd Lydiaâs. Weâre nothing more than actors in whatever play they come up with.â
âIt just seems more sensible to think of it that way,â Mags added. âAmily and I have got enough to worry aboutâand no relatives other than Nikolas to please. So we donât
care
what sort of pageant is ultimately decided on.â
âHmm. A sensible attitude, if a rare one,â Jorthun observed. âSo many young ladies seem to create hysterics trying to have a
perfect day.â
âPossibly because it is the only day in their entire lives where they are the center of attention,â Amily pointed out. âMost of the time, they are pawns to be moved about on the game-board. At least on their wedding day, while they might still be pawns, they are treated as queens.â
âWhereas you have rather more power than you are sometimes comfortable with, I suspect,â Jorthun replied. At Amilyâs startled look, he smiled. âNo, donât suspect me of Mindspeech. Your father was the same. The Kingâs Own should
never
be comfortable with the amount of power he or she can potentially wield.â
âWell, to get back to the subject you
asked
about, my love, I do have some ideas,â said Dia, and began relating them. Despite Magsâ relative disinterest in such things, he had to admit that Diaâs ideas were interesting, surprisingly practical, and would not require all that much of the two purported principals.
After a pleasant candlemark or so, Lord Jorthun excused himselfâafter first giving Mags carte blanche to contact him at any timeâgiving the three Heralds a graceful way of taking their leave. As if by magic, they found the three Companions, saddled and bridled and with three escorts attentively waiting beside them, at the front door. The three of them rode out of the front gate with Mags still feeling somewhat bemused.
âDid Lorâ Jorthun mean thet?â Mags asked, falling back into somewhat less formal speech with a feeling of relief at not having to think over every single word he said. ââBout callinâ on âim at any time, I mean.â
âOh,
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