Shadow and claw by Gene Wolfe Page B

back in our little corner." To make conversation, I told him what the Chatelaine Thecla had said: that many people in the House Absolute did not know we existed.
    "That's so, I'm sure. When you're brought up in the guild it seems like the center of the world. But when you're a little older - this is what I've found myself, and I know I can rely on you not to tell tales - something pops in your head, and you discover it isn't the linchpin of this universe after all, only a well-paid, unpopular business you happen to have fallen into." As Roche had predicted there were coaches, three of them, waiting in the Broken Court. One was an exultant's with blazonings painted on the doors and palfreniers in fanciful liveries, but the other two were fiacres, small and plain. The drivers in their low fur caps were bending over a fire they had kindled on the cobbles. Seen at a distance through the falling snow it seemed no bigger than a spark.
    Roche waved an arm and shouted, and a driver vaulted into the seat, cracked his whip, and came rattling to meet us. When we were inside, I asked Roche if he knew who we were, and he said, "We're two optimates who had business in the Citadel and are bound now for the Echopraxia and an evening of pleasure. That's all he knows and all he needs to know."
    I wondered if Roche were much more experienced at such pleasures than I was myself. It seemed unlikely. In the hope of discovering whether he had visited our destination before, I asked where the Echopraxia lay.
    "In the Algedonic Quarter. Have you heard of it?" I nodded and said that Master Palaemon had once mentioned that it was one of the oldest parts of the city.
    "Not really. There are parts farther south that are older still, a waste of stone where only omophagists live. The Citadel used to stand some distance north of Nessus, did you know that?"
    I shook my head.
    "The city keeps creeping upriver. The armigers and optimates want purer water not that they drink it, but for their fishponds, and for bathing and boating. Then too, anyone living too near the sea is always somewhat suspect. So the lowest parts, where the water's the worst, are gradually given up. In the end the law goes, and those who stay behind are afraid to kindle a fire for fear of what the smoke may draw down on them."
    I was looking out the window. We had already passed through a gate unknown to me, dashing by helmeted guards; but we were still within the Citadel, descending a narrow close between two rows of shuttered windows.
    "When you are a journeyman you can go into the city any time you want, provided you're not on duty."
    I knew that already, of course; but I asked Roche if he found it pleasant.
    "Not pleasant, exactly . . . I've only gone twice, to tell you the truth. Not pleasant, but interesting. They know who you are, naturally."
    "You said the driver didn't."
    "Well, he probably doesn't. Those drivers go all over Nessus. He may live anywhere, and not get to the Citadel more than once a year. But the locals know. The soldiers tell. They always know, and they always tell, that's what everybody says. They can wear their uniforms when they go out."
    "These windows are all dark. I don't think there's anyone in this part of the Citadel at all."
    "Everything's getting smaller. Not much anybody can do about that. Less food means fewer people until the New Sun comes."
    Despite the cold, I felt stifled in the fiacre. "Is it much farther?" I asked. Roche chuckled. "You're bound to be nervous."
    "No, I'm not."
    "Certainly you are. Just don't let it bother you. It's natural. Don't be nervous about being nervous, if you see what I mean."
    "I'm quite calm."
    "It can be quick, if that's what you want. You don't have to talk to the woman if you don't want to. She doesn't care. Of course, she'll talk if that's what you like. You're paying - in this case I am, but the principle's the same. She'll do what you want, within reason. If you strike her or use a grip, they'll charge more."
    "Do