sermon you ever heard.’
Asher winced. Damn. How could the prince have noticed that? The royal family sat up the front of the palace chapel, while he always made sure to find the most shadowy corner right down the back. ‘Sir?’
‘Relax. I won’t tell. Holze is a good man, but even I have to admit his sermons are a trifle longwinded. The trick is to doze with your eyes open.’
‘Oh,’ said Asher. ‘Right.’ He’d be sure to try it, very next Barlsday.
‘Anyway. About WeatherWorking. The thing is, it’s very difficult and requires enormous amounts of energy. His Majesty gets tired,’ The prince frowned. ‘Exhausted. And before I assumed these extra duties, he would deplete his reserves of strength attending to them. At first he resisted \ the idea of relinquishing the obligation, but in the end Her Majesty, the Master Magician and I prevailed.’
So. Not so much a case of ‘find the poor magickless prince something to do’, mayhap, as a matter of necessity. Or both. Two fish caught with the same hook. Asher thought of his own da. The arguments they’d had about slowing down. Taking care.
‘Reckon fathers don’t take too kindly to their sons reminding ‘em they ain’t as young as once they were.’
The prince sighed. ‘No. Mind you,’ he added sharply, ‘this in no way suggests that the king is unfit. Let me make that abundantly clear. He is as capable today as he was at his coronation. The kingdom could rest in no stronger hands.’
‘I never said otherwise. You just want to do the right thing by your da. Help him, like a good son should. Reckoi I can see that. Reckon I admire you for it.’
‘So you do see, then, how important it is that I not fii as Olken Administrator? Failure would mean he’d resumt those duties. Tax his strength, when all his strength mustti given to WeatherWorking. And failure, my failure, would k used against him to —’
Another silence. The sun was sinking fast now. Long shadows crept across the manicured grounds on either side of them, through the trees, across the road. Asher swallowed.
‘What d’you mean, used against him? Who’d want to use you to hurt the king?’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘X Tobody,’ said the prince eventually, not looking at him. ‘It’s complicated. Just tell me you’ll change your mind, Asher. Tell me you’ll take the job.’
Feeling cornered, pressured, Asher stamped his heels into the roadway. A flock of nightbirds flew overhead, their harsh cries scraping the sky.
‘This be politics, eh?’ he said accusingly. ‘You be askin’ me to mucky myself with politics. That ain’t my job. My job’s fishin’ and sailin’ and shit shovellin’. Honest dirty work. I leave politics to the likes of … of …’
‘Me?’ said the prince, smiling faintly.
‘You’re different,’ muttered Asher. ‘You got born to it without a say-so. You want me to choose it. On purpose.1 He released a hard-held breath. ‘Look. There’s got to be a hundred Olken out there who’d lick the road clean from the City gates to your front door to get a job like this.’
‘That’s true,’ said the prince. ‘Which is just one of the many reasons why you’re perfect for the position. As my right hand, you’d be advising me on a wide range of Olken matters. Customs. Ways of thinking and experiencing the world that I, as a Doranen, might never understand. No matter my good intentions or willingness to learn. It means that in some cases I’d be letting you make the decisions altogether if I thought you were the better qualified to do so. Most people would eventually be overcome by much power. They’d abuse it. But you’re not most people, Asher. In all honesty, you’re not like anybody I’ve ever met before. Olken or Doranen.’
‘And that’s what today were all about, eh? Checkin’to see if I thought about things the right way?’
The prince hesitated. ‘Partly. Partly it was to see if you thought about things at all. Not everybody
Asher winced. Damn. How could the prince have noticed that? The royal family sat up the front of the palace chapel, while he always made sure to find the most shadowy corner right down the back. ‘Sir?’
‘Relax. I won’t tell. Holze is a good man, but even I have to admit his sermons are a trifle longwinded. The trick is to doze with your eyes open.’
‘Oh,’ said Asher. ‘Right.’ He’d be sure to try it, very next Barlsday.
‘Anyway. About WeatherWorking. The thing is, it’s very difficult and requires enormous amounts of energy. His Majesty gets tired,’ The prince frowned. ‘Exhausted. And before I assumed these extra duties, he would deplete his reserves of strength attending to them. At first he resisted \ the idea of relinquishing the obligation, but in the end Her Majesty, the Master Magician and I prevailed.’
So. Not so much a case of ‘find the poor magickless prince something to do’, mayhap, as a matter of necessity. Or both. Two fish caught with the same hook. Asher thought of his own da. The arguments they’d had about slowing down. Taking care.
‘Reckon fathers don’t take too kindly to their sons reminding ‘em they ain’t as young as once they were.’
The prince sighed. ‘No. Mind you,’ he added sharply, ‘this in no way suggests that the king is unfit. Let me make that abundantly clear. He is as capable today as he was at his coronation. The kingdom could rest in no stronger hands.’
‘I never said otherwise. You just want to do the right thing by your da. Help him, like a good son should. Reckoi I can see that. Reckon I admire you for it.’
‘So you do see, then, how important it is that I not fii as Olken Administrator? Failure would mean he’d resumt those duties. Tax his strength, when all his strength mustti given to WeatherWorking. And failure, my failure, would k used against him to —’
Another silence. The sun was sinking fast now. Long shadows crept across the manicured grounds on either side of them, through the trees, across the road. Asher swallowed.
‘What d’you mean, used against him? Who’d want to use you to hurt the king?’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘X Tobody,’ said the prince eventually, not looking at him. ‘It’s complicated. Just tell me you’ll change your mind, Asher. Tell me you’ll take the job.’
Feeling cornered, pressured, Asher stamped his heels into the roadway. A flock of nightbirds flew overhead, their harsh cries scraping the sky.
‘This be politics, eh?’ he said accusingly. ‘You be askin’ me to mucky myself with politics. That ain’t my job. My job’s fishin’ and sailin’ and shit shovellin’. Honest dirty work. I leave politics to the likes of … of …’
‘Me?’ said the prince, smiling faintly.
‘You’re different,’ muttered Asher. ‘You got born to it without a say-so. You want me to choose it. On purpose.1 He released a hard-held breath. ‘Look. There’s got to be a hundred Olken out there who’d lick the road clean from the City gates to your front door to get a job like this.’
‘That’s true,’ said the prince. ‘Which is just one of the many reasons why you’re perfect for the position. As my right hand, you’d be advising me on a wide range of Olken matters. Customs. Ways of thinking and experiencing the world that I, as a Doranen, might never understand. No matter my good intentions or willingness to learn. It means that in some cases I’d be letting you make the decisions altogether if I thought you were the better qualified to do so. Most people would eventually be overcome by much power. They’d abuse it. But you’re not most people, Asher. In all honesty, you’re not like anybody I’ve ever met before. Olken or Doranen.’
‘And that’s what today were all about, eh? Checkin’to see if I thought about things the right way?’
The prince hesitated. ‘Partly. Partly it was to see if you thought about things at all. Not everybody
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