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“I’d rather push on. Find out what this is all about.”
    We rode to the
Source Academy, where the Triple S council lived and presided. One pleasant
aspect of these circumstances, perhaps the only one, was that I would finally
be able to see Aryne again. I hadn’t since Taro and I had left her at the
Source Academy years before, despite my promise to do so. When I’d made that
promise, I’d been posted at High Scape, where the presence of multiple Pairs
made it possible to be taken off the roster once in a while. Once we’d
transferred to Flown Raven, I hadn’t been able to leave. Aryne and I had had to
make do with letters.
    I hated breaking
promises.
    When we reached
the gate, I told the staff member on watch who we were and who we were there to
see.
    The staff member
didn’t open the gate. “If you’re here to see the council, you’re to go to the
Council House.”
    “The council no
longer sits here?” I asked.
    “They crafted a
new building on the fringes a few years ago.”
    “Why?”
    The staff member
shrugged.
    “Nothing of this
was mentioned in our summons.”
    “I don’t know
anything about that.”
    Of course he
wouldn’t. It was stupid to complain of it to him. “Where is it, then?”
    “It’s on the
west side. You can see it from the end of Bridal Street. You’ll know it when
you see it. It’s the only building in that area.”
    We got back on
our horses and I followed Taro through the streets.
    The first thing
I noticed about the building I presumed was the Council House was that it was
surrounded by a high stone wall. That was unexpected and alarming. I’d grown up
surrounded by walls – the Academy needed to keep the Triple S students from
mingling with regulars and risking a spontaneous Bond with the other children –
but as far as I was concerned, no other building needed them.
    We dismounted
and went to the solid iron gate and Taro hit the gong.
    The iron visor
slid open and a pair of eyes stared at us. “Yes?”
    “Source Karish
and Shield Mallorough,” I announced.
    She pulled the
gate open, and it looked like it took her considerable effort to do so. The
gate was heavy, then. She was neither a Shield nor a Source. The Triple S did
hire regulars as staff, but she was wearing what looked like the uniform of a
Runner – a professional criminal catcher – minus the cape. Black high boots and
black trousers and a black tunic. Runners working with the Triple S was unusual.
    Immediately
beyond the gate was a wide cobblestone path, very white against the luscious
green grass, which led straight to a stone structure. The building looked
almost like a small castle, with very small windows and corner turrets. It was
absolutely bizarre. Why would the Triple S need a building constructed for the
purpose of protection?
    After removing
our bags from our horses, we jogged up to a door that seemed too small to be
used for a castle. I knocked on it and it was promptly opened by a young man in
the same black outfit as that worn by the woman at the gate. “Source Karish and
Shield Mallorough,” I told him.
    The man stared
at us as though he suspected I was lying. Twit. I dug out the letter from the
Triple S council and handed it to him. He read it quickly, gave it back to me,
and said, “This way.”
    The foyer was
cold, empty stone with no art on the walls and not a scrape of furniture. It
felt barren and intimidating.
    The young man
took us through a maze of corridors and then to another door, on which he
knocked. Upon being asked who was there, our escort announced, “The Flown Raven
Pair.”
    “Hang there,”
was the response.
    A moment later,
the door was opened by a young man. He had a white braid on his left shoulder.
A Shield. “Thank you, Runner Telvien.”
    So, yes, a
criminal catcher. Why was he there?
    The Runner left
and the Shield said to us, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”
    Rooms? Plural?
    Yes, on the
second floor. The Shield took us to a small