Work Text:
Thom was reading in one of the palace libraries (laws surrounding the conducting of Great Rituals, most of this past month) when he felt the tablet in his pocket warm. A message from Alanna, then.
He finished the section he was reading (she was still close enough in range that if she had a truly urgent question, he would feel her trying to fire-call him), closed the book, stretched, and pulled the tablet out of the pouch he kept it in.
Do you know if all the pages and squires only see Duke Baird for healing?
Thom, of course, knew nothing about the particular duties of the Chief Healer of Tortall. Or why his twin would want to know. But she had asked, so he would at least try to find out.
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When Thom asked, Duke Baird started laughing. Thom did not understand what was so funny about the question.
“No,” the Duke said. “I do try to see to new pages and squires the first time they come in – or the second, if I’m not available the first time. And of course I always saw to His Highness, whether or not he was in training.”
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Thom relayed the Duke’s answer to Alanna, and added.
May I ask why Duke Baird found the question funny? He laughed when I asked .
Alanna must not have been busy at that moment, because she answered quickly.
HE KNEW.
Which explained nothing, of course.
Knew what?
Is healing really the only branch of magic you know nothing about?
Thom huffed. The Mithrans didn’t teach boys healing – if a boy showed signs that his aptitude or interest went in that direction, they arranged instruction through either the temples to the Great Mother Goddess or, in rare cases, by arranging an exchange to the university in Carthak. But Alanna had continued:
As shaman here, I’m treating women for the first time. I never thought of it before, but Duke Baird, without a question, knew I wasn’t male.
Oh. Thom erased his tablet thoroughly. He didn’t think Duke Baird would be in significant trouble if everyone else who admitted to knowing had avoided it, but he was still in the habit of secrecy. No-one else needed to realize the Chief Healer had to have realized at least part of the truth about Alanna before the official reveal, surely?