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Myles, Baron of Olau, opened the door and invited the surly young man to enter his study.
“Sit, please,” he indicated a chair from across the desk, sitting on the other side.
The boy, who made no attempt to hide his resentment at being in the room, bowed briefly, but said nothing. He remained standing stiffly and Myles hid a smile.
“Thank you for coming,” Myles tried again. Being kind made his job easier, whether it was teaching law and history to pages - or wringing information out of various sources.
“Weren’t my choice, the la — Lady Keladry asked me,” came the short response.
Kindness was not something the adolescent trusted, then. Myles’ gaze turned assessing, and the boy’s eyes met his. Seeing calculation and suspicion in them, Myles gave up his genial pose and leaned forward, elbows on his desk.
“Tobeis Boon, often known as Tobe,” he began, “you’re a ward of the Lady Keladry of Mindelan, knight of the realm. Purported to possess remarkable quantities of wild magic. Tortallan, with perhaps some Scanran mixed in,” he paused, looking to see Tobe’s reaction. The boy bristled but said nothing.
Myles continued, “Lady Kel bought your indenture contract during her war campaign in Scanra, some four years ago. She saw that you were educated, trained, and dressed. I do not know if she has not bothered to teach you courtly manners, or if her teachings have been ignored,” he chuckled a little, “but I assure you, I do not stand on ceremony.”
Insulted on Kel’s behalf, Tobe narrowed blue eyes and spoke his longest sentence yet. “Lady taught me all worth learning, my letters and sums and more. All my manners, too.” He stopped, seeming to weigh his next words and ensure they were spoken properly. “She has done her duty, and more, and you,” he floundered a little, “you are saying she hasn’t, and it’s all lies, all of it,” he finished, with more than a little heat.
Well, that was promising. Myles leaned back a little in his chair. “I am fond of Lady Keladry, and the entire kingdom knows of her heroism and commitment to those in her care. I mean no disrespect, I assure you. My poorly worded comment aside, can I assume that everything else was not, in fact, a lie?” He didn’t need to ask. He knew.
Tobe nodded, looking more than a little discomfited at having his life spelled out by a well-dressed noble, who struck him as sneaky, soft, and dedicated to comfort.
“We have,” Myles said, “some shared goals, and I believe you will be interested in a proposal of a task that meets those.” Tobe’s newfound commitment to manners failed him briefly and he let out an inelegant snort.
“Nothing untoward," Myles said, choosing his words carefully, “Really, nothing you do not already do. You look out for Lady Kel. You run errands for her. You perform many duties a squire might do.” Myles thought he could see Tobe stand straighter and hold his head a little higher. Pride in his work, and fierce loyalty, he thought. “I’d like you to let me know if you see anything that seems out of place or wrong.”
Tobe took a step back, annoyance replaced by genuine anger. “I’m no spy,” he snapped, and made to leave.
Myles sighed inwardly. He was glad he had not included the offer of monetary compensation that he customarily offered the others he recruited for information. “No, Tobe – Tobeis, no. I don’t want you to spy on, or do anything that would harm Lady Kel. There are others that would wish her harm,” he said.
Tobe stopped moving and turned back, eyes hard. “Surely you know how hard it was for Lady Kel to gain her knighthood? How many in the palace tried to stop her? Lady Kel has enemies at court, those who would wish her harm.” Tobe focused on Myles, suspicion still there, but no longer openly hostile.
The final step, now. Myles made his tone concerned. “I would simply like you to help me protect Lady Kel,” he said. “A threat to her is a threat to the realm,” he added, knowing Tobe wouldn’t trust him if didn’t provide an angle.
He realised his miscalculation before Tobe’s face changed.
“Lady protects herself, an’ she has me. She don—does—not need your help,” Tobe said, his voice dripping with disdain.
Myles understood. Kel was a war hero. Tales of her prowess were famous, and a plump, greying desk knight presented no clear advantage to the boy, whose mistrust of nobles still ran deep.
He tried again, “The threats in the city are different than those on a battlefield, Tobeis. Her enemies do not face her head on. They conspire. They plot from the shadows. All you would be doing is giving me information – helping me stop those people. Surely there can be no harm in adding some more help to Kel. Will you consider it?”
Tobe looked at him with cold eyes and an expression that seemed far beyond his young years. “Sir Myles,” he said, carefully enunciating every word, with perfect, if stilted, delivery. "Surely your educators have taught you the meaning of no.”
Watching the boy leave his office, the spymaster of Tortall leaned back in his chair. He was, even in failure, reluctantly impressed.