Julien
by Engor
Chapter 33
The next morning Julien was visibly not in a very good mood, so much so that Ambar didn't even think about dragging him into the bathroom for some fun in the shower, and breakfast took place in what would certainly not have been called a party atmosphere.
Julien turned to Tannder, whom he had invited to share their breakfast, and asked, "So Lord Aldegard will be coming here this morning?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Do you know what he wants?"
"Not exactly. I think he'd like to start organising a training schedule for you that will help you to get to grips with the essentials of the Emperor's position. And..."
He was interrupted by the low chime that indicated that a visitor was about to enter the kang.
Lord Aldegard was alone. He greeted Julien with a slight bow as the boy got up to welcome him.
"Good morning, Aldegard," said Julien. "Thank you for coming. But I'm sure you're a busy man – couldn't we have come to you instead?"
"Well, of course you could, My Lord, but it's probably safer if you don't move about too much while there's still a threat to your safety."
"What, even here in the Tower? I thought..."
"Obviously, My Lord, the Tower is as safe a place as we can find for you, but even so it doesn't do any harm to take precautions."
"I see. So, to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"I believe that there are a number of decisions to be taken, and I have come to discuss them with Your Lordship..."
"Please, Aldegard," interrupted Julien, "don't start all that again. Forget the protocol and cut out all the titles while we're on our own."
"Yes, My Lord. So, first I would like to congratulate Niil on his accession to your privy council. I should also remind him that this promotion also emancipates him and has the effect of making him legally an adult, with all the duties and privileges that entails. From now on he should be addressed as 'Noble Lord', rather than 'Noble Son'."
Niil bowed with all the dignity of a new adult but sensibly kept his mouth shut.
"Second, we need to talk about the Noble Son Ambar, of the Ksantiris."
Ambar, who was trying to act as if he was invisible, went pale: it's not usually a good thing when grown-ups start talking about you, and especially not when the grown-ups are particularly powerful.
"As a Noble Son," Aldegard went on, "it is essential that he starts to receive an education suitable to his rank as soon as it can possibly be arranged. It would therefore be best if he were to travel immediately to Dvârinn to be placed under a tutor chosen for him by Lord Ylavan."
Ambar realised that his worst fears had come true, and a lot faster than he had expected. He felt his whole universe shake, and he was unable to hide his dismay.
"I've arranged for a Guide to take him there tomorrow," continued Aldegard, "and..."
"Excuse me," interrupted Julien, "but I think we should discuss it a little first."
"Yes, My Lord?"
Aldegard was a shrewd diplomat, but he found it hard completely to hide his irritation at this challenge to his authority. But he recognised that he had at least to listen.
"You see," Julien explained, "I owe Ambar. I'm only sitting here eating this breakfast because of his bravery. I did my best to honour his brother by making him my councillor – although if I'm honest I'd have to admit that I'm thinking as much of myself as of him by keeping him with me. And apparently, to judge from what you told me yourself, I also honoured House Ksantiri by witnessing Ambar's Transfer of the Marks ceremony. Well, now I'd like to show my gratitude to him in a rather more personal way. With your permission, of course."
It was obvious that Aldegard wasn't happy about this, but he could hardly refuse to listen to Julien's proposal.
"It's pretty obvious that Ambar doesn't want to go to Dvârinn," said Julien. "At least, not like this, by being dragged away from the brother he's only just found – or even from me, his friend. Not to mention Xarax," he added, indicating the haptir, who was apparently coiled up asleep on his box. "Xarax respects Ambar a lot, and I think Xarax knows what he's talking about.
"And finally, there's me. I need to hang onto my friends. I'm probably never going to be able to go back home, and so the least you can do is to let my friends stay here with me, unless it's absolutely essential to do otherwise. So, Aldegard, I'm asking you: can they both stay here?"
The First Lord knew when he was beaten. He didn't even try to argue.
"You're right, My Lord," he said. "I tend to spend so long looking at the bigger picture of what is right for the Nine Worlds that I'm sometimes blind to the needs of individuals. We can appoint a tutor here for the Noble Son Ambar, or we could even designate him an Emperor's Pupil – there is precedent for that. If we did that he would be dependent on you alone, other than maintaining his family duties, of course. Just like Niil, in fact."
Julien looked at Ambar.
"Is that all right with you, Ambar?" he asked.
Ambar just nodded – he wasn't sure that he could trust his voice.
"And with you, Niil?"
"Thank you, My Lord, for both of us," said Niil. "I think I could get used to having him around..."
"Good," said Julien. "Then we just need to find him a tutor. Perhaps Tannder could look into that – I'm sure you've got plenty of other stuff to worry about, Aldegard."
"Indeed, My Lord," said Aldegard. "But perhaps I can offer you a solution that will be helpful to everyone. The Honourable Tannder, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, is no mere butler. He's fully qualified to act as tutor to a Noble Son. If he accepts the job – and if you agree, of course – we wouldn't have to introduce an outsider to your immediate entourage. You already know that you can trust Tannder. He could be formally attached to your House as Tutor to the Emperor's Pupil."
"What do you think, Tannder?" asked Julien.
"My Lord, it's a great honour. I'd be happy to accept."
"Good," said Aldegard. "Next, we need to start getting you reacquainted with your world. I've taken the liberty of arranging an interview for you this afternoon with Master Subadar. He's Grand Master of the Circle of Major Arts, and so he's by far the best qualified person to offer instruction in those subjects. I've also asked the Central College of Master Guides to select an instructor to work with you in order to discover what you can do in that field. Perhaps the Guide could come and visit you tomorrow."
"I'd be happy to go and see Master Subadar," replied Julien. "But if I'm going to work with a Guide, I'd prefer it to be Master Aïn."
"Ah. That could be difficult: Master Aïn is under investigation for his part in the rather unfortunate experience you went though. He could well find himself sanctioned..."
"I've already told you I don't bear anyone any grudge about that. More important, I trust Aïn. Please tell the Circle of Guides that I'm sorry, but in spite of the great respect I have for them I'm not prepared to work with any other Guide."
"But... My Lord!" exclaimed Aldegard. "You can't impose your will on the College of Guides like that!"
"I'm not trying to impose my will on anyone. I'm just saying that I'm happy to work with Aïn. If they don't want Aïn to work with me, that's their problem. And please be sure to tell them that I would be extremely unhappy if something that was my fault – and please emphasise that it was my fault! - resulted in some Honourable Guides, who did nothing except try to help me find a way back to my own world, getting punished for it. And the same thing goes for the humans who worked with them, too."
"I'll pass on your comments, My Lord. We still need to talk about arranging a meeting with your Mirrors, and about moving you to some new accommodation, but there's no hurry for that. With your leave, My Lord, I will leave you now."
"Of course, Aldegard. Like I said, I'm sure you're very busy, and I certainly don't want to hold you up..."
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