A Shining Light by Traynor Andrew

Author:Traynor, Andrew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

10: A Thin Line

Kenner was disappointed with Calli's refusal but could certainly sympathise. He had been wanting to conduct a quick search of Uhan Elcco's domain for some time now but had to conclude it was probably impossible. One trouble was gaining entrance. The Registrar (very reluctantly) supplied Kenner with details of Elcco's quarters. The Master of the Baelan had two spacious rooms to himself, a bedroom and an office. Apart from an adjoining door the only ingress to either came through the antechamber; behind them were good, solid Baelan walls. The antechamber, of course, was permanently guarded by Anarto Mesking, Elcco's secretary. That young man apparently worked extremely long hours, arriving before and leaving after any other salaried worker. His work never took him away from the antechamber and he took no lunch break known to mortal man. Possibly other calls spirited him off briefly, the privies of the Baelan being few and far between, but Kenner wasn't going to spend all day waiting. His impression of Anarto Mesking was that he could retain his excrement for weeks at a time. The only way to circumnavigate Mesking was to wait until darkness. Kenner was sure that he would find that extremely heavy door locked and barred come sunset.

Even if Mesking were removed from his post, through drugs, seductions or being leapt on with a chair, there were still problems. For example, the movements of Elcco himself. It was a cliché to remark that he spent almost all his hours shut away in his quarters but unfortunately it also seemed true. The rest of the wizards usually shared one meal a day together in the Baelan's dining room but they were joined by their head on only a few ceremonial occasions. He occasionally put on his best gown, commandeered the official carriage and sailed forth into the Cities but, happily for the region as a whole, such events were equally infrequent. And on these public visitations, as with his attendance at Baelan council meetings, he was bound to leave his chambers secured. Were there other absences, Kenner and the rest of the Baelan wondered. It was certainly possible that Elcco had installed clandestine exits from the building; less imaginable were the purposes he might use them for. Did he, say, put on a false beard on a fine afternoon and go for a walk in Rand Park to smell the buttercups? Did he spend evenings in foul taverns getting barking drunk? Were there plays he wanted to attend or paintings he wanted to look at? Even - though Kenner could scarcely picture it - women he wanted to meet? It was impossible to know. Elcco was the Baelan, and he allowed no other part of his character to be seen. Anarto Mesking probably knew more, but he was impossible to bribe and even harder to talk to. The secretary masked Elcco's all frequent refusals to receive visitors with the simple phrase "He isn't available."

Servants, nature's remedy to security measures, might have come to Kenner's aid but proved no more fruitful.

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