The man smiled briefly. For someone of his age and stature, he shouldn’t have been forced so far for this assignment. Once in the mansion, always in the mansion. Or so he’d assumed. He hadn’t realized Stage One would mean leaving his well-deserved comforts to tail potential targets like a first year learner.
But this target—and those connected to him—was more important than any other.
The man knew his wisdom was needed, and so were his abilities. And now he was no longer resentful about his posting, especially after so many years of dull nothingness. Stage Two was beginning, and the north might actually be appealing.
Because Captain Perrin Shin was turning out to be interesting after all.
---
Go bold, Mahrree wrote on the scrap paper late that night.
She frowned at it.
It should have been Go boldly, right? She got it wrong, all those years ago.
But that indicated going somewhere, and what she’d really meant was, Be bold.
But then it would have been, Be bold, or don’t be at all, which was far more fatalistic than she intended.
She scowled at the paper. Things are so much simpler when one approaches with the over-confident superiority of a teenage mind.
Now, as an adult, she finally realized just how simplistic and incorrect her old motto had been.
No.
No, the captain had pointed out how simplistic and incorrect she was.
With those deep dark eyes he’d looked at her with what she could only describe as patronizing curiosity, almost arrogant affection. The way one might regard a lamb tangled up in a laundry line.
Ah, look at the darling little creature, caught by her own stupidity. Let’s see if she can get out on her own. Better yet, let’s just end it right here, before she can extract herself.
Mahrree crumpled up the paper and hurled it furiously into the cold hearth.
Then she reluctantly stood up and, wishing crumpled bits of paper flew more angrily and accurately, trudged over to the wall where the small white mass lay apologetically, picked it up and tossed it resentfully into the logs waiting for a cold morning.
She blew out the candle and clumped up the stairs to bed.
Twenty minutes later, Mahrree couldn’t stand it anymore. She got out of her bed, rushed down the stairs to her dark eating room, and relit the candle. Then she pulled one of the many books off the shelf, dropped it on the table, and thumbed to the back. She’d never read the pages of supposedly “Interesting Facts” of the leaders of the world, but tonight she raced her finger across the words until she came to High General Relf Shin.
She swallowed hard as she read,
Married, wife named Joriana. Son, born in 291,
The same year as her.
named Perrin.
She had debated, challenged, and insulted—and been insulted by—the son of one of the most powerful men in the world.
Her head hit the table in mortification.
---
Late that night two men sat in the dark office of an unlit building. Their meeting was private, secret, and the most important one in the entire world.
“Are you ready?” the first, older man with a shock of white hair asked.
“Does this mean you’re actually about to begin?” said the second, middle-aged man in a bored tone. “It’s been so long—”
“Question:” the first man cut him off, “how will the world react to the return of their most feared enemy?”
The second man sighed. “Finally! I—”
“Now, now,” the first man interrupted, holding up a finger in the dim room. “That’s not the proper response. I want your speculation.”
“You’re going to be this exact?”
The first man’s smile dimmed. “I’ve spent more than seven years preparing for this! And in the past two years the entire world has been placed under very careful controls. You really think I’m going to throw out all research protocols and be casual now?”
His companion nodded. “Of course not. My speculation: if the return is impressive enough, then the people will panic and beg to be rescued. They’ll likely cower in terror, as usual.” He thought for a moment. “Perhaps there might be someone brave who decides to confront the conflict himself—”
“Ha!” the older man exclaimed. “Doubtful! That’s precisely what I’m out to prove. Granted, someone may try that once or twice—I’m counting on it—but he’ll realize there’s no purpose in risking his life. Not unless the army’s paying him, and even then he won’t see it as enough. No one dares anything without lure of a reward or fear of punishment.” He eyed his younger partner critically. “But your naïve optimism is why I chose you. I need balance and I appreciate your perspectives, as inaccurate as they may be.”