Law of the Broken Earth(54)

“But it was blank?” Mienthe said.

“No…” Tan said absently. Why had he concluded that this little book held nothing of interest? Not because its pages were empty; at the time, it had held writing. But he had no memory now of what writing it had held. That… that was unexpected. Both the current state of the pages and the failure of memory. Tan could read a dozen books in quick succession and afterward give a very close approximation of what each had said; a fine memory for written language was part of the legist gift. He rubbed his palms on his sleeves as though he had touched something unclean and looked at Iriene.

The mage, frowning, held her hand out for the book. The queen’s lady gave it to her.

The mage ran her fingers across the leather of the book’s binding, opened it to touch the fine, thick, unmarked paper within, closed it again, held it briefly to her lips, shook her head, and declared, “I can’t tell a thing about it, but I don’t think it’s ever held any kind of magecraft.”

“Of course not,” Tan said, just as Queen Niethe asked, “Oh, but surely it must have, esteemed Iriene?” and Mienthe said in a surprised tone, “But that can’t be right,” and Captain Geroen snapped, “Of course it has! Why else would Linularinan agents be so interested?”

Everyone stared at Tan.

Tan cleared his throat. But, since he was committed, he also said, “It’s a legist’s book. Or it was. It held law. Written law—law a master-legist set down stone-hard. Binding law. Until I read it. I wonder if any legist reading this book would have stripped the words out of it, or if it was something about me? My gift?”

From their expressions, Tan rather thought that neither the queen nor any of the guard officers in the room understood what he was saying. Geroen gave a wise, knowing nod, but that was only bluff, Tan could see. The queen looked honestly blank—well, likely she had little to do with any legists or legist-magic. Iriene at least knew that the legist gift was not the same as magecraft, but Tan took leave to doubt whether the healer knew much more than that.

Mienthe, now… Mienthe had taken the blank book back into her hands. She, too, had nodded, but in her case, and not really with surprise, Tan thought what he’d said might have actually made sense to her. She was stroking her fingertips across one of the book’s empty pages, her expression abstracted.

What law was it, that Tan now held? He could feel nothing foreign or unfamiliar set into his mind… Would he feel it? Or had it simply restructured his mind and he had not even noticed? There was a pleasant thought!

But whatever the book had done to him, whatever he’d done to it, he knew with a profound certainty that he did not want to touch it again himself.

A guardsman came in, hesitated for a moment just inside the door, and finally came over to murmur to Captain Geroen. The captain’s expression, from stern, became thunderous. He bowed his head awkwardly to the queen, begged Mienthe’s pardon with a vague word about seeing to his duty, and went out. Queen Niethe seemed to think little of his going, but Tan found himself meeting Mienthe’s eyes, a common thought of Istierinan and secretive Linularinan agents occurring, he was certain, to both of them. Tan had, once again, this time knowing the risk, set his hand to a quill. Who knew what Istierinan’s mage might have done in that moment?

“Not twice in the same night,” murmured Mienthe, aloud but more or less to herself. “Not once we are alarmed and alert. Surely not.”

“No,” Tan agreed, but heard the doubt echo behind his own words.

Queen Niethe glanced from one of them to the other, but said nothing. They were all silent for a long moment and then another, waiting for any alarm to ring through the house. But there was nothing. The queen said at last, “No, indeed. Of course not.” She rose with practiced, stately grace and said to Iriene, “So the mystery has begun to be solved, has it not? We know about the strange book and the legist’s magic in it; we know why the sly Linularinans have become so bold; we are alarmed and alert. There is nothing more to do tonight?”

Iriene did not quite like to declare one way or another, but thought they might send the book to Tiearanan, where the best mages in Feierabiand studied and wrote and crafted their work. Or maybe they should look for a skilled legist who might know what a book like this one had held?

Tan did not say, You will hardly find a legist more powerfully gifted than I am on this side of the river, though he might have, and rather tartly. It was true that he would not mind another competent legist’s opinion, but he doubted the competence of any Feierabianden legist that might be found. Linularinum for law; everyone knew that, and it was true.