“I think so. And this play’s got excellent reviews. I’ve not had a chance to see it. Opened while I was in Whitby.”
Annice took a breath. He wanted to show her things. And she suspected that whatever needed work in the Courts was going to be more than a day. Maybe she could end her visit with the theatre and go away on Saturday, and consider it all an exceptionally dizzying dream. “If you’d like.”
“Grand. I’ll sort that once I’ve got my journal out. Here we go. It’s about to get less interesting.” Griffin set off again, across the street, through one last section of shops, then angled down a street. “The right side is Club Row. The Schola houses all have a club there, a couple of posh ones, various of the societies, a couple of particular interests.”
“Solicitors or Ministry, or anything like that?” Annice wasn’t sure she entirely understood how clubs worked.
“Oh, no. We have a pub, though. Well, two pubs. People take sides about it. I stop in at the Stream - that’s the Salmon House club - sometimes. And more often in the Veterans than the Arthur, which is the officer’s club.” He said it easily, unlike whatever that had been outside the Temple of Healing. “Ah, here we are. I wanted you to see the front first, but we’ll need to go round the back for the ramp.”
The front of the building was immensely imposing, broad steps leading up to an arched front, with great stone pillars on either side. Above were the scales of justice, and a dozen other symbols, only some of which made sense to her. The white rose, of course, though the entire building was white stone, but there was a sword, there were scrolls rather than books, a feather.
“Where I spend most of my time.” Griffin said it fondly. Like Da had talked about Mam, the way a person might talk about someone he loved. Even if it was a building. Annice had no idea how to answer that.
After a moment, she asked, “Where’s your flat from here? And, um, we didn’t pass your da’s store? Where it is, was?”
“Is and was. No, it’s on the corner on the other side of the market. Nice big corner shop, plenty of windows to display dry goods and all. And my flat’s, well. Roughly four blocks that way, if you cut through the smaller streets in Club Row and across into the residential streets.”
Annice glanced around. “Huh. Thank you for taking me the long way. It’s— it’s a lot more than I expected. All the different things going on, the magic?” Seeing it out in the open, the way everyone here could be out in the open, would take some getting used to.
“There will probably be some performers out this evening, if you want to ask the inn. Musicians, illusionists, all that. There are usually a couple on Club Row in good weather and often not as good. Oh, right. The inn is just over there, up toward the market again. Not very far. Mostly Ministry folks and consultants. Other people stay up north of the market, there’s a cluster of inns and restaurants. But you have to go through all the chaos to get here, and on market days that can be a bother if you’ve somewhere to be on time.”
“Market day everywhere, I suppose. Though probably fewer fish here?” Annice offered it, hoping he’d find it amusing.
“Fewer fish, yes. A lot of sheep. Anyway, shall we go around? This way, to the left.” When she nodded, he took off down a narrow but reasonably clean alley to the left of the massive building.
Chapter29
MARCH 31ST
It felt wonderful to be home. Showing Annice the Court, though, felt immense and weighty, like when the judicial magics were in play. Only, of course, they were, and they weren’t. The whole building was infused with that magic. Griffin knew that as well as anyone else who worked here. Better than most, even.
But what he was feeling wasn’t institutional, it wasn’t about infrastructure or walls or floors. It was absolutely personal. Annice had been so cautious - so dubious - about the truth magics. And she had good reason. They made a lot of people nervous. If Griffin wasn’t nervous about them, it was more that he had specific skills, had trained for years to be around them. Like a snake handler might have, or someone who trained horses, or any other delicate, risky, skilled work.
Now, Griffin got up to the small platform by the back door. Annice joined him, still looking around everywhere, though this corner of the building was not the most scenic, just solid and barely ornamented stone. “If you come by yourself, you’ll want to come through the front doors and ask someone to show you to my office - there’s always someone on duty at the front. Me, though, I’m tied into the warding.” He moved his hand to the plate by the door, feeling the magic beneath his fingers. Then he used a bit more magic to pull the door open. “This way. My office, and leave whatever you don’t need, first?”
His office contained Charlus, a fairly large stack of paperwork in his in tray, and a minor assortment of other mail and matters to tend to. Charlus stood as soon as they entered, and Griffin waved Annice inside. “Make free of anything that’s out - the private things get locked and warded when I’m not in the room or not using them right that moment. Charlus can let you in as easily as I can if you need something. Leave your coat, certainly. Everything all set with the luggage, I assume?”
Charlus nodded. “Yes, sir. And they confirmed your note at the inn. Your bags are at your flat.”
“Much appreciated.” He hoped Annice would also appreciate the note he’d sent round. That was the point, but that was for later today.
Annice glanced around, then cleared her throat. “Could I wash up somewhere? Before handling the stones.”
“Of course. Charlus, could you show her where, and where the other staff are? You do need an escort in the staff areas, Annice. But there are always people at the front desk who can help, even when the Courts aren’t in session, like the next week. There are people coming and going throughout. Give me a minute to take a quick look at my pile of mail while you wash.”
He had needed, it turned out, nearer ten minutes than five to sort through everything. Most of it was routine and could wait a bit longer. But there were three notes, sealed in the thick expensive envelopes that indicated a number of things about the sender’s status and position. He set all of those aside for the moment, and then sorted through the rest of the pile for what needed prompt attention. About ten of the notes had seals from other people in the Courts. Three others were from people he considered allies, if not friends, all on sensible but not ostentatious stationery. Griffin popped the resulting pile into his portfolio and tucked it between his thigh and the arm of the chair. He then checked his tie by feel, just as Charlus was getting the door for Annice.
They made a little procession down the hall toward the courtrooms, with Griffin pointing out the other spaces. The inheritance court was tucked down at the end, since it was one of the smallest. Charlus got the door, and Griffin wheeled himself in, inhaling the air. There was the faint scent of the yew, nothing strong, but he could tell immediately which courtroom he was in by that alone. The magic, though, that was trickier. It looked much like he’d left it, but the feeling that something was off was even stronger for his absence, and he frowned, immediately.
Annice glanced down at him. “Something the matter?”
“I think it’s only got worse. And there’s been no cases here since I came to Whitby. Maybe it’s just not being here. Absence makes things clearer. But would you have a look, and Charlus and I can see about running our usual benchmarking tests sooner than I’d planned.”
“What’s the goal for today?” Annice asked, a little uncertain.
“It depends on how much time you’re willing to grant to the problem. But I thought that today, you’d get a look. We’d get whatever measurements you think would be helpful about the current state, and then we’d see what you thought for the next steps. If that’s popping some stones out of the inlay work or the casing points, we can do that, but it might take overnight to prepare.”
“So I should go look. And take as long as I need?” He was delighted she asked it that way, and he was nodding.
