“Exist? Demonstrate that being sent off to Whitby was some use? Have a plan for moving forward that he could not stall or forbid? I’ve Lamont’s approval, and Christopher and Gloriana both have given their agreement.” Griffin turned his hand palm up. “Both parts, the new project and resetting the inheritance court.”
“More than that, I think. He’s been agitating. I’d have told you sooner, but I only heard the ripples of it Monday, and it took me yesterday and today to track down a bit more.” Antimony tapped her fingertips together. “What do you think of him?”
“Antimony, you are my friend. Don’t ask me that.” Griffin had a rule for himself about not speaking badly about his colleagues, even when it was exceedingly tempting. Not unless it was part of some direct professional inquiry and he had to give a true response. Then he considered and came up with enough of an answer. “I’m clear he doesn’t think I’m fit for duty. Personally, I prefer for Lamont to choose me or Harriet over Nestor, and that’s not subtle at this point. But from what I have seen, he keeps all the contract cases running smoothly enough, and he’s good with the details necessary for that. Even the parts about which rooms specific parties wait in.”
“And what will you do if I share information with you that falls into that sort of gossip?” Antimony leaned forward, crossing one leg over the other, which in her always was a sign of being on the hunt.
“I cannot stop you,” Griffin said, spreading his hands. “And if there’s something you think I need to know, I trust your judgement. You’ve demonstrated that you are, hmm. How to put this? Not petty.”
It made Antimony chuckle. “No. And that’s really the problem. There isn’t a sign Nestor has done anything wrong, but there are signs of him being petty. More than just you and the chair, or you and your competence. And some of it’s taken on a nastier edge. He was complaining Charlus had done a bit of paperwork wrong. Don’t worry, Mistress Henning took your apprentice’s side promptly and thoroughly, and sent Nestor off with his tail between his legs. Which did not sweeten his temper, or so I heard from one of the staff at Bourne’s the next day.”
Griffin let out a grunt. Charlus had mentioned a minor fuss, but that he’d done the thing right. Griffin would have to clarify that this was the sort of thing Charlus should report in detail, please, because the pattern mattered as well as whatever Charlus thought about it himself. “I’ll talk to them both. Anything else?”
“Most of the rest is the same gossip as before, but more of it, and a bit sharper. Trying to find people who’ll agree with him. He’s having a hard time of that, even with people who don’t like how decisions came out in the Yew courts. But he’s found a few. Several parties you’re unlikely to be invited to.”
Griffin waved a hand. “They’re the sort who host things up loads of stairs, had you ever noticed?” Then he sobered. “I’m sensitive to the political considerations, but there’s not much I can do there directly. If people don’t like my competence, I’m scarcely going to be incompetent to make them feel better. Even if I were inclined, my magic wouldn’t permit.”
Antimony raised an eyebrow. “Different oaths than Creon? He certainly fell into incompetence, poor man, and couldn’t admit it.”
“I don’t know what he took. It’s not an oath, exactly, it’s feeling that my magic would betray me. I’ve contemplated making it formal with an oath, but it would set an uncomfortable precedent for anyone in the future, and you know how I feel about precedent setting.”
Antimony snorted. “I do. You might have declaimed on the topic several times over tea. Anyway. Nestor’s been worse. And there are people who notice that. On the other hand, he keeps the paperwork moving, and that keeps people with a lot of money and influence happy on the whole. And wanting to be in his favour. Though right now, I’m wondering how much of that is his clerks. He’s had his seat what, seven years?”
“Seven and a half. About six months before I got back here,” Griffin said.
“And he wasn’t one of the potential Heirs before the War? Even though he’s older?” Antimony turned her palm up. “You don’t talk about how that’s determined.”
“The short answer is that it’s Lamont’s call. Or the Lord or Lady of Trellech’s Justice, as it were, to give the full and proper title. Harriet and I already were. Horace died in 1919, and Lamont named Nestor later that year.” Griffin shrugged. “We don’t have a bloodline to go on. It’s more about who might carry things forward. And no, I don’t know why Lamont hasn’t picked one of us.” He hesitated, but Antimony was both a friend and trained in any number of pattern-spotting techniques. “He’s given me some indications he’s close to a choice. I don’t know what he’s told the others, if anything.”
“I suppose you and Harriet don’t compare notes.” Antimony tapped her fingers on the wood of the desk. “I’d be curious about her take, honestly. I don’t know her well. We’ve never had much overlap, but she seems competent.”
“Competent, if sometimes more concerned by higher philosophy than I can justify,” Griffin said, agreeably. “No, she and I get on well enough. Not close friends, but comfortable enough colleagues, if also competitors. Though really, that’s the wrong way to think about the whole matter. It’s not a competition. One of us can’t win it by some unusual push to the end.”
“Even if that’s what you’re doing, your new idea for a room.” Antimony cocked her head, challenging that point.
Griffin considered. “I don’t talk about it much. But there’s a sense that I’m always having to be aware of not just what I’m doing, but how it looks. I was thinking about it in Whitby. Plenty of people are confused by someone who uses a chair who also uses crutches or canes. I know there was more than a bit of gossip - here, too - about whether I’m faking, or looking for sympathy. Or all the other parts of the nonsense, like whether it affected my head.”
“I know you better than that. I’ve seen your work. Surely that ought to be enough for the people who know what’s needed to judge. Nestor included.”
Griffin shrugged. “It’s not that simple. And the hell of it is, people have reason to be cautious. I was Cleon’s successor. I know that better than most. And you saw plenty of that close-up. He ought to have properly retired at least three or four years before he did. Whatever the root of the problem was.”
He let out a breath, slowly. “I am, it turns out, all for a system that evaluates everyone for fitness, regularly and also if specific concerns are raised. I am not in favour of a crowd that judges without information. And I am certainly not in favour of an approach that requires me to lay out my personal medical and magical information to all and sundry on demand.” His mouth quirked up. “For one thing, most of them aren’t qualified to evaluate it sensibly.”
“Hence one of the reasons for staging the whole thing. Do you know more about when you’ll be ready?” Antimony said, not touching the rest of it yet.
“Three weeks or so,” Griffin said. “The current proposal is for Annice to assist along with one of the brand new apprentices, so there can be no question whose skills are in play. And of course, several people monitoring that particular aspect in detail. No chance to cheat, someone will catch it. Not that I would do that, naturally. It’d undermine my point.”
“No wiggle room.” Antimony considered. “Are you concerned about the work itself?”
“As much as is sensible, given that it’s a new design, and I will be very much on stage. I am not that much of a showman, you know that. Am I sure it will work? Yes, so long as no one interferes.” Now he grinned, the sort of grin that he got when he was hunting for the truth of something. “Of course, all the precautions against someone assisting me unannounced also make it near impossible for someone to sabotage the process from the outside. I haven’t mentioned that, of course.”
“Naturally not.” Antimony chuckled. “Oh, well played, that part. Almost worth the rest of the fuss.” She considered, then added, “It was frustrating for me, working with Cleon. I felt sorry for him. On his good days, he was still very sharp, and his understanding of precedent then was unsurpassed. But that’s not a way to run things or keep the system going. And we need to keep that goal at the heart of everything. But it also seems unfair that you be held to different standards than everyone else. The Guards have fitness exams every year. I’m sure someone could work out adaptations easily enough.”
“Oh, I’ve already got notes and proposals. Just haven’t had the proper leverage to get them looked at. Lamont knows about them, and Gloriana and Christopher. I’ve not made a fuss otherwise.”
Antimony tilted her head. “Are they at a stage where you could tell me more? I mean.” She let out a huff of breath. “If you become Heir, what does that change?”
“That’s an excellent question.” Griffin could in fact talk this out and Antimony had enough experience of the Courts to understand, without being tangled in the same politics. “Lamont has been talking to me, one on one, more frequently. And I haven’t exactly hid my priorities, what I think would help the Courts run more smoothly. There’s no point. If he picks me, we need to work together until he retires. That means being honest now.”
