Heroes Return Read Online Free PDF Page B

were ill. We’ll do better now.”
    “I’m not so confident.”
    “We’re here now. We weren’t meant to channel from so far away. Now that we’re here, it will be better.”
    Could that be true? “The Triple S must have forbidden Sources being posted at their birth places for a reason.”
    “I think we can agree that the Triple S doesn’t know everything.”
    That was true. “But if we tell the Triple S we’re having trouble, they might transfer us.” If they could. Sure, the Triple S was supposed to be independent, but its expenses were paid with money set aside by the Crown. Practically speaking, the Triple S couldn’t afford to try to discipline the Emperor. They simply lacked the power.
    Taro stiffened. “I was born here,” he said. “These people have supported my family for generations. I won’t desert them.”
    I was shocked. Taro had never shown any kind of loyalty to Flown Raven. “They won’t be deserted. Another Pair will be sent here.”
    “That won’t be the same as me looking after them.”
    No. It would be better, because it would not be a Source from Flown Raven. But Taro clearly wasn’t in the mood to be sensible, and he might be right. Channeling might be easier for us now that we were in Flown Raven.
    A maid walked into the room. I was surprised that she didn’t knock, and I was uncomfortable at being seen by her in my nightgown. She didn’t appear to feel there was anything unusual in her behavior. “His Lordship”—that was Dane—“asks to speak with Source Karish and Shield Mallorough. Are you receiving?”
    “We are, my dear girl,” Taro announced in a complete change of tone. “I’ll see him in the sitting room so my lovely Shield can fortify herself against the demands of the day.”
    “Of course, sir,” the maid murmured as Taro wafted by her. She curtsied to me, which just looked wrong, and closed the door behind her.
    I wolfed down another pastry and gulped down the rest of my cup of coffee. In my dressing room, some invisible person had hung up all of my clothes. I had no idea what we were going to be doing that day, but a tour had been mentioned, so I put on trousers and a shirt.
    I entered the sitting room at the tail end of some comment Taro was making. Dane was frowning at him. Not in anger, I thought. More like confusion.
    Dane had changed his clothes. His nose was very red. I wondered if he and Fiona had continued fighting after I’d left.
    He smiled when he saw me. “Ah, Shield Mallorough, you’re looking lovely this morning.”
    I was not. I was looking as plain as I possibly could, with loose clothing that did nothing to help my unremarkable figure, not a scrap of cosmetics to disguise my pale skin, and my red hair tied loosely at the base of my head. I hadn’t had the time to make myself look good.
    “Have the two of you eaten?”
    “I have,” I said, and Taro nodded.
    “Good. I’ve been dispatched by my lady to show you the house. It’s possible to get lost here, and we want you to be comfortable. It’s your home now, and it’s been quite a while since Taro lived here. He might not remember everything.”
    “I would be delighted to see the house,” I said. “But Taro might have a report to write to the Triple S.” Taro didn’t have any such report. As a rule, Sources didn’t write reports. But I thought he might not wish to face all the memories that might be lurking in his childhood home.
    Taro frowned at me. “Was there anything about my writing a report in that letter you got?”
    “No.”
    “Then I’m good to go.”
    All right, if that was what he wanted.
    “Good,” said Dane. “I figure we should start at the court room and we’ll work our way up. We ask that you never go up to the fourth floor. All of the servants’ quarters are up there and we want their privacy to be undisturbed.”
    We followed him down a different set of stairs from the one we’d taken up the night before. We took two flights and ended up in a