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you think you’re doing?”
    At this point,
Colin was gasping heavily. He appeared too enraged to speak.
    “His son was a
Shield,” the innkeeper explained. “He killed himself.”
    My anger drained
away. What a terrible thing. I couldn’t even imagine how devastating it would
be for a parent to lose a child in such a way. “I’m truly sorry.”
    Colin regained
some control over his breathing. “No one would Bond with him. He went to
Matching after Matching, but he never got picked.”
    That happened to
a lot of Shields, because there were many more Shields than Sources. It was
unfortunate. I couldn’t imagine living as an unBonded Shield. It meant no posts
and no ability to use one’s skills after years of training. But that wasn’t
something the Triple S could control. They couldn’t determine who Bonded and
who didn’t.
    “He was a good
lad,” Colin continued, almost spitting the words out. “Smart. A hard worker.
Treated everyone real good. Played a lute beautifully, even though he was just
a little one when the Triple S took him away. I didn’t know what all they
taught him, but his whole life turned to learning to be a Shield, to take care
of a Source. Only he never got the chance, did he? All that work, giving up a
normal life, and it was all for nothing. And after a while they told him he was
too old, and he had no special skills, couldn’t even teach. He was going to be
pushing a broom. He could have been so much here, and he was to be turned into
the lowest kind of servant.”
    Yes, that
happened. The Academies needed only so many professors, so many to administrate
affairs. Some unBonded Shields ended up doing repairs and cleaning the
buildings. They didn’t have to. After the Triple S gave up on trying to find a
match for a Shield, the Shield was given the option of leaving, of going
anywhere they wanted. They still wore the braid, were still entitled to support
from the regulars.
    Surprisingly few
took this option, and many of those who did ultimately returned to the Academy.
Some weren’t prepared to spend the rest of their lives doing nothing, as they
weren’t permitted to assume any occupation. Some weren’t able to handle the
scorn of regulars who were forced to provide resources to a Shield that did
nothing in return. Some found the prospect of living outside the walls of the
Academy without the support of a Source intimidating. Some weren’t prepared to
go out into the world, even return to their original homes and families, as
failures.
    “So what was
wrong with him, eh?” Colin demanded, of Taro. When Taro failed to respond, the
man practically shouted, “Hey! Source! You’re going to listen to me!”
    The innkeeper
and his pal seemed to think Colin had calmed down enough to be let up off the
floor. That wasn’t an estimate I agreed with, but when Colin stood, he didn’t
charge again, angry though he was.
    “Did he not come
from a good enough family? Like this one?” He nodded at me. I was surprised he
knew anything about my family. “Was it because he came from a farming family in
an unimportant village no one had ever heard of?”
    Taro cleared his
throat. “I don’t know what to say,” he admitted. “Anything I do say would be
inadequate. I feel deeply for you, your family, and your son.”
    So did I. I
didn’t blame Colin for his rage, misdirected though it was.
    “We don’t really
select Shields in that way,” Taro explained in a soft voice. “I didn’t look at
all the Shields at the Matching and decide I wanted Shield Mallorough.” He
threw me an apologetic look, which wasn’t necessary. I knew how it all worked.
And, well, I hadn’t exactly wanted Taro, either. “It’s something that just
happens. No one knows why.”
    “Aye, that’s
what you lot all say. But none of us know what you people are up to, do we? All
these secrets that we have no way of learning.”
    I would have
told most regulars that the Triple S really wasn’t all that mysterious,