Bastion

one bit.
    He realized at that moment just what it was that was peculiarly attractive about the assassins.
    No one ever has to figure out anything. They get told what to do, an’ they do it.
    After everything he had gone through, all the uncertainty, there was comfort in that. Heralds were supposed to make decisions all the time. Heralds had to make decisions not only for themselves, but for other people. Big, important, life-changing decisions. Becoming a Herald like Nikolas—effectively a spy for the King—meant he would be making all kinds of decisions that would affect people for the rest of their lives. Or shorten those lives. Could he do that? Would he ever feel ready to do that?
    He’d come here in the first place from the mines, where everyone knew his place and what he was expected to do—and, almost as important, was expected to keep to that place and never step out of it. The assassins had a similar life. They didn’t make the decisions and were not responsible for the decisions, only for carrying them out.
    A Herald’s entire life was spent finding his own way.
    Right now . . . knowing your place seemed a lot more attractive than finding your way.
    :Oh come now, you’re too intelligent for that, Mags. Even if conditions at the mine had been good, you’d have been bitterly unhappy being confined like that. And if you were to go join your “cousins,” or whatever they are, even if everything was wonderful, you were never assigned to murder anyone who wasn’t a hideous villain, and you had friends there, you’d be bitterly unhappy at being confined and not trusted to make your own decisions about your own life there.:
    “I suppose . . .” he said aloud, into the dark.
    :My impression is that—just as an example—if these people decide that someone should be fathering children, they fling a selected woman at you and expect you to breed like a prize bull. I rather doubt you’d care for that.:
    Well . . . that was true enough,
    :And seriously, can you lie there and tell me that you wouldn’t be questioning every single time you were told to go and murder someone?:
    Mags sensed Dallen—laughing?
    :Of course I’m laughing. The idea is utterly absurd. Admit it.:
    Well . . . it was absurd.
    :All right then. Get some sleep, the gods know you will need it. Who knows, something new might be turning up tomorrow.:

5
    A nd in the morning . . . something did turn up.
    :Up, you,: he heard in his mind as he first swam up into wakefulness. :The Dean wants to see you. I told you someone would have something for you soon, and I was right.:
    That woke him up in a hurry.
    By now mornings were unpleasant. Not in the sense of having to get up, but in the sense that it was always dark and perishing cold outside when he did. There were brick ovens built into the outside of the stable, one at his end, one at the opposite end. When he’d first returned, it was still warm enough that no one bothered to fire them up except at night. Now they were kept burning all night long, imparting heat to his room and the rest of the stable.
    :Do you know what it is?: he asked, scrambling out of bed and hunting for a fresh uniform. It was too blessed cold to wash up at the stable pump, but he did have a basin and a reservoir of tepid water here; when he first moved into this room, someone had kindly arranged for a tank of rainwater to be stored right up against the chimney brick, and as long as there was a fire there, the water was bearable. He dipped out enough to wash in, since it seemed there was going to be no time for a proper bath.
    :I haven’t been taken into their confidence,: Dallen replied, sounding a little miffed. :All I know is that the plan also includes Amily, Bear, and Lena.:
    All right, that was more than a bit of a puzzle! How could a plan include Bear and Lena that had to do with him?
    He made great haste to finish his washing, got himself into that clean uniform, and hurried to breakfast. There was no point in going to the Dean’s office on an empty stomach.
    :Do Amily, Lena, and Bear know about this already?: he asked as he loped up the path. There was heavy frost everywhere, and the leaves were all in their autumn colors and already starting to fall. His breath puffed out in clouds, and he was glad of his cloak. Winter would not be long in coming.
    :I doubt it. I think this is something Nikolas and Caelen cooked up between them.:
    That was even more interesting. He hurriedly got himself