Rook

had everyone looking at her strangely, but they’d all been too distracted by the revelations about Grantchester and the Grafters to draw any incriminating parallels between her current injuries and those of two weeks ago. Myfanwy had been deliberately vague about Norman’s capabilities, and no mention had been made about anyone’s losing his or her memory.
    Finally, it had been agreed that a full debriefing would take place the next day after everyone had gotten some sleep.
    “And you never thought of telling the Court about your amnesia?” asked Ingrid. “After all, there are only four other members left. Farrier already knows, and Eckhart and Alrich seem quite fond of you. Would it have been such a terrible thing?” Myfanwy paused for a moment and remembered the end of the meeting.
    As Myfanwy was leaving, Lady Farrier had caught her arm. Throughout the report, the co-leader of the Checquy had been silent, her eyes narrowed in thought. “In the beginning, I was worried,” said the Lady. “I thought that in paying back my debt to your predecessor, I might have made a horrible mistake. Might have put the realm in danger.” She hesitated. “If I had observed anything in your performance that was harmful to the Checquy, I would have had you terminated. But I can see now that, even though it was done out of a sense of obligation, I did the right thing in permitting you to take the place of Rook Thomas.” She shook Myfanwy’s hand. “Ilook forward to working with you in the future, Rook Thomas.” Myfanwy smiled awkwardly. “And who knows? You may soon rise beyond the rank of Rook!” She laughed a laugh that had no humor in it and swept away, leaving Myfanwy staring after her.
    “It was tempting,” admitted Myfanwy. “It can be exhausting, you know, hiding the truth every minute. And I’d been prepared to tell everything when I exposed Grantchester.”
    “So why didn’t you?”
    “Because I like the job,” said Myfanwy. “And it appears I can do it quite well. But the Checquy is an organization of hundreds of people. There are those who have been trained all their lives to do this sort of thing. Lots of them are older than me, with more experience. I just don’t believe that if all the Court members knew the truth, they would let me keep my job. No matter how much they like me.”
    “I think you bring an advantage by not having all the familiarity and indoctrination,” said Ingrid. “You think outside the box.”
    “Thank you,” said Myfanwy. “And if it reaches a point where it comes down to risking the Checquy’s security, then I’ll tell them about my memory loss. Or maybe just step down.” The two women smiled at each other.
    “I’m surprised that Security Chief Clovis is still providing you with such intensive protection,” Ingrid mused, looking at the motorcycles accompanying them.
    “Joshua Eckhart may have killed my skinless friend with a steel javelin to the face, but there may still be Grafters in the city—to say nothing of their endeavors throughout the country. And Grantchester got away neatly, although we have his wife and that little Gestalt baby in custody.” Myfanwy shuddered as she remembered when the apprehended Gestalt body was brought before the Court. She was not going to forget the malice that had stared out of those baby eyes or the high-pitched, slurred obscenities that had come out of a soft infant mouth.
    “Did Mrs. Grantchester know what her child really was?” asked Ingrid.
    “She says no,” said Myfanwy. “And I believe her. Grantchester was insanely secretive—he didn’t share anything with anybodyunless he had to. And besides, would
you
take a Gestalt baby into your life knowing what it was?”
    “It would be well behaved,” mused Ingrid. “And toilet trained from day one. But no. So I suppose not everything is wrapped up neatly.”
    “Absolutely not. Plus, there’s still Camp Caius to worry about,” pointed out Myfanwy. Even as they spoke, the Barghests were planning an assault on the facility; they had orders to take as few lives as possible.
I don’t know how we’re going to rehabilitate those children,
she thought,
but I’m going to try.
She could not bring herself to pity Norman, but the memory of the dead girl with the talons was dark in her mind.
    “And you’re all right?” said Ingrid. When she’d arrived at the Apex and seen Myfanwy’s black eyes, she’d panicked. But at least this time Myfanwy’s lips hadn’t