Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 59
have her, what do I do?"
"Hire her."
"What?"
"Axel, she's compromised where she is. She may be in a
position to embarrass Castor or Turcaret, which makes her
vulnerable. She'll get no help from her family. Best to make
her independent of them for a while. Designate her Ravenon's
postmistress for this area. She can handle dispatches between
the Ravenon couriers. She’s of age, and we see women
handling positions like that all the time. It's a good chance for
her, because it's a light job and won't last more than a year or
two. Once the war's over, she'll be able to move right back into
her community, because she'll have been there all along.
Meanwhile, she's independent of her family, and Castor won't
touch her because she's one of ours."
"Yeah. I see it. So you want I should brazenly walk into
Castor's place and install her?"
"Why not? See if there's a house you can buy for her.
And send a dispatch to Ravenon to open up a route here."
"They might not do that."
"Doesn't matter. It's appearances that count right now.
We've got the cash, and the seals of authority, we might as well
use them." She watched the rabbit kick one last time and go
still. She reached down and picked it up by the arrow through
its belly.
"Sounds pretty complicated, Cal."
She smiled. "Just curb your tongue and your appetites,
Axel, and pretend you really do work for Ravenon. The
indignant knight, discovering a cowering maiden in the dawn
light. Make yourself legendary. Isn't that why you came on
this expedition?"
He hmmphed. "You make it sound like a bad thing."