answer.
“Do you expect that the oath, like the laws, is codified and handed down to you? Do you believe that you merely add your name to words that are written and waiting for just that input, no more?”
Severn looked up, met the Emperor’s eyes, saw the faintest hint of what might be a smile lurking at the corner of his lips. “Yes,” he said. “That’s what I expected.”
“Ah. Why?”
“You’re the Emperor.”
“And as Emperor it is my responsibility to decide what oaths you will swear?”
“Yes.”
“The oaths are yours to carry. You will live or die by them. Did you believe that you might decide only upon hearing conditions, as if the oaths you swear are a simple—or complicated—matter of bureaucracy?”
The answer to this question seemed to be his answer to the first one. “I am a Wolf, having failed to swear the oath the Wolves are required to swear in the Emperor’s presence, in person. I have done the work a Wolf would do had they survived their probationary period and sworn those oaths. No oath was required.”
“And if you have done, as you believe, the work of Wolves without such oaths, you assumed the oaths to be entirely ceremonial.”
“I did, yes.”
“Is your word a simple matter of ceremony?”
“No.”
“No, indeed. Tell me, Private, what do you think of my Wolves?”
Severn waited for further clarification. The question itself was vague enough that the Emperor might be asking about his opinion on the Wolves he had met. No clarification followed the question.
“I understand why they’re necessary,” he finally said.
“Do you?”
“Yes. There are some criminals who cannot simply be arrested and brought to the Halls of Law to eventually face the judiciary. The Hawks are competent, but their responsibilities cover the entire city; they can look for those criminals who’ve disappeared, but the severity of the crime doesn’t change the fact that it’s one crime of many.
“The Wolves are not responsible for pickpockets and drug dealers and drunken assault. Nor are the Wolves responsible for the murders that were not premeditated. Gang fights. Family deaths. We are, in fact, responsible only for the murders that you have personally assigned.
“You decide which murders, which murderers, will be too costly for the Hawks.”
The Emperor’s brow rose.
“I believe we’re meant to be more disposable. Losing Hawks is losing the foundation of your law enforcement. Losing Wolves is not.”
“Elluvian,” the Emperor said, raising his voice and, at the same time, deepening it, which was a striking combination. “What have you been telling the private?”
Elluvian approached the Emperor no longer seated on his throne. “I have been attempting to make certain that he understands the Barrani High Court,” Elluvian replied. His eyes were blue. “It is far too easy for mortals to be lost to the minutiae if they do not understand it—and far too easy for the Barrani to manipulate that ignorance if they desire to take public offense.”
“Perhaps the urgency of the mission overwhelmed your customary common sense.”
“Perhaps.”
The Emperor returned his gaze to Severn. “It is not my oath, Private. It is an oath you swear. It is an oath you offer. I will accept it, or reject it—it is rare, but it has happened—as Emperor, but I offer no oaths to you in return. What would you swear to me, now, if I demanded that you offer that oath?”
Severn said nothing.
“If I accept your opinion that my goals were achieved before you were even born, and I withdraw—and seal—all investigations currently underway, what would you then be willing to swear?”
“Will you?” Severn asked, squaring his shoulders.
The Emperor did smile, then. Severn glanced once at Elluvian, but Elluvian’s face was blank, neutral. Only his eyes shifted color, but that shift was brief. And purple. “As you suspected, no doubt, when you were bold enough to ask, I have no desire to further damage the Tha’alani or the Tha’alanari. If past experiences are a guide, they will be some months in recovery.
“I will bury this investigation in its entirety. You will be forbidden to speak of it—but you are forbidden to do so regardless. The Wolves will know. The Wolflord will know. My decision in this matter is final; it is not dependent on the Imperial Service or the Lord of Wolves.
“In return, Severn Handred, I will hear your oath of service.”
Severn nodded. Elluvian moved to stand by Severn’s left side, his hands behind his back, his head bowed.
“I will do anything required of me to protect the people of the Empire you rule. Anything that does not