Chapter Eleven

"Sir."
"Sit down Collin."
"Thank you sir."

It had probably been a coach's office. A few bits of shiny plastic scattered around pieces of heavier plastic shaped like small people doing things were scattered around the room. The desk was full of musty socks, half used tubes of some sort of athletic cream, and a dozen whistles.
There had also been a few used syringes under a secret panel under the musty socks; but they'd been taken to a lab for testing. Since the room had been cleared, and since the barricades had been set up the area was considered secure. There were other offices, but this one had come with a chair.

"I assume Jor explained things?"
"Yes sir."
"Did you learn anything you hadn't already known."
"No sir."
"I didn't think so. Collin, Do you know why I recruited you?"
"No sir."
"You reminded me of her. Strong willed, able, and willing to do what you thought was right even if it went against a direct order. They aren't bad traits by any means, in many ways I count on them in order to see things done properly. But the empire is only as strong as those who fight for it. If good soldiers like yourself, or Jeanine, refuse to fight for it, then it will break and you will realize just how much good the empire really does."

He looked back down. Paperwork, bane of soldiers everywhere, covered the desk. He was writing letters to the families of the soldiers they'd lost yesterday, securing the computer core.
"The empire is to compacted. I've talked to Peter, and some of the researchers. We all agree that the empire doesn't work on this scale. The system was designed to place much of the authority in the hands of the nobility, men made able to complete their tasks by challenging lives and adventures in their youth. A thousand years ago when the system was built it worked. But as time has gone by their have been more nobles and no more land. The monsters of nightmare, shadowy cults, and assassins have all been exterminated."
"But what about"
"I said the assassins have been exterminated."
Collin bowed her head submissively.
"Anyways, there are too few adventures left to be had. What rare nobles actually do manage to have them turn out well enough, perhaps you will one day be counted amongst them. For the rest, the wealth of taxes and harsh business have made them fat and lazy. These are the ones that have been bothering you, as they have us all. There is nothing we can do about them. Perhaps things will begin changing now, perhaps you will be one of those who helps it change."
"And your daughter?"
"If we do not first try to fix the system from within itself, then we are no better than criminals. What she did was illegal, and she knew it. What's more, it was stupid and vainglorious of her to do it as she did. I do not regret my actions, and I do not think she regrets hers. Until one of us changes our mind we will gain nothing by speaking."
"Sir I'm.."
"There is nothing else to be said of the matter. The question now is; what will you do?"
"Well sir, I thought about it. Polly didn't deserve that, she's a well meaning girl who honestly doesn't know any better."
He nodded, setting one of the letters aside to dry while he began on the next one.
"I think the fact that she chose to come out and explore, of her own volition, speaks very well of her character. Maybe one day she will have cultivated the skills needed to be a good ruler. Instead of thinking of her as a silly, dramatic princess, I will endeavor to treat her as a future ally and my equal in social standing."
"Your father didn't abandon you you know."
"Sir?"
"Lord Crasengan sent me a letter of recommendation, while he was dying after the trial. He said that you were a good child, with good intentions and very capable. I thought little of it at the time, he had referred several other convicted criminals to me; most outrank me now. But now that I know who you really are I've been reading over the letter again."
He reached into the drawer with the whistles, and pulled a small envelope out. The paper was wrinkled a it, and had weathered badly, but the broken seal was clearly that of Collin's father.
"Its the little things that I should have seen. 'watched this one carefully for years', 'a better daughter than her slovenly father deserved', 'be sure to care for her as though she were my own blood'; He'd been planning for years, sending me the best so that I'd take you without second thought. But it was this one, from my older son."
Collin blushed slightly at the mention of Hamren, the Captain's son. He knew full well of their..history.
"Jeanine asked about you by name. Hamren never talked about you, not even to his sister. He told me that I should keep you nearby to keep you safe. But Crasengan was too fair and just a ruler to have garnered their contracts, and his mercy likely has left a certain level of protection on you. The only reason that she would know is if they were watching you. I didn't know his Lordship personally, although he was certainly one of the friendlier nobles; but I would wager my knife that he was a branded member; and had been doing everything in his power to help you. Even if he couldn't help you himself."
He heard her sobbing lightly. She was still trying to keep it down. But after a lifetime of plotting to force her father to acknowledge her, to realize that he had been watching out for her the whole time must be fairly monumental.
"I'll leave you alone. I've put all the information I've managed to gather over the last couple days in a folder in the top drawer. Go ahead and look at it when you have the chance. Just promise me one thing."
She nodded, moist eyes intent through puffy cheeks.
"When you become a noble, take care of Jeanine for me."