Dominic walked behind the Servant's treasure-loaded horses, feeling alone. The murmur of his fellow Bound had faded away, along with the only chance to find his way home.

"You may call me Jasper," the Servant said.

"You have names?" Usually Servants were a force that strode into town, took action, and left people cheered in their wake. Or dead. "And faces?"

A low chuckle. "I was like you, once. Some of my recruits are too timid to ask."

Dominic was sore from marching. He imagined, too, that if he didn't show strength here, the man would devour him into the darkness behind the mask. "Then, there's something else I want to know. How do you ride?"

Jasper stopped to give a brief lesson. Dominic learned enough that he could follow along and not fall off. He'd imagined horses as extensions of their riders, since everyone he'd seen atop one seemed to have clear mastery, but the muscular grey beast under Dominic was its own living creature, with its own will. Even though that will was mainly to stop and eat grass, the boy struggled to stay put in the saddle.

"Sir? You were Bound once?"

"Of course. Those with the talent must either take a Citizen's brand and serve the navy and army, or if they're good enough, take the mask and serve the State as a whole. I haven't decided which fate is yours, yet."

"Do I choose?"

"Presumptuous of a Bound to ask for choices in life."

They rode quietly. At sunset, Jasper called a halt and dismounted. "We'll reach Seaflower in two days."

"Seaflower!" Dominic pulled on his reins and barely kept atop his horse. The Citizens spoke of it as a mighty city with thousands and thousands of people. "That's where Servants come from?"

"The city is one of several. Your education will begin there. We Servants are only inspectors in that place, and a nuisance in some people's eyes. Help me with this tent."

Dominic unrolled the cloth, and Jasper raised his hands. The tent flicked into the air and held in place while Dominic staked the corners. "Will you teach me to do that?" Dominic said. He wanted to learn to do things with magic other than stabbing.

"Hmm... Not yet. For now, focus on learning to see the Weave. You must have noticed it earlier."

Dominic fell silent, wondering if the Servant had seen him kill. It'd been stupid luck and he had no idea how to repeat it. Nor much desire to use magic the same way again.

Jasper explained a certain mindset, like squinting or chanting silently, that made it easier to see the whorls of grassy light. The Weave wound between every tuft of grass like a wreath or like sheaves of grain, and outlined the flesh of their horses and their own bodies. Now that the sun was at his back, Dominic realized that he was seeing more by this hidden light than by the sky's. It was everywhere along the earth. Sparks of it danced just above the ground and drifted higher like fireflies. He said, "I don't think I can ever get lost in the dark again."

Jasper chuckled. "It's easier than you'd think. What do you know of we Servants? Do you think I ever remove this mask, for instance?"

"You must, sir. Or you'd have a filthy face."

The man laughed for the first time, sounding faintly like a bell through the brass. "Indeed, it does get sweaty." A few minutes later he brought his horse to a halt, hopped down, stretched, and took off his mask. Underneath he was only a man, etched by age, with the suggestion of the mask's edges joining natural wrinkles. Silver crept through his flamelike hair.

He caught Dominic staring. Dominic stammered an apology, then said, "Why do Servants wear masks at all?"

Jasper held his badge of office over his face again, so that he looked out through pitiless slits. Red sunlight caught the brass and gave him the look of an unimpressed, burning ghost. "Persuasion. The machinery of the Holy State is something you must learn about, no matter where on the wheel of castes you stand."

He left Dominic outside with a thin blanket, and retreated to his tent. Dominic lay on his back and tried to sleep. Jasper seemed to be murmuring to himself. He was just a few paces away, yet beyond anything Dominic understood.

#

Jasper explained little to Dominic over the next day's riding, so that Dominic let his mind wander and explore the Weave. "It seems to have a direction, like a stream."

"You noticed? Yes, Seaflower is a natural node. We'll only be passing through on our way to the capital, a much greater focal point. While you're there, I expect you to learn. What else do you observe?"

"Hills?" The ground had gradually become a worn trail heading east, and had risen up on either side of them into steep mounds of grass and trees. Soon they'd been forced to detour around oddly placed lines of them. "They look like walls."

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"These are the Flower Walls, made by men. Even a powerful mage would have trouble tearing up such a mass of dirt and roots, and they're cheaper and more numerous than stone walls." An actual tower stood in the distance with a triad flag. "We'll stop here for tonight. Tomorrow, you will learn."

#

Jasper quizzed him over a dinner of hard bread and cheese. "What have you learned so far?" He'd said little today beyond "Observe."

Dominic sat on the grass. "We passed another village. Number Sixteen, I think. There was an orange grove." He thought of the traders who'd brought the rare treats from "distant lands". "The soil was dry there too."

Jasper said, "You think like a Bound, so far. You'll need to be an observer of men as well as things. Better than some I've seen who are aware of neither. What did you make of the people we saw?"

Dominic shrugged. "That trade wagon looked like it would stop at my... my former village. There was a Citizen driving it, which I guess is unusual. Normally the Citizen is the one relaxing in the shade of the wagon, not steering the horses. The farmers looked all about the same as I've ever seen."

A noncommittal grunt. "And what of myself, the man who's been in view all day?"

The boy looked away from Jasper at the world the man was taking him through. "I'm not unique. I've heard of people being taken away, before, so that must be something that Servants do regularly. Find people with what you called the... the gift." He gulped. "You don't see magic as unclean, as frightening."

"Fear of magic is an appropriate attitude for Bound to have. Is it good or evil?"

"I've seen it serve the State, when you used it, and oppose the State, when the bandits collapsed their own ground. Or was that not magic at all? I was too startled to notice. So, neither?"

"Indeed," said Jasper. "It's a neutral force. Enemies of the State use it too. My role is to see that magic and all other powers are bent in the correct direction."

He went into his tent, rummaged, and returned with a glittering brass chain that carried a wooden amulet. "Wear this tomorrow to keep you from being identified as a missing Bound. You'll want to carry a note from me as well. You don't know how to read yet, do you? It's safe now to admit it, if you've learned in secret."

Dominic shook his head. Reading was another thing that the Bound didn't need. They had Citizens to do that work for them. Now, though, he felt that there was harm in not knowing. It was no longer forbidden to learn things.

"Unsurprising."

"I need to read and write as a Citizen or a Servant, then?"

"To some extent if you become a Citizen, yes, and definitely in my role. Why do you suppose that is?"

Dominic thought of how rarely Servants visited. "There can't be enough of you to visit every place, every day, but it all needs to be controlled. I've seen Citizens get letters using riders who aren't Servants. Someone must be writing them. For Citizens who're on ships or running the army, they need a way to speak. I doubt they can shout very far even with magic."

"Not for lack of trying," Jasper said. "That's a good enough answer. If you do take the mask, you'll need to set our Baccata tongue to paper, and speak a bit of Mithraic or Waldic if you must deal with the barbarians. For tomorrow and the next few days, though, I will be too busy to instruct you." He looked into his money pouch, then poured a measured handful of coins into another pouch and handed it to Dominic.

Dominic looked into the bag and gaped. Bright copper coins shined in the firelight, and... was that silver? He took one of the silver coins out and turned it back and forth in his fingers. One side held tiny words, and the other, three triangles arranged side-to-side like a trapezoid or a bow. Coins were another thing not meant for the Bound; it was Citizens' job to provide them with everything their laborers needed, so why should the Bound even touch money? The silver looked pure and bright in Dominic's hand. "Sir, what is this for?"

"A test. Go into the city and observe. Learn. Spend it how you wish. Ask me no more questions about that, and meet me at the sign of the Lynx's Den at sunset in three days."

Dominic sputtered. Not just having money, but deciding how to use it? Actually going into the vast city? He asked the largest question, provoked by the sheer insanity of being left alone without instructions. "But what should I do?"

Servant Jasper laughed at him. "No more questions. Rest tonight, and serve tomorrow."