Adventures in Heroland

Eight

Harriet wasn't sure what to do. She didn't especially want to get involved in a wealthy family's dynastic squabbles, and she didn't especially want an assistant either. She had only put the advertisement up on the wall because her superiors in the capital had told her too, but at the same time, she was beginning to feel some sympathy for Ceridwyn's plight, and more to the point, Ceridwyn was a capable arithmetician. Ceridwyn was surprisingly capable. Harriet was finding herself much more interested in employing Ceridwyn now that she knew Ceridwyn could add.

She ought to consider Ceridwyn, she decided. Even if she had her doubts about Ceridwyn's long-term enthusiasm for working at the tax office, she ought to give Ceridwyn a chance.

"Can you subtract too?" Harriet said.

There were tricks merchants used to let them easily calculate common sums such as handling fees and proportions of weights. Tricks that meant they were quick and extremely accurate at one particular kind of calculation and awful at the rest. There was a possibility Ceridwyn was doing her adding through some such ploy, rather than innate skill, and Harriet wanted to check.

Ceridwyn seemed to expect that. She grinned, quite smugly, and took the file back. She began subtracting each individual annual amount from the overall running total, and saying each out loud, as she went.

"That's fine," Harriet said, after three subtractions. "I believe you."

"Are you sure?" Ceridwyn said. "I can tell you proportion each makes of the whole as well?"

Harriet shook her head. "That's fine."

"I can calculate odds, too," Ceridwyn said. "And do geometry, if that's useful?"

"Not really," Harriet said. "No. Not geometry." She took the file back, and returned it to her desk. "What you've done is enough," she said. "You're proficient enough for the tax office. In fact, you're rather good at arithmetic, which I assume you know."

Ceridwyn grinned. "I know," she said. "So may I join? Please? Very, very please?"

Harriet hesitated. She hesitated for a long moment. She was still concerned that Ceridwyn would become bored, and lose her enthusiasm once her wedding wasn't so fresh in her mind.

She thought for a moment, about what Ceridwyn apparently wanted, and what Harriet and the tax office might be able to do. Then she thought about the law, and what exactly it said. She tried to remember. She was wondering if she had an idea.

"Just let me check something," Harriet said. She went over to the bookshelves, where she kept her eighteen-volume copy of the imperial tax code. She ignored those thick, heavy books, and searched along the other shelves quickly until she found a copy of the public service guidelines.

She opened that book, and looked through the index. She turned to a page, and read for a moment.