by Anna Eluvae
The courtyard was a small one, with several stone benches to sit down on and a lonely tree in the middle of it straining up towards the light. It was nearly deserted, save for a small man with closely-cropped red hair and simple clothing. He looked at them for a moment before giving them a nod and looking around. When he'd made sure the coast was clear, the muscles beneath his face shifted until he looked like Wenaru. He let the disguise drop for only a moment before changing his face again. There was enough to give him away, if you were intimately familiar with the man. His eyes stayed the same. Everything else was different though.
"Claire isn't feeling well," said Dravus. "Do you mind if we rest for a bit before moving on?"
Wenaru nodded once before taking Nemm's arm and helping her to sit down. Relief flooded onto her face as Wenaru kept his hand lightly touching her forearm. Dravus tried not to recoil back when the skin of Nemm's face contorted as the muscles shifted beneath it. Wenaru held a hand out toward Dravus, who took it with only a slight amount of hesitation.
Lingering soreness from the fall and the chase vanished in an instant. Dravus felt a surge of energy in his legs, as though he were ready for another run across the city; for all he knew, he now was. The changes to his face felt like someone was prodding at his cheeks from the inside, pushing outward in ways that were uncomfortable. When Wenaru was finished, Dravus's face felt like someone had made him put on a mask that didn't quite fit. He tried his best to ignore it, but the feeling wasn't quite right with what his mind had known.
"I've heard that Lexari is on the run," said Wenaru. He glanced to the buildings that surrounded them, each with windows into the open air the courtyard provided. Many of the windows were open. If anyone was actively eavesdropping on them, it was too late to try to conceal their identities, but there was no sense in saying things out loud into so much silence.
"I heard that too," said Nemm. "Though I can't imagine the city would be friendly to him, or the others he was traveling with."
"I imagine he still has friends," said Wenaru. "Come on, we should get going." He looked at Nemm's face. "Keep the hood up."
* * *
"Oh la, well it is so nice to meet someone new!" cried the woman when they entered. Dravus had been given her name, Charnel, and her domain, skin, but he knew nothing else about her. She looked young, but the domain of skin could accomplish that with ease. Her dress was light yellow, with small flowers of silk stitched onto it. This added to her light and airy appearance. Her house matched her in many ways; the windows let in as much light as possible and the woods were all light colors instead of dark. She was wealthy, as most illustrati were, so the place was filled with the curlicues and gold leaf that Dravus had come to expect.
"Oh my, the Queen of Glass, but I almost didn't recognize you beneath that hood," said Charnel. She swept forward with her dress trailing behind her. "Such a pity to hide your beauty with the ministrations of the Red Angel." She held a dainty hand in front of her. "You have a fabulous bone structure none the less. It would be my utmost pleasure to give you what healing our good doctor could not."
Nemm took the offered hand. Dravus watched the cuts stitch themselves back together, as though the skin had never been touched at all.
"You insist on keeping that scar?" asked Charnel. "I know it's an affectation, but oh la, I find it so dreadful."
"Are we safe here?" asked Nemm. "Merrith and her husband are dead, Hartwain has lost her domain."
Lexari unfolded from the chaise he was sitting on. "Together we are safe. There is no force in the world that can stand against us."
Nemm took off the hooded cloak and began shaping her armor around her, growing in more glass where it was needed. "I take that to mean that we're not secure here. Wenaru, can you change my face back to what it was?"
"Why?" asked Wenaru. "We might have to leave on short notice."
"We might be attacked here," said Nemm. "In case you're killed, I don't want to be stuck with such homeliness." She watched him with piercing eyes.
Wenaru moved forward and began to undo the changes he'd wrought. "It was the easiest disguise," he said. "There are only so many changes that I can make without changing the skin or the underlying bone."
"It doesn't matter," said Nemm, though she had been the one to insist on being changed back. "We need to plot our next move."
"Castle Launtine," said Lexari. "It's the seat of the Iron King's power."
"He's dead," said Nemm. "None of this makes sense if he's alive."
"All the same," said Lexari. "Our enemy has been pretending that the Iron King is alive. In order to do that, they would need full control of Castle Launtine, if only to prevent their ruse from being discovered. Charnel has led me to believe that directives are still issued from the castle, even if the day-to-day running of the Iron Kingdom is done from within the ministries."
"You still want to cut off the head," said Dravus. "But what if there's no head to cut off?"
"Explain," said Nemm.
"I mean … it's probably not just one person. It could be many. Some of them are within this city as we speak, they're the ones who attacked the illustrati." He paused. Now would be the time to speak out and explain what Faye had said. "Are we going to kill all of them?"
"Every collective has a leader," said Lexari. "Every group has a vital member. There is something inherent to human nature that causes this. You saw even as the Parliament of Torland was forming, they were fighting with each other for the positions of power they'd built. We will find them. There will be a reckoning."
"And then what?" asked Dravus. "If the Iron King really is dead, who will rule once you've killed everyone in this conspiracy?"
"We're not in the business of crowning kings, Lightscour," said Lexari. He had a sour look on his face. Dravus knew the man well enough to have some guess at his thoughts; Lexari had said that there would be a reckoning and that grand proclamation was supposed to be the end of the conversation. That was how it would be in a story. "Even if a number of the Iron King's bastards have been killed, some must still remain. There are protocols for dealing with this sort of thing." He said it with a wave of the hand.
"Being realistic though," said Dravus. "Protocol won't select the best ruler for this kingdom. And if we were to install a tyrant on the throne, or someone easily deposed by the next conspiracy after this one, what good does that do for the story?"
"It's not always about the story," said Lexari. "It's about doing what is good and letting the story follow on its own."
"But that's what I'm saying," protested Dravus. "Is killing all these people really good, given what we'd be leaving in our wake?"
"We can stay behind to rebuild," said Nemm.
"It's a possibility," said Lexari.
Dravus had nothing to say in return. He had a horrible, sinking feeling that they were following the path of a story, rather than the path of good. Faye's people were far from innocent, but neither were Nemm and Lexari. Together they had killed a dozen people today, with only a weak excuse of self-defense. Nemm seemed to kill whenever that was the most efficient way to get to her goals. Lexari was the same, but less forthright about it. Both had fought on the side of the Iron Kingdom at the same time that Wenaru was doing his terrible experiments at the Iron King's behest. Wenaru was famous then; they had to have known.
"I won't be coming with, I'm afraid," said Charnel. "Oh la, I would love to come with, to see the grandeur and the adventure of a castle assault, but you must know that skin has few applications in the martial arts. Besides that, of course I have my services to think of. In these times there will be many who need mending, you understand. If we are to have new blood at the top, there will be many elevated in their own ways, whether by fame or money. They'll want my services."
"You're not safe here," said Nemm. "They have some capacity to steal your fame from you, along with your domain."
"I won't be safe there either," said Charnel. "I think you can agree with that. At least here I
have not been harassed. Perhaps I'll take a vacation to the country for a few weeks until things settle down. I have an estate two days ride away, did you know?"
"Very well," said Lexari. "We will wish you luck in your journey."
"A present for the young illustrati," said Charnel. "Before the four of you take off to save the world." She stepped toward Dravus with a smile. "What changes would you like for your skin?" she asked with a sweet smile.
"My skin?" asked Dravus. "I think I'm fine with it."
"Oh, well you're far too young to have crow's feet, that's for certain, but there are other things that the domain of skin can do. It's not just for looking youthful, you know. Were you aware that the domain of skin is the only one of the bodily domains that encompasses a sensory organ?"
"That's not quite true," said Wenaru. Nemm and Lexari had moved away to speak on travel preparations, but Wenaru had stayed to watch this exchange. "Bones and flesh have nerves in them. It's part of why breaking a bone is so painful."
"Oh la!" said Charnel. "The boy knows what I mean. We touch with our fingertips. We feel the wind on our face. I can deaden the nerves or enhance them." She winked. "Or I can toughen your skin up, enough that your flesh would be protected from all manner of dangerous implements."
"Don't do that," said Wenaru. "I can't repair skin, it'll leave you with painful wounds that heal slowly."
"Do whatever you think is best," said Dravus. "I'd prefer something … subtle."
* * *
They left Parance under the cover of darkness. Charnel had nothing that was suitable for camping, but she did have a wide variety of clothing for them to take, some of it borrowed from her servants. Dravus had left his expensive purple outfit sitting in an alley somewhere in the monstrous grid of the city, so he was down to simple workman's clothing. As soon as they were past the last row of houses, he began to conjure his armor of shadow into place. He'd taken some reinforcement of his skin, as well as some deadening of his nerves, which made him feel slightly out of sorts. Nemm and Lexari must have taken such enhancements ages ago, along with enhancements to strengthen their bones. It helped to explain some of their nonchalance when it came to pain. Charnel didn't remove pain entirely — Dravus had prodded at the meat of his leg to make sure — but the sensation was far less extreme than it had been. He had been made more muscular too. With Wenaru and Charnel working together, his skin could stretch to accommodate more extreme changes of the flesh. When he looked at himself in the mirror, it was difficult to recognize the man that he'd been before.
Getting horses would have been difficult, so they went on foot instead. Once they were on the road out of the city, they began to run, moving with the strength only an illustrati could bring to bear. Dravus found the pace they were keeping somewhat slow, so he sprang ahead, scouting out the plentiful shadows. It was easier to tug on the shadows when it was nighttime; his domain was in abundance here.
They stopped after an hour of running, in order to cool down and drink from flagons of water. They were going as fast as a horse at a gallop, which they would only be able to sustain for as long as it took to get to Castle Launtine, and then only with periodic refreshing of their muscles from Wenaru. If they'd had an illustrati of blood as well, Dravus had thought they might be able to run forever, but Wenaru had said the body had many processes that were little understood. Dravus hadn't pressed the point; he didn't want to know what lines of experimentation had shown about the limits of the domain of flesh.
"Did Hartwain say what form the artifact took?" asked Lexari. "We know precious little about it."
"It's about the length of my forearm," said Dravus. "With a hexagonal hole near the top. It has the same insistence on the mind as other artifacts."
"We need to know whether it's aimed like a pistol or needs skin contract," said Nemm. "Did she say?"
"No," said Dravus. So far he'd avoided lying to them, but he knew he couldn't hold back much longer. "They have double illustrati. Illustrati with two domains. Or maybe more."
Nemm and Lexari exchanged a glance while Wenaru's eyes went wide.
"If you could merge the bodily domains into a single person, or even just the major ones, the possibilities available would be nearly endless." He looked down at his hand. "It's possible, with skin, flesh, and bone to regrow fingers, or to make new ones, but the level of technical knowledge required means that there are limits on what can be done by even a specialized team of illustrati. The communication alone is burdensome. But if you could feel flesh and bone at the same time, you might be able to alter them in perfect coordination —"
"If they truly have such a device, it must be destroyed," said Lexari. "It was bad enough when I believed that it could only make exchanges."
"You should have told us about this sooner," said Nemm. "If we'd been attacked —"
"We were not," said Lexari. "It doesn't matter, at any rate. We know now to treat every illustrati we face as though they might display a second or third domain at a moment's notice."
"There's a strong possibility that we'll die in this assault," said Nemm. "This began back with Wealdwood and Cerulean Bane attacking us. They'd been tracking us for months. That means the conspiracy had a full year to collect powers from whomever they might like, all under the authority of the Iron King. We don't know what we're walking into here."
Lexari smiled. "That's what makes it so heroic."
They continued on through the rest of the night, traveling in darkness. There were scattered clouds that obscured the moonlight, which made it difficult to see on the road. They ran in silence with long, bounding strides that did little to tire them, breaking only occasionally. They would have outpaced a galloping horse sent from the city, but over the course of four hours they didn't encounter another soul on the road. It was nearly dawn when Castle Launtine came into view. They turned off into the woods, to a place far enough from the road that they wouldn't be seen, then began to make camp. Nemm shaped her glass into a convincing impression of a gray rock, large enough that they could crawl inside it.
"We sleep here until midday," said Lexari. "We'll take shifts."
"How are we getting into the castle?" asked Dravus.
"Oh," said Nemm. "I think you know we have a flair for the dramatic."
* * *
Castle Launtine was located on a tall, rocky hill, with a small village spread out some distance from it. Nemm, Lexari, Wenaru, and Dravus stood a mile away, on top of a similar rocky hill, separated by a mile of open air. They had made a few concessions to visibility. Nemm's armor was frosted glass now, reflecting no sunlight, while Lexari was projecting little light. The castle itself was a tall building, eight stories that added to the considerable height of the hill. Cannons stuck out from the lower walls, bristling forward at angles in order to cover the most ground. The stone was worked and smooth, with no obvious handholds. There was a winding path that led up to the castle, with a thick iron gate thirty feet tall barring the way.
"What are we doing up here?" asked Dravus. He'd held his tongue up until this point, but now curiosity was burning at him.
"You see those cannons?" asked Nemm.
"Yes," said Dravus slowly.
"Castle Launtine is one of the most secure fortresses in the world," said Nemm. She took off her glass breastplate and began to shape it, stretching it out into a disk. "Now, you might think about bringing in an illustrati of stone to come in from underneath, burrowing a tunnel to leave an entryway, or just toppling the structure from beneath in order to kill everyone inside. You'd pretty quickly find that there's several solid feet of iron stopping you. You'd then probably bring an illustrati of iron in, but as soon as he moved aside the metal, he'd get a heap of sand down on top of his head. There are layers upon layers of traps that prevent that sort of thing."
"The Iron King's defenses around the castle were considerably weakened by the fact that he liked to brag about them to everyone who visited," said Wenaru.
"Well, certainly," said Ne
mm. She kept making the disk larger, until it was nearly as tall as she was. Dravus was worried that it would be visible from the castle in the way that it reflected the light, but he said nothing. "And of course, the castle is vulnerable to someone flying in from above, but there's only one man with that power and in either case that's quite difficult to defend against. A lone man going into a well-organized, well-defended castle alone is also probably a suicide mission."
"I am not quite so heroic," said Lexari.
"What are you making?" Dravus asked.
"Spyglasses are one of the trinkets I make," said Nemm. She gave Dravus a feral smile. "This is only a larger application of the same principles." She kept up the expansion, making a disk — a lens — so large that she had to make a brace of glass on which to rotate it. "Hellishly difficult, of course. Try drawing a perfect arc with a pen and it would be easy enough to point out the imperfections even with the naked eye. We need something far more precise than that."
