“You only suspect? Well, at least you qualify to have an Enforcer guarding you,” Elissa replied with a shrug. “Enough about her, though. How’s Jaine doing?”
“I think you’d know better than I,” Diane replied dryly, slipping into a comfortable chair with a sigh and shifting in place. “She spends much of her time at the temple with you, and I’ve been preoccupied. I feel guilty about it.”
“She has grown devoted, hasn’t she?” Elissa smiled gently and shrugged, settling back in her chair. “I like Jaine, she’s an earnest young woman. She’s been talking about maybe going to help with the dedication of Westgate’s temple, but seems hesitant.”
“Perhaps so. It might be my fault, to be honest,” Diane replied, hesitating before following directions and carefully offering. “In fact… well, would it help if I came to the dedication? While I may not fully agree with her or you on the nature of our place in the world, I appreciate all that you’ve done in Tyria’s name. The slaves in Kelvanath seem to be doing better, at least better than they were when I got here.”
“I think that would ease Jaine’s mind immensely,” Elissa replied with a broad smile, but paused and asked more seriously, “Are you certain, though? I know you weren’t happy with her when she joined the priesthood. I believe she said that you were… nigh hysterical.”
“She’s likely righter than I’d like to admit. I’d been having strange, horrible dreams at the time, and I just… well, I snapped,” Diane replied, trying not to say too much. “Still, I’ve come to terms with it over the winter, and she seems safer with you than anywhere else in the city.”
“True enough! I’m not going to let Ulvian have his way in the temple, and he knows it,” Elissa replied, grinning as she sat forward, teasing. “I’ll convert you yet, you know.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Diane told her in a dry tone, shaking her head. A moment later she asked, “So why are you here?”
“It isn’t like I weave my robes out of nothing, you know,” Elissa told her, laughing softly as she explained. “I have other clothing for when I’m in private or out in the city, but I’m getting a new set of robes for the dedication I spoke of. I may need to get some made for Jaine as well, if she’s going to join me. Are you certain you don’t want to be a priestess, Diane? The three of us together might be able to force Ulvian into a stroke, and that’d be good for my heart.”
“Not at the moment. You said you wouldn’t push,” said Diane, refusing Elissa gently. “Even if that is a lovely thought.”
“True, true, I’m sorry. The idea just entertains me,” Elissa apologized. “So what sort of colors were you planning on for your clothing?”
Serel didn’t entirely ignore the conversation between the two women. Based on what she knew of Tyria, she suspected that there was far more to Elissa than it seemed, and something about the woman disturbed her. Even so, she could feel the faint resonance of the goddess’ energy from Elissa, indicating that there was some kind of connection there, and that it was growing stronger.
Diane was far more important to Serel, not the least because her safety had been stressed by both the Archon and Wenris. It was Wenris’ orders that carried more weight, for the older succubus was the one who could control her utterly, but why she considered Diane so important was beyond Serel’s ability to comprehend.
The former queen was tough-minded and blunt when upset, but also not useful in battle or via magic. Serel thought that Jaine would be more important, but the mature elf was somehow the one that had Wenris’ attention, and the older succubus had told her that if Diane died, Serel had best hope she was dead as well, or Wenris would make her life a living hell. Even Ulvian hadn’t been so vehement, but such was the nature of things.
Her other orders puzzled her, too. Serel didn’t know why Wenris was keeping things from Ulvian, but the simple information that it was on the orders of her Lady had been illuminating. Obviously things weren’t as they seemed even between the Archon and Irethiel, which was interesting. A small part of Serel hoped that she still had a chance at vengeance against him, but she wasn’t going to get her hopes up.
Serel’s gaze was drawn to the door as it opened and a human slave stepped into the room, carrying a tray with another teacup and plate, as well as additional refreshments. The woman was pretty enough, but not exceptionally so, her hair a common blonde and her most striking feature a small mole under her left eye. There was something about the woman’s clothing and black slave brand that bothered Serel, but she wasn’t sure quite what it was.
“Oh, thank you!” Diane exclaimed, the elf sitting back as the woman set the plate and teacup in front of her.
As the woman reached for the teapot, Serel caught a flicker of light from where her hand was on the tray and moved without thinking. The ring of her sword echoed through the small room as it left her sheath, and everyone froze for a moment. An instant later the woman’s head fell from her shoulders and blood sprayed the room as her body crumpled, her hand losing its grip on the wicked dagger she’d pulled from the piled napkins.
“Serel! What did you just do?” Diane protested, standing and pulling away as she wiped at the blood. The woman’s eyes were slightly wild, but it was Elissa’s reaction that Serel noticed more.
The priestess had hardly blinked at the beheading for a moment, and only now was she standing, looking outraged. Serel stepped forward, her voice calm as she replied. “I was saving your life, Lady Diane. She just pulled out a dagger while you were distracted, and her clothing was fake. It wasn’t made by the proprietor of this establishment. It was too crudely made, though passable enough of a copy to fool me for a few moments.”
“Her brand also appears to be fake,” Elissa spoke, her tone angry as her eyes narrowed, pointing at the woman’s waist. “Look, it’s starting to run.”
“That… why?” Diane asked, stunned for a moment, looking down to see the ink of the brand beginning to dissolve where the blood was touching it. “Or more accurately, why now?”
“Do you have an idea of who may want you dead?” Elissa asked, the priestess stepping away from the corpse while Serel knelt to search the woman’s body. There was only a small pouch of coins on her, which caused a frown to flicker across Serel’s face.
“Of course I do. I’m not sure it’s likely, but it’s possible someone in Yisara wants to make sure I’m no longer in Kelvanis’ hands. I don’t know for certain, of course, but there could be countless others even here in Kelvanis that might want me out of the way. I’m at every state dinner the Archon hosts, after all,” Diane replied nervously, her face pale. “I’ve heard enough to know that he’s considered marriageable by many of the noblewomen.”
“That’s possible. I’m not seeing any obvious signs of who she might work for, but—” Serel began, only to jump to her feet, hand on her sword as the door opened again.
“Ladies, I have additional tea for you!” A maid stepped into the room, this one not a slave and with her dark hair in an elaborate braid. The moment she saw the carnage, the woman dropped the tray of tea with a crash, exclaiming, “Gods above! What happened here?”
“There was an attempt on Lady Yisara’s life,” Serel replied, standing up and looking the shocked maid in the eyes. “I have some questions for you.”
“I… y-yes, of course!” the young woman answered with a stutter, obviously terrified as Serel smiled at her.
“Good job keeping Diane alive, Serel! I knew that disposing of you would be a bad idea, you’re just too good to throw away entirely,” Ulvian said, turning to look at Serel with a broad smile as he nodded happily at her. Kelvanis’ Archon was a tall, lean man with dark blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair, and he wore his customary purple robes well. His smile faded somewhat as he continued. “The assassination attempt was most unwelcome news, though.”
“Thank you, Lord Archon. I just did my duty,” Serel replied courteously. It wouldn’t do to show her hatred of the man, especially when there was nothing sh
e could do to him. She continued calmly. “The assassin wasn’t terribly competent to begin with. Confident, but not competent.”
“Even so, she nearly managed to kill Diane, and that would have been extremely distressing to me. We spent far too much in exchange for her,” the Archon replied with a scowl, which he quickly forced from his face. “Did you have to kill the assassin? We could have found out a great deal from her if you hadn’t.”
“I only had a moment to act, and the angle was wrong to reliably disarm her,” Serel told him flatly, shaking her head. “Had I more warning I would have been able to capture her, but under the circumstances I had no choice but to strike a lethal blow.”
“Drat. Well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.” Ulvian sighed and sat behind his desk, raising an eyebrow as he asked, “What were you able to learn about the assassin?”
“The woman was supposedly named Claire, and she was a recent hire by Silver Dynasty. She was a cook they employed from Sirshif, and had been working there without problems for two weeks,” Serel reported quickly and clearly. “Checking her lodging, she possessed over a dozen daggers and sheaths that would allow her to hide them in different styles of dresses, as well as several deadly poisons. It is fortunate that Diane didn’t drink the tea, as her cup was lined with a potent venom. There is no sign of how Claire intended to escape the city or who she might have been working for.”
“Well, isn’t that a fine crock of shit?” Ulvian groused, frowning and starting to pace behind his desk, muttering. “Sirshif… I’ll bet that someone from Yisara is behind it, but they can’t have official backing. Not with the treaty in place, at least… no one is enough of an idiot to turn Fate against them. That means tracking them down is going to be a pain in the ass.”
Serel didn’t reply, suppressing the urge to smirk at him. She didn’t think Ulvian was wrong, but it was amusing to watch him fret. Finally he nodded and looked at her.
“Thank you again, Serel. I’d like you to go back to your duties,” the Archon told her, his voice unusually sober. “If there was one assassin, there might be more. Keep Diane alive, please?”
“I will do my utmost,” Serel replied with a bow, but didn’t leave just yet. “However, Diane was speaking of going with Jaine and the High Priestess to the dedication of Westgate’s temple. Should I attempt to dissuade her?”
“I… no. No, don’t do that.” Ulvian paused, frowning for a moment. “She’s making progress, so I don’t want to sabotage it. I’m planning to go myself, though for other reasons. Just ensure her safety while she’s there.”
“As you command,” Serel agreed, smiling thinly as she left the room. She half hoped that Ulvian would make the mistake of ‘attacking’ Diane over the next few weeks, so she could behead him. The mental image did an excellent job of cheering her up.
Chapter 13
“I’ve been thinking,” Ruby spoke between spoonfuls of soup, and Phynis looked up from savoring her own meal. The crystalline hair of the ladies around the table was a marked contrast to her own pink hair, and Phynis had to suppress a smile at the sight of them. The color of their hair and eyes had been forced on the priestesses so they would match their new names, but it also felt like it suited them so well that Phynis couldn’t imagine them differently anymore.
“Uh, oh,” Amethyst murmured, prompting giggles from most of the others, though Diamond and Sapphire only smiled. Even Sistina smiled, though the dryad didn’t have a place at the table and was simply standing nearby.
“Shush, you!” Ruby retorted, but she couldn’t help a smile as she chided, “At least I try to be productive.”
“What were you thinking about?” Diamond spoke quickly, smoothly breaking into the conversation in a mild but curious tone.
“I was thinking about the seven of us. Lirisel has essentially taken over running the temple, and was placed in charge by the Archpriestess. It also seems like everyone else in the city has duties they have to carry out. We don’t, not really,” Ruby explained, still eating in between sentences. She took a sip of water before continuing. “Oh, we’ve been helping, don’t get me wrong, but when we’re introduced to outsiders, what would we be introduced as?”
“The Crown Jewels?” Opal suggested brightly, her fiery orange eyes glittering with mirth as Phynis groaned and Emerald spluttered into her glass.
“Oh, gods and goddesses above, don’t even suggest that!” Phynis protested in near-horror, handing a napkin to Emerald. “It’s bad enough that the nickname the Adjudicator gave you all stuck, but that just makes me sound sleazy!”
“Maybe we could join the Royal Guard?” Sapphire suggested, tilting her head. “We have the power to help out a great deal.”
“No, we’re too close to Phynis for that. Desa would never let us join the guard due to personal feelings,” Diamond disagreed, shaking her head.
“What do you think, Phynis?” Topaz asked, looking at the Queen with a smirk. “It’s your city, after all.”
“I’m not sure. None of the monarchs of Sifaren have taken multiple consorts at the same time in recent memory, and Everium isn’t much help, since their rules were… complicated,” Phynis told them, sitting back and drumming her fingers on the table idly. “I’d almost make you court magi, but that isn’t really appropriate either.”
“City guardians?” Sistina spoke up, her voice breaking the silence as she tilted her head at them. “Coordinated, powerful. Greater than sum of your parts. May be capable of learning high magic.”
“Wait, what do you mean by guardians?” Ruby asked, blinking in surprise. “Let alone the idea of learning high magic, I’m just not sure what you mean. We’ll defend the city, of course, but I’m not certain what you’re talking about.”
Several of the others nodded, and Phynis both saw and felt Sistina frown as she considered how to explain her thoughts. Finally she responded, her voice patient. “City defenses are magical. Enchantments very complex, but self-guiding. Without intelligence. Can be tricked, bypassed. Defenses can be interfaced with, controlled. I can, if able to see. If demon lord comes, have measures. Measures occupy me. You seven, coordinate magic. Interface with spells, control defenses. More efficient.”
“Ah, so our ritual magic, the ability to merge our strength together, would actually help be able to control the defenses more effectively?” Diamond asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Yes. Perhaps better than me,” Sistina replied with a gentle smile. “Outside of domain, senses are limited. Would take practice.”
“If you’re all willing to give it a try, I think that would be an excellent use of your talents,” Phynis offered, happiness flooding her as she saw their reactions. She was growing to love each of the others for who they were, and didn’t like seeing them at a loss in their positions. “I know I’d feel happier if you could help secure the city. I saw the shield you threw up on entering the dungeon originally, you know!”
“I didn’t notice, actually. I believe I was too startled at being consumed by a pit in the ground,” Diamond replied softly, smiling as she asked the others, “What do you think?”
They each nodded their agreement, and Sistina promised, “Will show you how tomorrow. Takes practice.”
Going back to her meal, Phynis felt much better than she had before. From the looks on their faces, the Jewels did as well.
“What’ve you learned, Rene?” Xaris asked, his hands behind his head as he balanced the chair back against the wall of the small house they’d rented.
The four of them had posed as non-guild adventurers to get into Beacon, which had turned out to be surprisingly easy after the mass of slaves and Kelvanis’ rebels had entered the city. The guards had been frazzled from the work, which had helped significantly. They’d spent much of the last few days gathering information about the dungeon, and the previous day they’d even tried their hands at a delve to make their cover more believable. Xaris had actually been surprised at the complexity of the dungeon, which had improved his opinion of
the adventurers who delved into such a dangerous place. The skills they needed were similar to some of those that an assassin might need, but stealth wasn’t nearly as useful in a dungeon.
“Well, the Guildmaster, that artificer Albert, has been meeting with the dryad regularly up in the palace. The adventurers aren’t very secretive and are prone to boasting, so I know she stays there most of the time, and rumor has it there’s a shortcut to the center of the dungeon up on the palace grounds. The only problem is that unlike most of the city, the palace is part of the dungeon’s domain,” Rene replied, looking rather satisfied with herself. “I couldn’t get confirmation one way or another on the entrance, but it sounds believable. The question is how we want to get up there. The locals prefer that adventurers stay down here between the first two walls.”
“Hmm… while we could climb over the walls, that’d be suspicious, and someone might spot us,” Oliver replied, adding seriously, “The sewers are right out, too. I heard one person saying they’re part of the dungeon, and that it might have creatures in there to deal with anyone trying to use them. Some idiot was pondering trying the sewers instead of the dungeon, since he thought it might be safer.”
“What about that academy? It’s just below the palace, and they’re testing prospective students, right?” Edward offered, leaning forward. “I know it isn’t the perfect solution, but it could get us up near the palace. My worry is that the dryad in the castle might not be our target. We haven’t gotten in range to use the seeking stone, right?”
Halls of Power (Ancient Dreams Book 3) Page 8
