by Brian Keller
Felis’ voice remained soft. Calming. “I haven't lied to you.” The scent of sandalwood and fresh-baked bread filled the space. Iona waved her arm as if to sweep it away, “Stop that! I used to think that was clever. Thoughtful, even. Now I see it as a cheap, tawdry parlor trick. It’s insulting.” Felis held his palms toward her, but the scents faded immediately as he replied, “It's the truth. I haven’t lied to you, I simply withheld information. You never asked. You simply assumed what you wished.” Iona was not appeased, “Actually, I assumed what I was led to believe. I was told you were a scholar. A researcher.” Felis smiled, but only slightly, “Both of which are true. It is simply not all that I am.” Iona shifted her attention back to Cooper, but still spoke to Felis, “And you’re allied with this… abomination?!?”
Cooper replied, insulted, “Actually, he… No, never mind. This abomination will allow the two of you to sort this out on your own. I’ve cleaned up enough of the University’s messes.” Iona retorted, reflexively, “What could you possibly mean by that?!” Cooper sheathed his blades, confident that there was no threat, “You probably wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you.” Iona looked to Felis for an explanation, and immediately hated herself for it. It indicated a subconscious willingness to forgive him, and she wasn’t prepared to admit that, even to herself.
Felis shrugged, “I can only assume he’s talking about the Ruins.” The realization struck Iona all at once. She’d sensed that magical battle, even investigated the site while Felis came along. She had already connected the dots, but somehow had not seen the complete picture; until now. “I felt it when you fought… something in the Ruins. Just before the raid on the Guild house.” Cooper nodded, “Exactly.” Iona was still trying to piece things together, “How was that cleaning up a University mess?” Cooper sighed, “I fought what remained of the Mad Wizard. Something the University has failed to even attempt since their initial failure.” Cooper waited for that information to sink in for a moment, then continued, “The University hunts people like me. Why?” Iona took a breath to speak but Cooper continued for her, “Because the Mad Wizard was Gifted and they fear that another might arise as he did.” He paused to wait for Iona to affirm his statement. She merely nodded. Cooper added, “Well, I am Gifted. It tried to kill me. Absorb my power, my life, as it had so many others over the years. Now I remain, and it is gone.” He paused for a breath but wasn’t finished speaking, “The University has been sending you out to hunt the only people capable of finishing what they could not… and you call us abomination… You speak of lies, and liars. Just how gullible are you? How many other convenient lies have become comfortable truths in your mind?”
Before Cooper could continue further, Felis interrupted, “I think you'd said enough, Cooper.” Cooper whirled to face Felis with an expression of disbelief and incredulity. Felis shrugged, “She already knows your name. Jarell told her.” Cooper threw his hands into the air, “We speak of liars and behold, his name is spoken!” He turned back to face Iona, “So it was the most accomplished deceiver in a generation who put you on my trail? Of course he did. It suited his purposes. You didn’t even know that you were being used. You believed you were simply being handed what you wanted.”
Iona glared from one to the other, recalling the information she'd received earlier from Yoren, “It's true then... Jarell is known to you.” Cooper snorted before he could stifle it, “Believe what you will, but it was he that caused the Guild to fall. Everyone else was just dancing to his tune. Yes, we know him. He was one of us. Trusted. And he betrayed us.” She turned to Felis, who shrugged, “It’s all true. The Spymaster included. The Spymaster was getting what he wanted but he only learned what Jarell allowed, or what he learned directly from Jarell himself.”
She allowed her voice to be laced with the spite she felt, “So I’ve left the University and still I am merely used to further someone else’s ends.” She glared at Felis. He didn’t shrink away; he merely shook his head, “I used you only so far as to learn what I could for myself. I could have followed along on the hunting parties based purely on my merits as a scholar, and at first that’s all it was. I was sent to learn about you. The nature of your Talent. I didn’t understand it myself at first. I was simply satisfying an assignment. As I learned more, I realized I had been sent to determine whether you were a threat to Cooper. Tonight I am here because he is a threat to you. If I hadn’t arranged this meeting, I’d give it a couple months at most, and you’d be dead.” Iona turned to Cooper, “Truly?” Cooper shrugged, “Possibly. It depends on where your current loyalties lie. You were present when the Spymaster died but I’m not certain how closely you remain affiliated with the University. You did deliver my letter to the Prince; that much is obvious. He seems the honorable sort, but we took measures to insure he held to his end of the agreement.”
Iona nodded, “It’s my opinion that he’s noble by more than birth. He accepted your terms despite the Lord General’s fervent protests.” Cooper let a corner of his mouth curl up as he looked a Felis. Felis chuckled and gave him a nod of deference, “Well played.” Cooper turned his gaze back to Iona, “I wouldn’t have killed you, and still won’t, as long as you also abide by that accord. I’ve heard of others referring to this as a ‘live and let live’ understanding.” He raised an eyebrow and Iona nodded in reply. Cooper smiled, “Then this makes twice, perhaps three times you have avoided a Guild blade. Grief could’ve, and perhaps should’ve, ended your life on the waterfront. He was later imprisoned by those you now work alongside.”
Iona blurted, “Yes. We met again. In the prison. There wasn’t much I could do for him then, but I did try.” Cooper nodded and smiled, “I can ask him about that soon enough. He’s just outside.” Iona’s eyes grew wide, “He’s here? But the prison…!” She glanced at Felis but returned her gaze to Cooper, “You’ve broken him out?!” Cooper turned to Felis, who answered, “She doesn’t know. I started putting pieces together a few days ago, but I haven’t explained anything to her.” He took a quick breath and nodded toward the door, “You’d better start bringing them in. It’s only going to get brighter outside.” Iona looked confused as Cooper nodded and stepped to the door to wave the rest of them to come in. He’d prefer that Felis explain whatever he knew to her anyway. He needed to check on Kolrem.
Fifteen minutes later, everyone was inside the house and Kolrem had confirmed Iona’s attempt to make his incarceration less torturous. Cooper returned to the corner where Felis and Iona had remained. They were the subjects of many suspicious glares, along with a few suppressed cries of surprise at seeing Felis there. Iona was still sorting through the notion that the Guild has successfully conducted a prison break. Cooper interrupted their discussion, “I think Grief considers you ‘even’. I’d have killed you right after the Spymaster, if not for the lightning.” Felis interjected, “Lightning?” Felis looked at Iona. She shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. Getting no answer he turned to Cooper, who explained, “I was drawing the Spymaster out so I could kill him. He must've figured out who I was and thought he was hunting me. We each thought we had the upper hand. In a way, we were both right. He brought mages and one of them managed to throw lightning. It was incredible. If I hadn’t thought I was going to die, I’d have been more appreciative of that display of power. It wasn’t clean, but I lived. He didn’t.”
Iona was left feeling very uncomfortable. She had a lot of new information to process all at once, and much of it conflicted with what she’d previously accepted as “true”. Though in honesty, she’d recently begun to question the validity of reports and research done by the University. She turned to Felis, “Are we done here? If it’s all the same to you, I need to return to the Palace. My absence will be noticed.” She turned to Cooper with raised eyebrows, “Especially following a prison break.” Cooper voiced a veiled threat, directed at Felis, “She knows where we are, and of your involvement…” Felis asked Iona, “Live and let live?” She paused, mentally wrestling with all the new in
formation, and the emotions that were connected to them. She sighed and nodded her agreement. Felis seemed to accept her response but Cooper pressed, asking Felis, “You’re vouching for her?” Felis took another glance at her then answered, “Yes. I am.” He asked Iona, “Would you wait for me at the door? Two minutes or less, I promise.” She didn’t respond except to walk to the door. Felis leaned down and spoke quickly and quietly, “The Library survived. During the raid, Master Darius fled to the library and disabled the counterweights, sealing himself inside. I went in a couple days later to assess the damage and tried to get into the library. Together he and I got the passage open again. By that time he was nearly mad with thirst. Over the following weeks we transported the library a sack load or cart load at a time.” Cooper had waited for Felis to finish his tale, then asked, “Where?” Felis smiled, “Jarell’s old house in the Grid. The Guild still owns it, after all.” Felis left Cooper in stunned silence as he walked to join Iona, and led her outside to see the first sliver of the sun as it peeked over the horizon.
Cooper turned his attention to getting everyone settled. It felt almost like a repeat of the activities following the raid of the quarry, except that everyone here was committed to the Guild. He spoke briefly to the Journeymen, “There's no reason to assume the Guard or Army would conduct a house-to-house. The prisoners were obviously put aboard ships, and as far as anyone knows, those ships are sailing to some far away port.” Loryn nodded toward the door where Felis and Iona had just exited, and grumbled, “As far as almost anyone knows...” Cooper made a noise to quiet her, “Felis vouched for her. I'm not exactly sure what he intends to gain by bringing her here, but that woman is a University mage that's been assisting the Spymaster. She's in a position to do incredible damage to us... but Felis vouched for her, and I trust him.” Rukle shifted his position, as if to move to the door. Cooper stopped him, “She might not be the enemy . She took my message to the Prince... and this meeting has given her a lot to think about.” Spen looked around the room, “That may be true, and even if it is, it's still dangerous. We have to assume that folks nearby witnessed us come in. We need to get everyone moved out from here as soon as they're able. We could even start moving a few of them today.” Cooper nodded, “We'll move a few of them to Birt's project, the Gilded Feather, to recover. Several of them can merge with work crews, coming into the Ruins. It shouldn't take more than a few days to empty this House and start using it as another shelter for kids. We'll need to identify a couple new House Fathers.” He looked at Rukle, “I'll suggest you take that task. Pick men that you can work comfortably with.”
He spoke to Dailen and Birt, “Get those horses and carts out of here, but we might want them back tomorrow or the next day. We can put some of these people on it, along with a load of building supplies going to the Ruins.” He observed Miss Camilla, tending to Kolrem and knew there was little more that he could contribute at the moment. He turned toward the door and spoke to all of them, “You know what must be done. I'll be back in an hour or so. I need to pick up an order from an apothecary.”
Chapter 29
Iona had no expectation of sneaking in undetected. A crowd had gathered outside the Public Hall of the castle. People were waiting for the doors to open so they could present whatever grievances that they felt required the Prince's attention. The Prince was on the other side of those doors, preparing himself for the upcoming flood of citizens. Iona was recognized and ushered through the doors, much to the protest of those waiting. The Lord General was already in a rage, “Multiple attacks through the Waterfront District, with slashed and stabbed bodies at each location except one. At that location, the bodies had been incinerated and the inferno should've set the entire district ablaze, if not for the storm! Three ships attacked and taken from the harbor; then the prison raided and emptied, presumably by using those same ships... One prison guard unaccounted for, several others wounded but alive, barricaded inside the barracks hall. Oddly enough, reports indicate that the door had been barricaded on the inside as well as the outside.” Lord General Arkady's face was a mottled red, whether from his elevated state, or due to such a long tirade without taking a breath, she couldn't be certain. As soon as the Lord General took a breath, he resumed, “Then we discover that the anchor chains of the flagship and two other warships had been bolted to the pier! Bolted!! While the ships were being tossed by the storm, no one could get close enough to unchain them, not without getting crushed between a ship and the pier. They were forced to wait until morning for the storm to pass and the waters to calm!” The Lord General was angry when Iona first entered, he was quickly working himself into full fury, “My Prince, could there be any doubt that this was all orchestrated by whatever scum remains of the Guild! Three guards from the North Bridge claim to have even spoken with them. The guards reported the criminals claimed they were acting with your blessing. You accepted their accord, and this is how they repay you?! They raid your prison and chain your ships! They’re mocking you, my prince!”
The Prince looked like he just wanted a few peaceful minutes to think about everything that had happened. He centered his attention on the Lord General, “Hennit, the letter from the Guild made some valid observations and then simply asked that we no longer attack them, and in return they’d remove Apex from our city and further promised they wouldn’t accept contracts against royal personages. It even stated that they’d provide information to us.” The Lord General was red-faced but wisely held his tongue while the prince spoke. Prince Lancaster continued, “If the attacks in the Waterfront District and the ships on the pier are related to wiping out the Apex trade, which I am beginning to suspect they might be, then freeing their people from our prison might be considered a reward for service rendered. If we were to look at things from this perspective, then chaining my ships, my ships, might simply be viewed as insuring that I keep my word. Surely, if the ships hadn’t been chained we’d have either caught up to them at the prison, or shortly afterward, and attacked them. This would have been contrary to the terms of our recent agreement.” The color of the Lord General’s face had returned to normal as the Prince spoke. Now his stunned expression ran the full gamut of utter disbelief, back to anger, and then settled on something that resembled disgust. Iona tensed as she felt his power build, but he released it almost immediately. Rather than speak his mind, the Lord General simply bowed and left the room. The prince then spoke into the room, to no one in particular, “However, leaving a scuttled ship displaying the flag of Lukasi might be a step too far. There’s little enough that can be done about the wreckage right now, but could someone at least go out and remove the flag?”
The Captain of the Palace Guard, Myric, was a very imposing man. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for the prince to invite him to sit and have a drink at the end of a harrowing day. On those occasions, the prince would ask Myric about his observations regarding events of the day. The first time Iona witnessed Myric picking up his goblet, she noticed that the cup fairly disappeared within the Captain’s grasp. Yet despite his size, or perhaps because of it, the soldier spoke little unless prompted. When he did speak, his rumbling voice bespoke a good vocabulary and a surprisingly subtle nature. It was the Captain that bowed in response to the Prince’s command, “I’ll see to it, my liege.” The Prince sounded apologetic, “I’d delegate someone myself, but I can already hear a crowd of citizens milling about on the other side of that door. They’ll need attending before they manage to whip themselves into some kind of frenzy.” Myric’s half-smile indicated that he shared the prince’s view, “My Prince, I’d wager that over half of them are here to complain about the various activities during the night. No doubt any damages caused by the storm will be attributed to berserk Guildsmen with fiery brands and flashing swords, and therefore will be laid at your doorstep for reparations. It might be..., well, efficient if we were to let them in all at once?” The prince looked rather un-regal as he rubbed a hand across his face, then replied, “Efficient, yes. But seve
ral of them may well have legitimate claims. They deserve to be heard and addressed. Even those with questionable claims should not be summarily dismissed.” He paused, then winked, “But making a spectacle of the first few that make blatantly fraudulent claims should efficiently disperse others with similar complaints.” The Captain bowed his head, “As you say, my liege.” As the Captain walked to the doors, the Prince turned his attention to Iona, “And do not for a moment think that I've overlooked your absence. We'll discuss where you've been in due course. For now, just position yourself nearby and draw attention to anyone who may pose a threat.” Myric opened the doors and stepped through. He left them slightly ajar and Iona could hear his commanding voice, “The Prince will hear all your grievances. All legitimate claims will be addressed.” There was a favorable murmur of assent through the room, then Myric spoke more forcefully, “And those wasting the Prince’s valuable time with fraudulent claims shall be dealt with accordingly. And I shall see to it.” Though he was facing away, Iona could imagine the transformation that had come over his face with that announcement. She felt his power build. She was not surprised to sense a powerful Earth affinity, what she hadn’t expected was the extent of his affinity for Fire. The voices outside diminished significantly as nearly two-thirds of the people decided they had matters elsewhere that demanded their attention.
