by Rick Field
Vera stood calmly on the deck of the boat as it approached the Great Barrier surrounding the island of Kiria. Already, the weather was dark and ominous, and the seas churned angrily. Clenching her staff of office, Vera closed her eyes and calmly intoned the ritual phrases that would allow them safe passage. It wasn't strictly needed, the boat itself held a purpose-enchanted passage key. Still, Vera preferred to be safe rather than sorry. There was always the possibility of the passage key's power token running out. The subsequent retaliation by the Great Barrier would not be pleasant.
Her phrases were accepted. She could feel the boat pass through the barriers as if they were not present. To the Commoners manning the boat, it was just another part of the voyage. To Vera, the gossamer pressure of the protective shield felt like a physical wall she moved through. Drawing a deep breath, she calmed herself after the passage through the ward itself. The trip would not be long now; the Great Barrier did not extend very far into the sea.
She was still in the same position when the boat moored at the harbor. The small fishing village of Carnach was the only one that had an “international” boat dock, if one could call it that. Maybe one or two Nobles passed through here each week, en route to their overseas duties or vacations. In order to cater to its frequent Noble guests, a comfortable guest house was located at the end of the dock.
After stepping off the vessel, it only took a few sentences to the customs officer to convince him of her status as Pillar of Kiria. She didn't even need to produce her strange little black booklet.
Calmly, she walked down the dock and entered the guest house to freshen up after the sea voyage. She liked boats and cruises as much as the next Noble, but doing so while on duty took a lot of the enjoyment out of the experience.
A session in the sonic stall and a hot meal later, Vera was sitting on a floating cart, en route for Kiria City. Since Carnach in effect doubled as the capital's sea-harbor, it boasted an impressive road connection for its size, and the floating cart made excellent progress.
It took about forty-five minutes for the floater to deposit her in front of the Imperial Palace. Dressed as she was, in official Pillar traveler's robes and carrying the staff of office, she was allowed in with no comment or hesitation. With the ease of practice, she ignored the hallways that went further in, the same route she had once followed with Milor after that exhausting return.
Instead, she turned the other way, toward the offices of government. Navigating the almost maze-like structure had become second nature to her after five years of practice, and she soon arrived at a locked wing of the palace.
Placing the head of her staff against the lock, she spoke, “Vera of the Black Wind, Pillar of Kiria, returning from foreign duty.” A small pulse of magic traveled from the lock into her staff, bouncing off her unstable magic. Vera hid a wince underneath her hood.
The door pinged, then slid open soundlessly. She stepped inside, ignoring the door sliding closed immediately after her. The wing she arrived in was not overly large when compared to the wings of some of the other government departments, but its security was top-notch.
This was, after all, the service that was responsible with the safety and integrity of Kiria itself. Security and safety were paramount in their duties.
She turned to her office, felt the security lock identify her when she pushed on the handle, entered, and closed the door. As soon as the door was closed and locked, she threw off the Pillar's robes, flung them at a clothes rack, and drew a deep breath. Liane was glad to be rid of the heavy garments. It may have been fun and mysterious the first few months, but the routine quickly lost its appeal to become a burden.
Putting on her own robes was a relief; almost as if she really were regaining her own identity.
She sat down behind her desk and simply relaxed for a few moments, allowing herself some downtime to decompress from the long travel and the difficult assignment. She hadn't thought her friend had actually been guilty, and finding out the opposite had taxed her nerves. She was glad to have been able to convince Mariam in the end.
Getting up and walking to the discarded robes that hung haphazardly from the clothes rack, Liane straightened them out and reached into the pouch sewn into the robes' interior.
The returned Pillar went back to her desk carrying the crystal and a small stack of paper. The crystal was put down on the desk, ready for a playback should it be required. She leafed through the paper with preliminary notes to refresh her memory.
Finally, she took new, high-quality paper and a pen and started to write her official report. Slowly and meticulously she worked, a decade and a half of experience in writing runes having taught her to write only what she meant, correctly, the first time. Liane didn't write drafts. Liane wrote once.
Despite the care going into every word, the report didn't take terribly long to write. The assignment in itself had been short as far as assignments went. She had gone to New York, entered the Kirian Consulate, talked two days with the Consul, and taken an official statement under Truth Serum, the conversation of which was recorded on the testimony crystal.
After finishing the dozen pages of hand-written text, she bundled the paper, seal-bound them into a single package, and got up from her desk. She didn't spend a lot of time in the office, and the only thing it held were either her own robes or her Pillar's robes. She wasn't like some of the other Pillars, who spent days locked in their offices, poring over documentation retrieved from the Imperial Archives. Liane was a go-out-and-do-something sort of Pillar.
To each their own, she supposed.
Dressed as herself, she left the office, and felt the security magic lock and seal her door behind her. Carrying the testimony crystal and her report, she walked down the hall to a larger office that had its door open. She stepped inside without hesitation.
“Liane, the MagicWarper, returning from assignment, My Lord,” she told Jagan of the Glaciers, the Warlock manning the counter. He was a nondescript man, and very few would ever think him a Pillar from his appearance. Behind him, row upon row of shelving carried beyond the light of the office.
“Welcome back, My Lady. What do you have to log?” the man asked, asking the routine question with the ease of tone of someone who did this for a living. He didn't do this for a living, of course; all Pillars moved through this office and took on this duty in turn. Liane knew how boring it was, the reason why most Pillars only did it because they had to.
“I have one evidence-type testimony crystal and one report, eleven-and-a-half pages, certified, sealed, and bound,” Liane replied, putting her bundle of paper and her crystal on the counter.
The testimony officer nodded. “This is for assignment number 145894357, the investigation into Mariam of the Volcanoes?”
“That is correct, My Lord,” Liane confirmed.
“One moment, My Lady,” the man requested, using a small piece of magic to etch the assignment number into the base of the crystal. He used a similar spell to brand the number into the seal placed on the report, then duplicated it. Finally, he signed both the crystal and the duplicated report with his own magical signature to confirm that he was the testimony officer on duty and that he had performed the actions required.
The duplicate report and the crystal were then taken into the archives, and stored. Liane waited for the testimony officer to return and hand her the security token that indicated the delivery and correct sealing of her evidence, before she took her original report and left. She had a report to make to the Overseer, the Mage that had oversight over the Pillar service.
She knocked politely and waited for admittance, hoping that her superior wasn’t occupied with anything else. Her permission came within twenty seconds, and Liane politely entered the office, far larger and more spacious than her own.
“I bring the end report of assignment 1458943257, the investigation into Mariam of the Volcanoes, My Lady,” the Pillar said, handing over the sealed original of her report.
The elderly woma
n seated behind the desk was Annjii of the Ball Lightning, Imperial Overseer of the Pillar Service. Her gray hair was coiffed into a stern pattern, and her ice-blue eyes beheld Liane for a few moments. Finally, she accepted the package.
“You may commence your report, Pillar,” the woman said, weaving her own spells on the original in front of her. The seal flashed various colors to testify to its integrity, then the Overseer’s magical signature was added to it, showing that she had read, but not modified, the document.
“I arrived in New York and immediately attempted to make unscheduled contact with the Consul in an effort to catch her off her guard. Unfortunately, my initial plan was confounded when the Consul was not present in the Consulate, but rather engaged on a Consular activity with a foreign dignitary,” Liane reported. As she spoke, she saw the Overseer read through her report.
She wasn’t offended by this; she knew the Overseer was capable of multitasking extremely well. It would be impolite of her to insist upon full attention when her verbal and written reports could be examined simultaneously.
Dutifully, Liane continued her verbal report, seeing her superior nod at intervals to indicate that she was listening. After she finished, she waited.
It took another few minutes for the gray-haired woman to finish examining the written report.
She leaned back in her comfortable chair and looked at Liane. “You took quite a chance, Pillar. Reading between the lines, your friend was guilty as charged. You managed to change her mind, somehow, to the point where she had not a single doubt so she could pass Truth Serum questioning. Had you failed, you would have been forced to bring her in.”
“That is correct, My Lady,” Liane agreed easily. Yes, she had stepped out of her official capacity to ensure the freedom of her friend. She wouldn’t be the first Pillar to do so.
“Please hold out your hand, Pillar,” the Overseer said. The MagicWarper did as requested, holding out her right hand, and allowing her superior to cast the oath-identification spells. The various oaths and vows she had taken lit up, all tied together. She smiled faintly at the one in the very center, her oldest active oath, the one she had taken when entering Deep Secrets and Ancient Lore classes.
All her various oaths lit up in their own set color. None of them had been breached or circumvented. The overseer studied the readout for a while, then nodded. Liane cancelled the spells and retracted her hand. The older woman glanced at the security token, whispered a short spell to verify its authenticity, and returned her sharp gaze to Liane.
“Very well, I will accept your results. I will recommend increased supervision of the Lady Consul. It is doubtful her position will be renewed, but she should not face further punishment. If we do not discover any new activity within one year, the investigation will be closed and the evidence destroyed. As always, you do thorough work, Pillar.”
“Thank you, My Lady,” Liane said, gratefully.
The woman’s gaze softened slightly, now that they were no longer on official business. “You are a hard worker, My Lady. This was the fourth assignment in a row. Please, go home, take a few weeks of rest and relaxation. You are one of my top people. I would not like you to burn yourself out.”
The younger woman fought to keep the blush off her cheeks at the implied reprimand. “Yes, My Lady.”
As if seeing what her junior was thinking, the Overseer leaned on her desk. “This is not a reprimand, My Lady. You are tenacious and you work exceedingly hard, an example to all who work here. I am well aware that there are a couple of assignments that are now on a pending closed status that would not have gotten there without your input, even if that input goes uncredited.”
Liane didn’t know what to say momentarily, and finally settled on whispering, “Thank you, My Lady.”
“Now, please, go home and have some rest. I’ll write you in as being under deep cover assignment for the next two weeks. I do not wish to hear or see you within this wing of the Palace during that time, or you risk blowing your cover and coming down on my bad side. You have seen what happens to Pillars that end up on my bad side,” the Overseer said, sitting straight in her chair and tightening her voice.
Liane nodded weakly. “Yes, My Lady. Of course. Thank you.”
The Overseer’s lips tightened into a tiny little smile, the older woman obviously pleased she was still able to scare her juniors with mere words and power of personality. They were among the most powerful and competent Nobles in all of Kiria, they were cool under pressure and did not scare easily. She was pleased she still had the personality and flair required to keep them in line when required. “You are dismissed, Pillar. Enjoy your new assignment.”
Liane smiled wanly. “Thank you, My Lady.” She left the office feeling quite different than when she had entered.
Before, she had felt good about herself, pleased about completing an assignment successfully and coming to a satisfying conclusion. Now she was on an “undercover assignment” that basically banned her from working for the next two weeks. What would she do with such copious amounts of spare time? She didn’t have a significant other to spend time with, and her friends would probably be too busy to do more than share a meal now and again.
Leaving the original report and the security token behind, the MagicWarper returned to her office only to retrieve her staff and lock up her Pillar's robes. She made sure the door was securely locked, and turned to leave. Just as she started walking, she was approached by one of her colleagues, a Necromancer about half a decade her elder.
“Ah, Good afternoon, My Lady MagicWarper. May I ask how your assignment in the American Combined States was?” he asked her politely. He was good at what he did, which was commune with the dead. Unfortunately, he was not overly fond of anything else so his general knowledge was sorely lacking. Still, the man's personality was pleasant, he knew his shortcomings even if he did not wish to work on them, and he was suitably grateful to Liane for assisting him when he got stuck. She enjoyed a good puzzle, and didn't mind helping the Necromancer; he was kind enough to return the favor and assist her with his necromantic skills whenever she needed him to.
The MagicWarper straightened herself, turned to her colleague, and returned a polite smile. “American United States, My Lord Afraim.” His smile widened, and she realized that had been his intention. “Your sense of humor is rather peculiar at times,” she said, her own smile widening a bit. It had been a juvenile joke, but it had lifted her spirits somewhat after being forced on vacation. Perhaps it had served its purpose after all.
“You looked like you could use a bit of levity to brighten up your day, My Lady. I apologize if my humorous intermission was ill-placed. What has happened that made you look depressed? Did the assignment to the American Combined United States not go well?”
She had to resist the urge to slowly shake her head at the obvious joke. “The assignment went very well, My Lord. I have just returned from the Lady Overseer, who has accepted my report and my recommendation. Unfortunately, it seems that I have been... discovered.”
Afraim frowned about as deeply as Decorum would allow. “'Discovered', My Lady?”
She nodded in answer. “The Overseer told me that this was the fourth assignment in a row without any sort of leave or vacation time on my part, and that she could see my hand in various assignments that are now in “pending close” status despite my involvement being uncredited.”
The Necromancer glanced about. “I hope you are not in any sort of trouble because of this, My Lady. You were kind enough to help a fellow Pillar. It would be remiss of me not to attempt to redress the situation.”
“I have merely been sent on a “deep cover assignment” that should prevent me from returning to this wing for the next two weeks, or the Overseer would be most displeased with me,” she answered flatly, showing her thoughts on the situation.
She didn't need a vacation, she didn't want a vacation, and what was she supposed to do with so much spare time? Back at the Academy, vacations were excell
ent for working on her own projects and her own spells. Being a Pillar had ensured she had very little time to work on her own projects, and all of the ones she had started had already been finished.
Afraim almost laughed. He managed enough Decorum, and self-preservation, not to laugh at her. “So if I understood correctly, you have been discovered in assisting your colleagues, and as a result, have been punished with actual paid time off?”
“Exactly,” Liane said. She did not pout. Pouting was against Decorum.
Her Necromantic colleague grinned. “Perhaps you could find time in your deep cover assignment to allow a colleague to treat you to a lunch or dinner in payment for the help you have given him. All in the interest of maintaining your deep cover, of course. With all the work you do, you may not be aware, My Lady, but most of the Nobility regularly enjoys a meal at one of our beautiful city's many restaurants.”
She decided she wasn't going to glare at him. Glaring was just as unacceptable as pouting was. “Perhaps I will, should I find a colleague who has recently been helped by me, and who isn't boorish enough to make fun of my plight.”
