Chapter Twenty-Five

[cityofthehand]

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Chapter Twenty-Five



The moment Graymere unharnessed Maira and parted his wings, she ran to the door and down the spiralling stairs of Lord Shadow’s tower, haphazard but not daring to slow though she risked falling. Dizzy by the time she reached the meeting room doors, she stopped only because the agents guarding the door stepped up and closed rank to block her entry. They traded glances of uncertainty.

The one on the right, a bulky, smooth faced Asna’isi with coppery brown skin and bluish-gray wings said, in very broken High Domainish, “Not go, upper good human. Lord Shadow. Not go.”

It figured they wouldn’t speak any Domainish that was useful.

Maira collected herself, preparing to let loose what little Asna she knew, which would involve accusing their parents of being related and them of having shit for brains (a dire insult to the Asna’isi who prized intellect). Her mouth was open when they bowed, confusing her into silence until she realized Graymere was behind her.

He addressed them both in Asna over her head. The gray winged one replied and got a nod, then both guards went back to their original positions. Naran came off the stairs with Kei-zi and Yena at his side, all of them wearing matching looks of curiosity and worry.

“Lord Shadow is with the advisors and ministers of finance. It may be necessary for you to wait. This is an important meeting,” Graymere said, switching to Domainish.

“So is this!” she said, stamping her foot. “I still have -” she stopped, realizing that Graymere did not know about the device. She glanced at Yena and got a head shake. So, they hadn’t told Lord Shadow after all. Which meant neither he nor Graymere knew what was up or why they’d been working so furiously on research the last few days. Maira sighed. “It’s an emergency. We don’t have a lot of time. Please.”

“Remain here,” he instructed her, pointing a finger at her. A little blue light above the door went off. The copper winged guard waved a hand over a symbol on the wall. So that was how they did that, and how people here knew when to open doors.

Maira let out a relieved breath. Good. She moved forward and Graymere caught her arm and whispered, “Show respect, please. Do not cause embarassment for Lord Shadow, when he has honored despite the price he pays. Allow them to leave first. To barge in will be to make him look a fool.”

She bit down on the retort that Lord Shadow hadn’t given her any choice but to receive such an honor and waited with Graymere. He stepped aside, putting his wings to the wall to clear the space outside the door and she mimicked the same motion, as did Yena, Kei-zi, and Naran. Inside people chattered quietly and Asna’isi advisors started to file out. Each of them looked at Maira with open stares, getting their fill of her face and the mark. Their palpable distaste prickled over her skin, made her ears and throat and hands itch. Defiantly, she made no motion to cover the marks and gazed back.

The last out, a short, bony looking Asna’isi with pale yellow wings, gave her longest and most openly hateful look. The advisor muttered in Asna to Graymere that clearly could be nothing but a curse or insult, though the expression on the advisor’s face hadn’t changed. Still, she knew a challenge when she saw it.

Graymere stepped up, invading the advisor’s space in a single move. The guards tensed. So did Maira.

The advisor spoke even more sharply, with no restraint what so ever with a hard gesture and a step to the side like she smelled so bad her odor couldn’t be tolerated any longer. Graymere’s face showed its first sign of true anger.

Maira didn’t care what was being said, she cared about time being wasted. She waited a few seconds for the advisor to speak again, and without knowing what was said, she forced herself to look at them and laugh as if they were suddenly the most ridiculous person in the world. She turned to the door with a breezy giggle and ignored the advisor as though they were less than a servant to her.

Behind her, the advisor grunted wordlessly and flapped yellow wings just once before stomping away. She sighed in relief that lasted only as long as the breath she took. Apparently Graymere hadn’t lied that Shadow took a lot of criticism for what he’d done.

She came further into the room and hesitated just shy of where Shadow stood, facing the window. “I need to talk to you, it’s an emergency.”

“The meeting you had today did not go well, did it?” he asked.

“I lied to you, and I’m sorry, and I’ll explain it,” she replied. “The professor didn’t tell me a secret. Well, he did, but it wasn’t a secret, it was a device I had to deliver for him.”

“So that was what you would have given my murderer had I kept you?”

Her shoulders slumped. Yena and Kei-zi hadn’t told him that, either, and she now wished they had. “That was a lie, too. There was never any letter. I only said it so you’d let me go. You can do any kind of spell you want to prove it.”

This made him turn around completely, surprisingly her with the half smile on his face that crinkled his eyes with genuine joy. “When did you think of such a plan?”

She shrugged. “After I tried to punch Naran. He’s inspirational in that way.”

At her back, Naran gave a single cry of startled amusement.

“It’s not important right now. Please, we don’t have a lot of time.”

He gestured to the table. “Sit. Tell me what the problem is.”

Maira didn’t even want to take the time to sit, but she made herself do it so that she could calm down and explain clearly. The others took seats at the table, all looking to her. She pushed the letters toward Naran and he took them a questioning look.

“I went today to give the device to someone the professor was supposed to meet,” she explained.

“And this meeting did not go well?” he asked, more to Graymere than her.

“I do not know, my lord,” Graymere replied.

“None of us do,” Naran said, crossing his arms over her chest. “She wouldn’t tell anyone anything until she got here.”

“Because I still have the device, and I think you’re the only one who can stop what’s happening. You’re the only person I know with that kind of power.”

He looked confused. Maira shook her head. It was hard to tell the story in order with that kind of urgency pressing down on her. She put her hands flat on the cool wood of the table and shut her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them, she started at the logical beginning. “The person I met today was Motswa Bara.”

Instantly, everyone - even Shadow himself - leaned in, looking stunned.

“Motswa?” Yena asked, sounding entirely confused. At another moment, Maira would’ve treasured it, but now she couldn’t afford to dwell. “She told me the professor built the device to fix the wards. She caught someone in the Tayeland breaking holes in it and letting demons in. You can see it in the letters the professor wrote.”

“This is impossible,” Lord Shadow said.

The denial might as well have been fire to dry kindling. “It’s not! Go ask Motswa if you don’t believe me. It’s been happening since spring. Houses burning, people getting killed! But it was in the Tayeland so nobody cared and Motswa kept it quiet. Shesaid they could only let two or three demons in at first, but now the people doing it can let more in. That’s what the device is for.”

“What people? Who is doing this?” Lord Shadow asked, grimly.

“Councilors,” she replied. “Motswa caught their sorcerer, and they said Councilors, more than one.”

“No wonder you went running out of there,” Kei-zi said, blowing out a breath. “I don’t believe it.”

“It’s true!” she insisted.

Lord Shadow quickly put a hand over hers. “I believe you. You were right to come to me immediately.”

“I believe you, too, I just…don’t believe it,” Kei-zi replied. And she understood, so she gave him a nod. Disbelief had been one of her reactions, too.

“Motswa doesn’t know how to use the device. She only knows a few tricks, like disappearing,” she said, figuring Naran would want that explained. “So what do we do?”

“Did Motswa say where or when this larger hole would be opened?” Yena asked.

Maira shook her head. “She said the raids used to happen once every few days, but it’s been over two weeks since the last. I think they’re done testing now.”

“That would be my conclusion. It is likely that if the Tayeland was merely a testing ground they won’t return there.”

“If we knew why someone would do something this…this…heinous, that would help,” Naran said. He rubbed his forehead. “Gods, Andaric.”

“Where is the device?” Lord Shadow asked.

“Still hidden, and I’m not telling anyone where it is until we absolutely need it. Not now.”

“How well is it hidden?” Naran asked.

Maira thought about how to answer. “You’d have to know where it is to find it. You couldn’t go looking for it.”

“That almost sounded like a riddle,” Kei-zi said, giving a punchy laugh before he ran a hand over his face. “I’m with Maira on this one. Best to keep it a secret until we have to use it. If even the Council’s compromised, we can’t risk it.”

“Has there been any sign that one of the councilors was about to make a big move?” Naran asked. “You’re close to them, have any been acting strange or secretive?”

Kei-zi snorted and Yena smiled momentarily before answering. “Councilors are always acting strange and secretive, swearing to make big move. If you were to believe everything heard in the Palace of Supreme Unity, you would think the world would end four times over before nightfall every day. It is the nature of politics, unfortunately.”

“Fair enough,” Naran agreed. “But even for them there’s got to be something that would seem out of place.”

“Nothing that I can think of,” she answered.

Graymere looked to his lord and said, “We may need to consider the Pahali Councilors as suspects.” He did not turn his head or so much as glance in Yena’s direction as she cocked her head at him. “Consider the things Councilor Held-the-ember said in the last negotiations to the airspace rights over Natiya. They have since withdrawn from all negotiations on that matter.”

“And what makes the Asna’isi councilors exempt from being suspects? This methodical and premeditated testing sounds very Asna’isi to me.”

“Our councilors would never conspire to commit so many brutal murders in such a way.”

“Then in what way would they conspire to kill people?”

“Captain, it is no insult to your race or yourself, but the Pahali councilors’ actions are suspect, and they have made no secret of their willingness to initiate more hostilities against us, for any reason, rational or not.”

Yena set her face in a scowl and leaned forward. “I’ve heard the same threat from your councilors. Anger at blatant disrespect is not irrational. Your councilors have provoked us many times in the past. If any other race had done so, there would have been a declaration of war by now. You want to believe the Pahali are guilty.”

Graymere shook his head. The coolly dismissive look on his face angered Maira on Yena’s behalf. He now looked like the yellow winged advisor he had stepped up to defend her from. “I have no desire to accuse anyone out of turn, but what little evidence we have suggests the Pahali above all others. Besides ourselves, they possess the resources and will to do such a thing. Would you have me ignore the clear indications that it is a possibility we cannot afford to dismiss simply to avoid angering those who are already temperamental and highly emotional?”

“Hate is an emotion as well, Prime,” Yena said, voice sharp as a blade.

“I am acting on the only information I have, if you wish to contribute anything besides your outrage, then -”

“Enough!” Maira screamed as she rose explosively from her seat and slammed her hand down on the table. The pain of the sting zipped up her arm to the shoulder but she didn’t flinch. “You’re giving them exactly what they want. Instead of finding a way to stop this, you’re wasting time arguing. The next thing out of anyone’s mouth at this table better be something useful or I swear to the gods -”

Naran coughed and she turned her angry glare on him. “Uh, Maira?”

“What?” she demanded.

“I think there might be a way to find the people responsible.”

A bit deflated, she sat down. “Well…all right, then.”

“What is your solution?” Lord Shadow asked.

“Her hands,” he answered pointed to them. “Her blood and his would have mingled. She touched the actual magic that was flowing through him.”

Lord Shadow seemed to understand immediately. “You believe you can use her hands to track the one who cast the spell.”

“Even better. It’s hard to explain, but in the kind of magic that was used, you can also track the one who caused the spell to be cast. It’s the theory of connective causality.”

Maira turned her head. “The theory of what?”

“The theory of things you have to spend years reading really thick books to understand,” he said and she nodded. “If you cause a spell to be cast, by hiring a sorcerer or commanding one, you become part of that magic. You touch it, just through your will, and it touches you. We just have to follow the thread backwards.”

Maira looked at her own hands, wondering if the marks would be a problem, and hoping it might be an excuse to get them taken off. Then Graymere asked, “If you were capable of such a spell, why did you not attempt to perform it before now?”

Naran leveled his gaze with undisguised anger. Maira prepared herself to hold him back if she had to. “Because,” he explained, taking a breath to school himself, “The spell is painful, and can only be done a short while, unless you want me to burn her hands off completely. It would’ve been senseless to do it unless I had a likely suspect close by.”

“How long can the spell be sustained before damage is done?” Shadow asked.

“An hour at the most,” he replied. “That’s as long as I would dare to risk. If Maira is willing.”

“How painful?” she asked, very quietly, fighting the terror of going through such agony.

“Not as bad as the first time, but it will be intense,” he answered.

“You couldn’t just give me that other talisman, the one that -”

He shook his head with a sad frown. “No. Not this time. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” she mumbled, not even convincing herself that she wasn’t resentful. Of course it would involve pain for her and not for him or anyone else. She held back cursing at the professor, out of respect for the dead. He had suffered, too.

“I’ll make it quick and the moment we’re done, I’ll put the talisman on you and you won’t feel a thing,” he promised.

“Is this the only option?” Graymere asked. “Perhaps our sorcerers could concoct a spell with less undesirable effects.”

Maira braced for another scuffle between them. When this was over, she was going to make them both tell her what it was that had made them hate each other like this. “Not in a reasonable amount of time.”

“You yourself said you are not familiar with interracial magic. You may underestimate -”

Naran didn’t let Graymere finish. “Unless your sorcerers are also all knowing gods, it’s going to take them time to work around the basic elements of the spell. I may not know interracial magic, but I do know the limits of basic magic.”

Graymere’s usual cool was slipping, badly as he raised his voice. “I do not understand your unwillingness to explore other option, nor your eagerness to cause such pain.”

“You think I want to hurt her?”

“I am told that some humans receive pleasure from that.”

Naran’s eyes went wide and Maira knew it would be mere moments before he went over the table after Graymere. With a loud sigh she got up from the table and made her way to the door at a steady clip.

“Where are you going?” Lord Shadow asked.

She turned around sharply. “Away from here. I thought you’d be able to help me, but you can’t stop yelling at each other long enough,” she said pointing right at Lord Shadow. “For all we know, this could all be set to happen an hour from now, so I really do not have time. Keep on bickering like a bunch of squabbling roosters. I’ll let you know when the armies of demons are invading the city.”

Once more she faced the door and made to leave, but was stopped by Lord Shadow. “Do not leave,” he said. It was not a command, and that was what made her turn. “There will be no more argument. If Mr. al-Shahd’s plan is agreeable to you, then that is how we will proceed. If not, we will discuss other alternatives and nothing else.”

Chin high in the air, Maira took her seat and crossed her arms and gave everyone a sharp glare, even Kei-zi, who had not really said anything and seemed to have been watching the fights with equal frustration. “Naran’s plan is the best we’ve got. I can handle it,” she proclaimed, forcing herself to believe that she could survive again what she’d already survived once. “So how do we get close enough to the Councilors all at once to make this worth our while?”

“For the moment the Council is in sitting, but they’re not in session,” Yena said. “Not for another week.”

“But if they’re sitting, they should all be in the Palace, shouldn’t they?” Kei-zi asked. “I mean, most of them will be in their apartments and offices there and what not.”

“Unless they went out for a play or food or a walk,” Yena replied, with a shrug. “If we’re willing to wait the week, we’ll have the majority of them in one place.”

“We might not have that much time,” Naran replied and shook his head. “Both ways are a risk.”

Maira bit her lip, thinking about it. “Is there a time of day when they’re all most likely to be there. Maybe later tonight.”

Yena nodded. “It is likely that after mid-evening, most will have returned to the Palace itself. That would better our chances. Assuming Decaran was murdered by the same conspiracy of councilors that were responsible for this.”

“The professor was killed the day after Motswa got the last letter,” she said and pointed to the bundle still in Naran’s hand. “It’s not coincidence.”

“It is a sound assumption on which to work,” Lord Shadow said.

Maira nodded. “I’ll need to go back to my apartment. My last courier shirt is there. If I clean off my messenger bag, I can probably get in.”

Kei-zi gave a single laugh. “Don’t think so, love.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

He pointed to her hands. “A courier marked by a Tract lord? Not saying the guards are genniuses, but I think they’d get suspicious.”

“It’s’s not like it’s not true,” she mumbled, then turned to Lord Shadow. “If you took the marks off?”

“No,” he said, with all the finality of a falling axe. “You need not disguise yourself. I have the privilege of the palace, and I have been summoned for other business besides. You need only escort me.”

“That would work,” Yena agreed. “People would expect you to come with an entourage.”

“What would be necessary for the spell, Mr. al-Shahd?” Shadow asked.

“Just a few things. A talisman that I already have, some basic ingredients. The spell itself would take only a few moments to perform. If I did it just before Maira entered the palace, that would increase the time I can let it go on.”

“How much time?”

“It depends upon how long she can tolerate the pain,” he said and he looked to her. “Hopefully, it won’t be an issue because she’ll find the councilors quickly.”

“Hopefully,” Maira echoed.

“Then we will proceed. Prime Graymere will acquire the materials you need.”

“So that’s it?” she asked.

“No. You will also need to be properly attired for such a deception to work,” he said and Maira saw the smallest upturned curve in his lips. A smirk.