Stained Glass Monsters

Chapter Thirteen

"Please state your full name," the person sitting in the centre of the examiner’s table said. She was a woman with short-cropped brown hair, a voice of warm smoke, and a most suspicious gaze. Councillor Allerton, perhaps.

"Rennyn Helena Montjuste-Surclere," Rennyn replied, then added, "Though Rennyn Helena Claire on the Dawnbringer’s Register. And various aliases."

Interesting. She’d answered rather more than she’d been intending. It was a clever spell, encouraging thorough explanation, a potentially fatal chattiness. Narrowing her eyes, Rennyn concentrated on the task of choosing exactly what truth she would tell, and no more.

"Can you prove that?" asked a dark-bearded man sitting at the far right of the table. "Evidently you believe that you are a descendent of Solace Montjuste-Surclere, but that may merely be something you have been told."

Startled, Rennyn had to laugh. "It would be an elaborate ruse, if so. Let me see. I don’t imagine the usual paternity castings would cover such a distant connection, but feel free to devise one. I have a few centuries of documentation, various objects which belonged to the family. I–" She paused, then shrugged. "There’s a collection of letters from King Eliathas. One has the official seal on it. That would establish Tiandel’s survival, at least."

"King Eliathas was aware of the ruse?"

"Pretending to die is perhaps not so hard. Pretending to die after moving your most precious belongings out of your house and shuffling your fortune about in interesting ways, that requires a little collusion."

"Reasonable," the man continued. "What other members of the Montjuste-Surclere line survive?"

"My brother, Sebastian. Solace. This new son of hers, Helecho." The name sat bitter on her tongue.

"After three hundred years, only two descendents of Tiandel remain?"

Rennyn shrugged. "Three hundred years of experiments with the Eferum. It’s not the safest preoccupation."

"Experiments based around the Grand Summoning? It is true, is it not, that this would involve continuing research into the function of the spell? That you would have the means to recreate the Grand Summoning?"

"Quite true." She did not look down, did not dwell on the day her father had not returned, of the void that had left. And she never allowed herself to think of her mother’s death.

"Have you ever planned to cast the Grand Summoning yourself?"

"No."

"Have you supported, assisted or colluded in any other individual casting the Grand Summoning?"

"No."

"Have you, or do you intend to assist or aid Queen Solace in completing the Grand Summoning?"

"No."

Lady Weston’s voice suddenly interjected, "Do you know of any way to stop the Grand Summoning before it completes?"

Rennyn blinked, turning. The Grand Magister had arrived unnoticed to sit beside the Queen. The map of Sark was open before them. Even at this distance Rennyn could see the sharp line she’d drawn along the outskirts of the city.

"Yes." Rennyn ignored the murmur which ran around the room. "The obvious way: go into the Eferum where she is and attack her. She will have the means to fight back, and it now seems possible that she’s guarded by Eferum-Get, but a sufficient force, well-prepared, should overwhelm even that. After all, people die all the time in the midst of summoning focus stones. The problem is what happens with the power she is manipulating. Even if she’d been killed as soon as the Falk expression had appeared, the minimum consequence would be a backlash which could have shattered Aliace Hill and sent pieces of it raining down on the city. To be clear, other than using the attuned focus to push her back during the last moments, I do not know of a way to stop the Grand Summoning without destroying large pieces of Tyrland in the process."

"What do you intend to do after her defeat?" the Queen asked, her voice a very resonant one for such a small woman. Her gaze was steady and unwavering, reserved but not hostile.

"If Solace is pushed back into the Eferum, she will not have been defeated," Rennyn explained. "So I would inevitably have to prepare for her return. But – either way, if I pushed her back or were to succeed in killing her, I…" She shrugged, for she had never found this question easy to answer. "For a while at least, I would do the things I haven’t been able to spare the time to do now. Trivial things. Beyond that I can’t say I’ve made any firm plans. Travel. I’ve not been able to risk leaving Tyrland."

The Queen had listened with an air of polite attention. "You have heard of the recent debates regarding your claim to the throne?"

"Yes. I was surprised by it. I have no claim to the throne. Tiandel abdicated."

"The argument is that if Solace still lives, Tiandel had no throne from which to abdicate."

Rennyn was trying to work out what was going on. It didn’t seem to her that the Queen was concerned in the slightest about the legitimacy of any claim to her throne.

"Well, given that Solace still lives, it’s her claim to the throne which seems to me the point of contention," Rennyn said. "Either way, Tiandel removed himself from the line of succession. Which would make that creature Helecho Crown Prince. Perhaps you should take this discussion up with him?"

The Queen said something softly to Lady Weston, then sat back. Rennyn found the entire exchange confusing, and could only presume that some political point had been made.

"Were you aware of this Helecho’s existence before your encounter in Surclere?" Lady Weston asked.

"No."

"Do you believe it is he who was responsible for the death of your Great-Grandfather?"

Rennyn paused, then said dubiously. "I suppose that’s possible. But it doesn’t seem to me very likely. I don’t believe he has a focus stone. If he was able to open a gate to our world, he would not lack that. But, focus or not, he is a dangerous thing, perhaps more dangerous than Solace. Eferum-Get might have various abilities, but they are not usually mages."

Lady Weston nodded, then gestured to return the floor to the Councillors conducting the questioning. This time the woman second from the left took charge: a prim blonde brimming with righteousness.

"What is your opinion of the Kellian, Lady Montjuste-Surclere?"

Deliberately, Rennyn looked at the collection of Sentene waiting behind the shield. She’d been careful not to glance toward them until now, and couldn’t help but wonder what the Kellian thought of her. What did the children of slaves think of the children of the slave-master?

"Which one?" she asked.

The answer, or perhaps Rennyn’s flat tone, caught the woman off-guard. But after a startled moment she said: "All of them."

"I haven’t met all of them," Rennyn said, reasonably. "Are you asking me to give an assessment of their morals? Or their ability to wave pointy bits of metal about?"

The man to the woman’s left murmured something softly, an instruction. "I am asking whether in your opinion the Kellian pose a potential threat to Tyrland," the woman said briskly.

"Ah." Rennyn glanced at the Kellian again, waiting so impassively. "Of course they do."

That produced a nice reaction, a ripple of shock which ran through the room. Rennyn watched the two Councillors thoughtfully, seeing the way the one of woman’s hands tightened on the sheet of paper she held, how her eyes brightened. The man was less unrestrained, but he, too, definitely wanted to hear bad things said of the Kellian.

"It’s the speed, primarily," she continued, blithely. "Skill with weapons, strength, and the interesting effects with light are one thing, but the ability to react quicker than anyone else, that truly takes them to a different level. But then–"

She reached out her hand, touching her fingers to the shield. Tiny shimmers of light gathered, then intensified as she poured raw power into it. The air heated, taking on a distinct odour of stressed metal, and she watched the shield retreat in a perfect circle from around her hand. She held it just long enough for the shield to really strain, then allowed it to snap back, whole once again. She could swear the entire room let out its breath at the same time, the explosion at Darasum House no doubt at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

"It’s a relative thing, isn’t it?" she said, looking over the table of now very attentive Councillors. "Once you start talking about potential threats. Any weapon you use to defend yourself can be turned upon you. But I have no interest in anything but defeating Solace, and I’ve seen no sign that the Kellian want to do more than protect and serve this kingdom. Since it seems you do want moral judgments, you’d best ask someone who knows them better. The most I can say is that they seem more inclined to swallow insults than I am."

The smile she offered the woman was thoroughly unpleasant, and it was probably a good thing that the moment was cut by a dull rumble. Rennyn could feel a vibration even through the thick stone beneath her feet.

"An attack?" said one of the men in the audience, and there was a small flurry of activity around the doors. Most of the Kellian were on their feet before the vibration had died away, but were waiting before reacting further. Rennyn’s senses were currently overwhelmed by the shield, but she closed her eyes to try and feel for worked magic beyond the usual background enchantments of the palace. Nothing major sprang to her attention.

Captain Illuma, who had remained seated, casting, stood abruptly. "My Lady, there are Eferum-Get loose in the palace. At least five." She didn’t pause for a response, leading the Sentene out through the iron-bound door at the rear of the shielded area.

"Is this one of the Grand Summoning’s incursions?" the Queen asked, unshaken but frowning. "I understood their time and location to be already known."

"It must be a natural breach," Lady Weston said. "They will increase in frequency as the Summoning progresses. But it is an unusually large number of Eferum-Get for a natural–" She looked sharply at Rennyn. "Could the man Helecho have the ability to open breaches?"

"If he had, I expect Tyrland would already be overrun," Rennyn said. "But recall, I said it was possible Solace has Eferum-Get guards. Any breach or gate within the palace could well be opening among an army’s ranks."

"How convenient for the Kellian," said the man on the left of the examiner’s table, flushing. "Before their activities can be properly investigated, they are handed a dramatic opportunity to prove themselves. Are we supposed to believe this is a coincidence?"

"Do you propose I should recall them, and allow the palace guard to deal with this?" Lady Weston asked, and turned away. "You had best move to a safer location, Your Majesty."

The Queen stood unhurriedly. "Continue your questions at a later time, Baron Ridehalt. I fail to see how this will change the answers you will receive." She nodded at Rennyn. "Thank you for your candour, Lady Montjuste-Surclere."

Wondering if that was meant to be ironic, Rennyn turned expectantly to the official controlling the shield, and stepped down as soon as he dropped it. She crossed to Lady Weston, who had paused to cast a divination.

"Don’t deal with it as an ordinary breach," she advised tersely. "If there is real organisation among the Eferum-Get, then this lot very likely have targets. To which point, I’m going to stand over my brother."

She looked for the nearest shadow and twisted it around herself, taking herself back to Seb’s room. It wasn’t a safe method of travel when moving out of line of sight, but she was worried, and more so when she arrived to find Seb gone. Given the bonds cast between them, it was easy enough to divine his direction, and she strode swiftly through the Sentene’s barracks, crossing to the Arkathan.

Ignoring a bothersome woman who wanted to know her business, Rennyn quickly found her way to the second floor, and a small room with a matched pair of Sentene and royal guardsmen standing outside it. She hadn’t encountered this particular pair of Sentene before, but since they appeared to be bodyguarding, not responding to the breach, she paused a moment to let them know what was going on.

"Do you have any information about the type?" asked the Sentene mage, a barrel-chested man so wide his uniform turned him into a Phoenix-embossed wall.

"None. I’m going to put a shield up around this room. Stay in or out as suits you."

Rennyn opened the door to find a classroom where her brother appeared to be playing teacher to a half-dozen youths around his age. He broke off when he saw her. "What’s happening?"

"Small outbreak of Eferum-Get," Rennyn said, studying the diagram her brother had been busy creating. "Why are you inflicting your theories about Eferum distortion on defenceless minds?"

"Eh, well, Kendall wanted an explanation of why the Eferum runs at a different pace. Sukata found us an empty room. Everyone else just poked their noses in."

Rennyn considered the diagram again, then smiled at the girl from Falk. "Seb’s the last person I’d ask to explain the Eferum. He thinks he understands it."

"Does he?" the girl asked, with extreme doubt. Seb’s explanation had obviously reached the convoluted stage.

"More than most. I’m going to shield this room, so if anyone wants to go elsewhere, do it soon." Leaving the door open, she moved to the nearest corner and began to chalk a line of sigils down the wall.

"You think one might stray all the way out to the Houses?" asked one blond youth, presumably Crown Prince Justin since the decorative guardsmen had hurried to stand on either side of him.

"Depends on what they’re hunting." Rennyn made a correction to one of the sigils and moved to a different corner.

"Is your sister in the building, Highness?" Seb asked abruptly.

"She shouldn’t be," Prince Justin said. "I told her to go back to the palace." He turned to one of his bodyguards. "Ridgeway, go check the dining hall. Bring her back here if you see her."

The guardsman went off at a run, and nervous conversation broke out, which Rennyn ignored, concentrating on chalking the long series of sigils in each corner and at the halfway points of the walls. If the shield was necessary at all, there was likely little time left to finish it.

The Sentene, being charged with the protection of more than just Rennyn’s brother, herded the occupants of neighbouring rooms in to fill most of the seats. This produced an annoying babble, rising when the guardsman returned with a small blonde girl and her own set of attendants. Rennyn climbed on one of the desks and scribbled on the ceiling.

"But it’s daytime!" the girl protested, though she was plainly enjoying the drama. "The walkway between the Houses and the main bit of the palace is all open and sunny. Night Roamers couldn’t come here."

"Only the weakest and the strongest Night Roamers are killed by sunlight, Highness," said the wall-like Sentene, coming into the room. "All dislike it and many are hurt by it, but there’s more than a few which can venture out into it."

As Rennyn climbed off the desk, she glimpsed another Sentene pair out in the hallway. Reinforcements. She knelt and rapidly began chalking the last set of sigils in the centre of the floor. They wouldn’t have sent reinforcements if the incursion had been defeated already.

"Five Escaton-types have been located in the palace," the Sentene mage continued, dropping his voice a little, though the room had immediately fallen to a fascinated hush. "It won’t be long before they’re dealt with, but Captain Illuma’s divinations show curious results, and there’s been reports and signs of something large moving which we can’t isolate. Almost as if it’s shielded."

Food for thought. One thing Eferum-Get didn’t usually do was cast shields on themselves.

"Could it be him?" Seb asked, leaping to the same conclusion.

Rennyn finished the last of the sigils first, and stood up. "I doubt it. His personal shielding was perfect. But I wouldn’t put it past him to cast shields on Eferum-Get."

"And send them after me?"

"He may not even know you exist, Seb. But as wicked uncles go, I think this one would take great delight in getting something to eat you in front of me."

"Should we move, Your Highness?" one of the guardsmen asked Prince Justin. "There is a well fortified room in the Houses' central tower."

The prince glanced at the Sentene in the doorway, then shook his head. "We would need to take some of this room’s defenders with us. And–" He offered Rennyn a little bow. "I’ve heard enough about Lady Montjuste-Surclere’s strength to suspect this might be the safest place on Aliace Hill."

Rennyn just started casting. Safety would only come when the shield was complete.