The Veiled Diplomat

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  After a class with Instructor O'Keefe, in which they made ventriloquism stones, allowing the user to throw their voice to a fixed point, Zayn headed into the tenth ward.

  Amber was dealing with a customer at the counter, a man with a bad combover who smelled like menthol cigarettes. While holding the customer's hand, she drew lines on his palm with her fingernail.

  "And this line means that you'll have a long life and die in your sleep peacefully, well into your nineties," she said in a sweet voice that made Zayn choke when he heard it.

  Her gaze flickered up at Zayn, an angry reprisal that the customer didn't notice, and so he placed his hand over his mouth.

  "Tell me about the women again," said the customer with the combover.

  The tone of the guy's voice alone made Zayn shiver in disgust.

  Amber looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Oodles of women. You're really coming into your own." She reached beneath the counter and handed him a vial of dark liquid. "If you take a drop of this once a day, you'll find they can't resist you."

  "I can't wait," he said breathlessly.

  Amber patted his hand. "That'll be two hundred for the reading and another three hundred for the vial. Cash only, please."

  The customer nodded furiously, pulling out his wallet as if he couldn't wait to give her the money.

  "Thank you, thank you. You're as good as advertised. I can't wait to find those girls. I'm gonna have a real lotta fun," he said as he handed over a thick stack of bills.

  Amber threw the money beneath the counter as the guy hurried out the door clutching the vial of liquid as if it were made of gold.

  "What's in the vial? Soapy water?" asked Zayn once the guy was gone.

  "Monkey piss mixed with a touch of ink," said Amber. "And he'll probably be dead within ten years."

  "You saw that from the lines in his palm?" asked Zayn.

  "No," she said. "He's a three pack a day smoker, has an exaggerated view of his own attractiveness, and likes to visit the high-end bars in the first ward. If cancer doesn't get him, he'll hit on the wrong Coterie mage and find himself wandering the world without his memory, if he's lucky."

  Zayn thought about his own fortune. "Why did you give me the real thing when I walked in?"

  "Who says I did?" said Amber with a wink.

  "Really?"

  "No," she said, an amused tilt to her half smile.

  "Then how did you know?"

  "Intuition serves me well," said Amber, the playful manner slipping beneath her normal mask of indifference. "Why did you come here? And how is my niece doing?"

  He hadn't known how to interpret the light mood from Amber, and was almost relieved when she returned to her more direct manner.

  "She's doing well, now, and that's why I came to talk to you. There's a lot you're not telling me," he said.

  "Of course," said Amber, dark eyes glinting. "You never explain everything to your mark. It's more fun when they figure it out before it's too late."

  "Figure what out?" he asked.

  "That's not how it works," she said.

  The way she was looking at him, he couldn't tell if she had returned to her playful mood or was actually messing with him. Or something else entirely. Magic and intention made a mess of figuring out what people were after. Especially knowing she was a powerful seer. Clearly she had been manipulating him, but to what end?

  "Was my fortune a lie too? Just more skillfully delivered," he asked.

  "No. I've rarely seen a fortune more clearly," she said regretfully. "Though that doesn't always mean it will all come true."

  "You're a ray of optimism," said Zayn, sighing. "If you won't tell me that, will you at least tell me who or what Petri is? She's growing more and more powerful by the day. She enslaved a late-night rave last week, making them her worshipers."

  Amber's lack of reaction to the news suggested she already knew this, or at least suspected it. She stared back at him blankly.

  "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

  "You're a bright boy, figure it out yourself," she said with lips pinched.

  "I'm guessing she's going to continue to grow more powerful, which means the danger is only going to get worse. Why again did you send her to me?"

  "I already told you that," she said.

  Amber watched him carefully as if she were looking for evidence that he might figure it out, which suggested he knew everything he needed to know already. As soon as he realized this, he knew the answer.

  "Petri is the Sleeper," said Zayn, feeling a tangible relief when Amber's lip twitched with agreement. He paced away from the counter, shaking his head. "And I was the one that woke the Sleeper."

  "That, for certain, I did not see," said Amber, "but events like these tend to be tangled together."

  "Which is why you wanted her to hang out with us this year. To give her a better reflection of the world than last time," he said.

  Amber raised an eyebrow. "You continue to surprise me with what you know. But yes, I wanted her to come into this world with friends. The last time did not go so well. She is very impressionable when she is young."

  "I've failed miserably then," said Zayn.

  "Not yet," she said.

  "You're not even her aunt, are you? Snow Owl on an Old Grave. This is a role you've had for a long time," he said.

  "Too long," replied Amber.

  "Even your American name is about what you do. Amber. Like flies in amber. You keep the Sleeper until it wakes again." Zayn kept shaking his head. "How did I not see this before?"

  "But now that you have, what are you going to do?" she asked.

  "Nothing different than I've been doing. I mean, what can I do? I've got the fate of the world hanging out with us as a moody teenager with powers that easily outclass us. Sounds simple to me." He buried his face in his hands. "I still don't understand. Why me? How did I wake her from being in the Veil too long? Surely that's happened before."

  "There's more to it than that. Think of Petri as an aspect of change, which most people interpret as death. She changes with the world, and the world changes with her. Each new age brings a different version of her. It's why she returns to slumber from time to time, then awakes anew. A simple process really," said Amber.

  "Says the immortal woman who keeps watch over a demigod," said Zayn a little too forcefully, receiving a raised eyebrow from Amber.

  "I have not always watched her, and I'm not the first to have this role. And being in the Veil alone did not wake her. She had to be nearing her time, which made her more vulnerable to outside influences. And you, Zayn, you are a powerful lodestone of fate. Many things revolve around you, things that will determine the direction of this world and others. As an agent of death and change, a member of the assassin's guild, you were a powerful draw to her. When you lingered too long in the Veil, you woke her from her slumber."

  "But the only person I ever killed was Levi. How can I be an agent of death?" he asked.

  "Remember your fortune," she said.

  The details of that day came back to him as if he were hearing it again for the first time. Amber had recoiled from his fortune at first, and knowing what she was made that reaction worse.

  I tasted death in your blood. So much death. I don't understand.

  But now he understood.

  If he agreed to the Lady's deal, then he would become an assassin for Priyanka, dealing untold death in the realms for however long he lived.

  Or if he killed the Lady without solving the problem of her poison, then the town of Varna, and the thousands of residents within it, would die. Not only them, but every assassin from Varna that did not become a Watcher. It would impact Priyanka's organization, unleashing even more death.

  Now he finally understood why so many events hung in the balance because of him. When he vowed to kill the Lady, he'd put many things on the scales of fate.

  "I understand," said Zayn, looking into Amber's eyes, and she stared back with what could
only be pity.

  "Be careful," said Amber.

  Zayn walked out her store with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Third Ward, April 2016

  Fretting their hour upon the stage

  For the second showing of The Liebereisen of Kanedari, Zayn had booked the Wayward Theater, which was in the third ward, but right on the edge of the second to still be considered a part of the theater district. This time the play had been advertised with fliers and in the back pages of the Orpheum Review. While the theater was small and off the normal circuit, it sold enough tickets and had a regular patronage to give them a good idea of how their play would be received by a larger audience.

  Zayn had targeted the place because he thought he would be able to get away with using some influence magic to get a Thursday night slot, which wasn't prime, but worth more than a community theater viewing. If they did well, the owner said he'd book them again the following week. There was only a month until The Diamond Eternal Ball at the Diamond Court Embassy, so time was running short.

  As they prepared in the back, Zayn noticed that everyone was less nervous than last time. Everyone but Petri, that was. She was sitting by herself with her hands jammed between her knees, rocking back and forth and mumbling to herself.

  After the all-night rave event, she'd thrown herself completely into the play. Zayn worried that if things didn't go well, it could knock her back into her previous habits.

  "Don't worry, the jitters go away once you get on stage," said Zayn, sitting on the makeup table next to her.

  Her face was painted to look like a stained glass window and she wore a head covering that hid her hair. Her part had originally been Skylar's except Vin rewrote it away from a porcupine.

  "It's not that," said Petri, a little maudlin. "I was realizing that the year is almost over. Preparing for the play has been wonderful, but I missed so much already."

  Knowing that she was as close to a demigod as it got always made it hard for Zayn to calibrate his words when talking to her, but in this instance, he saw her for the teenaged girl that she was.

  "That's my fault," said Zayn. "I wish we would have included you earlier. It's been a lot of fun working with you on the play."

  He wasn't lying when he said this. She'd been an attentive student, picking up the nuances of acting much quicker than any of them.

  "Thanks, Zayn," she said, looking away. "I know I can be difficult."

  "You know, I'm not sure why you can't hang out with us after this year," said Zayn.

  "Really?" she asked, her face lighting up like a stage, before catching a streak of darkness. "I'm not sure if that's possible." She put her hand flat on her chest. "I'm changing. I might not be able to stay."

  The lights dimmed for a moment, announcing the start of the play soon. Zayn glanced through the doorway to see the others gathering behind the curtain, adjusting the marionette ropes that floated above their shoulders.

  "Do you...do you know?" he asked.

  "What I am?" she said right away. "No, but I'm remembering more and more every day."

  "Do you remember a girl when you first woke up?" he asked.

  Petri wrinkled her face, but didn't have time to answer before Vin came in.

  "Come on, you two. Time to go on!"

  With the marionette ropes solved, and Petri's immediate taking to the material, Vin had been a ball of energy. He gathered them together. They put their hands in the middle.

  "I was going to give a big pep talk, but you don't need it. Our last rehearsal was completely wands up. So I'm just gonna say, let's go out there and kick some ass! Break a leg, everyone!"

  A full load of nervousness dumped into his system the moment before he went through the curtain, and he had to hop up and down and shake his hands out to shed some of it. He looked back to see Petri near to tears, so he ran over and gave her a quick hug, being careful not to smudge her stage makeup.

  "Thanks," she muttered as she stared at her feet.

  When he burst through the curtains, the size of the audience surprised him.

  It'd been a little while since he'd peeked out, so he wasn't expecting a half-full room. The place was about twice the size as the community theater and had auditorium seating.

  "Greetings!"

  He felt his voice reach the far edges of the room, and the audience sit up a little straighter as if they'd been called on by their teacher. This was a good sign.

  "It is I, Percieus the Sage, who has come to tell you a tale that may serve as a parable to some, or a warning to others. While in this lark, you will hear great deeds and thrilling escapades. You will also know the pain of conflict and the ache of loss..."

  When his part was done, Zayn stood back and watched the reactions when Keelan came forth. The audience's lips twitched with mirth during the opening soliloquy. Vin had tweaked it for a bit more humor to soften the brash arrogance.

  The enchanted marionette ropes worked better than Zayn thought they could, completing the illusion for the audience.

  When Portia came onto the stage as the Silver Queen, a few whistles of admiration came from the audience. Their banter was well received, though a few lines fell flat, and Zayn mentally noted them to give Vin feedback for next time.

  This performance was going much better than their previous one. Either they'd fixed some of the narration problems, or the audience had come prepared, reading up on the form of the liebereisen. Zayn had made sure the posters had included "A Maetrie Liebereisen Play" in case the name itself didn't give it away.

  As the first act neared Petri's part, Zayn found himself growing more nervous. It seemed strange until he realized it was coming from Petri, especially as he noticed Keelan growing less sure about delivering his lines.

  The audience, who had been laughing and clapping along with the action, had left their hands in their laps. The mood in the theater had dimmed. A stab of worry went through Zayn as he realized what was about to happen. If Petri's role in the play went south, then it could set her back on her previous path.

  When Petri ambled onto the stage as the sludge caterpillar, her form hidden by a brown bulbous robe, and only her stained glass painted face to hint to her later form, the audience grew deathly silent.

  Transfixed by the audience's indifference, Petri stopped midstage, jawing at the empty air, her lines forgotten. Standing at stage left, Zayn felt the fear accelerate in a feedback loop.

  Hoping to prod her into action, Zayn whispered her first line sotto voce: "On oil, on grease..."

  Petri glanced towards him, her eyes pleading to be rescued, so he said it again: "On oil, on grease..."

  But Petri did nothing. She was a statue on the stage. It'd gone on long enough that the audience knew something was wrong. He heard a forced cough.

  "Bring back the queen," said someone in the audience, receiving a spat of laughter.

  Petri looked like she was going to break in two. A wave of fear slammed into Zayn that had he been anywhere else, would have left him curled in a ball. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few members of the audience leave.

  He looked to Keelan, who raised his eyebrows as if to say he didn't know what to do either. Zayn eyed the room, looking for a way out, to save Petri from the embarrassment. He had a ball of flame in his fist, ready to ignite the sprinkler system, when a meek voice emanated from center stage.

  "On oil, on grease, these are my treats, a life in the sludge, my viscous streets."

  A collective breath broke through the theater, as everyone had been psychically linked to Petri. A wave of relief crashed through Zayn, leaving him dizzy as she continued with her next line, growing stronger as she spoke. By the time it was Keelan's turn to respond, the earlier silence had been forgotten.

  The rest of the play continued as it had begun, with much laughter and excitement and tears. Petri grew more confident in her role, especially in the third act when her true form was revealed, a giant stained glas
s butterfly that rescued Kanedari from the Black Butcher.

  It went so well that Zayn had pangs of worry that they'd tailored it too much for a human audience and the maetrie wouldn't connect with it. But they could tweak it later if necessary.

  Before the end of the play, Zayn noticed a tall dark figure in back. He saw the figure with enough warning that he was able to use his sensing imbuement to examine them from a distance, catching the hint of smoky gray skin beneath the hood.

  When the play ended, they received a thorough applause that lasted for a full minute. Standing with his teammates under the can lights of the theater as the audience cheered them, a rush of adrenaline filled him that was better than anything he'd ever experienced before.

  As they stumbled off the stage, giddy laughter slipped out of his lips. The rest of the team looked equally gobsmacked.

  "That was amazing," said Skylar breathlessly.

  "Better than sex," said Portia, and when everyone gave her a look, she added, "I mean it."

  Petri looked on the verge of tears, so Zayn pulled her against him for a long hug in which she let go of some of the emotion built up while she was on the stage. As she shuddered, he felt the projection from her lessen, and while everything had gone well, there'd been a moment of difficulty. Before next time, they needed to find a way to insulate themselves from her powers so they could better help her.

  The owner of the theater, a slight man with a lazy eye, rushed into the back, clapping his hands and patting them on the back.

  "That was wonderful! I've never seen anything like it. The merging of maetrie and human play forms was nothing short of brilliant," he said.

  Upon hearing that, Vin looked like he was about to float against the ceiling.

  "You will come back next week. On Saturday. I'm not giving you an option," said the owner. "Now I need to go break the news to the other theater company."

  After he left, they crowded together in a circle, laughing and crying.

  "Great job, everyone," said Vin. "That went better than I thought it could. I hope everyone doesn't mind, but I've made some notes on improving for next time."