Or at least, the illusion of sincerity. The secretary shifted his weight again, and Desidora favored him with a glare for interrupting her peaceful meditations.
The secretary glared back at her and strode to the door. "I'll be back," he muttered, spitting the words her way as he left.
Desidora let the door swing shut behind him, gave him another few seconds just for safety, and then dove into Silestin's uniform and rifled the pockets. In an inner pocket in the jacket, she found the encryption crystal, a small wand that glowed in complex swirling patterns of color.
She refolded Silestin's jacket, got back into meditation position, and raised her arms to either side. Her right hand held Silestin's crystal, scintillating and wild. Her left hand held the Prime's warding crystal, now a blank slate as the result of an aural cleansing.
She shut her eyes, opened herself to the power of death, and felt the air chill around her. She knew her skin had gone chalk-white, her hair pitch-black. Part of her hated it. A new part of her, a frightening part, didn't care.
As the power of Byn-kodar flowed through her, the blank crystal slowly began to glow.
"Bit high-strung, isn't she?" the Archvoyant observed as Tern led him toward the podium.
"I, er, I couldn't really say, sir," Tern said, getting as flustered as she could.
The Archvoyant laughed. "If you can't even say that, she must really be bad!"
Tern gave him a tiny smile. "Pm sorry she was so difficult, sir."
He edged a little closer as they walked. "Nothing I don't deal with every day," the Archvoyant said ruefully. "The Voyancy, the priests, the nobles... hell, even the banking companies make sure I know my place!"
"Yes, sir."
"I bet she makes sure you know yours, too." The Archvoyant stopped, and Tern took a few nervous steps, then hesitantly turned to look back at him. "Tell me, miss... Pm sorry, she never even told me your name."
"Laridae, sir." Icy hated it when she used that name.
"Listen, Laridae, did you wake up one morning and say to yourself, You know, I really want to be the whipping-girl for some stuck-up priestess?'" His voice was gentle, full of concern. If the Republic still had kings, he'd be a prince.
"I needed to take care of my parents," Tern stammered, "and the temple said they'd teach me to be a good scribe, provided I was willing to work for them for ten years."
"Oh, one of those deals." The Archvoyant nodded thoughtfully. "Well, Laridae, sometimes people need to move in a different direction. You seem like a talented young woman, and I think I know a few Voyants who might need a good scribe." He leaned in a bit closer. "Especially one who can be flexible."
"I..." Tern looked around, paused for one second to make sure that it looked like a tough choice, and then said, "That sounds wonderful, sir, but—"
"The thing is," the Archvoyant said, putting a companionable arm around her shoulder, "this is a very important speech, and I want everything to go right. And, well, to be honest..." And here he smiled, and damn, he was good. It was a great smile. "...I'm not that good at speeches. I get flustered. I forget what I wanted to say." He looked around the hallway, saw a doorway with a tiny meeting room inside. "And my secretary had my notes." He steered Tern gently toward the hallway. "Now, I would never ask you to violate the laws of the temple, but I do need those notes for this speech. So I'm asking you to walk a few steps down that hallway and not turn around. Can you do that for me, Laridae?" He was nodding as he asked, and Tern nodded along with him, wide-eyed. "Good." The companionable arm dropped away, and the Archvoyant stepped into the small side room. "I'll just be a moment," he said with a golden smile.
Tern obediently walked out and turned her back. A moment later, she rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear the secretary creeping down the narrow hallway behind her into the meeting room.
You couldn't con an innocent man. But fortunately, in the case of Archvoyant Silestin, that was not a problem.
The crystals crystals were nearly identical now, the shimmering glow dancing off of all the mirrors. Desidora kept the energy flowing, smoothing the flow of power on the left-hand crystal. It was getting closer. At the Lapitemperum, there were ancient artifacts that could do what Desidora was doing in a matter of hours. She figured she had a minute or two, if that.
Tern poked her head into the room, gave her a questioning look. Desidora gave her a quick headshake, and Tern rolled her eyes, mouthed something vile, and took off back down the hallway.
"I am concerned, Archvoyant," said Elkinsair, helping Silestin into the chameleon robe.
"Noted."
"The absence of the Prime—"
"Will be investigated." Silestin grimaced. "Thoroughly." He shrugged the new robe on, smiling as the colors swirled into patterns of sincerity, gravity, and hope. Perfect.
"The aura of the priestess troubles me as well," Elkinsair added. Silestin raised an eyebrow. "It conforms perfectly to that of a priestess of Ael-meseth. Almost too perfectly."
"Could be because of the Ceremony." Silestin rifled through a small set of notecards. He didn't need them—any speech worth giving was worth giving from memory—but props were important in any lie. "Have to get the most formal of the priests to do it."
"Possible," Elkinsair admitted, "but I would like to investigate further."
"Do it." Silestin turned on his smile. "I'll expect a report tomorrow morning."
"And the assistant?" Elkinsair asked.
They got to the door, and Elkinsair pushed, then frowned. He pushed harder, then glared helplessly at Silestin.
A moment later, the door opened a crack, and Laridae poked her head in, eyes wide. "I had to keep the door closed," she whispered. "There were guards!"
Silestin smiled at Elkinsair. "I think that other matter we were discussing is under control. Good thinking, Laridae." He held up his notecards and saw her guilty smile. "Now, where do I give this speech?"
One last last flow, one tiny detail that, for a crystal attuned to the patterns of energy, meant the difference between the encryption crystal that would open the vault and a very expensive glowing paperweight. Desidora pushed, grimacing as it flowed through her. It was hateful and cold and very, very angry. The symbols of the gods were changing around all the mirrors. She knew which symbols she'd see there now, if she bothered to look. Part of her welcomed it, gloried in it.
An aura approaching in the hallway. She could sense them better when she let it in, but at such a cost. She looked to the flow. She needed one more moment.
She forced it, slammed the energy into place, then cut it off ruthlessly inside her. It hurt, forcing the change back so quickly. She could feel it pulling through her very soul as it slid back to the place it lived when she didn't call it. She sagged, momentarily breathless. The footsteps were almost to the doorway.
The crystal was there.
So was Elkinsair.
"Friends, fellow Voyants, members of the nobility and the various temples all throughout our beloved land, wizards of our proud universities, and most honored and distinguished of all, citizens of the Republic... I come before you today not as a leader, not as a politician, not as a member of the Learned Party... but as a man who loves his country. And I praise all the gods to see that I am not alone."
The robe shone with the power of his humble belief, his awe-inspiring sincerity.
The crowd greeted Archvoyant Silestin with thunderous applause.
Elkinsair blinked as he came back into the Chamber of Conferral. The crystals were flickering faintly, and everything seemed dimmer. The haughty priestess looked pale in the dim light. He shot her a questioning look, to which she responded by stiffening her posture and pointedly ignoring him.
Elkinsair sniffed, looked at the symbols of the gods on the wall for a moment to make sure that they weren't actually moving, and settled in to wait.
Tern led the Archvoyant back to the Chamber of Conferral about an hour later and found Silestin's secretary and Desidora both still there.
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"As you return to the world, the gods return the privacy of your mortal soul," Desidora intoned, rising smoothly to her feet. "Recover your vestments."
She turned her back on the Archvoyant, and Tern did the same, thus allowing him to swap the actual robe back in.
Tern raised an eyebrow. Desidora winced and withdrew two glowing crystals from the folds of her robe. Tern's eyes widened, and Desidora gave her a helpless shrug.
Risking a quick glance back, Tern saw that the Archvoyant and his secretary were still occupied. She held a hand out, and Desidora, after seeing Tern's insistent nod, slipped the crystal to her.
"Which pocket?" Tern breathed. Desidora touched a finger to her heart, and Tern nodded.
"You can turn around now, ladies," the Archvoyant said cheerfully, and Tern jumped, then turned. Silestin was back in his dashing military uniform.
"You are free to return to the world of men," Desidora proclaimed, "but remember that your soul has been bared for all to see."
"Noted," the Archvoyant murmured, and turned to go.
"Archvoyant?" Tern asked, stepping forward boldly and blushing just a little. "I just wanted to tell you that your speech was wonderful. I think it will be a, a, a life-changing thing, and one day I'll be able to tell my children that I saw it. Thank you so much!" And with her eyes, she put out just a little desperation, a little wide-eyed reminder that he'd made her an offer.
"Good people like you," the Archvoyant said, smiling fondly, "are the reason that what I said today is so important. I think that good things are coming for everybody," he said, and he nodded and gave her a knowing smile. "You take care of yourself, young lady," he added, and gave her that same companionable pat on the shoulder.
Then he and the secretary left, and as soon as they were gone, both Tern and Desidora sagged against the wall.
"Slipped it into his jacket pocket during the shoulder-pat?" Desidora asked.
"Yep. You got the encryption crystal mapped?"
"Indeed." Desidora let out a long breath. "I do not have smoldering eyes. Or intentions regarding your illusionist wizard."
"Who says he's my illusionist wizard?"
"I'm a former love priestess, Tern. I can read auras."
"They do smolder a bit. Is there any chance you could tone it down?"
"I 1 work on it."
"Thanks. Desidora?"
"Yes?"
"Left jacket pocket or right jacket pocket?"
The death priestess pursed her lips. "Right."
"Oh. We should probably be going, then."
Fourteen
"What in the hell kind of temple are you running, Kuoric?"
Yesterday's speech had gotten rave reviews, and even without the Prime there to turn his back and let Silestin make his special preparations, things had gone well.
None of which apparently mattered.
The Prime of Ael-meseth, highest representative of the ruler of the gods, shrank back. "You have little cause to complain—"
The Archvoyant cut him off with a gesture. "We had a deal. You didn't carry through on it. Even more, someone tampered with my belongings. Now either you're incompetent enough to let this happen, or you were in on it." Silestin narrowed his eyes. "For your sake, Kuoric, you'd better hope that it was incompetence."
"I will not be threatened!" The Prime rose and glowered down at Silestin. "You presume much, Archvoyant."
"Do you know what happened yesterday, you little twit?" Silestin snarled. "The Lapitemperum was broken into by someone who copied information about the security wards for my palace. And while I left my personal items, including an encryption crystal, in the care of your priestess, they were touched, possibly altered! I presume that you're either an idiot or part of a plan to stab me in the back, and I'd like to know which."
The Prime stiffened. "You mistake yourself, Silestin. Guards?" Several acolytes stepped into the room. "Show the Archvoyant out. Then summon the senior priests."
"Fifteen minutes," Silestin murmured, and shook his head. Then he looked up at the Prime. "Goodbye, Kuoric."
Then he turned and left with his fussy little secretary in tow.
They were were back in Cevirt's lounge. Loch was swirling another glass of red wine, watching the trails it left around the glass. "So... talk to me," she said, and drank. It was good wine, and she was drinking it now just in case she heard anything that was going to disappoint her later.
"The party is in five days," Cevirt began. "It's a Victory Ball, to celebrate the treaty with the Empire. There will be hundreds of people in the palace."
"And among such foliage, our natural colors shall serve to conceal?" asked Ululenia, who was in human form tonight, her horn shining brightly. Dairy sat on an ottoman next to her, flushing as she wove flowers into his hair.
"If you mean are you invited," Cevirt said, turning to Loch with a raised eyebrow, "the answer is yes. As Voyant, I can procure enough invitations to get you inside."
"Good enough." Loch raised her glass in a silent toast, then took a sip. It was still damn good wine. She was afraid she was getting used to the good stuff again. "Tern?"
"We got the encryption crystal," Tern said, holding it up behind the fruity pink stuff in her glass so that the scintillating colors played through it. "I'll tinker to see if I can pull anything about Silestin's personal code out of it, but at the very least, this makes it possible for me to crack the vault." She glanced over at Desidora, looked like she was about to say something snide, and then actually stopped herself.
"Good. Desidora, the Lapitemperum crystal. Was it worth me going in to save Kail?"
"I wouldn't go that far," the death priestess said, tossing her auburn hair with a little smile at Kail, who flushed and spilled his beer, "but I believe that with it, Magister Hessler and I can find the source of the Voyancy Aura ward and shut it down."
"Good. If you can find out where it's likely to be in Silestin's palace, we can come up with a plan to get into it. Since," Loch added dryly, looking at Hessler, "there's some small chance that there'll be guards. Ululenia, how about Silestin himself?"
"His mind is as a stone in a grassy field, silent and unmoving," said Ululenia, frowning. One of the flowers in Dairy's hair sprouted a few new buds.
"So... no, then." Loch turned to Desidora. "How about the mausoleum?"
"Difficult but possible." The priestess paled slightly and looked at Tern. "I'll need help breaking the security."
Tern gulped her drink. "Sure. Happy to help. I just don't wanna see the zombie, okay? That's where I draw the line." "Good. Now... exit strategy?"
"If nothing goes wrong, you can simply leave with me," Cevirt offered.
"Something always goes wrong," Loch said dryly.
Cevirt nodded. "In that case... if you're already getting into the vault, you could use the escape rune. There's one in the vault room of every palace. Activate it, and it magically transports everyone in the room to the airship hangar."
"Perfect. Show Desidora and Hessler how to activate it." Loch turned to everyone else. "The parry is in five days." She grinned. "We know what we need to do. Hit the research, ask quietly for whatever additional information we need. The clock is running."
"Study the old books," the Prime ordered. "If she wields Ghylspwr, then she is chosen by prophecy, and if she could mask her own magic to falsify our aura..." He shuddered, and the senior priests of Ael-meseth fell back in fear. "She may be of Byn-kodar."
"How could a servant of the death-daemon be chosen by the gods?" one of the priests asked.
"That is none of your concern!" the Prime snapped. "Investigate the Archvoyant as well. What has he done to attract the attention of prophecy? We must know, so that we may act as the gods decree."
"He has been seen with one of the Glimmering Folk," one of the priests, an Urujar, suggested. "There are old Urujar folk tales—"
"This is not the time for silly superstitions!" Massaging his temples, the Prime paused for a moment. "But we must try
all avenues. Yes, investigate the stories of the Glimmering Folk. And find out everything known about the warhammer." He shook his head. "She is the instrument of the gods themselves, and she wants something relating to the Archvoyant. Find out what it is. This is your holy charge."
They left. They were wise men and women, efficient and strong in their command of the resources of the temple. They would carry out the Prime's will, so that he might carry out Aelmeseth's will in turn. It might come about that the Prime had been wrong, and if that were the case, he would make amends, then exile himself to a monastery for his retirement. He was a proud man, more than a little accustomed to the politics of the Spire, but if that was necessary, he would do it.
"Whatever we must do, my lord," he whispered, clutching his amulet in an old gesture of faith. "If the Archvoyant is your foe, then—"
"Fifteen minutes," came a quiet voice beside him, and the blade slashed across his throat.
Orris walked to the Twilight Park. The park always faced the sunset, and as it was set right at the edge of the city, there was always a gorgeous and unobstructed view.
It was also the park where Loch and her gang had landed, where Orris's life had been ruined by her conniving ways. The gardeners had cleaned up the torn grass, but there were burn marks on some of the nearby buildings that still attested to her passage.
Orris's wife had left him when he'd lost his position. Orris leaned on a railing overlooking the great drop and stared down at the world below, trying to find his place in it.
"You cannot jump," came a voice from behind him, and Orris turned, startled, to see the rainbow-flickering form of Ambassador Bi'ul standing behind him. "I can sense the protective wards beneath the ground." He gestured. "If you jumped, you would bounce back inside."
The Palace Job Page 18