Stained Glass Monsters

by Andrea Höst

  "Have there been any sightings of the one called Helecho?" the Queen asked Lady Weston, making a sweeping gesture to sit down. Sebastian bowed first, and Kendall bobbed a belated curtsey, remembering that she was from a village and this was Tyrland's Queen. The only one.

  "Not yet, Your Majesty," Lady Weston said, her movements stiff as she sat down. "The indicator Lady Rennyn placed on the city's circle was reacting to him in the Hall, but it hasn't been sighted since Queen Solace's focus shattered. Most likely he teleported."

  "What level of threat does he pose?"

  Lady Weston hesitated, then looked at Sebastian. "He was able to command the Kellian when Rennyn could not, Sebastian."

  "Solace probably ordered them to obey him while the distortion kept her from giving them more than general commands." Sebastian was acting more like himself, but he didn't manage to sound so detached when he added: "But he'd be heir after me. If Ren and I die, he'll inherit control."

  Inherit. The word made them less somehow. Kendall saw the two nobles exchange glances, and wished she could tell what the Queen was thinking. What if she decided it would be simplest to get rid of the Kellian?

  "Regardless, an Eferum-Get of that calibre who is also a mage is a considerable threat, Your Majesty," Lady Weston said. "Unique. A creature who can bypass the circles, who can command other Eferum-Get. If he chose, he could raise an army of the creatures, could kill with impunity."

  "But he didn't." This was Prince Justin, strained but unflagging. "He could have killed us easily, and he didn't. He didn't even seem that interested in stopping whatever it was you did which killed his mother."

  "Perhaps he wanted to be free of her," Sebastian said, with the faintest of shrugs. "Ren thought he might be under an injunction. Once Solace was dead, he just – left."

  "Once she was dead," the Queen repeated. "And that has been your intention all along? Despite this performance with Queen Solace's focus?"

  "That was – oh, not just a distraction, but a backup plan as well." If Sebastian had noticed the Queen's flat tone he pretended not to.

  "For what, exactly?" Lady Weston asked. "I saw it, felt it, but I have little idea of what actually happened. It almost seemed that the Kellian were casting."

  "Almost." Sebastian looked down, and noticed for the first time that his trousers were soaked with blood where he'd been kneeling. He went perfectly white, and jerked in his seat, but then began speaking rapidly: "The Kellian, the originals, were part of Queen Solace. She sacrificed a piece of one of her fingers making them, and they were true extensions of her will until she went away. The Kellian descendents aren't quite the same, but the spell which makes them Kellian means they had no barriers against Solace. Her will overrode them totally.

  "When our great-grandfather was killed, and our family guessed at who was responsible, my great-grandmother realised that the Kellian's weakness to Solace might be true in reverse. They can't protect against her at all, but she can't stop being linked to them either. That was something new. For years, centuries, we've been trying to find a way to stop the cycle of the Grand Summoning's return. Mostly we tried to find ways to move in the Eferum, to be able to reach her before the Summoning began so we could kill her before the power levels became too dangerous. But we've never succeeded, and when we realised the possibilities of the Kellian descendents, we hit upon a different approach.

  "They're not quite Montjuste-Surcleres. Ren did wonder if they counted as a kind of cousin, but Lieutenant Faral couldn't pick up the attuned focus, so I guess the spell excludes them in some way. But they are – were – part of Queen Solace, and gave us access to her, the opportunity to cast a spell which ordinarily she would see and spot easily. Symbolic magic, strengthening the ties between Solace and us through the Kellian. Ren's the direct heir and so her blood made the strongest link. She marked Solace with it – the expression of Solace at Falk – and ever since then we've marked every Kellian we met with a drop of mine or Ren's blood. And then cast a small start to a very large spell." He glanced at his knees again, but only for a moment. "I missed four, ones who were never called to the city, but we'd attached a link to the rest, a tiny casting so we could use them to make Solace cast a spell. So that's what happened. We prepared the room that night after Ren put up all those divinations, and set the trigger of both spells there. Then it only needed the Kellian and Queen Solace to be in the Hall of Summoning, and one of us to trigger it. After that, her own magic would end it, whether she killed us or not." He stopped and took a deep breath, looking a lot like he wanted to cry.

  "So, you held the trigger?" Prince Justin asked, looking puzzled. "Where were you? How did you escape the sleep spell?"

  "No. I would only have needed to trigger the spell if Ren couldn't. I was in the Eferum."

  "But why?" managed Lady Weston, in a tone which said 'impossible!'. "More to the point, how? The risk of being discovered–"

  "Small," Sebastian said. "In the Eferum, it's your thoughts and feelings which make you exist. Ren made me sleep – more than sleep – before she put me in there. Unless I was conscious, thinking and feeling, I didn't fully exist there."

  Going to the Hells asleep. Even the Queen looked disbelieving. But still angry. The Claires had lied to her, had meant all along for the Grand Summoning to be completed. Had done things their way without telling anyone.

  "How many Kellian were needed to trigger this spell?" Prince Justin asked abruptly.

  "Two," Sebastian said. "Well, one, but with just one Queen Solace would have been able to cast in the early stage of the spell."

  "But there were three Kellian here, the entire time. Yet your sister stood there baiting the Black Queen."

  Sebastian looked down at his knees again. "It would have killed them," he explained, his voice hardly loud enough to hear. "Channelling power like that, it's not true casting. And for that spell, the amount of Efera involved would be – like a flood ripping away the banks of a river. Three Kellian would have been destroyed. Even – how many were there? Eight?"

  "Nine," Lady Weston murmured.

  "How deadly is a ninth of a lightning bolt? There was no way to test how much they could bear. The most we could do was arrange for as many Kellian to be present as possible, but this sleep spell took control out of Ren's hands. With so few in the room when the Grand Summoning completed, Ren wouldn't have – Ren would have held the trigger till she had no choice."

  Sebastian's voice broke on the last word and he jerked to his feet. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we couldn't," he said, the words so fast they fell over each other. "Any hint that we wanted the Kellian present was too much to risk. It's what we had to do, we had to stop her, and that was the only way we could find. I – please, can I go back? She could be – I want to be there."

  The Queen still looked less than happy, but maybe she was softened by the tears running down Sebastian's face. "Very well," she said. "Go."

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Going was one thing, seeing another. Rennyn had been taken to a bedroom not too far from the Hall of Summoning, but the healer had woken assistants to crowd every corner, all murmuring and bustling and fetching things in and out. Sebastian hadn't been allowed more than a glimpse, and they'd ended up sitting on an ugly couch listening to snatches of conversation from the next room. They would, Kendall supposed, at least hear if Rennyn died.

  "Sukata was there."

  So he'd noticed. "Mm."

  Sebastian picked at his trousers above the drying patches of blood. He'd ignored suggestions he go change, just kept worrying at the cloth. There was probably some way to magic it clean, but Kendall doubted he was in any state to cast.

  "Tell me what happened."

  That took a while. Kendall wasn't sure how much he listened, attention only partially on her, straightening at every change of tone in the next room. Finally she said: "What was she trying to cast? All that did was make the Black Queen beat her up."

  "Probably just a distraction." Sebastian sh
rugged. "The trigger wasn't linked to her casting."

  "Was the focus on her necklace always a fake?"

  "No. I researched that concealment for her. Nothing to do with the Black Queen." Sebastian hunched his shoulders. "She just, she was worried our Great-Uncle would...do things to her."

  The way the demon had touched her made it pretty clear what he wanted. Rennyn had hated that he'd bitten her. It was the most upset Kendall had ever seen her, outside when she'd told the Kellian she owned them.

  "If she dies, the Kellian will belong to you."

  "I'd inherit the ability to control them. That's all." Frowning at the words, Sebastian worried his trousers again. "Did they hate her for it?"

  "Not...hate."

  "She's dreaded telling them for years, even before we knew them. Perhaps after all it would have been better if we'd been able to stay hidden till we had to prepare the Hall of Summoning. Easier to mark them over a month, of course, but it was cruel that they grew to trust us."

  "But that helped," Kendall protested. "They hated the idea of it, and what the Black Queen would do to them, but at least they knew what kind of person Rennyn was. Is."

  Sebastian gave her a dark look, then said: "The kind of person who makes decisions for other people? Who takes their choices away from them?"

  Kendall fought a flush which left her hot all over. "Well, she does."

  "I know. You think she never asked herself if she was doing the right thing? Hells, she wasn't even sure it was right to kill Solace."

  Soft-hearted. Not liking what she was doing, but accepting she had to. What would have happened if the two Claires had simply packed their bags and left Tyrland rather than take on the Black Queen?

  "I never thanked her."

  “You went with her. She liked that.” Sebastian leaned back, eyelids sagging. “She liked you for not trusting her. It helped, just as saving you helped. All those little choices which kept her someone she can live with being.” He sighed deeply and fell asleep, head tipped awkwardly back. Days enchanted in the Eferum didn’t add up to much rest.

  Kendall sat listening to the noises from the other room. The attendants clucked like hens, voices rising and falling with each new excitement, making it hard to tell real disaster from stupid fussing. Occasionally the healer's voice could be heard, never hurried, not loud enough to make out any words.

  "Lord Montjuste-Surclere."

  The couch heaved under Kendall, and she realised she'd been leaning on Sebastian's shoulder. Muzzily she sat up, rubbing at her eyes. The tall healer was standing in front of them.

  "How is she?" Sebastian asked, his voice small and tight.

  "We have stabilised her," the healer said, choosing her words with a judicious air. "Ordinarily I would give her a fair chance of recovery."

  "But?"

  "There are two areas of concern. This wound on her throat – I'm told it is an Eferum-Get bite?" Without waiting for Sebastian to respond, she swept on. "There is some property to the wound I cannot unravel. Perhaps a mild toxin which is resisting removal. That may have an impact on her recovery. There is a more immediate issue which I would appreciate your help with."

  "Anything."

  "Your sister appears to have been physically worn down before being injured, and then has suffered major blood loss. Replacing the blood has exacerbated the exhaustion. The major injuries – bruised organs, and badly broken ribs piercing one of her lungs – have been caulded and she is no longer bleeding internally. It is very important that she lie still and rest as much as possible. And she will not."

  "Ren's awake?"

  "Not lucid. We removed the creature on her wrist, of course, and immediately she began to resist our enchantments. We even resorted to drugging her, a thing I would not ordinarily approve with a subject in such a depressed physical state, and this held her barely longer than the casting. She is counteracting everything."

  "Ren's casting in her sleep?"

  The way Sebastian leapt to his feet, almost shouting, told Kendall just how bad a thing this was. Even the graceful healer looked disconcerted.

  "Thus far we have seen no effects outside her continued waking," she reassured him. "But I must ask you to try and calm her. She is killing herself. If she can see you, hear your voice, she may cease to fight against our castings."

  "Maybe she thinks it's the demon's spell," Kendall said pragmatically, then pulled a face and followed Sebastian as he ran into the next room.

  The bed made Rennyn look small. Nor was she moving about, but lay neatly tucked up and totally still. Kendall could feel the itch of magic, but could not tell what was the healer's work and what was Rennyn.

  "Is she casting?"

  Sebastian leaned close over his sister. "I think so."

  "That's bad because she might melt the room, or something?"

  "Yes. A Thought mage should never cast except with absolute deliberation. You can't get drunk, or smoke that Haze Weed. Fevers are best avoided, though I haven't heard of sleep-casting before."

  "Stay with her," said the healer. "Talk to her. Even in sleep she will hear you and be reassured. Above all, keep her still."

  As the healer left the room, Sebastian obediently picked up one of Rennyn's hands and began murmuring to her. Kendall edged around the side of the bed for a closer look. One side of Rennyn's face was a single, huge bruise with a scratch through the centre. Her cheeks were sunken and her bones stood out beneath the skin.

  "She doesn't look like she's been healed at all. What does 'caulded' mean?"

  "Holding wounds or bones together. You can't just fix a person with magic. Well, some healers have managed it, but more have killed their patients trying. Even if this one was arrogant enough to try, Ren's too weak to stand it."

  "Patch her up and wait, huh?"

  Sebastian looked up, then felt around in his pockets and produced a square of crumpled, inky cloth. He was just the sort who would carry a kerchief. Kendall ignored it, wiping at her face.

  Rennyn shifted on the bed. Kendall watched her, then peered closer to see beads of sweat on her face, though there was no flush to the skin. "She's waking up."

  Sebastian had already noticed, squeezing Rennyn's hand as if that would help. "Can you hear me, Ren? It's me. It's over. We're safe. You can rest, it's all over."

  Rennyn's head turned toward his voice, her eyes opening to dark slits.

  "Ren!" Sebastian said gladly.

  But there was no recognition in Rennyn's swollen face. Instead of being calmed by his words, she continued to turn her head, then tried to sit up, barely managing to raise her head.

  "What's she looking for?"

  "Ren? You're safe." Sebastian tried to stop his sister from moving. "Lie back. It's over."

  This didn't help at all. Even though she didn't have the strength to lift herself, and trying obviously hurt a lot, Rennyn kept struggling to move. Kendall looked about for the one of the healers.

  "Did she just say something?"

  Sebastian leaned over his sister, but when he lifted his head he just looked puzzled. "Liddan? Is that a place, a person?"

  Kendall shook her head. "Something undone that's worrying her? If she knows you're alive, and that the Black Queen is dead, is there anything she needs to do?"

  "Our – Solace's second son," Sebastian said reluctantly. "Not in our original plans, of course, but I don't think we can leave him out there. We're going to have to deal with him."

  "His name's not Liddan."

  "No. But there isn't anything else." He tugged the blanket back toward Rennyn's chin. "She was looking forward to that so much. To not having to study, to letting herself indulge useless whims. To travel and read novels and sleep in every day. To not have this huge duty sitting over her. She doesn't want to be responsible for anything ever again, won't even admit to worrying about the political consequences for the Kellian."

  "Are they going to be all right? Sukata and the others who were there?"

  He bit his lip. "They
should be, since they survived the end of the casting. But we had no way to test it, no way to be sure if there would be any side-effects."

  "And none of them are called Liddan either," Kendall said, adding doubtfully: "Captain Faille's first name is a bit like that. Lieutenant Danress told me it once."

  "Really?" Sebastian blinked, then looked worriedly back at his sister as she shifted and then caught her breath. Broken ribs.

  "Stay with her, will you?" Sebastian said, and strode abruptly out of the room. Startled, Kendall could hear him speaking to someone outside, and then one of the healer's assistants came in, already chalking on his slate, and brushed Kendall aside so he could cast some more spells.

  "Even the pain suppressors are being countered," the assistant said, clicking his tongue. Then he noticed that Sebastian hadn't followed him back into the room, and looked scandalised. Kendall pretended not to notice, and eventually the assistant finished his spells and went off, no doubt to say nasty things about heartless boys.

  Rennyn was so still Kendall went back to the bed to check her. She felt almost as tired as Rennyn looked, and it made it worse that she had to lean close to be sure the woman was even breathing. But the bruises didn't make her any less the person who'd shown up at Kendall's door in Falk and told a pack of lies to get Kendall to do what she wanted.

  "Why should I thank you?" Kendall asked softly. "It was all what you wanted. Saved my life to spare your own feelings. Dragged me about the country to distract yourself. None of it was about me."

  There was no response, of course. Kendall picked up one limp hand tentatively, then put it down again. It felt like the kittens the Lippon cat had had too early, cold little bundles of skin and bone too weak to live.