Chapter 4 – Ethics
Lilly had an ethical dilemma.
That wasn't unusual. Her understanding of ethics was academic, not intuitive. She had been created by the same Magus who had created the Ævatar, the great fighting machine that Bianca had operated against the gods. She had been created for the Ævatar, to be the one to operate it. The scale of its Animus created an enormous vacuum in the Soul dimension. So no operator with a Soul could control it. Thus she was created, a creature with no Soul.
Her first patron had been Lady Angelika, Mistress of the Hidden Rage. She was a mage from before the first cataclysm. She was there when the new magic was discovered. But during the wars that followed she had been on the losing side and ended up in an underground cyst, frozen in blue crystal. Scioni's agents had found her, and recruited her to his cause. And she is the one who first took in Lilly when she was discovered. No one else knew what to do with her.
Angelika was more skilled in the New Magic than any of the rest. They had only rediscovered the six books relatively recently, while she had had them for at least a decade. She was especially good with Soul magic. If she were still alive today she could probably help considerably in the disposition of the myriad bodiless souls they seemed to be collecting. But she was not. Not precisely. When she died, subtle magics sprang into motion which guided her Soul to Lilly, and gifted it to her.
But, it didn't stop there. She had also left information with Lilly by other means. Her notes and research on Souls. Specifically on how the boundary layers were created between the past lives when one Soul was reincarnated in the body of another. At some level Lilly knew she had been 'played'. She, of course, felt very lost without the guidance that Mistress Angelika had given her. She used the information to open a window into the past life contained in her soul, and was able to talk with her patron.
When the others found out they were quite upset. They did not feel it ethical for Angelika to exert this influence on Lilly and 'operate' her as she had done the Ævatar. A trial was convened and, for other ethical reasons, the only other person from her culture, Gwendolyn, was asked to sit in judgment.
Gwendolyn was another mage from before the cataclysm, although she came to this time the long way. She had been in a faction opposing Angelika and all other mages who had abused the new magic and wreaked devastation. Once they had victory, all the rest ascended into godhood. Gwendolyn refused, for more ethical reasons. She also refused to judge Angelika, as they had once been enemies. Instead she offered her vassal, Coral, who was a student of the ethics of the time.
Testimony was taken, evidence weighed, and justice was rendered. Lilly got to keep her new Soul, but the breach was repaired and she was under strict orders not to open it again. With a Soul, Lilly could not operate the Ævatar. This held them back a lot until Bianca discovered how to shield her Soul against its pull. But something happened in that battle. Bianca's shield failed, possibly intentionally, and her Soul was devoured by the Ævatar. Now Bianca was without a Soul. But, after the Ævatar slaughtered all of the gods, Bianca had sworn to never operate it again.
Contrary to popular belief, an understanding of ethics did not have anything to do with your Soul. Of anyone, Bianca was generally considered to have the least sense of ethics even before she lost her Soul. Yet she refused to operate the Ævatar which she had spent so many years of her life studying. And, despite gaining a soul, Lilly was none the wiser at resolving ethical dilemmas when she came across them.
Normally, when she was unsure, she went to Jack for advice. The Royal spymaster was generally despised by all, and also considered someone with no sense of ethics. Lilly suspected this was true. But from her perspective, it meant that he understood her confusion. He did not consider her thoughts 'callous'. And he was always able to explain what the 'correct' ethical choice was for any situation in simple terms of who would or would not benefit from any decision. She disagreed with the rest. She felt the Dwarf had a very deep understanding of ethics. He just chose differently when his royal duties required him to.
The problem was, this particular dilemma was about if she should tell him something or not. That made it impossible to ask his advice on it.
The dilemma occurred to her once Winter had left. She had thought about it for several days but was no clearer on the choice. The only other two people who she might use the term 'friend' for were Bianca and Jesca. She did not go to Bianca for ethical questions, and Jesca was the Queen, and was awfully busy. In any event, she felt that it was the opportunity to make a decision herself. Jack himself feared that, one day, he would be compromised, and would become untrustworthy. She was now a senior mage in the academy, and wielded great power. It seemed important that she learned how to make decisions without consulting everyone else.
Jesca had said there are times when you should take advice from others, but also other times when you just had to decide for yourself. She had watched her dare a demon lord to single combat, against all advice to the contrary, because she thought it was the right thing to do. Lilly's heart beat fast at the thought. After they had finished baiting each other, and Lord Halphas had started his attack, she had been scared. She could not recall any time in her life she had ever been scared. Many things had been done to her, many experiments performed on her, all her life. Others seemed shocked and horrified at them, but that was just the way it was to her. She had no fear for her own life. But when she saw Jesca standing there, such a small figure, and the fist of the demon tearing huge rents in the ground, she was afraid for her.
And, somehow, that made a difference. It was in that moment, overcome by this terrible unknown feeling, that it clicked with her. A demon is an amalgam of Souls, and their magics had, to that point, had little effect upon it. They were mostly based on patterns and a being made up of a myriad of patterns was nigh unto impossible to target. But in that fear inducing moment of concentration, Halphas had wrought his souls into alignment to smash Jesca. Lilly created a pattern of what they had converged into, and attacked. The others had seen this and jumped in with her. After that, the demon was finished.
She did not fear for Winter as she had feared for Jesca. She understood he was strategically important, and that Magister Devonshire was even more so, and would be completely distraught if anything happened to Winter. She was also known for acting rashly, which could put them in a bad position. But Jesca had shown that ethical decisions were not based on strategical analysis. 'They came from the heart' was the best description anyone, other than Jack, could come up with.
Well, if her 'heart' had persuaded her to leap to Jesca's defense when afraid for her, then if she speculated feeling for Winter as she had felt for Jesca, the heart's advice seem to be to do what was most protective. When she looked at the two choices before her, one was, clearly, more protective of Winter. She took a deep breath, reconsidered her analysis, and made her decision.
Lilly asked Jack to meet her at the commercial gate in the city of Romitu. Oxcarts rumbled past kicking dust up into the air. The winter rains had started to slacken and the increasing sunny days like today quickly burned away the damp. But the days had not yet become oppressively hot nor had the river begun to smell.
She threaded her way past the bulk carriers and other people with goods waiting to pass through excise. There were short lines for individuals without anything taxable, and a nearly empty one for those traveling on government business. The official nodded and smiled at her as she presented her credentials. People tended to remember her. She noted that he checked them as thoroughly as anyone else. Jack would be sure to ask and would be satisfied that security precautions were being followed even for well-known people.
The portico of the building was cool, so she stood there looking out over the crowded market. The commercial gates pre-dated the new magic and had long been a feature of the city. It was the natural place for one of the many markets of Romitu. Here and there she saw buildings that had been repaired. The gleaming white of new magic g
enerated marble filled in the gaps in the brick and stucco work like scar tissue. Since the gate, itself, was of strategic importance, it was well defended during the god-fight. So the damage was less here than in other districts.
Romitu was the most diverse city in the Empire. Creatures from all of the surface races could be found here, and, increasingly, traders from the Underground arriving through Irontree. But, even so, the majority of people here were human. It should have been easy to find the Dwarfs amongst them, and then work out which one was Jack. But he liked to blend in. And he also liked to test her powers of observation. Cross training he called it.
She gave in that she was not going to spot him from the portico, so she moved into the crowd. It was hot and humid, and the crowds of people made her uncomfortable. When she got a bit of breathing space she made some flamboyant gestures and summoned magic. Sparks glinted off of her fingers leaving little smoke trails that gathered together into the shape of a large dragonfly. Its glow died down, but it remained scintillating as it hovered over Lilly's head. As she moved it maintained station between her and the sun, casting its shade over her. It quick darting moves, and glinting talons also kept people warily at bay.
“Hello Jack”, she said, to a middle aged man who had his head down in a bowl of stew at a food stand.
The Dwarf looked up and appraised her, “Hello Lilly”, he said. “What lead you to me this time?”
“The bowl did a good job of hiding your beard, and the stool disguised your height”, she began. “I was sure that I would not be able to locate you based on your physiology. So I created a distraction”, she indicated the dragonfly, “and looked for the person that wasn't looking.”
He nodded approvingly. “Good thinking. I guess I was trying too hard not to pay attention.”
“And”, she continued, “you have a box of pastries from the shop on Via Michael.”
Jack raised his eyebrows and looked down at the box on the table. “I should have known you could spot these from a league away.” He handed them over to her.
She received them gratefully. “Where shall we talk?”
He gestured for her to follow him and he led her to one edge of the market. A building there had been adsorbed into the market, with many traders holding space there with heavier, less portable and more expensive goods. Several cried their wares hopefully, others, figuring them to be from the government, were politely wary. He moved into the shop of someone selling large cabinets and chests of exotic wood, slipped him some money, and went through a curtained alcove in the back. A winding stair took them up several flights to a balcony.
They had a wonderful view over the market, the gate, and the city beyond. Fragrant plants screened the edge making it hard to see who was inside. Lilly felt the slight tickle of protective magics spring up and mingle with her own. Jack sat in one of the comfortable chairs and indicated the other one to Lilly.
“I have some information for you”, said Lilly, without preamble.
Jack raised his eyebrows. “It is most unusual for you to bring me information on your own initiative”, he said. “Usually you wait for me to ask.”
“Usually I have much information and very little understanding of what might interest people”, explained Lilly. “I am trying to be more... discerning.”
“That is good”, said Jack. “If you explain to me how you decided to come to me I will tell you how accurate you are.”
This is what she liked about Jack. He understood that she did not deduce things the same way as most people. He never took offense, even when she was wildly wrong. She never felt awkward talking to him.
“You explained to me that your job is to assess threats to Romitu. And, by extension, to threats to people who are pivotal to Romitu. And, by further extension, to people who might be used as social leverage against people who are pivotal to Romitu.”
“That is correct”, said Jack.
“I was given some information recently in confidence that is pertinent to someone in that last category.” Lilly bowed her head slightly and rubbed her chin. “You have given me much advice about classes of information. And how we must put barriers around some and not around others. I still have much to learn about assessing information and deciding what class it should belong to.”
After she paused Jack prompted, “Are you unsure if this is information you can tell me or not?”
“No”, said Lilly, “I am quite sure it is information that I should not be telling you.”
Jack leaned forward, curious. “Ah, are you going to try to hint at it, without telling me, so as to not break confidence?”
“I do not think I am that skilled yet”, said Lilly. “I have thought about the situation and circumstances and decided that I should break confidence and tell you.”
“I see”, said Jack. “And what lead you to this choice?”
“I believe it is the ethical thing to do”, said Lilly.
Jack sat back again, both eyebrows raised. “Thank you for your trust”, he said.
Lilly breathed deeply and composed herself. She was glad that he did not immediately disapprove.
“It has come to my attention”, she began, “that some force we do not know of is influencing the dreams of Winter. He is the son of Magister Devonshire, who is a senior mage in the Scioni Academy of Magic. Whoever is seeking to influence him might use that as social leverage against Magister Devonshire to the detriment of Romitu. I have judged that the danger of this is more important than my directive not to discuss this with anyone other than Winter.”
Jack scratched his beard. “It's not coming from his... Father?”
“No”, said Lilly. “I am quite sure of that.”
“Has it only started since he assumed the throne of the Northern Seas?”
“No”, she said again. “It predates that event.”
“What is the nature of these dreams?” he asked.
“Unclear”, she said, looking out over the market. “He felt... disturbed by them. Not unreasonably so, but he was able to determine they were out of place. I only confirmed that with magic. They did not evoke any specific feeling, and didn't mean anything more to him than to me.”
“Most unusual”, said Jack, furrowing his brow. “I did vet the list of people that were to leave with Atlantica. There shouldn't be anyone left with a major vendetta against him.”
“And we have no reports of any significant magical use by anyone there”, said Lilly.
“True”, said Jack. “Do you have any way to narrow down where it is coming from?”
“Yes”, said Lilly. “I used some variants of the spells we have used to track down the Mackheath knife and deviations in your Will. These will hopefully allow us to work out when a sending occurs and, possibly give us a direction.”
“Good, good”, said Jack, scratching the back of his neck. “That's a start. I can see if I can deploy any assets to the court there to see if I can find any malcontents.” He shook his head. “Although it is tricky getting someone to blend in. Maybe I should see if I can recruit someone there instead.”
“There have been many more student exchanges between the Academy and the Northern Seas since Winter came to the throne”, Lilly proffered. “I believe he is applying, with Penelope's help, for a magical grant to restore the old Triton ruins.”
Jack nodded. “That works. I can use that to get someone in. It is probably worth recruiting as well. Although they have been neutralized as a threat, eventually Winter will step down. Or, we can arrange a transfer and get an informant in Atlantica's new court.” He looked up. “Thank you Lilly. This information is very useful.”
“Do you think I made the right decision then?” she asked, not entirely certain.
Jack sighed deeply. “The problem when you start making your own decisions”, he said, “is you often don't know for a long time if they are the right ones.”
Black Warrior Page 4