Sixty Seven: Manipulations

Nova was startled by the panic she felt as Yddris and Nika led her back inside the castle. She had been away for two days; that wasn't long enough to get used to living elsewhere, and yet the sight of the vast entrance filled her with dread. She put it down to knowing that the Caelumese were still inside, and that she would be expected to confront them this time; that Grace wasn't here with her, nor in easy reach. Grace was across the city, staying at the Demon's Brew with her brother, so that the innkeeper could keep an eye on them both while she and the Unspoken attended the meeting.

What she wouldn't have given to stay behind as well, to help organise the cellar alongside the Haverfords and Kedrick's children. But that was only an option for free folk, and she wasn't one of them. She was actively tightening her own manacles by agreeing to come to this meeting. The thought had occurred to her, while she huddled in the warmth of a real wool blanket pressed against Grace's back that morning, that there was a good chance Harkenn would never be able to enforce her presence in the state he was in. He might not even notice she was gone.

Not that she could get it past Yddris. For some unfathomable reason the lord mattered too much to the Unspoken for him to allow her to leave Harkenn to his fate.

They entered the foyer unremarked; with the exception of the housekeeper, Jan, it was unlikely that anyone had noticed her absence. She tightened her mental walls as a Caelumese valet hurried past with a stack of linens, but she might as well have been part of the furniture for all the mind he paid her.

She braced herself as they ascended the stairs. There would be a short meeting with Harkenn ahead of the one with all the Heads of Houses, which would be held in the Assembly Hall. The pretence for this early meeting was that the guard needed updating on their orders, but in reality it was a ploy to get the Heads inside the Hall before Cael got any say in it. He wouldn't make any moves in front of them all. She wondered if he suspected that his ruse had been discovered, and concluded that he probably did. Whether it forced him to change tactics depended entirely on how confident he was in his poison. Considering a physician as skilled as Nika was stymied by it, he likely had good cause to be.

She hoped Yddris had a better plan than just endlessly repeating this charade. The stalemate had to fold eventually, and it was better to be the one making the first move.

Inside the study, the three leaders of the Caelumese contingent waited for them. Harkenn sat behind his desk, but for the first time in her recollection he looked as though he needed the chair more than chose to use it. The tremor in his hands was pronounced enough now to show even when he was at rest. It was an alarming development for only a couple of days. Keeping her walls tight, she looked at Cael out of the corner of her eye. His face was carefully neutral, save for the slightest hint of a smirk at one side of his mouth, and she suppressed a shudder of disgust. She hated Harkenn, but she had always despised those who found cruelty amusing. It was a topic that veered very close to her personal experience.

Cael's smirk faded a little when he saw her, but the avaricious glint in his gaze that replaced it wasn't much better. Evangeline on his left looked nervous, but Varron, the military leader, was as stoic as ever. He nodded an acknowledgement to her when she entered which she returned with the barest inclination of her head, then turned her attention to the others in the room. To her surprise, Brillan was present. She hadn't noticed him initially as he was seated in a wheeled chair, the only person in the room in a worse state than Harkenn. A web of scarring occupied one side of his head where he had been knocked out with a pan during the demon siege months before, and he was skeletal in stature, looking more his age than he ever had before. Beside Brillan stood Jeorge, grim-faced.

Harkenn's gaze, which had been fixed on some point in the middle distance, sharpened at her entrance. Using techniques she had painstakingly practiced over the weeks guarding Grace – at the cost of sleepless nights and pounding headaches – she focused her own protective walls to include Harkenn's aura as well. As she did so, she was able to see it again, and see how pale and mist-like it had become. On the arms of the chair Harkenn's trembling slowed, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Cael flinch. Suspicions confirmed, then – whenever the Angel was present, he had his claws in Harkenn's aura. No doubt this was the turning point; now she had revealed her capabilities, he would double down on his efforts to keep her out of the way. Until Harkenn's poison was discovered and treated, the delegation could wreak city-wide havoc if they made a move without the lord in full control of his senses. Especially if they had Orthan and the Devils on side. As Yddris had outlined so strenuously, until they knew how deep and how wide the web was, any rash action could result in a trap they wouldn't come back from; but while she stood in the way and gave Harkenn the ability to make rational choices, the Caelumese would struggle to take control entirely. She might as well have painted a bullseye on her own back.

Rage flooded Harkenn's aura, but no evidence of it showed on his face. He turned to Yddris. "Is the Assembly Hall ready for us?"

"Yes, my lord, I believe so."

"Excellent. Please let the captain know that I wish a double guard on this meeting. He should also provide an escort to each Head for their departure."

"I was not aware the Heads were attending, sir," Cael said, feigning curiosity. A vein pulsed in his jaw.

"I'm afraid Areon has declined to attend, but the others will be present, yes." Harkenn sighed. "Yddris, did you not send the Caelumese a copy of the appointment letter?"

"I left it with the clerks' office, my lord," Yddris replied. "If it didn't reach its intended destination, I'd ask them about it."

"Dear, dear." Harkenn stood up. Only Nova and perhaps Yddris would have known how uncharacteristic it was of him to use the desk to lever himself up. "I'm terribly sorry. Yes, this is a full meeting; I intend to finalise these agreements within the week. I'm sure Lucifer will be impatient to hear from you."

"Indeed," Varron replied, when Cael looked too furious to speak. Not an experienced diplomat, then, to show his feelings so plainly on his face. "We are eager to come to an agreement as well."

"Then let's not wait around in here. Nika, would you help Brillan down to the Hall? I'll assign a soldier to you for assistance with the stairs."

"Yes, my lord, of course."

Nova didn't have time to wonder why Brillan was attending the meeting as well, as a sharp motion from Harkenn indicated she should follow him out of the study. As he went, he said over his shoulder, "An escort from my house guard will join you shortly."

The study door swung to behind them. A small group of guards already waited in the corridor, and the lord leaned in close to murmur instructions to the head of the group. Close as she was forced to be to keep tight hold on her walls, Nova heard every word.

"Do not let them join us until I have a chance to speak with the other leaders."

"Yes, sir." The guard clicked his heels together. The lord turned and walked away. For the first time that Nova had ever seen, he used the banister on the way down the stairs. He made it across the foyer with his head up, but as soon as they reached the passage beside the dining hall that led to the high table of the Assembly Hall, she watched with a kind of fascinated horror as Yddris offered the lord his arm – and Harkenn accepted it.

"Has your physician made any progress?" Harkenn demanded, his voice still sharp.

"No, I'm afraid not, my lord, but he has given up his patrol rota to give the issue his full attention." Yddris paused. "Thorne has also made a proposition."

A pause. Nova couldn't help but be curious as well, following close on the two men's heels. "Consider me intrigued."

"It appears that there is some division within the Devils. Thorne's teacher there is on shaky ground with the leader, and it has prompted him to agree to lend his...expertise to the matter, in exchange for Thorne's unconditional support in any, ah...disagreements."

"You want me to allow a Devil into my private affairs while I am already disadvantaged?"

"Thorne's reasoning was that the Caelumese would never expect it. These investigations would be conducted entirely through Thorne, and surely that mitigates some of the risk. I hate to say it, my lord, but our options are very limited, and there are few who could offer a better working knowledge of poisons."

"You know the man?"

"We've...had dealings, in the past. He has never shown any sign of recognition – it was a long time ago. I happen to know that his hatred of the Caelumese runs extremely deep. I believe it's the source of the division."

"Interesting." Harkenn nodded slowly. "That's very interesting. And quite possibly genius. Completely cracked, but genius."

"I will endeavour to find a way for Thorne to discuss this with you himself. The opportunity hasn't presented itself thus far."

"Are we speaking of a Devil we are already aware of?"

Yddris cleared his throat. "Yes, my lord."

"Dangerous?"

"Very, my lord. There is a good chance that this man could end up leading the group one day. Possibly sooner than anticipated. Nowhere near a guarantee, of course, but if I were to think it possible of anyone, it would be him."

"Ah. Well, in that case I should like to get to know him better while I have the chance. We don't even know what the current one looks like." Yddris didn't reply. "Of course, safety measures will have to be in place. A Devil's word is about as reliable as cheap privy paper. One rash move and you've put yourself right in it."

"I would be inclined to agree with you, my lord."

Both men fell into their own trains of thought. Progress to the Assembly Hall was slow, and Nova thought the lord might even have stopped to rest if he hadn't had company. Not that she cared; all enjoyment she might have gleaned from seeing her owner brought low was ruined by the prospect of the alternative, and the fact that she was actively working to save him. If she'd been a less realistic sort, she might have hoped that her efforts would purchase her freedom – but hope on that scale was simple stupidity. For him to willingly offer it back to her, the world would probably have to end first. There was nothing she could offer him that would outweigh his enjoyment of owning her – outweigh his ability to parade her in front of Lucifer, to have someone to take out his tempers on and to verify for him whether people were lying. Just by virtue of who she was, she was invaluable to him.

By the time they entered the Assembly Hall, Nova's mood had gone from dark to black. Harkenn took his seat at the high table, and Nova stood by his side as she had for every Assembly he'd brought her to. The Heads of the Houses sat in their usual seats on either side of them, at a slightly lowered level. It was a strange choice of room for the meeting. Down below them, the Hall doors opened to admit Nika pushing Brillan in his wheelchair, along with a small number of guards. Also present was the captain of the guard, Jan the housekeeper, and Jeorge bringing up the rear. He looked angry about something – Cael had likely begun goading him the moment Harkenn left.

As Harkenn conferred quietly with the Heads of Houses, Nova turned to Yddris. "Something's happened."

They had known each other too long for him to be surprised that she'd seen the wavering of fear in his aura. It was well-suppressed, but so uncharacteristic that she had seen it anyway. It had been there since the evening they'd arrived at the inn, though neither Thorne nor Yddris had seemed inclined to mention anything about it. Though she couldn't see his aura while she was concentrating so hard on protecting Harkenn's, she doubted it was gone.

"It's nothing," Yddris said. She snorted softly.

"You do know I can tell when people are lying?"

The Unspoken glanced at her. "Nothing to be concerned about at this moment," he amended.

She didn't get a chance to press him further, as the Caelumese arrived at that moment. She checked her walls and brought all her attention back to keeping them up as Cael strode to the witness platform. Though Harkenn had had a high table placed on the platform for the contingent to sit at, it still looked very much as though the Angels were on trial. It was probably the point, and while it seemed to be lost on Cael, both Varron and Evangeline hesitated before stepping up to join him.

"Hopefully this will be our last meeting of this nature," Harkenn said, without preamble. "For what were supposed to be offerings of aid and the possible drawing up of trade agreements, this has dragged out for a very long time. Let us come to a conclusion so you can get back home. I'm sure your families are missing you by now."

Cael's venomous gaze was on Nova. She could feel him battering at the walls she had put up, and gritted her teeth. She would have a migraine for days after this. It was no wonder he was trying so hard; while she couldn't protect all of the Heads, Cael could only manipulate one aura at a time, at least at a deep enough level to influence the discussion. Considering Harkenn could veto all of them if he chose to, and given that the Heads present probably knew there was a chance of foul play, without control of Harkenn Cael's abilities were no use to him. She would have liked to know where he learned to get as good as he was, even so. Had Lucifer discovered new ways to use magic?

Cael's glare kept returning to her as the discussions proceeded. It was clear that the Caelumese didn't have a very good case for what they wanted, and Nova was beginning to suspect it was pretence anyway; a chance to get in close proximity to Harkenn, with demands he would never agree to, to extend the haggling for longer. There was no point fighting too hard for an outpost at the city limits if you planned to take the whole thing anyway.

It sounded just like her uncle. When she was younger, he employed a similar tactic with politicians who displeased him. They thought they were getting a fair debate, while all along he was manoeuvring them into a position where he could justify exiling or killing them. If Harkenn was judged unfit to rule, through madness, illness or death, and left it without a successor, Lucifer could then extend his benevolent hand to guide a country in turmoil.

And then crush everyone in it underfoot, she thought snidely. He'd used a very similar tactic with her.

"I have made my point very clear on why there cannot be completely free trade." Harkenn's raised voice drew her attention back. As the hour wore on, he was becoming more and more fractious. "I would not agree to it even if we hadn't had incidents involving a Caelumese spy in my household. Sir Cael, you are talking as if this is news to you. The spy was discovered only a matter of months ago. I am not stupid, and neither are you. Do us both a favour and come up with something better."

Cael recoiled. It was obvious no one had spoken to him this way before. "Then I fear we will struggle to come to an agreement today, sir."

Harkenn sighed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger and then glared over them at the three Angels seated opposite him. "On Kiel's name, Sir Cael, if you come to the next meeting without making a single amendment to your demands you can consider these discussions over."

Cael drew himself up. "Very well, sir."

Without waiting for a dismissal, he got up and walked out.

"Apologies for the impropriety, Lord Harkenn," Varron said, into the shocked silence that followed. Kerrin, on Harkenn's left, looked outraged.

"Faellian, I really don't see why you haven't arrested them yet," the Lady hissed, as the last of the Caelumese left the room. "They have broken the laws of your land inside your household, and they treat your hospitality as if it is nothing. You are well within your rights."

"And Lucifer would be well within his to retaliate." Harkenn's aura wavered as he slumped in the chair. "And as of currently, my dear, the Reach is not in a position to repel him. I am quite happy to let Cael think that I only believe he is trying to manipulate the agreements. The man's so far up his own backside it won't occur to him that his genius isn't foolproof. I want to know what link they have to Orthan and the Devils and what they plan to do. For now it is in my interests to leave them hanging. And complacent."

"My Lord?" Nika appeared behind them at the high table. He sounded urgent. Nova had caught the change in Harkenn's aura a moment earlier. "Are you in need of assistance?"

Harkenn glowered. "Your timing, Whisperer, is..." He trailed off into a swoon and fell forward, the turmoil in his aura turning flat. Unconscious. Faellian Harkenn, whom Nova had never seen do so much as take a nap, had fainted in the Assembly Hall in front of the Assembly Council.

If there had been the remotest doubt that poison was involved, it was dispersed in that moment.

"If I ever get my hands on that man," Kerrin said, and trailed off in a fury. It was all the more perturbing from such a typically serene woman. Between her and Nika, they levered the lord off the desk and propped him back against the chair for Nika to take a closer look. Yddris hovered in the background, but Nova hadn't dropped her walls and so couldn't tell what caused his restlessness. She could give a few guesses, though.

"We must get him back to his chambers," Nika whispered to Yddris. "If he doesn't come round, it's not going to be dignified. It might be an idea to wrap things up."

"I'll deal with that," Kerrin said. "He'll want Yddris with him. Is there anything I can have sent up for you?"

"If you could get a guard to bring Brillan to his chambers," Nika said, "that would be excellent." He paused. "I don't suppose you have any more of those wheeled chairs in your shelters?"

"I'll get it all sorted. I'll get food sent up as well." Kerrin nodded, looking at Harkenn's slack face. His breathing came shallow now, and the dark circles under his eyes looked almost black. "Please tell me you've got a plan. I don't want to see my temples overrun by Caelumese."

"We're trying, my lady."

"Tell your apprentice to come and see me on seventhday, Yddris." Callan appeared silently behind Nova. She was hard-pressed not to flinch; she wasn't used to not sensing people coming, and the Head of House Nict was unsettling enough in his own right. "I've found something that may interest him. I trust he knows the way."

Yddris nodded. Nova didn't need aura to sense his suspicion. "Aye, I'll pass it on."

As Kerrin set about giving directions, Nova was left alone with the two Unspoken and her unconscious owner. He didn't look so invulnerable now, this man who had broken her down and abused her for ten years. It looked like it would be so easy to just reach out and... she clenched her fists. For a moment, her despair felt insurmountable. She would never get a chance like this again, and all she needed was the length of chain he had put on her all those years ago.

"Anarabelle? Are you coming?"

She blinked. Someone had brought up a wheeled chair, and in her distraction she hadn't registered the two men's efforts to get the lord into it. He seemed to have come round, though only enough to keep his own head up. His mouth moved as if to say something, yet no sound came out.

"Yes," she said, shoulders sagging. "I'm coming."

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Regards,

Elinor (S E Harrison)