1. How to watch your back
The unfaithful servant was sitting among them, but no one could suspect him.
The Glass Hall was on the last floor of the palace, just above the main courtroom, not too far from the Queen's office. Its name was given to it from the glass dome, dominating its roof as a symbol of transparency, and also from the mirrors that were behind the seats of each consultant, indicating that nothing remains hidden among the attendees.
That cloudy day, the hazy sky gave the room a depressing look. Both Humans and Elves were seated around the circular, marble table and timid whispers were heard here and there while two servants placed an unusually large mirror at the opposite edge of where the Queen would sit.
Suddenly, the heavy doors opened and all the sounds were wrapped in silence. The only thing that could be heard later was the rattling gait of a herald, dressed with fine clothes, who appeared to announce the arrival of his mistress.
"Her Majesty, Queen Nasuada of Alagaesia!"
All the attendants rose from their seats until the slim figure of the Queen appeared and nodded them to sit. The herald stepped aside and bowed after she passed before him. Just behind her, the aloof figure of Endymion followed with slow but steady steps.
Before walking around the table to take her seat, Nasuada threw subtle and brief glances at those who were in the room. Jörmundur would be sitting next to her of course and beside him there was an empty seat waiting for Endymion. All the other members of the council of Elders were on her left and the mirror of Arya was placed at the opposite side of the circle, between two triads of Elves, with Vanir among them. In the end, her gaze fell on Lady Lucretia, who was sitting between Endymion and one of the Elves. Her black veil was covering all of her head and neck, and the young ruler could not see her face. However, her stifling perfume could be perceived by meters away .
Once the Queen sat, without any warning, Vanir stood up and announced with firm voice:
"Her Majesty, Arya Dröttning!"
The surface of the mirror clouded otherworldly until thin lines began to form the outline of Arya's face. Her black hair, tied in a tight ponytail, appeared slowly and her features were clenched while her emerald eyes stared at everyone in the room. Her gaze, once so heartfelt and serious, now seemed troubled and strict. Nasuada welcomed her with a slight move of her head and Arya retaliated the greeting vacantly.
The conclave had officially began.
The hostess Queen spoke first. "Before you say anything, I would like to inform you that everything that will be said within these walls, will be written and be at the disposal of the King of Dwarfs, the ruler of Surda and the leader of the Urgals, as they don't have representatives here today." She noticed that some members of the Council of Humans moved uncertain.
The Elven Queen nodded approvingly. "I accept this decision. The existing problem is quite enough and there is no need to create additional misunderstandings."
"Talking about the existing problem, as you name it..." said Falberd of the Council of Elders, "my colleagues and I find it hard to believe that a race as yours, so skilful in the use of magic, is incapable of inventing a Detector, even if you already guaranteed that you will help us in this endeavor."
Nasuada blasted him silently, but with a furious look. She hoped that Arya would recognize this open insult as a result of intolerance rather than rational thought. And indeed, the Queen' s reply wasn't that hostile. "Your concern is completely understandable, consultant. And we 're equally surprised and displeased with the result. However, we can not apologize for anything as long as we can not identify our mistake."
"With all due respect, Your Majesty," said Elessari, "but ignoring the source of the problem does not eliminate the problem itself."
"In no way." agreed Vanir "But this does not mean that we must accept your doubts. At least not until the real damage is found. If the mistake is ours, after all."
"Enough" said Nasuada calmly. "Nobody has the right to accuse anyone until the problem is resolved. We are not here to unleash blaming on each other." She saw the gloved hand of Lady Lucretia rising, as the elder wanted to speak. "Please"
The woman's harsh voice sounded cautionary. "As manufacturers of the map and knowledgeable of magic, the Elves can speak more freely upon this subject. But I must admit that I am unable to participate in this debate because I can not understand how this map works. I am sure that my colleagues have some gaps at their knowledge, as well... Consequently, it's only natural to blame each other with great ease, because of our ignorance."
"What do you suggest?" asked Endymion, with a trace of well hidden indignation.
"I think it would be wiser if the envoys of Queen Arya explain us how the Detector works, so that we are all quite aware, before we judge each other." she answered simply.
One of the Elves – her name must have been Phinaleah- cleared her throat before speaking. "On behalf of all the Elves who took part in the construction of the Detector, I think I can explain you briefly the structure of the map -if you allow me to, of course... If someone from my fellows" she said looking at the rest of the Elves "have something to add in my words or correct me, I'd be happy to accept his comments."
Nasuada saw the members of the Council of Elders throwing glances of uncertainty and mistrust at each other again. Ungrateful people she thought. She was always wondering how her father kept his temper with them, how such people, unable to cooperate, could ever been called "consultants"... The only reason they were not fired yet was that she had to deal with more serious issues than their pettiness. "Of course" she answered to Phinaleah. "A precise explanation will be accepted with great interest. I already had a report from you and now I can share the details with my advisers."
"To begin with..." said Jörmundur "what would we see, if the map was functioning properly?"
"Dots" replied the Elf. "Dots of light, honorable counselor. Each user of magic in this country is represented on the map as a moving dot of light…"
"Dots?" asked Sabrae sarcastically. "Excuse me, but I thought that the intention of our Queen was to have an accurate list of names, not a scattered collection of dots."
"My intention" said Nasuada, raising the tone of her voice "was something that was quickly proved to be impossible. Surely, such a list would be a blessing for me, but I'm not so naive" Or at least, I'm not as naïve as you'd wish me to be. "Phinaleah svit-kona, please continue."
Ignoring the stunned look of Sabrae, the Elf went on. "Even if the identities of the wizards cannot be revealed, their location must be exact. Moreover, not all of the dots emit the same luster. The map, apart from the flow of magic, does also show its frequency. The larger amounts of energy is channeled into a spell or the oftener spells are used, the brighter is the dot ... »
"Excuse me" said Endymion, interrupting her "but what about the Dragon Riders of this country? What about their magic?"
Phinaleah turned to Arya, who replied "Here's an apt question. As a Dragon Rider, speaking on behalf of all the free Riders of Alagaesia, we made the following agreement with your Queen: our dots can be displayed on the map, but, because of our independence, we will accept statements for the use of magic only if it's absolutely necessary. After all, even when we're not using any spell, the bond we have with our Dragons is enough to make our dots glow more than any other common magician's. There is nothing that can change that."
"Furthermore" added Vanir "the same rule applies for the Elves. As we all know, magic is a part of our existence. It is unthinkable for us to be cut off from it..."
"Wait a minute" said Umerth. "This is far too convenient for you! We will be able to find and restrict any magician, while the Elves and the Dragon Riders are automatically exempted from this rule? What kind of discrimination is this?"
"An obvious one, I would say" answered Nasuada pointedly. "We'd be fools if we were thinking that we are all alike. When a newborn dragon choose its Rider, it's like an independent spell takes place and it goes on 'till their death! How can we oppose to this? Also, Arya Dröttning has assured that no young Rider will use magic in extravagant levels until he completes an adequate part of his education."
"As for my race" said Arya "You, Humans, were always suspicious of us. I'm not surprised that you ignore how much we're tied to witchcraft. However, that doesn't mean anything. We're all magicians, from the first to the last one of my race. And you were the ones who asked for our help. If we had anything to hide, we wouldn't bother dealing with the invention of the Detector, in the first place"
To Nasuada's surprise, despite Arya's rebuke, Falberd continued in the same line as Umerth. "You came to help us? We were sitting on this table for days in order to convince you, if I'm not mistaken! Your help was not the most cordial of all... It looked like you agreed, just to get rid of our asking and once you did it, a ''failure'' of the Detector would be sufficient for you to get rid of us again, this time for good..."
"Enough!" said Nasuada and her eyes hardened. She couldn't hear another word of these meaningless attacks. These people were the ones who spoke the most, and what they were saying resembled more to self-seeker losers rather than to experienced diplomats. They were making her look like a fool!
To her relief, Arya was one of the few Elves who knew how it is to be surrounded by Humans, that's why she showed her sympathy and so did her envoys, who waited patiently for one of the two Queens to speak. Jörmundur cleared his throat, pulling Nasuada out of the predicament. Without hesitation or fear of being ashamed, she allowed him to speak.
"Phinaleah svit-kona" said the elder, "from the little I know of magic, nothing is possible without energy. How exactly is this map... alive?"
"If you mean where its energy comes from, the answer is simple: from its own environment. The light of the sun during daytime, the glow of the stars at night or even a slow breeze..."
"Wait a minute" said Endymion "Excuse me for interrupting you again, but are there spells that allow the map to absorb energy from anything around it? Even from a living organism?"
"Councelor" said Arya smiling. "This concern had given us hours of thinking, but such a serious matter would have never been neglected from our magicians. The map doesn't absorb energy from living organisms found in its nearby environment. That would be tragic if you consider that the Detector was placed in the office of Her Majesty" she said nodding friendly to Nasuada. "We do not want to exhaust to death your Queen. She was, is and will always be our ally."
Although Endymion seemed satisfied with this answer, Lady Lucretia insisted. "Is it certain that the map is harmless? I do not wish, in any way, to offend your knowledge and effort, but the way I see it, any magician could turn the map into a weapon against the Queen, with a couple of spells..." she said, gaining a weird look from Endymion.
"Your concern is reasonable. This would be feasible initially, but not anymore, since we took our measures" answered Vanir reassuringly. "The map has undergone improvements and corrections. It is not tested yet but... we hope that it can even detect Shades."
Nasuada smiled sadly. It could, if it was working..."After all, that's why your race agreed with us. The Detector will be available to the Dragon Riders, so that it'll be easier for them to face such threats..."
Three rhythmic knocks at the door interrupted her words and made all heads turn towards the entrance of the Hall. The herald who had announced the arrival of the Queen just a few minutes ago, was standing there again. Taking a deep breath, he said. "Trianna, witch of Du Vrangr Gata, requests an audience from Her Majesty, Nasuada, Queen of Alagaisias."
Without a second thought, the Queen left her seat and panic made her blood freeze in her veins. Everyone looked confused. She was standing still, with eyes wide open from terror. She had ordered everyone to not interrupt the conclave, with only one exception. An exception that she hadn't imagine, and neither wanted she to think, that would come into effect... She knew why Trianna wanted to see her. It was for the same reason that the young witch was absent from the conclave, though the Detector would concern the members of Du Vrangr Gata as well. The same reason why she was absent from several meetings lately. "I apologize, Arya Dröttning, counselors... I'm afraid we must cancel the conclave…" She almost bitten her tongue after uttering these words. She had no idea how long it would take her.
The Elves leaned blankly towards their Queen and the Council of Humans seemed surprised. Nasuada knew that leaving in this way would be the most unseemly thing she could do but at that moment, a life was in danger –maybe hers- and she could not restrain her agony.
"I respect the value of your time and I wish more than anything to solve this issue. But I need to visit Elva"
But the snake had many eggs and they would hatch, sooner or later.
Disclaimer:I only own the characters and the plot I came up with.
Many thanks to Unique F. and Peaches for their help:)