Chapter 19
Confessions
Three years later, I was still heading up Team Firewander. When I wasn't in the sewers hunting fae, I was tracking down murderers on the streets of Tellnaught or settling personal disputes between whores in Harlotry. I didn't have a permanent place to rest my head, but that didn't bother me. Jumping back and forth between Viper and Honeysuckle's beds suited me better than settling down with either of them – and it made me harder to find.
The Immaculate Order still hunted a particularly stealthy Iron Wolf who occasionally liberated small-time crooks and heretics from their custody. Though they didn't know who I actually was, a dozen teenaged Dragonbloods who couldn't officially call together a Wyld Hunt had also started combing the streets for any signs of "Shadowsbane", suspecting that Nexus's beloved vigilante and the Immaculate Order's hated Anathema might be somehow connected.
My work became increasingly dangerous. My reputation had exploded into something I really didn't know how to deal with, and I'd eventually decided to supplement "Team Firewander" with a few other groups of unemployed archaeologists, local heretics, and mercenaries. They were all over the city, exploring bricked-up First Age ruins and putting down vicious fae at the same time.
Though I tried many times to contact him, I hadn't heard a word from Val. His girls remained with my mother, who grudgingly admitted that they were the best servants she'd ever had. Stingy as she usually was, she even began paying them a menial wage just so that they wouldn't be tempted to see employment elsewhere – especially since Tamika was legally an adult. Her greatest aspiration was to be an "entertainer", which annoyed me to no end. I tried to dissuade her but my arguments weren't very convincing when I showed up dressed in grubby clothes, reeking like the undercity, and sometimes bruised or scratched up to boot. Rose has not spoken a word since her mother's death, but I supposed there was nothing to be done for her. The girls were as safe and happy as they could be and I definitely had my work cut out for me.
The Wyld had spread out of Firewander as the Emissary feared it might, and Fox and I spent a good amount of our time killing flying hagfish. Hagfish are ugly, vicious carrion eaters that look like some kind of fae-tainted bottom-feeder with long tentacles and lots of teeth. Usually they're found in putrid water where they float invisible under the surface and wait for unsuspecting prey. But that's where their resemblance to any honest sea creature ends. Among other things, they actually fly.
Fox and I were on our way to meet up with Kasashi, who was out hunting hagfish one afternoon when Kitten caught me on the street and drug me to Anathema's claiming that whatever her mistress needed was too important to wait. Fox was eager to shoot some fae, and understandably annoyed when Viper informed him that he needed to wait outside while she and I talked in the pantry. He'd been present for more than a few of my secret conversations with her and knew that something important was being purposefully kept from him.
I wasn't sure if he guessed what we were really discussing, but he never pressed the issue. Like the rest of my team, Fox was content to follow me even if I didn't pay him. I had a sneaking suspicion that he made his living most of the time by means of his original profession – picking pockets. Still, Fox said nothing about thieving and I didn't ask him. It was obvious that he'd rather do honest work if he could. As he'd informed me on more than one occasion, Nexus's overcrowded jail was "a bad place to be a Djala."
Viper smiled slightly as Kitten drug Fox back into the bar and poured him more beer than he could possibly drink. When he was safely away, she passed me a pair of letters. The first was written in incoherent Rivertongue and signed "Bruja". It said only that she'd arrived in Nexus with her nephew who wanted to work for "Shadow". The second letter made my heart skip a beat. At first I saw Viper's handwriting, but then I realized that the folded, stained piece of paper had actually come from Val!
Though I couldn't guess how I'd ever missed something so important, apparently the University was reestablishing the Archaeological Department, and recalling all of its professors who had managed to survive the Immaculate Order's ruthless purge. Val was coming back to Nexus. And with how old his letter was... I realized that he could very well be in town already.
I knew without a doubt who was responsible for completely transforming the University's attitude towards its most infamous Department, and smiled at the thought. I wasn't in a hurry to thank the Heptagram for complaining about needing more magical materials... but when I saw the Emissary again, I was going to kiss him.
Still, Val's letter was shockingly short and not at all personal. If his Old Realm penmanship hadn't been so perfect, I would have suspected it was written by someone else entirely.
"What do you think about all of this?" I asked Viper.
"Don't know. I'd rather not jump to any conclusions just yet," She replied with a shrug. "You and Fox heading off to kill fae in the sewers again?"
"It's what we do best," I bowed dramatically and took my leave.
Fox and I headed over to the Tomb of Singing Blades and loitered on the street corner until we could be sure that no Immaculate monks were watching us. The remains of one of the University's excavations had given us a few maps of the area that we planned to explore and though I hadn't explained my new talent to Fox, he'd gotten wise to the fact that I could somehow open ancient doors without explosives.
A single mote of Essence was all it took in most cases, though in the deeper ruins sometimes I used so much of my own power that I ran the risk of glowing involuntarily. So far, none of the members of Team Firewander knew that I was the Solar that half of the monks in the city were hunting – and I intended to keep it that way. It wasn't that I didn't trust my friends. It was just that what they didn't know couldn't get them hurt.
Fox and I worked our way towards our old Firewander excavation site, opening seven doors and killing eleven hagfish along the way. The last one proved to be especially stubborn, and when I used one of my favorite Charms to test the area we'd come to for more monsters, I felt an all-too familiar sensation. I'd used enough Essence that my caste mark had begun flickering, but my shroud cloth still muted it.
Fox looked dead tired. "Where the hell is Kasashi?" He demanded, his hands on his hips. We'd arrived at the site where Fluffy's tail was buried, which was where our partner in crime was supposed to have been waiting for us. Water had seeped into the site and it reeked of something too foul to consider.
A loud gurgling noise drew my attention and I seized my firewands.
"Fox, down!" I ordered.
He dropped to the ground.
A huge flying hagfish – the biggest one I'd ever seen rose out of the muck behind him and let loose a bone-jarring shriek, stunning Fox where he stood. I used a Charm I shouldn't have dared invoke and fired a huge burst of Essence at the fae.
It would be fair to say that I overdid it a bit. The hagfish exploded, splattering the ceiling, the floor and both of us in green goo. A dozen sticks of dynamite would have made such a mess, and Fox would never believe that any kind of Firewand shell could pack the kind of punch I'd just demonstrated. But it was worse than that. I could smell the Essence that I was radiating starting to burn through my shroud cloth.
"Sonova bitch!" I cursed, tearing off the cloth and seeing where my caste mark had already incinerated a perfect circle in the fabric. There was still enough shroud remaining that I could fix it, but I'd have to be more careful in the future. I'd already burned three holes in the damned thing, and it was starting to look ragged.
Spitting out sewer water, Fox slowly rose to his feet and turned in my direction. His usual little smile broadened into the biggest shit-eating grin I'd ever seen on his face as he saw me.
"Don't say a word!" I warned. "To anyone, I mean it! Not a word, Fox!"
"I knew it!" He crowed triumphantly, dancing around the smoldering corpse of the hagfish. When he'd exhausted all the energy he had left and giggled so much that he couldn't breath, he sat cross-legged on a rock and stared at me.
"What are you waiting for me to say?" I demanded.
"Something amazing?" He suggested. "You can't just keep standing there with your mouth flapping open like a dead fish. You're a friggin' Solar!"
"You don't think I'm going to kill you?" I wondered uneasily.
"I've been working for you for a long time, Sapphire! And before that I worked for you and Val!" He reminded me. "I have almost been killed plenty of times on the job - but never once because of something you did! Bruja, on the other hand... keep her away from ladders!"
"All right, point taken!" I remembered the incident very well. Before Bruja had gone home to her tribe in the north, she and I and Fox had been hired by Gray Whiskers to go looking for a killer fae that was supposively stalking the streets of Nighthammer. When the monster had finally shown itself, Bruja had seized a nearby ladder to hold it off and had damn near knocked Fox's head from his shoulders with one phenomenal swing.
Still, I was surprised to see my friend taking things so well.
"Y'know, right before that hagfish came flying at us, I was looking at the wall over there." He took a piece of sopping wet chalk out of his pocket and went over to the inscription. Like most everything far below the streets, it was written in Old Realm.
"The Great Faeslayer drew a line in the sand," He recited. "And he said to the Weeping Maiden – this is the line that you shall not cross!" Taking his chalk, Fox hopped across what was left of the bridge that the hagfish had collided with and drew a line across the stones with his wet chalk. "You see that? Epic!" He declared.
"You're giving me way too much credit. It was only a hagfish!" I sighed.
"Damnit, Sapphire! Aren't I allowed to be impressed?" Fox protested.
"I don't want you getting the wrong idea about all this," I argued.
"Which would be what, exactly?" He gestured to the elaborate ceiling over our heads. Despite the damage that time and the Wyld had done, it was still numbingly beautiful.
"I'm not dumb, Sapphire," he informed me. "I'm pretty sure I'm not getting three wishes or anything like that. But this kind of thing is not supposed to be in the world!" He pointed to the hagfish. "People pretend that it's not down here because they don't want to admit that the Wyld's closing in on us like we know it is. They're dead wrong if they think that ignoring a problem like this will make it go away. But you know what they're really dead wrong about? The "Perfected" Hierarchy! When is the last time a Dragonblood has ever looked out for anyone besides another Dragonblood? How many Immaculates do you see down here killing hagfish?" Fox demanded. "I've said this before and I'll say it again. We, the people - are all being exploited! We're being kept down, and worked to death and none of us have anything to show for it! The whole system is corrupt!"
"Are you trying to start a revolution?" I eyed him suspiciously.
"Nah, I'm just a Djala! Nobody would listen to me. But you! You could do it!" He retorted.
"I'm a pretty lousy leader, Fox. I like to be in the middle of everything. I have no ability to bullshit or delegate, and no tolerance for stupidity." I informed him.
"That's why it should be you!" Fox protested. "And Lords of Creation get to have advisors, don't they?" He teased, elbowing me.
"If I'm ever a lord of anything, you'll be my Grand Vizier." I vowed and he laughed. "But don't start telling anyone about this. I mean it! I'll definitely get killed if you can't keep your big mouth shut!"
"Heh. You've got a deal! Yeesh, this place sure stinks!" He wrinkled his nose. "Let's go home and get a bath!" Fox decided.
"Home?" I wondered.
"To the Teahouse," Fox supplied.
"I don't live there," I reminded him.
"I do. Your mother lets me sleep in the kitchen, and she sometimes gives me work to do. Yesterday I cleaned the gutters. This morning the bath clogged. Biggest lump of hair you've ever seen in the drain. Took me hours to get it all out," Fox replied.
"Ew," I grimaced... though realistically a clump of greasy hair had nothing on a steaming pile of hagfish guts. "Look, Fox... I don't like dealing with my mother if I can avoid it. And I can't go anywhere until I stop glowing anyway. Right now I'll burn my shroud cloth and I really doubt that Viper can find me another one."
"Does she know you're a Solar?" Fox wondered.
"Who, Viper?" I asked.
"No, your mother," Fox clarified.
"She does, but it's a sore issue. Don't bring it up. I swear, she'd turn me over to the Immaculate Order if she didn't think my grandmother would curse her for it. She knows she can't run her business without my grandmother's approval. You piss off the Goddess of Intoxicants and your guests will be getting sick on bad wine and sour beer forever!" I informed him.
"I don't think it's that simple," Fox protested.
"That my mother only tolerates me because my grandmother forces her to? Oh no, it is definitely that simple!" I argued.
"Your mother isn't as bad as you make her sound. Most people won't give a Djala a fair wage in this town. And she took in Tamika and Rose didn't she?" Fox reminded me.
"As maids!" I glared at him.
"Would you rather they were whores?" Fox reprimanded me. "With the new Law in place, we can go back to the University now. We've made it through the worst bit. From here, it starts to get easier."
"You may be right," I admitted.
"I always am!" Fox reminded me. "So when is Val due to arrive?" He gestured to the letter that was sticking out of my pocket, the one I'd gotten from Viper earlier. Apparently he'd overheard enough of our conversation to recognize it.
"Soonish. And I'd like to talk to everyone before he gets here," I admitted.
"Everyone?" Fox wondered incredulously. "Um, Sapphire... there is no place in this city big enough for everyone who works for you."
"I'm talking about the original Team Firewander," I informed him, and he lit up with a broad grin at that suggestion. "Bruja got into town yesterday, and I've heard that Mehmed's been hanging around Mercenary Square since the end of last week. As for Kasashi, I'm sure he'd rather come back to the University instead of slaving away at that crappy noodle shop. I bet that's where he is today." I paused.
I hoped that was where Kasashi was. The alternative was too awful to consider.
"It is a pretty crappy noodle shop, isn't it? I won't even "help myself" to their leftovers." Fox agreed. "See you in the morning then?"
"At Val's old office. The Emissary says it'll be safe. Find Kasashi, and let him know. I'll have to wait down here for a little while, but I'll be okay." I added as Fox departed with a ridiculous salute.
"As you wish, oh glorious illuminated leader!" He proclaimed.
"Don't make fun of me you mangy Djala! When I'm queen I'll have you put in the stocks!" I warned, laughing as I pretended to pitch a rock at him. Fox only bowed dramatically and disappeared into the dark.
When I'd stopped burning brightly myself, I put my shroud cloth on and made my way back to the surface and over to Anathema's. I sent two of Viper's girls to track down the other members of my old crew and spent the remainder of the day pacing in Viper's bedroom, trying to sort out what I was going to say to everyone in the morning. I'd decided on only one thing. Before Team Firewander started working together again full-time... I wanted to tell Bruja, Mehmed and Kasashi what Fox had already learned... that I was a Solar.
I wouldn't confess Val's secret - that was his business, but I couldn't justify not trusting the four people who had regularly put their lives in my hands for so many years, particularly when poking around below the city streets had become so dangerous.
If I laid things out as they were from the beginning, I wouldn't have to worry about holding back when my friends were about to get drowned, eaten or worse. Of course, there weren't a whole lot of ways that I could really envision breaking the news to all of them.
"Yes... now that we're all holed up together in this tiny little office, I think you should all know that I'm a fire-breathing baby-eating Anathema! Wait, no! Don't run! Let me lock the door so that I can ravish you!"
I proclaimed out loud, watching my reflection in Viper's mirror. My caste mark was still very obvious when I didn't try to mute it. I'd gotten past the point where I thought that it looked a little frightening a long time ago and sometimes wished that I could just walk out on the street without hiding it.
I had a persistent fantasy about going to a fancy dress party with Val or sometimes Honeysuckle. With either escort, the basic idea was the same. I was dressed in fabulous First Age clothing and everyone who saw the mark on my brow viewed it as expensive piece of jewelry, marveling at how beautiful it was and asking me where I got it.
Trying to sound like a demon made me feel like an idiot so I decided to try a different approach. Still evaluating my own reflection, I put my hands on my hips and tried to make myself look like a hero from The Forty-Seven Ronin. I felt only mildly less stupid.
"Well, actually, I'm a Lord of Creation and I've come to save the world!" I said to the mirror. "I can explode giant hagfish with my mind and I like to hang out on rooftops getting sloshed with The Emissary. And when I rule this city again, Little Fox will be my Grand Vizier!"
That was when Viper broke down laughing hysterically. I hadn't realized that I'd gained an audience. "Ooh, confessions! Always so much fun!" She sat down on her bed and folded her hands, watching me intently. "Spill the beans, Sapphire dear! Who do you want to tell?"
"Well, it's not a matter of who I want to tell... it's more a matter of who already knows," I admitted.
"Someone caught you?" Viper blinked in surprise. "Who?"
"Fox," I sighed in defeat.
"Ah. So now you're telling everyone? Before he does?" She observed.
"Not everyone. Just my crew," I replied.
"Your crew? As opposed to Val's crew?" Viper pressed.
I wondered when it was that I'd stopped thinking about Team Firewander as Val's and started considering it my own.
"How many people are working for you now anyway?" Viper asked.
"Directly or indirectly?" I hesitated.
"Directly. How many people have actually seen your face and have some idea of what you do?" Viper clarified. "Basically, who knows that you are "Shadowsbane"?"
I paused and considered. "Um... Mama Bear and her boys down in Fishmarket, Gray Whiskers, Adamant Quill, Dead Eddie, Honeysuckle, you, Kitten, Sei, Tsuchigomo, Saturnyne, Doctor Basha, everybody on Team Nexus, everybody on Team Nighthammer, Team Big Market, Team Firewander... Altogether probably fifty... maybe seventy people?" I admitted, realizing belatedly that a head count of every contact I was working was probably long overdue.
"Seventy!" Viper gaped at me. "Sapphire, last month you told me you had four "employees"!"
"I only have four!" I retorted. "Bruja's been gone since last summer. Aside from her... Kasashi, Mehmed, Fox, and Honey are the only people I ever pay!"
"So you're telling me that you have "about" fifty to seventy people in this city who work for you and don't get paid... in Nexus, the grand ol' town of you-can-buy-anything-for-the-right-amount-of-jade? What are you trying to do?" Viper demanded.
"I don't know. It's just getting really dangerous in the undercity! Street kids, whores, slaves, foreigners – they've all been disappearing!" I protested. "Fox almost got eaten by a hagfish today, and he's been doing this kind of thing longer than anyone else I have! If I'm going to keep sending my people to get killed by monsters... they've got a right to know who I am and what I'm trying to do. The Emissary can keep his mask on if he wants to. I'm not picking up that habit."
"But how do you know that you won't get turned over to the Wyld Hunt? Can you really trust your people?" Viper pressed.
"I have to!" I paused. "If I don't trust them, I can't lead them!"
"Aww!" Viper exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"What's so funny?" I demanded.
"I've been waiting years to hear you say that," Viper replied.
"That I'm in charge?" I hazarded a guess.
"That you're supposed to be in charge!" She corrected. "Don't you ever wonder where the name "Lawgiver" came from?"
"Only your friend Silvermane calls me that," I reminded her, wrinkling my nose with distaste. I didn't like the sobriquet at all, and was somewhat annoyed that the old barbarian used it at least once every time we spoke.
"That's because Silvermane knows! He's more than 2,000 years old. Him and my Mira are the only Lunars who set foot in this city who actually remember what the First Age was like! Silvermane doesn't just see you as you see yourself! He sees what you can be. What you're going to be." Viper finished. "Think of what you've done so far and start thinking bigger! Way bigger!"
I buried my head in my hands. "Damnit, Viper! Don't do this to me! Right now I don't even want to think about tomorrow morning, let alone three thousand years in the future!"
"Oh, Sapphire! I told you once that you had some growing up to do... you and Val both," Viper reminded me. "When Gray Whiskers brought the letter I gave you, he told me that Grandmother Spider fixed Val a No Moon. That's no small thing. The old bitch never seemed to think anyone deserved to know her secrets, not before your friend came along. The past few years Val's really been making a name for himself down South. Nothing you'd hear outside of Lunar circles yet, but... he'll have a reputation all over soon enough. The name they're calling him is "No Tears". Not sure what the story is on that one, but it has something to do with killing a monster."
"I really can't picture Val doing anything besides burying his nose in a book!" I laughed slightly.
"Well, that's what he has been doing, more or less," Viper replied. "But he's recently traded history for a new favorite subject." She paused, evidently enjoying a little dramatic moment before she revealed anything more. "Sorcery," Viper finished.
"Sorcery!" I gasped in disbelief. "Val?"
"Yup! And apparently he's an absolute genius." Viper smirked. "But enough about your "beau"," She teased in a tone that warned me she'd been talking with my grandmother recently. I didn't really want to know what sort of conversation they'd had. Something told me I wouldn't like it. Viper slipped behind me and set her chin on my shoulder. "I'm bored," she whispered. Those were terrifying words coming from Viper. With a wicked grin, she seized hold of my belt and pulled me down onto the floor.
I wouldn't have crawled out of bed at all the following morning if I hadn't already promised to meet everyone at the University. It took me forever to find most of my clothes and when I did see where my shirt had gone I discovered that there was very little left of it. Having no other choice, I settled for something out of Viper's wardrobe, which was a lot more revealing than I preferred. I doubted anyone would notice how low my shirt was cut with what I was about to tell them anyway.
And even if the guys were distracted by my chest, I had a surefire way of getting them to pay attention to my face instead.
We met in Val's office. The University had pretty well cleaned it out after the Archaeological Department was disbanded, but pooling all of our resources, Team Firewander had managed to re-stock everything we might conceivably need and a few new gadgets that were an improvement on our old gear.
It helped that Mehmed had found "temporary storage" for all of Val's more sensitive research. Though I hadn't heard a word from him in years, I couldn't imagine that my old friend had changed so much that he wouldn't be delighted by the sight of his treasured library in one piece.
"I assume you're all wondering why I called you here," I glanced around the room. The years hadn't been kind to Bruja or Mehmed, but it was nice seeing everyone in one room again. Bruja's nephew sat right behind her. He didn't seem to understand everyone else speaking so quickly in Rivertongue, but the kid was built like a mammoth, and I knew Team Firewander could put the monstrous ax he carried to good use.
"We know that Val's coming back. And that the University has said we can all have our jobs back," Kasashi paused. "It seems suspicious."
"If the Emissary hadn't walked right into the last University Fellows meeting, we wouldn't be here right now. People still hold us responsible for the earthquake, and the Immaculate Order still thinks that Archeology is a nest of heretics. The University is not going to take it easy on us if we put a toe out of line, so we'll need to deliver to them exactly what they want to hear," I explained.
Bruja translated for her nephew. He nodded, seeming to understand that I expected everyone to be on their best behavior.
"Sheesh, what happened to academic integrity?" Fox demanded. "Isn't the University supposed to be about the pursuit of knowledge? Truth?" He pressed, giving me a look that made me bury my face in my hands and groan.
"Yes, Fox!" I sighed heavily. "That is what it's supposed to be about! But if we want to be able to do our jobs legitimately instead of running away from our dig sites like criminals, we're going to have to be very careful about what we say. That doesn't mean we're going to withhold the truth from the people who deserve to hear it. On the contrary. We're just going to have to consider alternate ways of spreading information."
"Shadowsbane!" Kasashi grinned. "Public Enemy Number One. Monster and menace!"
"Hero!" Bruja corrected.
Her nephew nodded. "Hero!" He echoed.
"Not as far as the Realm is concerned. But thank you for your support!" I bowed dramatically.
"Shadowsbane and her wretched minions are going to do everything they can to make the University look like it's hiding the truth – which we all know it is. And Team Firewander is going to be the most repentant, most honest excavation team in all of Nexus. I'll even set foot in the Temple of Mela if I have to!" I vowed, and Mehmed laughed.
"Sapphire, you would burst into flames if you came within a hundred yards of an Immaculate Temple," He informed me.
"It's nice to know you've got so much faith in me," I rolled my eyes.
"Everything you have said, we already knew," Bruja admitted. "But there is something else?"
"Yes," I paused. "You all know that the Immaculate Order – and most of the University is still looking for that, um... "Anathema"? Well, that demon is going to rear its head again."
"It is not a demon," Mehmed jumped to my defense.
"Yeah, it's a demon!" I cut him off.
"The Illuminated are not demons!" He protested. "They are the Chosen of the Unconquered Sun, the same who built all of the ruins that we have uncovered! Surely you do not believe that creators of such beauty are creatures of Malfeas?"
"Solars have been extinct for more than a thousand years!" Kasashi argued. "The whole "Wyld Hunt" business is Realm propaganda! Even my mother says it's bullshit!" He added. Kasashi's mother Sotoko Yumei considered herself an expert on a lot of things, and while Kasashi couldn't quite free himself from her figurative apron strings, I had a very different perspective on the woman. Basically, she liked to take jabs at the Realm so that she could downplay her own floundering political career.
"The Illuminated are returning to make the world as it once was, a paradise! Wait and you will see!" Mehmed laughed.
"Yes, I must agree with Mehmed. They are returning. But what shape their world will take, I do not know," Bruja paused. "There is an Icewalker chief, in the homeland of my people. He has very great power. It is like the stories describe, like the pictures on the walls."
"Superstition. Rumors. You know, a Dragonblood with some training in sorcery could convince a bunch of tribesmen that he was a demon! Or it could be fae! Or an actual demon!" Kasashi protested.
"If you believe in demons, then why not Solars?" Fox put his hands on his hips.
"Oh for the love of... I sighed heavily and slammed my hands down on the table, visibly cracking the wood. Bruja blinked in surprise. "Kasashi, do you have to be such a skeptic?" I demanded.
"I'm an academic. I'm supposed to be a skeptic!" He retorted. "Pursuit of truth and all that?"
"Well, fine. I suppose I might as well out with it then. The Anathema they're looking for is me."
Everyone stared.
Then Kasashi laughed. It was a short, barking sound – like he really didn't think the situation was funny at all but felt compelled to break the silence.
"You don't believe me?" I observed.
"I have seen the ones you speak of. They are terrifying. Gods," Bruja admitted nervously.
"No, they are not Gods! They are not gods, and they are not demons! The Illuminated are Chosen, like the Dragonblooded! But greater than them! Why do none of you understand this?" Mehmed protested.
"I understand," I replied. Mehmed glanced in my direction. He looked very uncomfortable, and I suspected that he'd realized I was quite serious.
"Look, boss... I'm not sure where you're going with this but it's really making me wonder if you don't have a few screws loose or..." Kasashi began.
"Kasashi," Fox interrupted. "Shut up, and let her finish."
"Yes, please!" Bruja agreed. "Our leader is trying to speak. The rest of us should not be arguing!"
Kasashi looked annoyed.
Mehmed paused. "Are you truly one of the Illuminated?"
"I don't want you worshipping me," I told him.
Mehmed sighed. "My people do not worship Solars! We worship the Unconquered Sun! And we understand that the Realm is wrong to call his Chosen Anathema. We should honor them, because they are meant to help and protect us. The Unconquered Sun marks his Illuminated so that we may know our leaders when we meet them," Mehmed explained.
Once again, Mehmed was right, but I didn't feel like telling him so. I'd wondered about the Cult of the Illuminated since I'd first heard of it. It seemed to be a little too regimented for my tastes, but obviously they had a good source of information.
"Do you have such a mark?" Bruja wondered. She says something again in Icewalker to her nephew. "Like the Bull of the North? He has a... star, star sun on his brow that burns and makes him very big. Big." She hesitated. "This is not the right word. He is big. It makes him more big. Bright. Frightening." She then repeated everything she had said in the Icewalker language and her nephew nodded in agreement.
"Bahk says that the Bull can make his mark go away, and then show it when he wants." Bruja added.
Bahk? So that was the kid's name? It made me think of the word "brick" and it suited him.
Kasashi couldn't take anymore. "This conversation is ridiculous!" He protested.
"Shut up, Kasashi!" Fox snapped.
"Fox, you're not helping!" I sighed heavily and pulled the curtains.
"You all know me. I don't waste people's time! If I tell you something that sounds crazy, all you gotta do is ask me to prove it," I returned to my seat and waited for a moment for everyone to simmer down.
Taking a deep breath, I called up my Caste Mark. "Satisfied?"
"Sun-in-Glory!" Mehmed gasped.
Bruja and Bahk clung to one another like a pair of frightened children. Fox giggled gleefully and as I turned to Kasashi he flipped right out of his chair. Everyone winced as he hit the floor.
There was a long and uncomfortable silence, but no one ran for the door.
"Well, that went well," I observed, letting my mark fade. I went over to see if Kasashi was okay. He didn't take my hand when I first offered it, but then grudgingly reached up and allowed me to pull him onto his feet.
"I am the same person you've always worked for. I've actually been a Solar for the past five years. It's why I didn't die when the dig site collapsed and half of the Big Market fell on me," I informed Kasashi. "You told me the last time we were out hunting hagfish that you like me better than you used to. That you think I'm doing good work. Helping people. That's not going to change. In fact, I want to start doing more, but that means I'll be risking my branded head," I laughed slightly. "If you want off the Team, you can quit. I won't hold it against you. Any quitters?"
No one moved. Fox grinned like a maniac, and Bruja smiled slightly herself.
"You knew we were all heretics when you hired us," Mehmed admitted, slowly standing and rubbing his elbow. "I've never actually met an Illuminated before. Though I heard from some of my cousins that one came through here several days ago. A Bronze Tiger, with the Wyld Hunt."
"A Dawn Caste? With the Ravenous Winds? That's a dangerous place to hide!" I grimaced.
"Oh, I think he is not hiding very well! Mehmed laughed. "Tell me, have you heard the name Cathak Loren?"
"Of course! Damn, every mercenary in this city is in love with that guy! First mortal Talonlord in the Realm," I paused, suddenly realizing the enormity of what Mehmed was proposing. "You think he's a Solar?"
"I know so. A cousin of mine is a maid in a wealthy house on Sentinel Hill. She walking home at night when a man tried to accost her. A stranger saved her, a soldier with tremendous skill. He shattered the blade of his sword on a wall and as he disappeared. The Emissary appeared on a rooftop nearby, and he does not show himself without reason. But if an Illuminated One were to be acting in his city... he would certainly wish to know about it. He has shown himself to you?"
It was not really a question. I nodded. "We like to get drunk together on the roof of the Guild Hall," I admitted.
"You drink with the Emissary?" Kasashi laughed.
I'd done more than drink with the man, but I wasn't going to tell Kasashi that.
"And about you being a Solar? Does Valen know?" Mehmed asked. "He is, well... probably the most orthodox of all of us."
"He's not as orthodox as you think, and yes, he knows. He's known since the earthquake. I helped get him out of the city," I admitted, though I didn't want to say why. As far as Team Firewander was concerned, the Immaculate Order's purge of the Archaeology Department was reason enough. "I hope I've proven that you can still trust me. I would have told you all years ago, but I just wasn't sure how you'd react if you knew the truth. And I wanted to be sure that I wasn't putting you in danger. Well, more danger anyway. There's certain hazards that come with the job," I admitted, pushing a crate of dynamite with my foot.
"I look forward to more archeology. So does Bahk." Bruja replied.
The kid said something in Icewalker, put his ax on the floor and bowed to me.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Bahk says he is glad to be earning great honor so that he can return to our tribe and marry. He is now sure that he was meant to come here and serve you. He had thought to go to the Bull of the North, but this is much more exciting." She explained. "It will give him many tales to tell his children."
"Hey, we're archaeologists, not heroes!" I laughed.
"I did not know there was a difference," Bruja admitted.
Mehmed laughed. "Bruja is right. Since you have been leading us... well, does Val know what he is coming back to?"
"Um, we'd better not tell him about the housing project or Team Nighthammer. Actually, we'd better not tell him about any of the other teams. Or the tally on flying hagfish," I admitted.
"One twenty-five!" Kasashi announced.
"One seventy-nine!" Mehmed added.
"Two forty-three!" Fox smirked.
"Damnit, Fox... how do you do it? You're not counting her kills, are you?" Kasashi demanded. "How many have you killed anyway?"
"I don't waste my time on flying hagfish!" I protested, although I did. Not counting the big one I'd blown up recently, my own tally was somewhere around four-hundred.
"What's this about flying hagfish I hear?" A familiar voice laughed.
"Val!" I leapt out of my seat and tackled Val to the floor before he even got two steps into the room.
"Nice to see you too, Sapphire!" He groaned.
"Don't you give me that! I haven't heard a word from you in five years!" I scolded, punching him.
Mehmed slowly closed the door that Val had left ajar. My old friend sighed heavily and took his usual chair, the one I'd been sitting in at the head of the table. I resumed my favored perch on the cabinet just over his shoulder and Val sighed heavily.
"Welcome back, Professor," Kasashi grinned.
"It is good to see you again," Mehmed added.
"It's good to be back," Val paused. He seemed to be thinking about something, but I couldn't guess what.
"So, what are we working on first, Professor?" Fox asked eagerly. "Whispering Serpent? White Gold Tower? Tomb of Red Hot Iron?" He suggested. "Oh! I heard about a really neat manse that's supposed to be about sixty miles from here. They call it Pandora's Box! There's supposed to be tons of traps! And a killer construct that no one's ever gotten past!"
Val smiled slightly. "Your news is slightly out of date, Fox."
"You were in there already?" Fox blinked in surprise. "Aw, damn!"
"You didn't tell them why I left, did you?" Val raised an eyebrow in my direction.
"I didn't," I replied. "I thought that was your business."
"Well," Val paused. He rolled up the sleeves of the long, brown, southern-style garment that he wore. Moonsilver tattoos beginning at his wrists worked their way all the way up his arms to his neck. He was marked three or four times more than Viper was. It almost looked like half of his body was made of silver. I didn't know what would make such intricate Wyld tattoos a necessity, but I was certain that it would be almost impossible to get Val to spill the whole of what had happened to him.
"Let's just say that I've been very busy down in Chiarascuro," he finished. The mark on his brow was very distinctive and though I'd met a dozen different Lunars, mostly friends of Viper's... I'd never seen one like it before. What had Viper called him? Apparently, one had to pass a certain kind of test in order to be deemed worthy of the designation "No Moon". Not that I was surprised. I'd never met anyone with a mind like Val's. Even the gods would have to recognize that he was extraordinary.
Kasashi swore. Though he'd been willing to argue that Solars were mythical – or at very least extinct, not one of my friends who'd ever set foot inside Anathema's would ever fail to recognize Lunar tattoos, especially since Viper was so prone to flaunting hers.
"Anyone leaving?" Val asked. "I won't hold it against you."
No one moved.
"She's a Solar," Fox pointed to me.
"That makes me scarier than you," I informed Val.
"Well, I suppose that's no surprise," Val took a deep breath. "We're all going to have to keep our noses clean, at least as far as the University and the Immaculate Order is concerned. I'll be teaching a few classes this summer, and all of you will be working with Professor Sandoval on his Shogunate Era dig under the Big Market."
"Boring!" Fox groaned.
Bruja sighed, Mehmed rolled his eyes, and even Kasashi looked disappointed.
"Publicly," Val clarified. Fox was the first to perk up.
"The first thing we're really doing," Val smiled slightly. He produced an ancient map from his traveling bag and unfolded it on the table in front of us. Mehmed gave a low whistle and I stifled a gasp as I read the Old Realm characters. "Is finding this!"
"What is it?" Bruja wondered nervously.
"A library," I replied, still staring at the map. "A... really, really big one."
Bruja translated for her nephew and I smiled to myself as I watched the expressions on everyone's faces as they pored over the treasure Val had brought with him.
"Books?" Bahk wondered. "I... am not sure I understand. I thought we look for treasure?"
"There are things in this world more valuable than gold or jade. Knowledge," Val explained. He produced a little golden ball from his bag and rolled it across the table to me.
I picked it up. It wasn't gold at all, but solid orichalcum. The magical metal felt a little warm to the touch and seemed to resonate under my fingertips. I knew from my own research that orichalcum responded to Solar Essence the way that jade reacted with the Essence of the Dragonblooded and I'd experimented with more than a few artifacts that I'd found in my undercity spelunking. But I'd never encountered anything as alluring as that little ball. I knew I'd held one exactly like it before, thousands of years ago.
It was a Resplendent Whirlagig. Putting a few motes of Essence into the thing, I gasped as it unfolded into a delicate little creature and fluttered around the room, trailing golden light.
Bahk's reaction was priceless. The big, burly Icewalker clapped his hands together and stared up with an expression of wonder on his face.
Mehmed almost threw his chair into Kasashi, uttering a word in Murqai that I didn't recognize. "A miracle!" He exclaimed.
"All I did was put some Essence in it," I informed him.
"It lives!" Bahk protested, pointing.
Clearly, there was no way I could underplay what I'd just done.
"I guess it is pretty neat," I admitted, glancing at Val.
"Their maker called them Resplendent Whirlagigs," Val explained. "I've taken a few of them apart, but I've never actually seen one fly before. They're... toys, I think."
"Surveillance. Or... you know, spying," I corrected him. I knew that the distinctive little constructs had been created by Perfect Mechanical Soul. According to the Emissary, she was a genius, but paranoid even by Solar standards.
"Have you got another one?" I asked, glancing at the bag he'd set down near his desk.
"Oh! Absolutely!" In fine ferret form, Val leapt to his feet, scrambled through his belongings and promptly deposited four more golden balls in front of me.
"Yeah! Turn em' all on!" Fox cheered.
One by one, I gave each whirlagig a little Essence and tossed it into the air. They flew all around us, sparkling in the light of the sun. I couldn't have envisioned a scene more magical. Val was watching all of the whirlagigs fly with a very satisfied smile on his face.
That was when Dean Peleps came walking right through our door. The whirlagigs scattered and hid themselves immediately... all except for the first one I'd given Essence. I grimaced, hoping Dean Peleps wouldn't catch sight of the last little whirlagig, which was hovering only a few inches from his head. He didn't seem happy to see all of Team Firewander together again – but that was nothing new. He'd never liked any of us.
"Faculty meeting tomorrow." He announced. "Everyone will attend."
Without another word to us, he slammed the door.
"That was close!" Mehmed sighed in relief.
Val looked disturbed. The whirlagigs all fluttered out of their hiding places.
"I count four flying things," Kasashi whispered.
"Uh oh," Bruja grimaced.
"I'll go catch it!" Both Fox and I volunteered at the same time. Val groaned as the two of us ran out into the hall. Sure enough, the little flying contraption was still following the Dean... and he still hadn't noticed it.
"We're going to get in so much trouble!" Fox grinned.
"And you wouldn't have it any other way!" I agreed with a wink.
Val's first lecture was very clean and insufferably dull. Several students near the back fell asleep and I almost nodded off myself. Dean Peleps congratulated him when it was over and even Summer Storm agreed that Val was "quite reformed" and that his years in the south must have done him some good. I couldn't shake the way the Immaculate stared at me, though I suspected his glare was only due to the fact that we'd decided that my story would be that I'd spent the last five years working as a whore. It was something that would surprise no one and everyone in Harlotry would confirm it without hesitation.
In every way, things were returned to normal except for one. Val refused to go see Tamika and Rose.
"I need to work out what I'm going to say to them. I've been gone five years," He reminded me.
"Work it out soon," I replied, trying not to twitch. "They already know you've come back and they want to see you."
Val's second lecture two days later wasn't much different than his first. I did notice a familiar face sitting in the second row beside Doctor Basha, the same man who'd asked some insightful questions at Val's first lecture. The Immaculates noticed his presence also, and from the way he very carefully phrased everything he asked, I suspected that they were watching him.
Though he attempted to remain as politically-correct as possible, I saw a bit of the old Val emerge as he theorized on the mystery of why Dragonbloods following the Usurpation had constructed great tombs and monuments to fallen Anathema.
When I saw the eyes of some of the more conservative members of the University faculty beginning to wander, I realized that Val was starting to sound controversial whether he thought he was or not. I decided that the best way of defending Val's new reputation as a reformed heretic was to prove that all of our past bad behavior had been my fault – as my friend the Emissary had suggested.
"Why don't we just ask the Lunars?" I interrupted, drawing attention to myself. I wasn't sitting in a chair – there hadn't been an empty one left in the room when I'd arrived late... and the fact that I was standing in the corner behind Val's slate only made it easier to pick out exactly who had spoken.
Val gasped in horror at my question and I saw a sudden spark of interest from the scholar in the second row. "Sapphire, I really don't think..." Val began
"No, I'm curious. Why don't we ask them? We know that some of them are more than 2,000 years old and that means they were there! They must know something!" I protested.
"Heretic!" An Immaculate snapped.
"It's a valid question!" I retorted.
"Well, dangerous to deal with... Anathema," Val replied stumbling over that word. I bet it was one he hadn't said in a long while. I avoided it myself.
"It's also dangerous to poke around in 1,500 year old ruins without knowing what you're dealing with!" I reminded him. "Which is why all of us archaeologists carry weapons. Tell me, why is it that we assume that Lunars can't be reasoned with? Maybe they don't like us city dwellers but in the north the Icewalkers get along with them just fine. Down in the south too. Some of the most primitive people in Creation have Lunars giving them all kinds of information and we – the most highly respected educational institution barring the Heptagram itself - we completely ignore probably the most valuable source we could possibly consult when it comes to understanding all of the history buried under our own feet? It's crappy scholarship, that's what it is!"
Val sighed heavily clearly exasperated by my persistence. "If you cannot keep these opinions of yours to yourself, Sapphire, will you kindly step into the hall and allow me to finish my lecture?"
Murmur from the Immaculates followed me as I left the room, though I could not help but notice that Doctor Basha's companion was watching me with a very broad grin on his face.
Gazing out over the city, I debated how I'd explain my strategy to Val. He wouldn't like that I'd said something so blatantly heretical, but I had given him the opportunity to refute me and come out looking thoroughly reformed. A few minutes before the lecture was scheduled to let out, Doctor Basha brought his new friend to meet me.
"Ah, hello, Sapphire!" The old doctor waved. I knew him fairly well – he'd treated Lily for free years ago and he'd also taken care of Fox and a few other members of my teams. Doctor Basha was more or less a quack and he didn't give the neatest stitches, but he could keep his mouth shut when it came to dealing with the authorities, and I respected him for that.
"This is my friend, Veritas," he gestured to the scholar.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Veritas replied, shaking my hand.
"Same to you," I smiled. I liked him right away. There was something about him that made him seem familiar to me, like someone I'd known forever.
He was tall and lanky with green eyes and a shock of coppery red hair. If I had to guess his age, I would have bet that he was only a few years older than I appeared to be – maybe forty? He had that lovable introverted academic thing going for him, which reminded me very much of Val. I expected that he didn't have a whole lot of experience with women. Kasashi was one of the few University fixtures without asinine misconceptions about sex – and that was largely because he'd been raised by a Dragonblooded mother who kept as many "playthings" as she could afford to maintain.
"Rather reckless of you back there. I think you upset the Professor."
He smiled as he said that. I immediately noticed his good teeth. Although he wasn't dressed like a rich man, I guessed that he was wealthy.
"Oh, I'm a completely unrepentant heretic," I replied. "This is an institution of learning and as I see it, it's my job to get people asking questions rather than just mindlessly bludgeoning each other with ignorance. The whole University will be better for it. All of Nexus will be."
"You seem confident about that," he smiled again and adjusted his collar. That was when I noticed a bracelet he wore. I seized his wrist before he could pull away.
"Gorgeous! High First Age?" I asked, although I was already certain. "It must have cost you a fortune!"
"Oh no, not at all! It's just a pale imitation, really. I made it," Veritas replied.
I tested his words with a Charm. That was the truth. But it didn't satisfy me. I'd noticed something else when my fingers brushed his beautiful bracelet. I could still feel the tingling resonance that told me immediately what metal it was made of.
"Did you? Well, guess what? An archaeologist knows the difference between gold and orichalcum!" I hissed, pulling on his wrist maybe a little more roughly than I should have.
He tore away from me with much more strength than I expected. Since I'd Exalted, I'd discovered that I was far stronger than most people and often liable to hurt someone without intending to. Even a big guy was no match for me, and someone the size of Veritas should have been unquestionably at my mercy. I realized immediately that he had to be an Exalt himself.
That was when the doors to the lecture hall opened and Val's students came pouring out.
Veritas watched me warily. "You seem to have a lot of sympathy for Anathema. Lunars at any rate. I'm curious. How do you feel about Solars?"
I wanted to hug him right away, because he'd just confessed what I'd already guessed. But there were four Immaculates staring right at the two of us.
"I'm a heretic, not an idiot," I informed Veritas. "See you boys later!" I did notice his expression as I left. He was watching me with a look in his eyes that seemed so familiar! And if he had made the bracelet he wore... was he Twilight Caste? I'd never met another Solar – well, apart from the Emissary.
I expected Veritas would come back for Val's next lecture and decided to find a way to corner him then. It was not just what was going on in his head that had me curious either. I slipped into the doorway of a Professor's office and watched him leave the University grounds. He walked like a martial artist or maybe a dancer. I wondered how coordinated he was, and if he dyed his hair to make it such a brilliant coppery color. I decided not to take things too far as I mentally undressed him. For all I knew, old Doctor Basha was his lover.
That thought made me grimace. Oh, if that were true... what a waste!
As I'd expected, when I finally made it to his office, Val berated me for my questions and warned me never to embarrass him again. I decided not to mention the girls, although I'd meant to tell him that Tamika had found out that he'd returned to the University and had asked me why her father still hadn't come to see her and Rose.
I didn't catch much of Val's third lecture the following week thanks to a little mess with Team Nighthammer, but I heard from everyone who did attend that it was much more interesting than his first two lectures had been, mostly about ancient engineering marvels.
I'd planned on catching the tail end of his discussing on the Whispering Serpent, but Viper had slipped onto the University campus dressed in a student's uniform looking for trouble. She caught me before I made it upstairs to the lecture hall.
Problematically, Veritas discovered the two of us fooling around. He stumbled off looking too embarrassed for words, which was disappointing considering how much I still wanted to ask him. Although I reasoned – if the man was so repressed that he couldn't handle the sight of two women enjoying one another's company, there probably wasn't a future for us.
When Val packed up his notes and returned to his office, I informed him in no uncertain terms that I would be bringing his daughters to the University the very next day and that he'd better work out what to say to them before then.
Leaving Viper with an impressionable group of first-year students and a borrowed bottle of wine, I ran across town to tell Tamika and Rose the good news.
That was when I found out they were missing.
Despite my pleas that they stay safe under my mother's nose, like most of the young people in Harlotry, Tamika and Rose were anxious to help out "Shadowsbane" however they could. Kitten had sent them to investigate a bakery where several people had vanished on simple errands over the past few weeks – including my mother's beloved right-hand whore, Keiko.
Both Tamika and Rose were armed with good daggers and a little hand-to-hand training they'd picked up from Fox, an expert at taking advantage of people who were bigger than him. Together they were more than a match for any ordinary mugger. Few would risk the wrath of Three Pearls at any rate, but there was always a chance that some thug might be too drunk or too stupid to know whose girls he was harassing.
The girls had left about midmorning, and they had never come back. Kitten had combed the streets for any sight of them and returned to Anathema's empty handed. I sat on the porch of my mother's teahouse and considered who I should tell about the girls disappearing when they went to check out the bakery – and whether or not I should call for Team Firewander.
Then I saw Val approaching, as out of his element on the streets of Harlotry as he'd ever been, though I noticed that Old Bagsy gave him a much wider berth than she had before. Suddenly, I was the one who couldn't find words to explain.
Little Fox was snoozing on the steps behind me. I tugged on his foot to get his attention.
"Stall Val," I ordered him. "Make up a story – I don't care what. Tell him the girls went shopping. Don't let him talk to my mother. He'll lose his mind."
"What are you going to do?" He demanded.
I leapt up onto the roof of the tea house and put one finger to my lips. "I'm going to find Tamika and Rose."
"By yourself?" Fox protested. "But you don't even know what you're up against!"
"Relax!" I winked. "I'm a big damn hero aren't I? I can handle anything!" I tied my shroud cloth around my head and took off running.