Mogget must have enhanced hearing. there was no possible way it was pure coincidence that he had shown up immediately after Ellimere had gone out to make her announcement.
"I don't care if she's pleading our continued existence to the Great charters! This is urgent!"
"Mogget," Nick replied sternly, barricading the door to the balcony where Ellimere was speaking. "She doesn't want you in there. That's the whole reason why I'm here. You're staying out." It was said with a tone of finality, but Mogget was not one to back down.
"And if the Red Hand were to be camped on our doorstep? Would you let me in then?"
Nick glanced out a convenient window. "They're not," he said dryly, looking down at the empty steps. "So it doesn't really matter."
Apparently it did matter, as Mogget had gotten his wish while Nicholas was scoping out the step. Nick turned to find him chatting to a rather depressed Ellimere. He quickly sidestepped to place himself between the two and clamped a hand over the cat's mouth. "How'd it go?" Before he could get so much as a disgruntled 'fine', sharp points pierced his palm.
"As I was saying...there is a small faction of the Red Hand camped in the old orchard. I suggest you eradicate them. If I must, I'll lead the guard there."
She snapped to attention at the mention of the necromantic clan. "The guards' number are few lately, and I doubt they would well handle such a group. We will go alone, spy out the camp, and return."
"Your death. Let's go."
†††
"It appears you were right, Mogget." Ellimere kicked a small pile of ash, revealing embers still burning deep within. "But whoever was here has clearly left the vicinity."
"She likely heard you thrashing through the forest and made a break for it. And I've told you countless times; it was Millane, ring leader of the Red Hand."
"Shut up, Mogget. It could just have easily have been Katrel. Nobody's seen him, and he does know how to make a fire." The cat got a glare that clearly said 'if the queen weren't here, why I'd.…'
"It's a basic skill. I wasn't going to allow your dependancy on shiny rocks to cost the boy his life, or a little warmth. Now, if you don't have any more pointless arguments, I'm going to track Millane."
Forgetting his former reservations about violence around the queen, Nick gave mogget a sharp kick too hurry him on his way out. The action earned him a brief laugh before Ellimere turned serious again.
"The Clayr should have told us about this."
"They must have not known. No Clayr would hide something this important from the other bloodlines." Being wed to a former Clayr, Nick was loyal to no end.
"The ice shows them everything. They probably know who's going to have a baby next before she's even pregnant. Only Orannis ever escaped their Sight."
"Orannis..." Nick started pacing so furiously, Ellimere thought he'd soon be walking on roots. "That's why! Contact the Clayr. See if they've had many mass visions lately." He was graced with a bewildered look, but knew she would comply.
"The contact ice has melted. Sam will have to go.'
"On the subject of ice," Mogget's voice drawled from behind a bush, "you should see this."
Starting about twenty feet away, the ground was ravaged as if something had been shoved through it. Mogget led the two along the path until it ended. In front of them was an underwater cliff. The water was clear enough to see all the way to the bottom, where a giant chunk of ice rested.
"No!"
"Fool. That's not your son. He's that speck out there."
Abashed, Nick raised his head to see a tiny boat drifting towards the northern shore. "Ellimere, can you send someone to pick him up? I've got a meeting, and Sam is going to the glacier." And with that, they scattered to their tasks.
†††
Millane struggled to keep her face above the surface of the water. If it were to be transformed like the rest of her body, she wouldn't be capable of speech, and then...
She reached the Fifth gate and slipped into the not-so-deep waters of the Sixth Precinct, revealing her torso to have the shape of nothing. Nothing, except perhaps a large blob of jelly. Grumbling, she waded through the remaining precincts until she reached the final one, where she carefully got down to what should have been hands and knees. He said it would be here...not that he's exactly known for honesty. Her inner ranting found a solid form. "I'm here to help you! Now where's the latch!?" In answer, one questing bit of blob found it. Millane opened the trap door and slid down the series of steps below.
A fire blazed in the room at the foot of the stairs. A voice came from the center of the inferno. "I like your new shape. Far more useful than the last one. You should have let him knock you off ages ago." A retort caught in her throat, Millane awaited any useful information he might have had.
"You will stay here for a time. Practice using the bells with your...hands, and learn to shape-shift. Before you find it necessary to ask, no, you cannot change to any specific form. The shape of any living thing, plant, animal, or human will evade you. You will, however, learn to change into another vague shape and change to any size you wish before you leave."
"As you say." Millane said it cautiously, any hint of annoyance and she could be burned, vaporized, or worse.
††††
A/N These chapters have been getting too short for my liking lately. Much shorter than this, and I'll have to start combining two into one. But, for those of you who agree with me, you only have to suffer through one more tiny chapter before I post a decently sized one. Before I leave, there is one question, which will have immediate results: Will Sam have any love troubles? Don't expect anything overly long about this, either way, but I do need to know for the next chapter. (Which means you won't get it until I have at least one answer.) If you're quick, I'll have the next one up tomorrow.