New Enemies

  Chapter 54

  The Acolytes' Pyre was held before the Cathedral. Lords prepared their corpses as casualties of war, stuffing them with oil-soaked wood shavings to ensure they burned brightly. People of Station and the Acolytes' families – the latter having been flown to Aureu by Request and Maya – watched as Request and Maya brought the dead out: Tie first, then Disc, and then Press.

  It passed as a blur for Maya, a stream of words bouncing from her like sword blows against a Disciple. A Pyre was a celebration, but she couldn't engage in a ritual from a religion she did not follow. Instead of giving a speech, as expected, she stepped up, stood by the wrapped remains of her students, and acquiesced. That seemed enough: the crowd applauded, thinking it a simple tribute. Maya stood and Request grabbed her, squeezed her tight. This, Maya understood: she hugged her student back.

  Afterwards, Maya returned to her quarters. Request had become her shadow in the past few days, as though she feared not being near Maya might lead to the same fate as her friends. Maya couldn't deny her such support, so they walked together, quiet, not needing to voice their grief.

  Maya kept dwelling on the assassination attempt and all it meant. Contegon Councillor Tone White led the investigation into the attack, but Maya was working at least as hard considering over and over again what might have happened if Tone hadn't convinced her to stay, if Lord Blind's politicking hadn't been leaked by sympathetic sources. Every night, she woke to great explosions, blasts like those the Disciples had rained down on Peace, drenched in sweat.

  As though summoned by that thought, Tone White jogged to Maya's building when they arrived. For her safety, Maya had converted a dilapidated warehouse with the aid of Note's most trusted Artificers to form her home. Few would suspect it, a bastion whose awful exterior was matched by its incredible interior.

  Both Councillors halted at a boarded-over door that didn't look like it could open.

  “Good afternoon, Councillor,” Maya said, her voice hoarse.

  “Good afternoon. We must talk, the three of us.”

  Maya gestured for the Councillor to follow her inside. Pressing a particular brick made the boarded door's frame pivot on a central pole. There was no click, no slide to give this away. Maya pushed it open and squeezed through. When inside, she waited for Request and Tone to enter before closing the door, locking it with a twist of the Artificers' ingenious mechanisms.

  Her windows were thrice-glazed, allowing the outer panes to be cracked without heat escaping. The floor above was missing, allowing light to flow down from the upper windows and making the open apartment bright. Good, hearty furniture and a glorious kitchen were hidden from outside viewers by the placement of the windows, as were her bed and the long chair Request had been sleeping on.

  Maya loved her home.

  “Please, sit,” Maya said, gesturing to her dining table.

  “I thought you should know that we have a list of suspects,” Tone said. “Particularly, you might like to know their identities, given their status.”

  “You've already got suspects?” Request asked, stunned. She fell into her chair, rested her elbows on the table. “How in Lun's name have you pulled that together already?”

  “Only...” Maya coughed to clear rust from her throat. “Sorry, few knew I was going to the eastern Front. They would have been Councillors, because none should have shared this knowledge with their underlings... Which makes me wonder how you heard about Lord Blind's tactics, Tone?”

  “Pale told me,” Tone said.

  “Pale?” Request asked.

  “The Cleric Councillor,” Maya said, momentarily far away: she'd always thought Pale neutral, interested in the correct running of the Council, not its judgements and choices. Perhaps he'd thought Blind's tactics against the spirit of the rules, and so felt compelled to intervene.

  “How'd you know the Councillors didn't talk to their underlings?” Request asked. They were discussing a world beyond her. Though that was not necessarily a bad thing.

  “We tried to keep this under wraps. For security, and for Aureu: the last time I left, there was a crime wave. We didn't want another set of robberies or murders if we could avoid it.” Maya laughed darkly. “Which we obviously failed in.”

  Tone leaned forward. “The Councillors who knew were issued Secrecy Orders. If they did tell anyone, they are in deep trouble. And we're already at a high alert... right now.”

  “So?” Request said. “They might've blabbed anyway.”

  Tone shook her head. “You don't understand. If a Councillor is caught breaking Secrecy Orders, their credibility in the Council will be ruined. They might even be replaced. And each Councillor constantly checks on the others, looking for weaknesses, anything to use against them in the political field. Spying is part of the game, and being found breaching a Secrecy Order would end that game.”

  “Fuck. What a bunch of– oops, sorry Councillor, Maya.”

  “No offence taken: they are a bunch of whatever you were about to say.” She gestured to Tone. “Present company excluded. So, who did you issue the Secrecy Orders to?” Maya asked.

  “I didn't issue them: the Guardian did.” Tone reached into her robe and pulled out a report. “The Orders went to Note, Draw, Flux, Pale, Blind, Visit, and myself.”

  “Why Visit?” Maya asked.

  “I need to find that out.”

  Maya tapped her chin. “Well, we can already rule you out, can't we?”

  “Why?”

  “Well, you convinced me to stay. In a way, you saved my life.”

  Tone smiled. “I'm glad to hear you say that. Particularly as the Guardian has charged you and I with investigating this: we are the only ones capable of pursuing the matter. If you're willing to document why you think me innocent, we can work together to find the bastard who tried to kill you.”

  “And actually killed my friends,” Request whispered.

  The Contegon Councillor reached across, patted the Acolyte's shoulder. Request gave a small smile, a flash of white amidst her dark skin, but looked down at her shoes.

  “Our friends,” Maya added, sharing her forlorn state.

  “Then maybe Acolyte Request could help with the investigation?” Tone thought aloud. “She's one of the only other people the Guardian can trust.”

  That hit it home for Maya. “Wait, does he really think the Council has been compromised?”

  “He does. And so do I.”

  “Fucking bastards,” Request said. “How could they? How fucking could they?”

  Her Cyrus Force built, catching like a flame. Ink appeared with the surge, curious to watch the display. Maya gestured for it to leave and it did, giving her what counted as a nod when you had no neck.

  Tone scooped Request's chin up with her finger, made the young woman look at her. “Whoever committed this crime did so easily because they are unholy, impure. Whoever it was is a monster, someone who must be hunted without anger or hatred because those emotions blind you. You must be clear to help us.”

  Request nodded. Her eyes hardened and she pulled her lips tight. Maya was grateful for Tone's words, for giving Request a purpose, even if she didn't necessarily agree: hatred and fury would power her through finding whoever hated her so.

  “Six suspects, then,” Maya said. “Though I think we can rule out one already.”

  “Can we?” Tone asked, looking back at Maya. “Who?”

  “Note, of course.”

  “Why?”

  “Well... She's... She's my friend. She wouldn't do that to me.”

  “Really?” Request asked. “That’s somewhat flimsy.”

  “What, you think she could have done this?”

  Tone shrugged. “She has been pushing for the use of Disciple technology heavily–”

  “As have I, does that make me a suspect?”

  “Maya, you may not like this,” Request said, “but she sounds like a perfect suspect. She’s close enough to get your trust, and has a strong desire to use Disciple mag
ic.”

  “Let me paint a picture for you,” Tone said. “A Councillor with access to dead Disciples finds she can gain incredible power from those creature’s technology. Maybe she works out how to contact Moenian, but that's not necessary, as we know there are Heretics in our ranks. Someone offers her a deal, knowledge in exchange for disrupting Aureu, and she takes it. Then she sees a young girl rising through the Council and decides to attach herself, gain an ally to help overturn centuries of censure of the research she must do. Her orders change after the incidents in Buckle: she is told to develop an explosive, ensure the Acolyte Councillor is taken out in preparation for the Third Invasion. Using her influence, Artificers replace your spice chest with one she has prepared herself, and–”

  “That's... ridiculous!” Maya shouted. “It's more likely that an Acolyte spilled where we were going than–”

  Request slammed the table. “Don't you dare blame us. Who could we have told? You only arranged it at a week's notice, and we were all locked in your Library that week!”

  “I... take that back,” Maya said quickly. “Excuse me, Request, please. But it's just as impossible that Note was involved. For one, she is... she's a Chemist!”

  “You can create some amazing explosions with the right chemicals,” Request said darkly.

  Maya looked between the two of them. “I can't believe you're suggesting this.”

  “Is it more ridiculous than an elderly and venerable Lord Councillor turning traitor?” Tone asked. “Or the leader of a new Station, barely created, going Heretic? Really, honestly, can you say you think Note is not guilty on any evidence other than your personal relationship with her?”

  Maya shook her head. She saw the logic in Tone and Request's points, but refused to believe it. “I... I can't see it, but I do see your point.”

  “Maya, your dealings with the Council will influence your investigations,” Tone said, reaching over to grip her hand. “You don't want Note to be guilty. I could name Councillors you'd happily see burn. That’s why we must work together on this, all three of us, to ensure our feelings don't get in the way.”

  And that was why Tone was an excellent Councillor: she had influenced Request into joining the investigation so someone else would back her up if Note became the culprit, and had laid out an argument for her to investigate Note, Blind, and Draw. It was masterful really.

  “Well played,” Maya said, barely a hint of malice in her voice.

  “What for?” Request asked.

  “Nothing. Nothing.” Maya coughed, stood, and rested her hands on her chair. “Right, shall we split into teams? Tone, you investigate Blind, Draw, and...?”

  “Visit,” Tone said. “I think I should interview Visit too.”

  A surprising turn: she thought Tone would have chosen Note. The Contegon Councillor obviously expected Request to provide a neutral viewpoint, then.

  “That gives us Note, Pale, and Flux, right?” Request asked.

  Maya nodded and asked Tone, “The Guardian has given us permission to interview them?”

  “He has,” the Contegon Councillor replied. She reached into her robe and offered Maya a scroll. “I've already cleared meetings with them. You just need to tell us when.”

  Maya didn't know whether to laugh or growl. Tone was supposed to be her friend, but she had played Maya like a guitar. Perhaps she'd done it because of their friendship, wanting Maya's emotions kept out of her catching whoever tried to kill her, but it didn’t feel like it. Which, she supposed, proved Tone’s point.

  “Note, Flux, and then Pale. Today, tomorrow, and the next day,” Maya said.

  “I shall do Draw, Blind, and Visit.”

  “The order,” Request said, “is that from your highest suspect down?”

  Tone's eyebrows jumped. “I suppose it is, but I'd not thought about it.”

  “Yes you had,” Request replied. “If we're going to work together, don't pull this manipulation shit. I get it today, but not from now on. Not when we have a Disciple sympathiser to catch and rip apart.”

  Tone’s eyes narrowed, then she nodded and said, “Very well. My apologies.”

  “There is almost certainly more than one Heretic involved. Couldn’t it be the case that more than one Councillor was involved, then?” Maya asked.

  “I... had considered that as well,” Tone said. “It's not impossible. Unlikely, but not impossible.”

  “Because one of you sneaky Councillors would have probably found two traitors by now?”

  Tone balled her fists. “Watch your tone, Request. I am your elder and a Councillor. We shall work together, be equals in the investigation, but I will censure you if you address your superiors like that again.”

  Request punched the table before her. She took a deep breath and was about to say something she would regret when Maya stepped across and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “You’re going to apologise. Now,” Maya said.

  “Like Lun I-”

  “Say that you are sorry, Acolyte,” Maya hissed.

  Request took a long, slow breath, fuming still, but said, “I am sorry, Contegon Councillor.”

  “Tone will do. You owe me nothing more.”

  “No,” Maya said, “but we owe Tie, Press, and Disc one skewered Disciple. Let's deliver them.”

  “To a Hereticum,” Tone added.

  “Would that be justice enough?” Request asked.

  Maya cleared her throat. “I can assure you, it would be.”

  “We'll meet again tomorrow, agree tactics,” Tone said, rising. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go. I’ll see you at dawn, when Sol will have placed the seeds of our success.”

  “Agreed,” Maya said, still uncertain whether to be angry at, or thankful to, her friend.