Chapter 204 – The Council of Prophets

Mirian started the cycle by connecting the Torrviol Gate to Mahatan, then snuck into the hidden gardens and stole several jeweled lotuses for Viridian to study. With the professors set on various research tasks, she headed for Florin City.

With some trepidation, she wondered if her adoptive parents and Zayd would make it. They were crossing the same area that Ibrahim would attack, and on the same days. On the night of the 4th, Ibrahim’s forces started seizing the trains between Rambalda and Alkazaria. It was only on the 5th of Solem that her family made it to Westbay.

She had been avoiding finding out their fate deliberately. Better to not know.

Now, it was possible she would find out. She almost had argued against meeting at Florin City, but getting Gabriel to Alkazaria would take too long, getting Liuan to Urubandar would be just as annoying, and she still didn’t want either of them poking around in Palendurio too much lest they notice two missing relics. Besides, loudly saying they shouldn’t meet in Florin probably would have just gotten Gabriel more interested in what Mirian didn’t want him to see.

They had agreed to meet on the 7th of Solem. Mirian bought new clothes in Cairnmouth. The arcanist’s robes she found were sturdy enough for work, but fine enough to pass in wealthy circles. She liked the black with violet and silver accents. She went back to veiling her eyes with an illusion spell, and when she was walking around Florin, it would be no problem at all to extend the illusion to her face. She’d risk no chance encounters with her parents or Zayd.

Mirian had forged enough letters of credit up in Cairnmouth that the three of them could live in luxury in three different apartments deep in the Highcastle neighborhood for as long as they needed.

Liuan Var’s priests were already roaming about the neighborhood when Mirian’s train pulled up to the station on the 6th, which annoyed her, but it fit the other Prophet’s pattern of paranoia. Gabriel seemed to have eschewed precautions, and the detective firm Mirian had hired reported that he sauntered off his boat, heading straight for the rendezvous without a care in the world. By Mirian’s estimation, it was half bravado and half fatalism.

Mirian wandered about the city before their meeting and passed by the inn that her parents had stayed at in a previous loop. Detect life confirmed the room was empty, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t made it to the city. If they had escaped Ibrahim’s armies, that would have changed how they acted in so many small and big ways that they could have ended up anywhere in the city. Or, they could be delayed.

She didn’t pause. Better to give no outward sign of any interest in the area in case she’d missed a spy one of the others had recruited.

They met in the Starcrest tower penthouse. The security team there had experience protecting the richest and most powerful people across two continents, and Mirian appreciated their ward system. Beyond the wards, though, they had spell engines set to activate on contingencies. The expense must have been enormous given the amount of fossilized myrvite it consumed daily, but Mirian had also paid a small fortune for the penthouse so they could afford it.

She arrived last at the room. Gabriel was already lounging back on a couch, stuffing his face with delicacies from the feast that was laid out on the table, while Liuan sat in one of the black velvet chair tracing a finger over the armrest’s scrollwork. She stiffened when Mirian entered the room, but then relaxed, looking outwardly calm.

“Prophet,” Liuan said.

“Prophets,” Mirian replied.

“Progfigt,” Gabriel said, through a mouthful of eclairs.

“We should formalize our agreements to each other, to the Ominian, and to Enteria,” Mirian said.

“Nog poight,” Gabriel said, still chewing. He swallowed, then wiped the cream off his cheek. “No point swearing oaths. We’re Prophets. Oathbreakers. Accountable to God only.”

“We can hold each other accountable. And should.”

Liuan said, “I see no harm in it. Most oaths rely on the heart of the person swearing them.”

“Ah, seems like I’m outnumbered. And yet, we haven’t decided on how our little Council of Prophets ought to decide things.”

Mirian suppressed her annoyance. “We shouldn’t need fancy rules. We’re not a Parliament. A majority vote should suffice.”

“Great! I propose the Council gets to take a look at your spellbook. All in favor?” he said, raising his hand and giving her a big grin.

To Mirian’s dismay, Liuan raised her hand as well.

“Absolutely not,” Mirian said.

Gabriel leaned towards Liuan using a hand to cover one side of his mouth and said, in a mocking stage whisper, “Sounds like someone wants traditional parliamentary personal privilege as granted by King Moroseth after the second Houses’ Rebellion.”

Liuan said, “The idea is to build a structure that can accommodate other Prophets, is it not? The Ominian has appointed us arbiters of Enteria’s fate. Mirian, you want us to trust each other. Then we need to build an institution of laws that we follow.”

“There’s three of us.”

“And if all goes to plan, there will be more. I have the RID investigating ways to break Jherica’s curse,” Liuan said. “And you intend to bring Ibrahim into the fold, once he can be put in check.”

“Look, I get it. You have a grand plan, and you want it simply put into action. And, I’ll be honest, it actually is a plan, don’t really know what Liuan thought she was going to accomplish mucking about in her little secret societies. But no institution—no matter how small—functions long without some sort of established order.”

Mirian grimaced. She was beginning to suspect Gabriel and Liuan had exchanged letters behind her back. “Perhaps we can hammer out the institutional details later. I prepared notes on a number of topics, but council governance wasn’t one of them.”

“Sure. There’s no rush,” Gabriel said, taking a bite of a pear. “Informally, we should start sharing knowledge in common.”

“Agreed,” Liuan said.

“There’s that majority again,” Gabriel said, grinning, but to Mirian’s surprise, he then turned to Liuan and said, “Let’s start with you. How do you wrest control of the RID from Allen Matteus?”

Liuan stiffened.

Gabriel’s smile only widened. “She may not know the Republic Intelligence Division well enough to identify anomalous deployments and changes in the organizational structure, but I worked for the bastards, and I was paying close attention when this all started.” He pointed at Mirian. “To be clear, I’m not picking a side. There’s only one person on my side, me, and I’m sure as hell not going to let either of you use me as a tool to check the other in some hells-blasted power play.”

“I don’t know—”

Gabriel threw a grape at her.

A brief flash of rage passed over Liuan’s face before she suppressed it.

The man winked at Mirian. “Saw that, did you? She’s a better actress than you are, but not flawless. Liuan, do you want to tell her your trick with the spies, or shall I?”

Liuan stared at Gabriel, mouth a tight line.

“Not a problem, I love hearing myself talk. RID calls it a ‘in-plain-sight’ operation. You send a bunch of bumbling oafs to the front, in this case, her little cult of priests, to walk around and draw attention. Counter-espionage then focuses on the incompetent group, which is easily outmaneuvered. Both the target and the first layer of agents are usually unaware of the second layer of operatives. Those operatives are actually skilled, and either survey the target or carry out the task. In this case, Liuan has some of RID’s top agents in Florin already. They’re currently monitoring the perimeter of the building. The part I don’t know is how they’re warding against divination. Did you want to tell us?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The other woman took in a sharp breath. “Orichalcum-sheathed wands.”

Mirian looked at one of the papers in the stack of documents she’d prepared. “So you don’t need instructions on how to make it?”

Gabriel snorted. “Any other preparations you’d like to tell us about? I’ll find out either way, I’ve already assigned my team to capture one of your agents. The real ones.”

This time, Liuan looked surprised. She hesitated, adjusting the bracelet on her wrist, then said, “Orichalcum-tipped spellpiercer bullets. In theory, they should be able to defeat even a magnetic shield of… substantial strength.”

“The bracelet with the communication spell won’t work because of the building’s spell engines automatically using counter-spells,” Mirian said. Her bracelet appeared to be a small artifact. Likely it was manufactured by the RID using the same kind of minuscule glyph scribing that was used in glyphkeys and seals.