Chapter 233 – A Strangeness in the South

Liuan disembarked with her usual retinue: several Church priests, who Mirian recognized, but didn’t know the names of, and several RID agents. Each ship had a full crew of Akanan army personnel. They spent around ten minutes doing a formal dance of niceties and ritual. No one called Liuan ‘Prophet,’ but Mirian could tell from the way her priests were looking at her that it was an unspoken truth.

Then, as the Akanan soldiers refueled the ships and prepped again for launch, Liuan pulled Mirian aside.

“I thought we agreed not to spy on each other,” Liuan said, clearly annoyed.

That hadn’t at all been how Mirian had expected the conversation to start. “I’m not. What are you talking about?”

Liuan’s eyes narrowed. “The Unblinking Eye faction within the priests? The Silent faction within the RID? It’s grown too big for me not to notice. And as you can see, they’ve become an impediment. These ships should have been here a week ago.”

“Liuan, you know how much I abhor spycraft.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t Jherica,” she snapped.

“You got my letter?”

“Of course I did, or I wouldn’t be here, but I don’t believe for a moment that—”

“I can give you an hour-by-hour breakdown of what I do at the start of each cycle, and I can promise you, I don’t have the time or the inclination to muck around in Akana. I spent most of the last cycle in Uxalak, by the way. And before that, I was digging in Alkazaria.” Mirian realized she was on the defensive. She met Liuan’s stare with her own. To the other Prophet’s credit, she didn’t flinch. “Besides, you were keeping track of what I did when I fought Troytin. You know my repertoire of tactics.”

Liuan looked at Mirian, but her confidence had left her. She began muttering. “Then who…? It can’t be…” She looked back to Mirian. “Have you gotten word from Ibrahim?”

“No. He keeps ignoring my letters. Only the Ominian knows what he’s up to. At least he’s not invading anyone.”

“Gabriel?”

“He seems to be allergic to Zhighua. He’s back to investigating the Labyrinth. Frankly, I’m just glad he’s doing something useful. Why? Is he not talking to you?”

“Just cross-referencing our information. It’s consistent, at least. Ibrahim’s ignoring me too, and Gabriel’s told me the same story. And Celen is still… you know. Then the logical conclusion is that there’s another traveler, and not the one you met in Tlaxhuaco. I’ve suspected it for some time, but I can no longer deny the preponderance of evidence.”

“Suspected? When were you planning on telling us?”

“I didn’t want to believe it. At this point, the only reason a time traveler would be hiding in Akana is if—anyways, if I’d said it earlier without enough to go on, would you have trusted me? Besides, I wanted to make sure…”

She trailed off, but she had already implied she thought it might have been Mirian’s hand at work. Does she really think that’s how I operate?

“Xecatl also thinks there’s a hostile Akanan time traveler,” Mirian said, not mentioning who they’d both thought it might be. She decided to test Liuan’s reaction. “Have you heard the name ‘Scebur’?”

Liuan’s brow furrowed. “Yes. In the cults.” She started to pace. “Is that what they’re calling themselves? That would explain it. That would explain—you know I’ve spent a lot of time pinning them down. But the Luminate Church still has a faction that’s been… resisting me. At first I thought it was volatile actors—that was Celen’s term for non-Prophets who are extremely sensitive to changes in the timeline—but… hmm. What did this ‘Xecatl’ say?”

“I told you in the letter. She wants all the names and locations of Akanan agents and Tlaxhuacan informants in the whole of Tlaxhuaco.”

The other woman rolled her eyes. “Why in the five hells would anyone give a rat’s ass about that island? She’s overestimating her own importance. Akana just needs to make sure they won’t be stabbed in the back when they’re making their forward thrust. Everyone spies on everyone else. She’s got her own spies here, I assure you.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Mirian said. “Nevertheless, I think it’s a reasonable thing to hand over. Their army doctrine revolves entirely around defending the island. Anyways, she doesn’t trust Akanans, and told me as much. You’re the one with the leash on the RID, and she said you’re not welcome there until you provide her that as a show of good faith.”

“Invite her to a Council.”

“I did. She refused outright. She won’t leave the island.”

Liuan glared at her. “And how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Well, feel free to join us. I’m sure she’ll tell you herself.”

That made Liuan frown. She started pacing again. “What she asks—that’s not a thing I can just hand over. Any sort of major operation like that doesn’t have centralized files. There’s no list of names in the RID headquarters, because that would be a point of vulnerability. Too easy to exploit. Instead, there’s chains of handlers and reporting mechanisms, but they don’t know each other either. Everything’s siloed off. You know, Gabriel would be better at that than me.”

Mirian raised an eyebrow. “If you can manipulate Allen Matteus, you can get the names.”

Liuan stopped pacing. “Why? What’s Xecatl giving us? There needs to be an equal exchange. She can rot on her little island for all I care.”

“That’s what I’m getting. Tlaxhuacan magical theory and technology. The kind of which could be critical to stopping the leyline crisis.”

“And you’re giving them… what? Airships?”

Mirian waved a dismissive hand. “They couldn’t use them. No access to fossilized myrvite. I’m teaching Xecatl Baracueli magical theory. Glyphs and the like. In exchange, we get spirit constructs.”

“You get spirit constructs.”

It was Mirian’s turn to glare. She was losing her patience. “What have I not shared? I shared the Gates, the blink spell to access them, soul communion, the advancements in artifice I’ve made, practice regimes to strengthen your spellcasting—and gotten what from you?” What reason do you have to think I’m holding anything back? was what she really wanted to ask.

“Preventing the invasion of Baracuel doesn’t happen by itself.”

“That benefits us both by lengthening the cycle. How do you seize control of the RID?” Mirian asked.

Liuan was silent.

“Then I can’t trust you,” Mirian said.

“The feeling is mutual, I assure you. That was the lever Troytin used, you know. Got everyone to spill out their secrets, while he kept his own in reserve. Then he struck. I won’t let it happen to me.”

“That you would even imply I’m anything like that fucking rat is insulting,” Mirian snapped.

Liuan closed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s just… I’m tired of the paranoia. But I can’t let it go. Especially now, with this… this ‘Scebur.’ I need… I need my own power base. If I give that away to anyone, I’m vulnerable.”

Mirian’s anger faded as fast as it had come. Yes, she could understand. She knew that feeling all too well. “Do you want to join us?” she asked, gesturing to the airships.

“No. No, I’m needed here. I need to make sure… I won’t give them free reign. And I’ll do what I can to protect Jherica each cycle until they can stabilize.”

Is that what her agents are doing in Vadriach? Mirian still had her doubts, but learning that this ‘Scebur’ had been attacking Liuan…. The last thing she wanted to do was get involved in espionage games. Maybe Gabriel could come help here, if Liuan was getting too hard pressed. But where the hells did they come from? Where’s their origin point? And if they’re this aggressive, why did it take this long for them to be detected?