Lady Weston nodded, then gestured to return the floor to the Councillors conducting the questioning. This time the woman second from the left took charge: a prim blonde brimming with righteousness.
"What is your opinion of the Kellian, Lady Montjuste-Surclere?"
Deliberately, Rennyn looked at the collection of Sentene waiting behind the shield. She’d been careful not to glance toward them until now, and couldn’t help but wonder what the Kellian thought of her. What did the children of slaves think of the children of the slave-master?
"Which one?" she asked.
The answer, or perhaps Rennyn’s flat tone, caught the woman off-guard. But after a startled moment she said: "All of them."
"I haven’t met all of them," Rennyn said, reasonably. "Are you asking me to give an assessment of their morals? Or their ability to wave pointy bits of metal about?"
The man to the woman’s left murmured something softly, an instruction. "I am asking whether in your opinion the Kellian pose a potential threat to Tyrland," the woman said briskly.
"Ah." Rennyn glanced at the Kellian again, waiting so impassively. "Of course they do."
That produced a nice reaction, a ripple of shock which ran through the room. Rennyn watched the two Councillors thoughtfully, seeing the way the one of woman’s hands tightened on the sheet of paper she held, how her eyes brightened. The man was less unrestrained, but he, too, definitely wanted to hear bad things said of the Kellian.
"It’s the speed, primarily," she continued, blithely. "Skill with weapons, strength, and the interesting effects with light are one thing, but the ability to react quicker than anyone else, that truly takes them to a different level. But then–"
She reached out her hand, touching her fingers to the shield. Tiny shimmers of light gathered, then intensified as she poured raw power into it. The air heated, taking on a distinct odour of stressed metal, and she watched the shield retreat in a perfect circle from around her hand. She held it just long enough for the shield to really strain, then allowed it to snap back, whole once again. She could swear the entire room let out its breath at the same time, the explosion at Darasum House no doubt at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
"It’s a relative thing, isn’t it?" she said, looking over the table of now very attentive Councillors. "Once you start talking about potential threats. Any weapon you use to defend yourself can be turned upon you. But I have no interest in anything but defeating Solace, and I’ve seen no sign that the Kellian want to do more than protect and serve this kingdom. Since it seems you do want moral judgments, you’d best ask someone who knows them better. The most I can say is that they seem more inclined to swallow insults than I am."
The smile she offered the woman was thoroughly unpleasant, and it was probably a good thing that the moment was cut by a dull rumble. Rennyn could feel a vibration even through the thick stone beneath her feet.
"An attack?" said one of the men in the audience, and there was a small flurry of activity around the doors. Most of the Kellian were on their feet before the vibration had died away, but were waiting before reacting further. Rennyn’s senses were currently overwhelmed by the shield, but she closed her eyes to try and feel for worked magic beyond the usual background enchantments of the palace. Nothing major sprang to her attention.
Captain Illuma, who had remained seated, casting, stood abruptly. "My Lady, there are Eferum-Get loose in the palace. At least five." She didn’t pause for a response, leading the Sentene out through the iron-bound door at the rear of the shielded area.
"Is this one of the Grand Summoning’s incursions?" the Queen asked, unshaken but frowning. "I understood their time and location to be already known."
"It must be a natural breach," Lady Weston said. "They will increase in frequency as the Summoning progresses. But it is an unusually large number of Eferum-Get for a natural–" She looked sharply at Rennyn. "Could the man Helecho have the ability to open breaches?"
"If he had, I expect Tyrland would already be overrun," Rennyn said. "But recall, I said it was possible Solace has Eferum-Get guards. Any breach or gate within the palace could well be opening among an army’s ranks."
"How convenient for the Kellian," said the man on the left of the examiner’s table, flushing. "Before their activities can be properly investigated, they are handed a dramatic opportunity to prove themselves. Are we supposed to believe this is a coincidence?"
"Do you propose I should recall them, and allow the palace guard to deal with this?" Lady Weston asked, and turned away. "You had best move to a safer location, Your Majesty."
The Queen stood unhurriedly. "Continue your questions at a later time, Baron Ridehalt. I fail to see how this will change the answers you will receive." She nodded at Rennyn. "Thank you for your candour, Lady Montjuste-Surclere."
Wondering if that was meant to be ironic, Rennyn turned expectantly to the official controlling the shield, and stepped down as soon as he dropped it. She crossed to Lady Weston, who had paused to cast a divination.
"Don’t deal with it as an ordinary breach," she advised tersely. "If there is real organisation among the Eferum-Get, then this lot very likely have targets. To which point, I’m going to stand over my brother."
She looked for the nearest shadow and twisted it around herself, taking herself back to Seb’s room. It wasn’t a safe method of travel when moving out of line of sight, but she was worried, and more so when she arrived to find Seb gone. Given the bonds cast between them, it was easy enough to divine his direction, and she strode swiftly through the Sentene’s barracks, crossing to the Arkathan.
Ignoring a bothersome woman who wanted to know her business, Rennyn quickly found her way to the second floor, and a small room with a matched pair of Sentene and royal guardsmen standing outside it. She hadn’t encountered this particular pair of Sentene before, but since they appeared to be bodyguarding, not responding to the breach, she paused a moment to let them know what was going on.
"Do you have any information about the type?" asked the Sentene mage, a barrel-chested man so wide his uniform turned him into a Phoenix-embossed wall.
"None. I’m going to put a shield up around this room. Stay in or out as suits you."
Rennyn opened the door to find a classroom where her brother appeared to be playing teacher to a half-dozen youths around his age. He broke off when he saw her. "What’s happening?"
"Small outbreak of Eferum-Get," Rennyn said, studying the diagram her brother had been busy creating. "Why are you inflicting your theories about Eferum distortion on defenceless minds?"
"Eh, well, Kendall wanted an explanation of why the Eferum runs at a different pace. Sukata found us an empty room. Everyone else just poked their noses in."
Rennyn considered the diagram again, then smiled at the girl from Falk. "Seb’s the last person I’d ask to explain the Eferum. He thinks he understands it."
"Does he?" the girl asked, with extreme doubt. Seb’s explanation had obviously reached the convoluted stage.
"More than most. I’m going to shield this room, so if anyone wants to go elsewhere, do it soon." Leaving the door open, she moved to the nearest corner and began to chalk a line of sigils down the wall.
"You think one might stray all the way out to the Houses?" asked one blond youth, presumably Crown Prince Justin since the decorative guardsmen had hurried to stand on either side of him.
"Depends on what they’re hunting." Rennyn made a correction to one of the sigils and moved to a different corner.