"Will you permit observers, my Lady?" Captain Illuma asked.
Rennyn nodded, unsurprised. "You might find the construction of a few of the divinations interesting."
"To look into the Eferum from this world," said Captain Medan. "You have us all quite excited."
"Hardly interesting visually. But I’m hoping to take a few useful readings."
The Hall of Summoning was a square, grandly columned room in the Old Palace, very large. Guards had been set on it weeks ago, posted outside both ornate doors in anticipation of waves of Eferum-Get, though they’d only had curious courtiers to deal with.
Rennyn had deliberately stayed away from the room until now, and was surprised by it. The vaulted ceiling was a glorious, graceful meld of curves, and the tall windows of smoky glass kept it glowing with soft light without being open to outside eyes. A beautiful and calming place, unexpectedly soothing.
It was also very bare. Nothing but walls, columns, ceiling and the empty expanse of floor. Milky-white stone with a dark square between the columns: a dusky marble version of a slate, waiting to be covered with sigils. She gazed at the large central expanse, trying to estimate how much of it might be filled by a focus created by the Grand Summoning.
"This attunement stage is simply a further progression of what I did at Surclere," Rennyn explained, carefully creating the circle of sigils where she would tomorrow place the focus. "It’s primarily related to the container rather than the focus itself."
"Why is this vessel necessary at all?" asked a sunburned woman she’d not spoken to before. There was a fading scrape on one side of the woman’s face: remnant of battle or perhaps the explosion of Darasum House.
"Physically handling the younger focuses, or even having them bound in wire as a pendant, would interfere with the attunement. The vessel attempts to simulate the Eferum, to prepare for the final alignment between the old and the new." She glanced at the reflection of filtered sunlight on the floor. "We’ll write out all the divinations before we power them, since they won’t take kindly to people walking among them once they’re activated."
"She is right before us." Lieutenant Danress had come in late, freckled face solemn. "On the far side of the veil, but right before us."
Not particularly wanting to think about such things, Rennyn pushed on. Working with Seb, she prepared a series of divinations, answering the occasional question about the Sigillic construction, but for the most part ignoring her audience. Not completely, for she knew very well that Captain Illuma’s attention was on her, not on the interesting magic she was preparing.
Rennyn was painfully aware of the damage she had wrought by allowing her guard to drop with the Kellian. After her behaviour the last few days, there would be none among them unaware that she was dreading tomorrow. And they were puzzled and concerned and worried for her. She mattered to them. She’d tried to convince herself that they were simply being superlative bodyguards, but that day in the forest she’d looked into Faille’s eyes and seen that he hated that she wouldn’t trust him. Tomorrow would always have been bad, but–
How would she deal with their reaction? She should have kept her distance, alienated them from the start as she’d initially thought to do. But it had proven too difficult to offer them the cold discourtesies served to them by an ungrateful kingdom. Now their instinct toward her was strongly protective, and they would feel so betrayed.
Walking about in an oppressive cloud of misery had been distracting everyone around her, and she suppressed it as best she could, allowing herself to be drawn into the complexities of setting the divinations, patiently explaining how each operated as she activated them. Concentrating on work was better than thinking about tomorrow. Seb was useful, preening a little as the Sentene mages realised they’d underestimated his knowledge, and handily distracting them often enough that she was sure none could have noticed when she pricked her finger and pressed a tiny droplet of blood on one corner of the black marble. She and Seb would be coming back here tonight, and that would be the beginning of the end.
Kendall didn’t think much of being returned to the Arkathan to sit doing nothing, so just after lunch the next day she used a half-forgotten promise of a book as an excuse to go see Sebastian. The Sentene barracks were a lot busier than usual, with everyone gathering for a big meeting later that afternoon, and Kendall bet Sebastian Claire would know just what was going to be said. The challenge would be convincing him to tell her.
After settling her approach while she was escorted to Sebastian’s room, Kendall was thrown off stride when Rennyn, not her brother, answered the knock at the door. Sebastian was noticeably absent.
"Uh, my Lady?" asked the Ferumguard escort, a stocky, fair man. "Your brother is–?"
"Gone," Rennyn answered, shortly. "He’s out of this now."
"Gone–?" the man repeated, then took a look at Rennyn’s flat, black gaze, saluted confusedly and departed to tell those in charge.
Kendall, not so easily cowed, asked: "Gone where?"
Between yesterday and today Rennyn Claire had found enough sleep to ease the haggard lines which had marked her face. Her eyes were focused and determined, but lacking any warmth. "Did you want something?"
"To go to the meeting," Kendall said, worried to the point of being truthful. "I want to know what it is you’re going to tell them." And she wanted to know what in the Hells had happened to Sebastian Claire that his sister looked so empty. For a moment all those suspicions of ambition and plot resurfaced, but this only prompted Rennyn’s expression to lighten marginally.
"You need to learn to hide your thoughts, Kendall. No, I haven’t done away with my brother. Of everything I do, keeping him alive is the most important to me. As for this meeting, it’s not exactly–" She paused. "Go get Sukata. You can both watch the attunement, and if you should follow me back to the meeting, I doubt there’ll be objections."
Not entirely happy to be given what she asked for, Kendall went and found Sukata, diligently studying in their dormitory.
"So why would Rennyn particularly want you to be at this meeting today?"
"Lady Rennyn has asked for me?"
"I don’t think she means to be nice," Kendall said, disliking the way Sukata sat up straighter, eyes widening with pleasure. As they started back to the Sentene barracks, she grit her teeth and asked: "What do you think she’s going to tell everyone?"
"Nothing we will like." Sukata’s grey eyes were steady. "Mother has been studying the accounts of the Grand Summoning, attempting to discover further details of Prince Tiandel’s actions. Lady Rennyn has so steadfastly refused to discuss the final attunement that our best guess is that it involves Blood magic."
"Blood magic? That means killing people, doesn’t it?"
"Despite her attempts to disguise it, we’ve seen how strongly Lady Rennyn reacts whenever certain matters are discussed. The topic of sacrifice is particularly upsetting to her."
"You seriously think she’s going to ask people to let her kill them?"
"It would explain a great deal. But it is a guess, no more."
Kendall stared at the girl, who was walking with an almost eager, very upright step. "You’d volunteer. Wouldn’t you?"