Deathseed: Chapters 15-16 (Patreon)

Before the chapters, an announcement! I have been nominated for two categories in something I didn't even know about, the Indie Ink Awards. Specifically, The Brightest Shadow appears in the categories Best Morally Gray Character and Asian Representation by an Asian Author. This one is pure popularity contest, so please consider voting for me in either category (I'm easy to find in the latter, 22nd row midway down in the former). Winning isn't terribly likely, but getting into the top ten finalists would be beneficial, and that's more attainable, particularly in the small category. 

Anyway, this week... I have been waiting to get to these chapters ever since we started the book, and been waiting to write some of these bits since certain characters were introduced many books ago. I hope you all enjoy them. ^-^

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Chapter 15

When they all assembled in the sleigh to visit Ruby Ericho, Theo was more annoyed than anything. Technically, this was an opportunity to find new sublime materials and help secure the future of Navim's school. Subjectively, he just felt like it was getting in the way of his work.

It wasn't simply his group: their sleigh was joined by five stone barges that contained a large percentage of the school that had business in the city. As soon as they got underway and headed over the desert, Theo returned to soulcrafting. It had taken Navim a week to ascend and Theo hadn't been idle during that time. Within his soulhome, he examined the fleshnexus and smiled at its growth.

He'd suspended the fleshnexus in the center of the northwestern room of his fourth floor. As an exact cube, it matched the chamber perfectly in a way he found satisfying. All the time it had spent in his soulhome must have made an impact, because it didn't wildly grow toward the walls: instead, it began extending lines of muscle to the south and east. The growth only seemed to occur slowly while he wasn't fighting or training, so he was glad that he was beginning the process early.

In theory, the fleshnexus would be the central material for his corner room, then extend to merge at least two more rooms in either direction. Whatever design he ultimately settled on, he was confident that a corner of Corporeal rooms would fit into it. He'd even allowed it to begin growing down the plinth to bind itself to the floor, which would be the first permanent step he took on the floor.

Only one oddity: the fleshnexus was also growing upward. At first he'd thought it was trying to bind to both ceiling and floor, but the upward lines of unnatural muscle were the same as those growing to the sides. Almost as if it expected to connect to a material above it as well. Since Theo had no if that would work in his blueprint, he used his will to keep the growth under control, so it looked more like an antenna.

Just in case he got into combat, he'd moved his other plinths to the other rooms in direct proportion to how physical they were. But almost all his attention was focused on his new design plans.

Once his spiritual fingers were exhausted, Theo emerged from his soulhome to talk to the others. They had, without explicitly discussing it, divided the sleigh into two halves: Fiyu, Nauda, and Krikree sat in front to lead, while the back was the soulcrafting half. That placed him with Navim and Senka.

Navim had yet to display his new technique, but Theo was certain that one sapphire near the center of his sphere was from Noven. Its partner presumably took its place within his soulhome, forming a link that Theo didn't entirely understand. So far he thought that it was specific to Arbaian physiology, which didn't mean that the principles couldn't be useful to him.

Now that Theo had finished his reading for Navim, he'd advanced to more complex texts. His broad base in languages allowed him to soul translate all the words, but sometimes the nuances still escaped him. After reading over a particularly odd passage for the third time, he looked up to ask.

"What does it mean by making the Ethereal Corporeal? Do Arbaian blueprints really blend the two?"

"I believe you are attaching the wrong significance to those words." Navim answered without leaving his yellow soulcrafting haze. "I doubt these refer to the Transcendent Monuments, at least insofar as I have understood your explanations, but rather to the underlying abstractions. These thoughts may lead in similar directions, but they do not refer to the same thing."

Theo closed the book on one finger. "Explain how you think about it, then."

"Are you familiar with theories of ideal forms? Perfect concepts that reality only approximates."

"Those theories must be common across cultures."

"Well, the variability of Arbaian physical forms has led to a more complex philosophical conversation." Navim ceased soulcrafting and raised one of his outer limbs to demonstrate. "Unlike your species, this limb does not exist due to genetics, it was intentionally crafted. Who is to say that I should have this limb instead of another?"

"Why should there be any ideal form?" Theo asked. "Mundhin seem to choose practical limbs."

"You're expressing one of the relativist schools of thought, but there are others who disagree." Navim flexed his rocky limb in front of his gem sphere. "There are others who believe that a perfect limb exits in my mind, and I should shape my body to match it. All but the most zealous agree that this perfect concept is shaped by my ancestry and experiences, of course."

"And so your soulcrafting... means that you have to match the two?"

"It is certainly the standard practice. Warriors soulcraft enhancement chambers specific to the limbs they have chosen, for example. So now we return to your initial question: the author urges soulcrafters to take the ethereal aspects of themselves, those in their mind and soul, and ensure they are rooted in their corporeal bodies."

That was all fascinating and Theo wanted to talk to Navim about Arbaian physiology for hours. His mind couldn't help to latch on to the central concept and what it might mean for him. Even though the concepts were different, he couldn't help but think that the way Navim split a sublime material between his soulhome and body had a connection to a Corporeal Floor, maybe even some of the advantages. Except that in his case...

"I think I'm trying to do the opposite," Theo said. "I want my body to be rooted in my soulhome, if that makes sense. Making the corporeal ethereal. Have you read anything about that?"

"It is not particularly relevant to most schools I know..." Navim was silent for a time, then nodded. "I have seen but a small part of Arbai. There are stories of species on other continents who build themselves from spiritual stones, for example. In any case, there are indeed some relevant soulcrafting techniques."

"How many can you teach me? We have time before Ruby Ericho, so we-"

"Iiiit's Senka!" She popped up between them, grinning like a loon.

"Not now." Theo put a hand over her face and shoved her back down, but she bit his fingers with real force.

"I'm not cursed, I just want you to acknowledge my magnificence." Senka used his arm to lever herself into a seated position on the side of the sleigh between them. "Just what are you up to with your soulhome?"

"Well..." He had to take a deep breath and order his thoughts, but he'd been thinking a lot about this. "I want the advantages of a Corporeal Floor without dedicating so much space to physical reinforcement. So I'm thinking that I should place an exceptionally powerful gravitational material in the center of my next three floors and I filter it through a variety of the other aspects..."

Theo explained his preliminary designs, wishing that he had paper on the sleigh. Navim and Senka both easily held details in their heads, though, and didn't seem to have trouble keeping track of the details. When he finished, it was the concept itself that slowed them.

"That is... ambitious," Navim said, using the word like a euphemism.

"It's going to be unbalanced." For her part, Senka folded her arms and screwed up her face. "You want to do this to save space on the Sublime Monuments, right? You're going to try to fit more in there?"

Theo shrugged. "I'd hoped to. Since the Immortality Conduit is all about altering the body and soul, could it work throughout the entire cube? As a way to tie things together, I was thinking."

"You have a lot to learn about Immortality Conduits, but maybe. It's still going to be a balance problem. If you have one side of the sphere just filled with corporeal blook, it will smash straight into another element. Instead of a nice sphere, you run the risk of it spiraling out of control like a spinning top."

"I don't have to work in too many Monuments. I was thinking it might make sense to worry about my Ethereal Floor after Dominion. Or... would the Field of Abrogation help balance out this design?"

"Sporped if I know." Senka shook her head. "If this was anyone else, I'd say you were crazy. For you... I'll just say you'd better really think this through first."

"I do not think it is irrational." Navim shifted forward, sapphires gleaming. "Your initial blueprints already make extensive use of blending cantae sources, so this could operate by a similar principle. There are many ambitious Arbaian designs, primarily using cantae radiating models."

"Ooh, I always wanted to know more about those!" Senka frowned. "Or maybe I did know, but if so, I forgot. Don't you lose efficiency, casting lines of cantae in all directions?"

"Such blueprints make use of perfectly geometrical designs, which is why I thought of them with our mutual friend. The designs are generally modeled on gemstones, not cubes, but there would be some similarities. Cantae reflection via mirrors, for example."

Just as Theo was about to ask how to use sublime mirrors that way, a stone crunched ahead of their path. He turned in time to see one of the head Mundhin guards turn back.

"Demons!" the guard called. "Prepare yourselves!"

Navim rumbled, Senka cursed under her breath, and Theo cast a singularity.

A group of first stage demons proceeded to be ruthlessly exterminated. Some of the guards from the school stared at him afterward, and for the rest of the trip no one interrupted their conversations.

Chapter 16

With Navim monopolized, Nauda had no choice but to begin building ladders and bricks on top of her soulhome. It felt absurdly premature to even think about ascension when she still had so much to do. In fact, she had argued against it in her own mind, afraid that having the option to ascend would tempt her to do it before she was ready. But the others were all using their time so efficiently, and she did need to prepare, so she soulcrafted her heart out.

Once they actually arrived, the mood shifted. Navim and the other Arbaians, particularly Eliyai, grew tenser as they prepared to face off against one another in scholarly ambitions. Fiyu shrank in on herself as she anticipated being around so many people. Theo shifted from abstract soulcrafting to goal-oriented. Nauda wondered if she was the only person who was actually looking forward to exploring Ruby Ericho.

She saw frustratingly little of the city at first because the enormous outer wall, apparently made of sandstone, blocked off everything. Each entrance was practically a tunnel for the purposes of security. Nauda actually considered asking Fiyu to carry her overhead for a better look before realizing that would be socially disruptive.

It would be nice to fly with Fiyu, though.

Given their escort and their ranks, they had no trouble whatsoever entering Ruby Ericho. It was Nauda's first Arbaian city, so she looked around eagerly. There were a few factors in common with the Arbaian quarter of Norro Yorthin, such as the inhabitants and the broad pathways. For the most part, she was surprised by just how different the architecture was: few domes, no rooftop stalls, lots of stacked cubical buildings. Theo should be overjoyed.

There wasn't much time to soak in the environment because the group was splitting up to conduct business. She and her allies had never discussed it, but they instead gathered around Navim to hear his perspective on the trip.

"Eliyai left immediately," he began. "That means we're dealing with the second scenario: she intends to present our value to the Melancholy Page sect as well as others, to make an alliance before too much of our scholarship and value is eroded."

Nauda stepped in closer to touch one of his outer limbs. "And what do you hope?"

"All our scholars and crafters descending on the city will also remind everyone that the School of Emerald Indulgence was more than our master. I hope that we will make enough of a reputation for ourselves to maintain the relationships the school formerly held. For my part, I will be using my new position to stoneshape armaments we could not before."

"I want to track down Uvvah Ulim's legacy materials," Theo said, "but we'll do our best to support you. What do you need?"

"I will have a better answer for you by tomorrow. In the meantime, please engage with any activity that would improve the reputation of the School of Emerald Indulgence, or that alters the material circumstances of the region."

"So no duels to the death, huh?" Nauda slapped a limb as she moved away.

"That is exceedingly unlikely. Please also do not commit murder or embezzlement." Navim was clearly joking, but his tone struck Nauda as a little forced. His home could well be at stake, after all, and they didn't have many ways of helping. Just as they started moving away, something else occurred to Nauda.

"Hey, Theo." She grabbed his sleeve before he could fly off. "Why don't we give Navim the Esoteric Chisel? That should let him take on even more clients than normal."

"Sure, good idea." Theo removed it from his soulhome and flipped it in her direction, but then he was gone. In seconds he had located Krikree and vanished into the city with her.

Since Navim didn't wait for long either, that left Nauda and Fiyu alone. They hadn't discussed it explicitly, she had merely hoped that they would be able to explore together. Fiyu smiled at her, gave an inviting nod, and then the two of them ventured into Ruby Ericho.

Her initial impression of the architecture had been accurate, but she had missed the people. Everywhere she looked, she saw Arbaians engaged in serious conversation. Speaking quietly in well-lit plazas, carrying supplies in their rocky limbs, even simply settled in the street. Not only Navim's species, but the rocky snakes she'd occasionally seen in Norro Yorthin, and a few strange crystalline beings. Despite their wildly different appearances, and the sounds of more languages than her soul translation could cover, they all felt distinctly Arbaian to her.

"There is a market this way," Fiyu said. She tugged on Nauda's sleeve to guide them in a different direction and Nauda was happy to go.

The market had been blocked from her sight by a line of cubical buildings, which was of course no obstacle to Fiyu. Nauda realized that she should have been using her own new sense and completely forgotten. Even when she focused on it, her senses were swamped by all the people in the city. It was a small silver lining that her theory had been proved: her sense of vitality included Arbaians, not just flesh and blood creatures. Hopefully that meant she would also be able to sense demons, constructs, and other anomalies that might slip past Theo or Fiyu.

When they reached the market itself, Nauda was glad to find that it wasn't so unfamiliar. Long lines of merchants sold their goods from tables or sheets on the ground. Not a single tent or awning to be seen, which she supposed was unsurprising considering the sun didn't bother them. But at least the merchants called out their wares loudly instead of stiffly stating their deals: they might use a larger vocabulary than she expected, but the way they tried to hook in customers was very familiar.

Interesting as it all was, Nauda couldn't help but look for sublime materials. There were certainly many available, just none that would be sufficient for them. "I'm assuming they sell the higher tier stuff elsewhere," she said. "Have you sensed anything inside the buildings? I can't tell which ones are shops."

"I had hoped to find Arbaian food." Fiyu deflated a little, practically disappearing inside her mask and facial cloth. "So far nearly everything is made of hard material. Even fabrics and papers are rare."

"I think nearly all Arbaians subsist on energy." Nauda paused to look at a particularly beautiful set of wall-hangings, embroidered with what she thought were scientific formulas. "Are you thinking about our Nine Worlds Feast? I suppose technically we could eat fabric..."

"It would not have very healthy cantae. But no, I was merely hoping that we could meet for a meal together."

"Oh, we should have asked Navim. I'm sure we can find some exceptions somewhere on Arbai... or what about those plazas? They don't seem to serve food, but we could go there."

Whatever Fiyu had hoped, she appeared discouraged. Normally, Nauda thought the best solution would be to get her out of the sun and somewhere quiet. Given how much they needed to do while in the city, she doubted that was a good option.

They walked along the market, conversation flowing more awkwardly than before. Everything had been so easy before, now Nauda just kept stumbling over herself...

Before she could come up with any solution, they happened past an unusual conversation. There were several merchants standing beside large carts, complaining about demon attacks. Nauda approached to listen in, and to her surprise Fiyu was the first one to speak.

"Excuse me," she said with a small bow, "may I ask you a question?"

"Who are you?" one of the merchants asked.

"I am a representative of the School of Emerald Indulgence. We have also been dealing with unusual numbers of demon attacks, and we wish to help. Do you have information about their location?"

"Oh, do we." The merchants glanced at one another and the taller one with yellow gemstones spoke up. "A bunch of nasty ones have taken up residence in some ruins north of the city. They were always a problem there, harassing the scholars, but it's gotten much worse recently. That's why they're bleeding over into the surrounding trade lanes."

"And the local soulcrafters cannot eliminate them?" Fiyu tilted her head to the side, likely not understanding that they might take offense. Fortunately, the merchants just scoffed.

"Too far out, and the ruins aren't prestigious enough. They'll never get to it."

"I see. Well, the School of Emerald Indulgence will attempt to assist you for our mutual benefit."

"Don't do anything stupid. This is a large group, really organized. All three species represented."

Instead of answering directly, Fiyu turned back to Nauda. Her voice sounded normal, but it was impossible to read her emotions under all the layers. "I am sorry, Nauda, but this is my best opportunity to help Navim."

Without another word, she flew into the air and disappeared over the buildings. The merchants stared, their attitude shifting from skepticism to surprise and perhaps even hope. That was good for Navim's cause, but Nauda found herself staring skyward with an increasingly sour frown. Had Fiyu intentionally run away from her?

Questioning herself like that would get them nowhere. Nauda set out into the city alone to do what she could for their friend.

~ ~ ~

Though the city of Ruby Ericho had dozens of markets, Navim and his associates set up shop in a large plaza dedicated to specific scientific pursuits. Theo couldn't ask questions so as not to seem ignorant and instead reasoned out the core rationale himself. As expected, in a city with this many Arbaians, they required large numbers of apparatuses for experiments. Many required highly specialized lens-crafting or stoneshaping, which was where Navim hoped to make an impact.

They had already met the Melancholy Page sect, without any particular animosity. As far as Theo could tell, they were perfectly ordinary scholars, they just followed a strong ideology similar to positivism. He could see how Navim would fear that the School of Emerald Indulgence would disappear within it and become no more than a footnote in history.

Navim himself seemed to be showing his new tier well. Thanks in part to Theo's soulcrafting suggestions - and substantially to Navim's own skill - he was using a laser to cut highly precise lenses. Yet it wasn't enough to save the school: it looked like the interested Arbaians were trying to recruit Navim to their own sects instead.

Just as Theo was about to offer another suggestion, he felt a fast-moving point of mass low on the ground. He turned just before Krikree arrived to tug on his pants.

"Krikree find glow!"

"Great. We'll leave Navim to his work and go get it."

[Scout!] Krikree hopped onto his back and began directing him via pheromones. Theo left the plaza and floated through the streets, more to avoid getting stuck behind talking Arbaians than to impress anyone. Authorities weren't common here, but his presence was no great shock, so he made his way to her destination quickly.

The store that held part of Uvvah Ulim's sublime legacy turned out to be the top cube atop a large stack. Not just another sandstone box, this one was built from an iridescent metal that shifted through a hundred colors in the sun. Theo landed outside in order to be polite, but the two guards at the door only scanned him with monitoring techniques and didn't step into his path.

"Welcome, foreign Authority!" A Eubhan slithered up to him immediately, stone tongue flicking in anticipation. "How can I help you today?"

"I'm here for certain sublime materials," Theo said, "but I don't see very many of them on display."

"Regrettably, they need to be placed under security. Not because anyone would be so crass as to grab an item and run, you understand, but because scholars are forever trying to run experiments on the sublime materials without buying them. The theft of intellectual property, if such a thing is comprehensible to you."

"Yeah, you could say I'm familiar."

"Please, feel free to review all of the available plates of sublime materials. If I can be of any service, don't hesitate to speak."

Rather than talk to the obsequious Eubhan, Theo looked around the shop. In place of sublime materials, hovering stone plates described the merchandise. Each one contained an etching of the material, so detailed that he wondered if a special technique had been employed. Beneath the etching there were a surprising number of details, from exact dimensions to soulcrafting tier to obscure terms he didn't understand.

Even though Krikree was nudging him in a specific direction, he made sure to examine everything available. There were definitely rare and unusual materials, just not many useful for an Authority. Perhaps a few that Navim might use, though it would be better to speak to him first. Nothing for Nauda, which was a disappointment.

That brought him to the stone plate that described what Uvvah Ulim had left behind: the material was called a heliospike. The majority of solar sublime materials he'd seen were spherical, but this one extended like a ray of light cast into stone.

"This may be what I need," Theo said, "but naturally I'd need to investigate it directly."

"Of course. Just one moment." The Eubhan slithered through a square hole in the back wall, presumably toward the vault, leaving him waiting. He should have asked first and then investigated everything else.

Instead of wasting time, Theo crouched down beside Krikree and practiced his pheromones again. [Them,] he emitted toward the guards. [Thinkrocks?]

[Thinkrocks,] Krikree agreed.

Next he indicated where the Eubhan had vanished. [That is thinkrocksnake?]

[Not!] Krikree's antennae waggled in amusement and she let out a "Chkchchk" laugh with her mouth. [Is Eubhan.]

[Why?] Theo had become very accustomed to Krikree throwing that pheromone at him, so it was easy to replicate.

[Thinkrock is mind in rock. Eubhan is rock but alive.]

Theo shifted back on his heels, eyebrows rising as he considered that. It did match what he knew, he just hadn't investigated the distinction in much detail. That did explain why the Eubhan he'd seen didn't have as wildly varying forms. He wondered what kind of "stone genetics" they might have and how that worked.

The merchant had yet to return and part of Theo began to wonder if he was setting up some sort of ambush. Probably just paranoia. Since they still had time, he turned back to Krikree. [Why Navim-thinkrock? Why not Navim-Mundhin?]

[Navim-Mundhin is Navim-thinkrock.] Krikree cocked her head at him and twitched her antenna as if he'd said something foolish. As near as his soul translation could determine, there were two different pheromones being emitted, yet she didn't seem to care about the difference.

[Krikree is Krikree-Slescan?]

[Irrelevant! Say Krikree-sister!]

He chuckled despite himself. [Okay, Krikree-sister. What about... Navim-beetle?]

[Thinkrock beetle.] Krikree's antennae fell lower and she shook her head, green hair flipping wildly. [Krikree thinkscout hard. Not sure.]

Before Theo could interrogate just how she decided the categories for everything, the merchant returned. Bearing only the heliospike, not any ambush or surprise. Theo reminded himself that most parts of the Nine Worlds carried on peacefully without any crazy schemes, and sometimes a merchant was just a merchant.

"Is this item to your satisfaction, Authority?" The Eubhan used its tail to place the material on a pedestal that appeared to exist solely for inspection. 

Theo pretended to consider skeptically, but he knew it would work almost immediately. Most importantly, it was potent even for an Authority-tier material, so it would fit on his new floor. The elongated shape would have been excellent for his discarded solar blueprint and very inconvenient for anyone who wanted a spherical material. Fortunately, all he needed this one to do was explode.

"It should suffice," Theo said. "How much?"

"Well then, it is time to discuss another matter." The merchant sank lower into its coils, regarding him with hooded eyes. "I'm afraid that no simple quantity of money would be sufficient, for an item such as this. Such items do not come through my shop on a regular basis, after all."

Not so innocent after all. Theo considered briefly before he reached into his soulhome and removed one of the eryo tusks. "What about this? It was taken from an Authority-tier sublime beast and could easily be used for piercing or defensive purposes."

"A puissant item, surely, but we have many sublime beasts here."

"Indeed you do, which is why your customers will be impressed that this material comes from a remote region of Tatian." Theo regarded the merchant coolly. "Do you have many sublime materials from other worlds?"

The Eubhan merchant flicked its tongue and shifted back, acknowledging that he'd scored a point. They negotiated about the value of the item, debating its exact merits and limitations, and Theo knew that he had the upper hand. Just when he started to think it was settled, the merchant slithered back and wrapped its tail around the platform.

"You offer a very tempting trade, but it is not so simple. Clearly, you are one of the foreigners representing the School of Emerald Indulgence. We have just purchased the heliospike from them, and now it returns... a strange turn of events, and a poor business practice."

"Don't you take your cut either way?" Theo asked. He immediately saw the merchant's face shift and realized that he'd made a mistake.

"Ah, but this is a matter of scholarship, not profit. Ruby Ericho has an abundance of sublime rocks and far fewer materials representing abstractions... to hand this material back to a dying school, or to be taken away to another world... my colleagues would not be particularly pleased with me."

Normally Theo would assume the merchant was haggling for a higher price, but that had just been proved wrong. The merchant claimed it was a matter of scholarship... except that could also be a trap. Theo could easily make assumptions about what they wanted, but he was no longer so confident that he knew everything about the Nine Worlds. That left him with no answers.

[Eubhan-beetle think rockhive weak.] Krikree didn't look at him, and in fact was sitting cleaning her antennae as if paying no attention, but her pheromones came rapid and insistent. [No prince. Think never prince. Want future legacies.]

Due to the efficiency of pheromones, her message reached him in a split second. It took a little longer for Theo to realize that he was going to follow her recommendation. The man who swaggered through the Nine Worlds assuming his past knowledge was good enough for everything was the man he was trying to leave behind. He might know more about Arbai in general, but Krikree was the one who had spent time in this specific region and city.

"The School of Emerald Indulgence will have another Authority again soon." Theo wasn't sure how, but he spoke the words as if stating an undeniable fact. "When it renews itself, it will bring scholarship from many worlds to Ruby Ericho. You can preserve a small advantage now or you can invest in their scholarship."

The Eubhan stared at him for several seconds, unblinking, then its tail pulled away from the pedestal. "A more perceptive argument than I expected. Very well, your claw for the heliospike is a fair deal."

Theo picked it up, trying not to look too triumphant. As soon as he had it in his soulhome, he knew he'd made the right decision. Part of him wanted to implode the material right then, but he needed to be completely certain about his design choices. He started to leave the shop, only to be called back by the merchant.

"Might I get your name, traveler?"

"It's Framkis." With little time to consider, Theo reached back to his second alias on Fithe, since that had no connection to this world. So long as all reports of an outsider included different names, he shouldn't draw too much attention. "Why do you ask?"

"You see, I had planned to sell this sublime material to someone else." The Eubhan merchant settled lower into its coils. "Indeed, I am reneging on a verbal agreement. I hope that you will make good on your promises, because I much prefer a continuing Emerald Indulgence to the alternative, but I wanted to have an answer when I was asked who took it."

"I'm afraid the heliospike is urgently needed, so it won't matter."

As Theo left the shop, he saw a Mundhin in his path and started to move aside before he recognized the configuration of limbs. Those were Eliyai's rubies staring at him. And, if he could judge Arbaian expressions at all, she was furious. Suddenly what the merchant said snapped together and Theo realized that he might have been just in time.

"Did you really do this for the sake of the School?" Eliyai asked. "Or did you spin whatever words would get you what you want?"

"I take it you wanted the heliospike for your own soulhome?" Theo folded his arms and didn't back down from the ruby gaze. "That would certainly benefit you, but then it would disappear into the Melancholy Page. Seems we're both saying whatever's necessary."

"Everything I have done is for the sake of the School of Emerald Indulgence. And you, however much you may need Navim for now, have no room to speak when it comes to deceit." Eliyai's gem sphere shifted downward. "I noticed something curious. You told the merchant your name was Framkis, but Navim first knew you as Peanen... and this one calls you Ivo."

Until the last sentence, Theo thought she was just needling him out of irritation. He should have known better. Eliyai had been directing her words toward Krikree the entire time, and now the Slescan was staring up at him with wide eyes.

"I don't know your purposes," Eliyai continued, "but it certainly sounds like you'll use whatever words are most convenient. Is Ivo your real identity? Or did you need a servant who could help you beat me to the sublime materials you wanted?"

It had all been an insidious plan to drive a wedge between him and Krikree. She was looking up at him, antennae stiff, and for once he couldn't read anything in her Slescan expression. Instead of considering the politics and what he stood to lose, Theo realized that most of all he didn't want to hurt Krikree.

[Not!] Theo emitted. He knelt down opposite Krikree so that their eyes were level. "Ivo-sister is Framkis-sister is Peanen-sister."

"Okay." Krikree suddenly crawled up onto his back, gripping him with all four arms while she skittered to face Eliyai. "Ivo-sister tricky."

Eliyai regarded them with obvious disappointment. "That's all? You find out that your oft-mentioned 'sister' has been lying to you about his name the entire time and you don't care?"

"Ivo-sister is signifier!" Krikree slapped his head with her upper arms. "This is signified. Sign not change identity."

"Heh, we taught you too well." Eliyai shifted her gaze back to Theo. "You still strike me as duplicitous to the core, whatever your name is. I think you're just using our school for your own benefit."

"Is it so hard to believe I feel the same way about you?" Theo asked. "You were there when we saved Navim's life, weren't you? Do you really think I did all that in hopes of a few armaments?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Eliyai turned around and began making her way down the outer staircases from the shop. Rather than pass her, Theo flew into the air to return to the plaza.

Once in the air and out of audible range - which was apparently further than he'd thought for Eliyai - he smiled at Krikree over his shoulder. "You did well back there. I couldn't have gotten the heliospike without you, and I should have known better than to doubt you."

"Krikree scout semiotics! Not tricked!" She appeared amused for a moment, but then her antennae lowered. The Slescan's claws tightened in his coat as she twisted her head around to face him. [Who? What? Who?]

He didn't need to hesitate. [My real name is Theo. I need to use other names so enemy scouts can't find me.]

[Theo-sister!] Krikree gripped his head tighter and dug in on his back. [Fly faster!]