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“I don’t know,” Rector exclaimed in exasperation, throwing his hands up and accidentally losing his grip on a fragment of power crystal, which went spinning away into a corner of the underground laboratory.  “Nobody does!  It is not knowable!  There was no discernible interference at the time, I was scanning for that.  Magical surveillance would have registered as interference!  At that level of transcencion activity, observation and interaction are the same thing.  No sapient observers close enough to observe, either!  I would have detected that!  Same reason!  Ask your soldiers about a leak!”

“I have of course tightened security rules and plan to conduct interviews and sweep for moles,” Ravoud said in a tight voice before Justinian could respond.  “SOP for a major breach like this; failing to do it would set a bad precedent.  But realistically, none of the Holy Legion or other personnel could have been behind this.  Only Rector and yourself, your Holiness, knew the full details of the method ahead of time; only the three of us were present at the…creation.  Since Rector has been isolated down here, the only possible explanation is it was leaked by someone who watched the ritual, in person.”

He straightened his shoulders, raising his chin, resolute.

“That makes me the only possible suspect, your Holiness.  I regret that I am unable to explain how this could have happened, but you should place me in confinement pending an investigation.”

“That will not be necessary, Colonel,” Justinian assured him with a smile.

“I am gratified by your trust in me, your Holiness, but it’s as I said: this is a matter of security and precedents.  Obviously I hope we find the real culprit swiftly, but in the interests—”

“Nassir,” the Archpope interrupted, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, “your integrity does you credit as always, but that is not the situation.  This specific intervention I did not foresee, but something along these lines is not a surprise.  Rector, what manner of interference would have been necessary to defeat your security measures?”

“My security measures?” the enchanter asked incredulously, actually looking up from his equipment for once.  “Hypothetically?  That’d be a minor but direct transcension edit.”

“And who could do such a thing?”

“Nobody!” he exclaimed.  “The trancension editor is inactive and inaccessible!  Only an ascended entity acting in person could conceal its presence that completely.”

“Indeed,” the Archpope agreed, still smiling, “there are few possible countermeasures for being eavesdropped upon by a god.”

“Hmh,” Rector grunted, frowning once more at his data panel.  “I could check for that, but it’d require special measures.  Not part of the standard sweep—much more complex, huge overkill for most purposes.  If you want me to scan the scene for it, you’ll have to activate the temporal—”

“Let us not squander effort and resources asking a question whose answer I already know,” Justinian interrupted in a gentle tone.

“If it was a god, in person, House Madouri seems like an odd choice of mouthpiece,” Ravoud murmured.  “First the Duchess came out of nowhere to stuff herself into the middle of the Shaathist schism, and now this.  She’s never exactly had a reputation for piety before…”

“Eserion’s chosen tools are always a surprise at the time, but make perfect sense in hindsight,” Justinian agreed.  “The young Duchess Ravana makes an excellent cat’s paw, but her methods and resources are nothing that cannot be countered conventionally.  The question which concerns me is whether he oversaw the ritual himself, or employed another cat’s paw.  I am…most eager to learn the extent of Tobias Caine’s abilities.”

Ravoud blinked, then frowned.  “The paladin?  When I spoke with them he certainly seemed the least thuggish of the bunch, but they’re mostly blunt instruments.”

“I advise you not to underestimate those young ones, Nassir.  Gabriel is a perpetual wellspring of surprises, and Trissiny is rapidly growing to be Avei’s finest since Laressa.  Even so, they are nothing that cannot be accounted for, except…  They revealed, during out conversation, that they had been to the transcension field editor.”

Rector’s head jerked upright and he stared incredulously at the Archpope.

“No doubt at Eserion’s bequest,” Justinian continued, gazing pensively at the far wall with his hands folded behind his back.  “It would take such intervention to get them into Irivoss, much less through it.  The other two showed no such surprises, but Tobias…  He has developed some manner of direct control over Omnu’s power that verges on the ability to override his god’s own will.  No Hand has ever achieved such a thing.  I do wonder what else Eserion gave them instructions to do with the machine.  And how they bypassed its…guardian.”

“That equipment can’t do much,” Rector said, scowling.  “Needs the alignment to work properly.  It’s close enough it might have some expanded capabilities, but…barely.”

“’Much’ is an exceedingly relative term, Rector,” Justinian replied.  “I am here to attest that even denied the bulk of its full power, it is far from useless.”

“You sound very certain it’s Eserion, your Holiness,” said Ravoud, watching him carefully.  “Not that I’d put anything past that one in particular, but…how can you know?”

“That one is playing a dangerous game indeed.  He has been acting very out of character, and directing his cult to do the same.  Weakening himself—severing himself, bit by bit, from his own aspect.  Bold, risky, and quite clever.  It frees him from the controls I have built up to forestall divine intervention…but makes him terribly vulnerable.  Thanks to his own gambit, Eserion can be destroyed far more easily than a normal god.  None of the others would dare attempt such a thing, but out of them all, he is at his most dangerous when employing wits and skill rather than divine power.”

“The god…of thieves.”  Ravoud narrowed his eyes.  “Displaying a vulnerability.  Oh, that screams ‘trap.’”

“Well spotted, Nassir,” Justinian said with an approving nod, clapping him on the back.  “Your sharp eyes are a great asset to me.  Yes, it being Eserion, this is unquestionably a long con.  He wants me to strike where he is weak.  This game of wits will hinge upon figuring out the hidden danger.  He sent three paladins to that transcension editor and one came out with a dangerous new ability that might as well be a dagger aimed at the heart of my plans.  But is Tobias Caine the true threat, or the distraction?  I see I shall have to do some very swift research.  For that, Nassir, I may call upon your help.”

“I’m yours to command, your Holiness, as always.  And…  What about Ravana Madouri?  I know she’s no paladin, but House Madouri isn’t something even the Universal Church can just ignore if she’s going to be an ongoing problem.  That woman is only not a queen because her domain is within the Empire; she’s got more power at her fingertips than most sovereign heads of state in this world.”

“Ah, yes indeed,” Justinian mused, nodding.  He turned to glide toward the chamber door, Ravoud falling into step alongside him.  “I have had little time to look into her since her adoption of the Shadow Hunters, before which I confess I didn’t consider her a factor.  Already, though, I perceive that she has modeled many of her reforms upon my own, particularly adopting my methods of gathering loyalty among the masses.  That is what she has already sought to use against me, and what I expect she will continue to.”

He paused for a moment at the door, tilting his head in thought, then smiled.

“Very well, we shall arrange a token gesture of disapproval.  Something stern enough to be convincing, but we must be careful not to damage her organization significantly.  As the adage goes, Nassir, never interrupt an opponent while they are making a mistake.”

They stepped out, the automatic door hissing shut behind them.

In the ensuing silence, Rector paused in his tinkering.  Picking up his portable data screen, he swiped his fingers across it to change the display, pulling up a simple map of the continent.  Amid the monochrome lines delineating mountains, rivers, and coasts, there were a cluster of purple markings arranged in a loose ring around the Golden Sea, slowly expanding outward.  Few now compared to when they’d been released; as he watched, another winked out.  One was overlaid on top of the single yellow sigil on the map, which meant it would shortly go dark, too.

He touched an icon, pulling up a menu, then extended a dropdown from it.  For a moment, his fingers hesitated over the screen.

“I wouldn’t.”

Rector yelled and nearly lost his grip on the data panel, barely managing to catch it.

“You damned sneaky demon!” he roared at Azradeh’s pleasantly smiling face, which was now looming directly over him.  “How long have you been in here?”

“Oh, I just got here,” she lied with a smile.  “You were about to turn off those chaos monsters.”

“No I wasn’t,” he said sullenly.  “I can’t do that.  Why would I?”

“Ah, can’t put those worms back in the can?  I guess that makes sense, given what they’re made of.  I bet you’ve got a lot of ways to weaken them, though.  I’d advise against it, Rector.  Justinian would notice.  He would no tbe happy about you messing up his plans.”

“Go away,” he spat, turning back to the bank of equipment before him.  “I’m busy.”

“Nothing to be self-conscious about, Rector, I’d be pretty upset too if something I built was out killing as many people as those things are.”

He spun and hurled a wrench directly at her face.  Azradeh frowned slightly as it bounced off her forehead.

“Hey, that’s fine and all, but don’t get in the habit, okay?  That’s our thing.  Delilah would be seriously injured if you beaned her with a wrench.  But seriously, Rector, you’ve gotta consider it from the perspective of somebody like Justinian.  Having power at the level he does is a nightmare.  Every choice you make will affect people by the millions, and a lot of those choices mean life or death for a lot of those people.  He can’t just not make the choices, either, because that’s usually the worst choice, a guaranteed disaster for everybody.  At that level…everything you do has to be for the greater good.  And that means every attempt you make to help people is going to condemn other people, and you have to determine who, and why.  The greater good by definition includes a lesser evil, or it’d just be ‘the good.’”  The archdemon shook her head, resting one clawed hand on the back of Rector’s chair.  “I’m just glad it’s him in the hot seat and not us.  Right?  I could not handle the pressure.  No offense, but you definitely couldn’t.  Whatever Justinian’s got you doing, it’s something he considers worth the cost.”

“Can you just…let me work, please?”  He was resting his hands silently on the console, though, not attempting to work.

“I suppose it’s possible,” she said in a grudging tone, “that he’s lying to us and just after the power, but…that’s really not my read on the guy.  Sorry, Rector, I know you prefer hard data over feelings, but sometimes we’ve gotta make do.  But I think I’ve got pretty good people skills, and I feel very confident Justinian is doing his best to do what he thinks is right, under a hell of a lot of pressure.”

She hesitated, then shrugged, talons rasping softly as she withdrew them from the chair.

“I just wish he’d tell us what he’s trying to do, y’know?  I’d be comforting to be able to figure out whether I agree with him.  It’s…unnerving, being party to something I don’t understand.  Like, what if he’s wrong?  Or what if I have a better idea?”

Slowly, Rector’s shoulders hunched up toward his ears and his fingers balled into fists on the console.

“Ah, you should probably just ignore me,” Azradeh said lightly, stepping back.  “I don’t know half of what Justinian does about the situation and I doubt I’d be qualified to argue with him even if I did.  Sorry, Rector, I’ll let you get back to it.  Make sure you eat something and have a nap, okay?  I’m gonna come back later and if you haven’t, I’ll make you.”

He listened in silence to the clack of her talons on the floor as she strolled away.

***

The room was silent, save for the rhythmic drumming of Glory’s flawlessly manicured fingernails on the arm of her chair.  She had an impressive ability to command an audience; even Sweet held silent out of respect for her presentation, though his anticipatory expression was distinctly more amused than those of her apprentices.

“Darius,” Glory finally said, the suddenness of her voice causing Darius to flinch despite her calm tone.  “Rarely have I found myself thus, but I have no words.”

He hunched his shoulders.  “…me either, boss lady.  Sorry.”

“Ah.”  Her sarcasm was a masterpiece, even and calm in delivery despite being thick enough to curdle the air.  “Well.  As long as you’re sorry.”

Rasha cleared her throat.  “I mean, look…  I’m not saying Darius should be proud of this, but…well, you saw her, too.  I dunno if I would’ve—”

“Rasha,” Glory interrupted in that utter, ominous calm, “do not mistake everyone’s relief at seeing you unharmed for an endorsement of your actions.  It took both of you being preposterously cavalier and reckless in the midst of a crisis to create this debacle.  Had Darius not managed to so thoroughly distract himself, or you not wandered off on your own like an idiot while you were being actively hunted, none of what followed would have.”

“We were in the Temple of Avei,” Rasha said weakly.  “I deliberately went to where there were soldiers.”

“Ah, yes.  Silver Legionnaires.  Surely no one has ever put something over on them.  Remind me, Rasha, precisely how that went?”

She grimaced and lowered her eyes.  Fortunately, Glory didn’t seem to want a response, continuing in her serenely acid tone.

“The Sisterhood of Avei is a cult of militant feminists who’ve managed to keep a rapist as their Bishop for the last decade, and just this week had to have their house cleaned by their own avenging paladin.  Who have repeatedly failed to protect you in particular from bad actors within their own temple.  And that’s who you blithely assumed would assure your safety while you wandered around like a lost duckling?  It truly astonishes me to have to say this, Rasha, but take a lesson from Darius, there.  His was unquestionably the greater offense, but you don’t see him trying to excuse his abominable stupidity.”

Darius and Rasha snuck a glance at each other, then both dropped their eyes again.

Glory emitted a demure little sigh and leaned back against one of the wings of her chair, looking performatively yet discreetly tired.  “Just what am I supposed to do with you two?  It’s not as if boxing your little ears would help anything; you clearly both know exactly how you fucked up.  I assure you I am not shocked to see teenagers doing something ill-considered.  My error was in believing that, after the particular tribulations you lot have endured together, you would be more mindful of the reality of danger, and more careful with each other.  I am astonished, Darius, that you would leave Rasha vulnerable like that.  All the rest of it?  Fairly in character and not so terrible, but this disregard for her safety is…  An unwelcome shock.  And Rasha, your disregard for your own is barely any better.  Taking silly and pointless risks with your life when you know there are people who would grieve your loss is unbelievably heartless.”

Both of them slumped further, not looking up.  At Glory’s side, Tallie and Layla just stared in accusing silence, both with their arms folded.

“Well,” Glory continued after a cold pause, “I will have to give some thought to precisely how I am going to deal with you two.  For now, I am just grateful to have you back.  And in the interim, I will arrange to have words with Juniper about her role in this.”

“Uhh, Glory?” Tallie said, her eyebrows shooting upward.  “Are you…sure you wanna get shirty with the dryad?  I’m not saying she didn’t play a role in this and all, but…  That bitch eats people.”

“What’s really strange,” Layla mused, “is how the knowledge of that enhances rather than overrides the general reaction she gives me of wanting to lick her all over.”

Slowly, everyone in the room turned to silently stare at her.  Layla didn’t appear to notice, suddenly frowning at the wall in apparent consternation.

“…oh, dear.  I do hope this isn’t some sort of…awakening. That’s all I need.”

Darius covered his eyes with a hand, not daring to speak.

“Juniper’s a sweetheart, as terrifying monsters go,” Sweet said with an amused grin.  “In point of fact, Glory, I rather think having a calm word with her about it is the proper course of action.  I don’t actually know how old she is, but I’ve picked up that her formative years were mostly spent being an apex predator off in the Deep Wild.  It’s being a person she’s still getting the hang of; just be glad you met her after a few years at Last Rock.  Girl needs some guidance, not a scolding.”

“I will see what I can do,” Glory said in an intricately layered tone.

“All that aside,” he continued, his expression growing more serious, “I didn’t come by just to personally drop off your prodigal apprentice.  I know there’s a lot going on right now—believe me, I know it better than most—but something else has sprung up in the middle that I felt you ought to be made aware of.”

“Ah?”  She made a languid gesture at the rest of the room.  “Something sensitive?  I can dismiss the younglings, if you wish, Sweet.  Rank aside, the judgment of half of them is very much in question right now.”

“Y’know, it’s funny how things work out,” he replied, grinning.  “I’d never have imagined you, of all people, herding an entire flock of apprentices.  Damn if you don’t make it look good, though.”

“Hardly a significant achievement,” Glory said with a coy smile.  “I make everything look good.”

“That you do, my dear.  But no…  Your kids are at least tangentally involved in all this anyway.  I find not a lot of good comes from keeping people in the dark if you’re going to count on their help in a dicey situation.  Okay, it’s like this.  We’ve discussed the Boss and his recent…questionable decisions and out-of-character orders.  That business at the courtyard with those Purists was only the most egregious and recent example.”

“Indeed,” she said seriously, nodding once.  “I gather you have some insight into what is going on?”

Rasha inhaled softly, schooling her own expression with care.  How much should she reveal?  How much did she dare? Sweet was right, keeping secrets seemed more dangerous than useful.  But at least some of the knowledge she was sitting on was explicitly dangerous in its own right.  As much as she valued and relied on Glory’s wisdom, dragging her or her fellow apprentices into the affairs of gods felt a lot like a way to doom them for no real benefit.

“Not really,” he said, grimacing.  “But my attempts to rustle up some more perspective yielded a surprising development.  When I checked in with Webs, he hit me with a…proposal that I wasn’t exactly in a position to turn down.”

Glory narrowed her eyes.  Slowly her chin lifted and she glanced to one side for a split second, then nodded.

“Ahh.  He wants you to replace Tricks.”

“Now how the hell did you do that?” Sweet demanded in clear exasperation.  “It hit me like a falling piano!”

“You’ve been run pretty ragged lately,” she said with just a hint of playful condescension.  “It does make sense, if you understand both Webs and the situation.  Vandro may be one of the most personally reprehensible men it has ever been my bad luck to know, but he’s a stickler for his principles and is not motivated by a desire for personal power.  His objection to Tricks has always been philosophical and he doesn’t want the leadership for himself.  Putting you back in the hot seat would be at least a good compromise, from his perspective.”

“Yeah, well, it was a conditional offer,” Sweet grumbled.  “I did not walk out of there having agreed to launch a coup.  I did get what I wanted: Web’s assurance that he and the faction behind him would lend their weight to the effort you and I already discussed.”

“Figuring out what is going on, and what to do about it,” she said, nodding.

“The condition was that if it becomes obvious that Tricks’s removal from power is necessary, I’ll be the one to step up.”

“Mmm.  Then what happened behind the Casino takes on another character, doesn’t it?  Tricks himself offering you the job back, in the hearing of a lot of Guild members…”

Sweet grimaced.  “I haven’t checked back in with Webs since that, but…yeah, that’s gonna charge up his crystals and no mistake.  I’m not just keeping you in the loop, Glory: your perspective is all kinds of valuable to me and I’d like to hear your thoughts.  At this point are we just dithering?  Everything seems to be pointing to putting Tricks aside before he does the Guild permanent harm, at a moment when we can least afford it.”

“Then what’s stopping you?” she asked quietly.

“Tricks is,” Sweet admitted.  “The way he talked…  The man has not lost his mind or his competence.  He knows what he’s doing and he knows it’s wrong; he’s made it very clear that he doesn’t like any part of it.  I’ve met enough people who’ve let power get to their head, or had some kind of mental break, but I’m pretty confident I would recognize it.  That’s not the vibe I get from Tricks.  He strikes me as a man in the middle of a complicated job that’s going all wrong and which he cannot allow to fail.”

“And there’s only one person who can give the Boss orders,” Glory murmured.  “Hell, Sweet, this isa mess.  It’s a balancing act; we’re somewhere in the gray area between dithering and acting rashly and we don’t know enough about the situation to know which way to lean.”

“Sweet,” Rasha said suddenly.  Everyone turned to look at her, Glory with a small but perceptible narrowing of her eyes.  “It’s…  The Big Guy is doing something.  Whatever the Boss is up to, it’s on orders, and…  Even if Tricks has gone crazy, Eserion hasn’t.  I’m not saying I understand what’s going on, but…  I think it’d be a mistake to deliberately mess up a job our actual god is running.”

“I’m sure Sweet is very relieved to get the input of an apprentice in the doghouse,” Glory drawled.

“Well, now,” Sweet himself mused, giving Rasha a faint smile, “your girl here has had twice the personal encounters with the Big Guy as the last apprentice who had that honor, and that one was an actual paladin.  Doghouse or no, I’m not about to turn up my nose at a relevant perspective.  Rasha,” he added, expression sobering again, “let me go out on a limb, here.  Eserion told you more than you’ve reported during your encounter out there, and asked you to keep it to yourself.  Right?”

Her breath caught, until she forcibly evened it out, drawing a slow inhalation while she rapidly tried to cram her swirling thoughts into some semblance of order.

“He didn’t…exactly…”

Sweet held up a hand to stop her.  “All I needed to hear.  Look, Rasha: do not just passively do what the Big Guy says.  Someday if you become Boss, you’ll need to toe the line when he barks orders, but for the rest of us?  Eserion of all gods does not reward blind obedience.  You’ve gotta also consider that whatever he said to you, he was angling to create a reaction, and it was not necessarily to have you follow along like a good little soldier.  What you should do is trust your gut and your principles, and think carefully.”

“Well, it’s a good thing my gut hasn’t led me astray recently,” she mumbled.

“There is nothing wrong with your instincts or your principles,” Glory said severely.  “You got lazy,complacent, and failed to think before acting.  Do not do that again.  While I could make an issue about Sweet giving coaching to my own apprentice right in front of me, the fact is that was good advice.  And…I’m sorry to see such pressure laid on your shoulders,” she added in a gentler tone than she had used thus far.  “The situation out there in the world is dire.  The Big Guy is obviously doing the best he can—and after Sweet’s reassurance, I’m confident the Boss is as well.  The rest of us can do no less.  You are not alone, Rasha.  Don’t you dare act like you’re alone again.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, bobbing her head.

Glory studied her for a moment, and then Darius, and sighed.

“Well.  You two, repair to your rooms.  You’re both in need of some rest.  And spend some time contemplating how you are going to regain my trust.  I shall consider it as well.”

Both backed up, turning to scuttle out of the room and its suddenly chilly atmosphere as quickly as they could without falling below Glory’s standards of decorum.  Her ability to control the social temperature of an entire room with nothing but her expression was absolutely uncanny.

“Rasha,” Darius said as soon as they were a safe enough distance down the hall, “seriously, I’m so—”

“Please don’t,” she said fervently.  “Glory’s right, we both fucked up.  It’s not like I couldn’t have stopped you if I really wanted to push the issue.  You still owe me, though.”

“I absolutely do,” he agreed, rapidly nodding.  “Fair’s fair, you want me to try to set you up with Juniper?  I bet she’d be down for it.”

“Don’t think it didn’t occur to me, but…I’ve got a really good feeling about this thing with Zafi.  I don’t wanna fuck up anything else if I can help it.”

“D’awww, look at you, with the butterflies and—”

“You’re an asshole,” she said affectionately.  “So.  No need for squishy details, but…  How was she?”

Darius made a sincere effort in good faith to continue looking abashed and contrite, but the slow grin that began to stretch across his features was apparently more than mere flesh and blood could keep contained.

“Man.  Oh, man.  Gods above, Rasha.  That was like…a religious experience.  It’s not just that body of hers, or even that she knows, just…everything to do, it’s…  It’s like she could smell everything I wanted and made it happen before it occurred to me to ask.  Dryads are something else.”

“Hnh,” she grumbled.  “I shouldn’t have asked.  Maybe Zafi would understand?”

“I would.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I’m really glad you’re okay, Rasha.”

She bumped him with her shoulder.

“Yeah, I know.”