Chapter Twenty-Two: A Desperate Plea | Part 5
Benn set to work levitating more lint. And to meet the Grand Council for our first time with assignments! Benn gathered the lint in his fist before he sighed this time. Grimm said he talks to them every few years as a courtesy. I’m not sure he’s asked them for anything in my entire life.
Do you know much about their council? Thirtyx asked. Like, are they kind? Are they likely to let you down gently if they can’t help?
Benn snorted. There went more fuzz. Iwabo Pfah residents are notoriously prickly. Making it to their highest leadership positions requires a prickliness that honestly terrifies me. He dropped his magic and began picking lint pieces off one by one, as if that might better distract him from his worries. At least we’re not meeting on their turf. If things get dicey, we can walk away without much hassle.
Not on their turf? Thirtyx closed his book, tired of pretending.
We want Tyren and Obelie there, so we have to meet on neutral ground. A vision filled Thirtyx’s mind—a large, octagonal courtyard, completely enclosed, its floor and ceiling built from gray stone. Moss dotted the floor in patches and draped from the ceiling in vinelike tendrils. Thirtyx briefly wondered what light source could support such life until he noticed the ethereal glow of the central fountain. Eight arced jets of water shot from the sides of the octagonal pool toward the center, each landing in one of eight tiers of the supporting column. A geyser bubbled from the top of the column and flowed down the tiered stone with a pleasant whisper that echoed through Benn’s mind. It was breathtaking.
Until Thirtyx spotted the doors.
They lined all eight walls, frame to frame, with a density that made Thirtyx uneasy. There were dozens in total, probably 50 or more. Thirtyx tried to count the number on one wall to get an idea, but Benn’s focus drifted toward a particular door.
He shut down the memory with a flare of panic. I can’t give you any more details. But our palace and Iwabo Pfah’s palace both open into this courtyard.
And the rest of the doors? Thirtyx asked with wonder.
He was relieved to see the shadow of a grin on Benn’s face. So many places, Thirtyx. I haven’t even visited a quarter of them.
Rhea finished her final draft about five fractions before they needed to leave. She snapped on her dress around the time Benn finished fastening an unnecessarily complex set of cufflinks.
“How are you feeling?” Rhea asked him. “Are we ready for this?”
“I’ve never been less ready for anything in my life, and I’m not a fan of the sensation,” Benn said mildly.
It earned him a halfhearted smile. “Glad I’m not the only one. Thirtyx, what about you?”
He had told them he’d be brave for them, right? Thirtyx made a show of cracking his knuckles. “I can hold my own against Azirenne. You two focus on helping Grimmary.”
As both twins drew golden sigils in the air, Thirtyx realized he hadn’t actually devised a lie for Azirenne yet. If he’d have thought about it in time, he wouldn’t have watched their departure through glowing portals, accompanied by weak smiles and anxious waves. Not knowing for sure how they left might have given him more leeway to play dumb. Nevertheless, he was up for the challenge. He spent nearly a bar imagining answers to all of Azirenne’s possible questions, agitated by the oppressive quiet that now weighed down the air in the room.
Eventually, his thoughts drifted back to more pressing but less immediate worries. How were Benn and Rhea expected to keep this up? How well could Thirtyx support them from under his seemingly endless apprenticeship applications? Who would hold him up if it all became too much?
He yearned for Seerla. Everything had been easier with an extra person sharing the load. For the first time, he let himself dwell on the loneliness of being the twins’ only support system. Before Seerla, he hadn’t known any better. He’d assumed the crushing pressure in his chest was residual guilt from his old assignment, not the grief of bearing the burden alone.
Somehow, Seerla’s mere presence made it all better. Part of him wished Rhea hadn’t tipped her off. Being in her arms, if only for a moment, would give him the strength he so desperately needed.
