Chapter 158: A Unanimous Vote.

It had been some time since I had last used one of the Sky Circles. The great levitating discs that floated hundreds of feet above the streets of Aelheim. The last time I had ridden one, the nausea had made me want to instinctively reach for my Gift. Now I stood atop one and looked down, and felt not even a flicker of that same distress.

Strange, that something like that could change as quickly as it did. And without the nausea to distract me, it was hard not to notice how beautiful everything looked from so high above.

It was early in the day, and the Magical Implements each District had in their five colors were all off. There was only sunlight and under it Aelheim glowed as one city of pale stone. I had once thought this city was the work of some particularly confused painter. Right now, without all of those lights, it was hard to tell where one District ended and another began.

My eyes drifted toward the grey line of the Great Wall, to the long stretch of it that guarded my District. Even with my Gift, I could not make out the preparations from here. And there were many preparations. A doubled wall guard. Vance's men -those that had recovered from their expedition. A few elite adventurers.

Are you ready, my friend?

I felt Vaelin raise an eyebrow at me. He had done that once before too. Where he was learning this much sass was a mystery. I sure hadn't taught him any of it. Probably. I smiled. Dumb question, I suppose. It's been a while since you've cut anything, hasn't it? Well. Besides the dirt.

Vaelin grumbled and retreated deeper into my mind. It seemed the Godblade had decided not to dignify that with an answer.

"There sure are a lot of them," Violet muttered beside me, peering down over the edge. Her gaze was on the streets below. More specifically, on the many tiny blobs crowding around one building in particular. The Hall of Lords.

"It's small wonder," I said. "We did openly declare what we were doing, after all."

The letters had gone out in the middle of the night, to many of Aelheim's most popular newspapers. After its pause for the King's Tournament, the Council was set to reconvene, and this time for a matter of 'grave importance to the people of Aelheim'. Everything after that was almost inevitable.

"Sere, that cannot possibly be safe," Damian said from behind me. He stood next to my father and Estovan, and he sounded rather exasperated.

He was looking at Sere, who was, for some reason, the most comfortable out of all of us up here. She sat at the platform's rounded edge, her legs slipped beneath the lowest railing and dangling out over the city, a pastry from our kitchens in one hand. Her other hand held her pencil. She was, somehow, both drawing and eating at the same time.

I leaned over, just enough to see the page. Of course. She was drawing Aelheim. All she had managed so far was a large circle, so maybe the eating was interfering with the drawing. I should have brought her up here a long time ago.

"She is not sitting as freely as it first appears, Damian," Estovan said. "Her balance has never once shifted forward. She is training, even now."

Damian gave the First Sword of House Veyne a very confused look, one that I shared. Estovan had said this before when we had first taken off, and I trusted his judgment enough not to argue. Even if the sight of Sere sitting there made me want to bundle her up, and stand in the very center of the platform.

I left Violet to her city-gazing and moved toward my father. He stood tall. Tall enough that I almost forgot the walking stick he still used, or the slight hunch in his shoulders. There would be fighting today, and he would take no part in it. "Is everything well?" I asked him. "Maybe we should have taken one of the carriages."

My father looked at me and smiled. "And spend an hour crawling through half the city?" He tapped the walking stick once against the platform. "Besides. I am not so frail as that."

I nodded slowly. That was, of course, the real reason we had left the carriages at home. I imagined the other Dukes would arrive by Sky Circle as well. When would Greenward give his signal? He would be seated in the Council Chamber with the rest of us, so the signal, whatever it was, had to be something discreet. Perhaps he had already given it, and we would find the monsters at our gates before we could even present our proposal.

For now, there was nothing to do but wait as the Sky Circle slowly descended. Sere rose from the edge before the railings began to sink. The platform wobbled as it descended onto the metallic base. There was a blue glow and the railings folded away.

We walked down the stairs and past the Karr guards already waiting for us. They stepped into line behind us, and we made for the Hall of Lords. It had looked crowded from above. It was worse from down here.

It did not take long at all for the first of the reporters to spot us. The prickling of a Scrylens washed against my skin, and then men and women surged forward to meet us. The Karr barred their way. The reporters shouted their many questions all at once, each of them drowning out the others until I could make out none at all.

Violet looked around with one hand on Giantsmasher, as if she meant to attack anyone who actually made it past the line of Karr. Damian looked just as uneasy on my other side. Sere had… gone invisible. I had not asked her to, but a crowd like this doubtless made her nervous.

"They can smell change in the air," my father said.

"Would that they smelled it and did not immediately pounce," Estovan said. "Surely some level of decorum would be-"

We made our way toward the Hall. I did not look at any of the reporters, nor did I answer even the few questions I did understand. Some were about the Tournament. Some were about today's proceedings. Some, strangely, were about Violet.

I paid them little attention save for the most cursory of glances. There was nobody I recognized, of course. Dorothy wasn't in this crowd. I had told her this morning of what my proposals were going to be. No doubt right now she was furiously writing an article to scoop all the other papers. And soon a Veyne soldier would go to her with news of the monsters as soon as they came, and she would rush towards that. A subtle way to make sure she was where I needed her. One that benefited her as much as it did me.

That left only one runaway Princess who might have been here, but given her strange ability with disguises, I wasn't going to see her until she announced herself.

The Council Chamber lay behind a pair of massive, heavy metallic doors. More Karr stood outside them, and they stepped aside when they saw us come. One of them stepped past the others. His uniform was indistinguishable from the rest, save for a yellow sash at his upper right arm.

"My Lords. My Ladies," the man or woman drawled. He tipped his head, though with how tall he was, it looked less like a bow and more like the only way he could see the shorter half of our party.

My father stepped forward. "It's good to see you, Shi Ra. As impressive as ever, my friend."

The Karr looked down at him. "Good health," he said. At least, I was fairly certain this Karr was a 'he'. Then he tapped the butt of his spear against the stone directly beside my father's walking stick. "One of us."

My father laughed. I blinked. Had that… been a joke? Humor alone should not have surprised me, but I had never once heard a Karr attempt one.

"Tell me, are the other Lords here?" my father asked. "I do hope we are not the last to arrive."

The Karr glanced back at the doors. "Two before. Two now. Makes four."

"And which two came before us?"

"Greenward and Thalos," the Karr said.

There was a murmuring from somewhere behind us. I turned, and saw another procession of Karr moving through the crowd toward us, opening a corridor through the reporters as they came. I saw who they escorted, though I had guessed well enough already.

Duke Corin Wardell strode at their center, in his plain blacks, and even from this distance he looked far healthier than when I had seen him last. He did not come alone. Beside him walked the only Karr in the city I could recognize at a glance.

Au Ra, the First Sword of House Wardell, towered over the Duke, the crowd, and his own escort alike. He was one of the reasons I held any hope for today at all. My father had called the man a terror to witness on a battlefield, and for Aelheim's sake, I hoped he was right.

The escort dispersed, and Duke Wardell came to join us, his guard a silent mountain at his shoulder.

"Corin. You look well," my father said, stepping forward to take him by the arm.

"Good. Because by the Gods, I feel well," Duke Wardell said with a small grin.

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He turned and regarded the three of us, and gave us a small bow. "Lady Veyne. Lady Indri. Damian."

Violet looked at me. I gave her a small nod, and she sank into a curtsy at the same moment I did. It could not have been easy to curtsy while carrying a warhammer taller than she was, but Violet made it look simple.

"My Lord. I am pleased to see you again," I said.

"Indeed," Duke Wardell said. "Would that it were under more favorable times."

That was likely all he could say, out in the open like this. One never knew who carried what Gift, or what Magical Implement.

Au Ra tapped Duke Wardell on the shoulder. The Duke paused, glanced up at him, then back at us. "Let us head inside, then. It seems my First Sword does not care for us being this… exposed."

"Of course," my father agreed. We took a step forward. The head Karr blocked us.

"Weapons," Shi Ra said.

Naturally, one could not carry weapons into the Council Chamber. It made little practical difference, considering anyone who meant to try something would have a Gift, but it was the thought that counted. Damian and Estovan handed over their swords. Au Ra carried no weapon that I could see. Violet set her great hammer down against the wall beside the door.

"If anything happens to that-"

"Nothing will," one of the Karr said.

Shi Ra looked at me, and seemed to consider something. Considering it with the other guards telepathically, most likely. "Weapon. Besides Godblade?"

I shook my head. The large guard shrugged and waved us through. Which meant, technically, that someone in our party was still armed. I would forgive them for missing Sere.

The Karr before the great doors stepped aside. "Hmm," my father mused. He turned to Violet. "Why don't you give it a try, Lady Violet?"

Violet met his gaze and slowly nodded. She stepped in front of the doors and fished inside her pockets, and from them she drew a ring. The signet ring of House Indri. A simple band, set with a beautiful red gemstone. She slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand, held it up toward the door, and channeled the smallest thread of mana.

A symbol bloomed across the metal, glowing in that same faint red. An angel. I had seen it before, carved into a fountain at the center of Violet's estate. The doors swung open without a sound. Violet stared at the doors, and then at her own hand, as if she herself were surprised it had actually worked.

We stepped inside. I had been here twice before, and the chamber was the same now as it had been then. A massive room that seemed almost excessive, for all it contained was a single great circular table. The last time I had come here the room had felt much larger.

Two men sat at the table now, side by side. Duke Julian Greenward and Duke Aurel Thalos. And behind Duke Julian stood Cordelia.

Duke Thalos had been writing something when we stepped in. Duke Julian had been staring at the doors, his back straight, his eyes finding mine the moment they opened. Today, Julian wore remarkably fewer emeralds than usual. A single brooch at his throat, and nothing else. Why that was the case, I did not know. Maybe it would look better for the Scrylens when everything was done.

I wondered if he had been staring at those doors the entire time he had been here, or if this was yet another performance he had saved for an audience.

Cordelia stood with her back straight, in a gown of deep green. She had a smile for each of us as we entered. A polite and perfect smile. I did not have one to give her back. She was not wearing her Whispering Cuff, of course. Neither was I. The things were compact, but they were hardly invisible. I was only surprised Julian had not brought his wife along.

Beside me, Violet growled under her breath. "Smug bastard." I could only agree.

"Welcome," Julian said. Duke Thalos looked up from his writing. "So good of you to finally arrive. Having called this Emergency Meeting of the Council, I would have hoped you would arrive first, Lord Veyne." He addressed my father. His eyes never left mine.

"Oh? And here I recall you being the one late to these meetings," my father said. "Perhaps I misremember, but I believe the only sessions you ever arrived early for were the ones concerning taxation."

Julian's perfect smile soured, by just a fraction. A shame there were no Scrylens permitted in this room. I would have liked a copy of his face at that moment.

"Normally the bickering starts after the Council commences," Duke Thalos said dryly. "Come. Lord Veyne. Lady Indri. Take your places. I am curious what exactly warrants an Emergency Meeting of the Council." He said the words with a sigh.

The table could have seated a dozen men. It still held only five chairs. Violet and my father took their places. Estovan, Damian and I stood behind my father. Au Ra stood behind Duke Wardell. Cordelia did not meet my gaze, and I tried not to invite it.

"This meeting was called by a signed request from three of the five Great Houses. As such, the Council is open once more. Thus, we begin today's Council Meeting," Duke Thalos said. He turned to my father. "Now then, Adrian. Do tell me why we are all here."

Estovan stepped forward and set a small stack of papers at my father's elbow.

"Aurel," my father said, "for the first time since the founding of Aelheim, we mean to change the city's charter."

The silence that followed stretched for several long moments.

Duke Julian was very still. Then his eyes widened, slowly. He leaned back in his seat, and looked at my father with something akin to wonder. "A change to our charter?" he said. "A charter that has held since this city's very founding? That is… I hardly know what to say."

It was a rather remarkable performance, one I could find no flaw with at all. One would almost believe this really was a surprise to him.

"Indeed," my father said. "Our charter has held up remarkably well. It has held because five Dukes, each carving his own dukedom out of a single city, have thus far done so in good faith." His voice cooled. "Thus far."

Duke Thalos looked between the two of them. "Show me," he said.

My father slid the papers across the table.

It was a simple enough proposal. There were only three small clauses. The first granted our soldiers unimpeded access to the lift platforms and the stair towers that led into the wall. The second barred any authority -internal or external- from impeding our men from said stair towers and lifts. The final clause, and perhaps the most important one, stated that this right of transit extended only so far as the manning of the wall itself.

It was the kind of proposal that changed so little it was almost nothing. It was the exact kind of proposal a man devoted to the status quo could support.

Duke Thalos read it slowly. Eventually, he set the papers down and slid them over to Julian Greenward, who looked at them for only a few seconds, before passing them along. He passed them along to Duke Wardell, who did not pass them further.

Duke Thalos watched this in silence. He surmised, as anyone would, that everyone else had already read the amendments. He folded his hands on the table. "Any alteration to Aelheim's charter requires more than a simple majority," he said. "It requires the assent of four of the five. Before we proceed to the vote, if anyone has something to say, whether in support or in objection, say it now."

"I do wonder," Julian said, "just why any of this is necessary."

"You wonder," Duke Wardell said flatly. "It is your hired band of killers keeping the wall from its men. The citizens of this city sleep less safely for it, and they do not even know it."

Julian shrugged. "Unsafe? That is a matter of opinion." He smiled at my father, and then his gaze slid to me. "I like to think the people of my District are a great deal safer with their new protectors. Those men and women have seen something of the world beyond one small city. I would sooner trust my walls to them than to a man in black and blue."

Mana stirred through the air. It was heavy, and it came from my father. "Careful, Julian," he said. "One could take that for an insult."

"My mistake," Julian said, smiling. He said nothing more. Truly the bare minimum of apologies.

And I knew that one day soon he would use this exact line of reasoning with the King. Trust the men who have seen the world. Not the failing House in black and blue. And he would have a breached wall and a catastrophe to hold up as proof.

"You sure do love talking," Violet growled. "Love the sound of your own voice that much, do you?"

Julian blinked. He stared at her as if one of the chairs had spoken. I had to suppress a smile. My father might maintain a Lord's politeness. Violet was under no such obligation.

"This is a table for men," Julian said. "If all you can bring to it is barking, then perhaps you belong outside, with the rest of the beasts."

Violet's hands slammed against the table. She rose, and she was glaring. "A beast, huh? Do you know what beasts do to pretty little-"

Julian did not so much as move. If anything, he was smiling, just faintly.

I put a hand on Violet's shoulder. She growled and slowly sat back down. Perhaps Julian had been hoping she would hit him. I was not about to let him have something that obvious. And she had been behaving so well, too. I glanced across the table, and Cordelia gave me the smallest of nods.

"Lady Violet," Duke Thalos said. "This is a place of words and reason. It is not a place where we employ the might of our fists." He turned. "And you, Julian, should know better than petty provocation. Do tell me you have learned at least that much over the last twenty years."

"My apologies," Julian said sweetly. "It seems tempers run high in times of emergency."

Violet said nothing.

Duke Thalos sighed. "Very well. Let us commence the vote. All those in favor of the proposed amendments to Article Three Hundred and Twelve of Aelheim's Charter, Sections Four through Six, raise your hands."

My father and Violet raised their hands at once. Duke Wardell followed. I was watching Duke Thalos, and I was holding my breath. His was the vote that mattered, after all.

He considered the papers before him for a long moment. Then, for some reason, he looked at me. He had asked me to find the answer in Aelheim's charter, rather than breaking another one of his tables. I had done just that. Slowly, Duke Thalos began to raise his hand-

Duke Julian raised his first. I blinked. Everyone was staring at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Violet demanded.

Julian looked at her, then turned his attention pleasantly to my father. "I think the amendments make good sense," he said. "I confess, I was entirely unaware that the men I hired had become such an obstruction. Had I known…" He shrugged. "Well. No time like the present." He held his hand high, smiling.

Liar, Vaelin murmured.

It was easy to imagine what he was thinking. In his world, the wall was hours or minutes away from being breached. The House responsible for manning it was petitioning the Council to let them do their jobs properly. And just as they were given the power to, they failed their duty anyway. Tie that into what Julian had said earlier about the city being safer with his men, and he was washing his hands clean before they'd even been dirtied. The man really was a snake.

"Well," Duke Thalos said, his own arm raised at last. "I do not remember the last time the five of us agreed on anything at all. This is a surprise. Then, by the power vested in me by the council of Aelheim, and the King of Aelheim, I consider this amendment passed!"

The doors burst open at precisely that moment. My right arm wrenched toward my hip hard enough to turn me half a step. Vaelin was screaming to be drawn. Not yet, my friend.

One of the Karr stepped through, and he or she did not come alone. In the Karr's right hand, hung a man. The Karr set him down on the stone, and the man swayed on his feet. He was one of the Third Shield, judging by the uniform.

What remarkable timing. I wondered if this man was even a member of the Third Shield at all, or if he simply wore their armor.

"Who dares interrupt a sitting of this Council?" Duke Thalos said, rising. "Who would-"

"Aurel," my father said quietly. "Let us hear what the man has to say."

Duke Thalos looked at the intruder for a long moment. "Speak," he said.

I saw Julian smile. I did not look at Cordelia directly, but from the very corner of my eye I saw her all the same, and the sight of her put an ache in my chest. She stood perfectly straight behind her father, staring down at the floor, and her fingers were turning the ring on her hand. Around, and around, and around. As if all of this were somehow her fault.

"My- my Lords," the man gasped. He looked up at the five of them. "There's… there's monster swarms outside the gates!"