Suggested Listening

"You can stay here," Elruin offered. She hoped it wasn't rude to do so, since Erra and Grandmother were charge of the camp.

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but." Cali tried to still her shaking hands. "Will that help? Honestly, will that make it more likely to fulfill this bond?"

Elruin couldn't answer, since she felt sure the answer was no. Scratch stepped in for her. "Speakin' as someone who's used cowardice to live a long, full life, so to speak, I can't say what you stayin' would do. I can tell you that the current plan is to stay here on our potentially nonexistent asses until we have a plan. Right now it looks like the plan is to wait for the would-be king to die of old age."

"Won't work." Cali steadied herself. "I guess it won't hurt to stay for a while, if it improves the odds. But I'm trying to convince myself leaving improves the odds because I don't want to Ell as someone's sacrifice."

"I want you to stay!" Elruin insisted. She hadn't yet decided how to fix what happened to Cali, but her staying would make it better.

"Leaving means the odds are at zero and stay at zero," Scratch said. "Stick around, and there's a slim chance the odds become something other than zero. Oh, hey, looks like it's time for me to vanish. I'll have Elruin sing me the details later." Scratch dropped into the soil, not moments before the buzz of wings began.

Lyra landed nearby, then began to sniff the air. She snarled, as much as her insectoid mouth-parts would allow, looking for the infuriating thing which somehow evaded her at every turn. Then she took notice of Cali.

"I missed you, Lyra." Calenda stepped forward, then hugged the little dryad as hard as she could. The dryad hugged her back, but without such force. "I know, I miss her, too."

The dryad began the soft humming that she used to indicate contentment, and hugged back. Soon they settled into a pattern of Cali giving scratches in various locations while Lyra moved about to indicate the spots she wanted the most attention at that moment.

"Priestess Calenda!" Erra had followed Lyra out. Still uncertain of her own position within the church hierarchy, she held her hands together and bowed. "Please tell me, how are you here? Why? I'm sorry, I-"

"Enough of that," Cali said. "Only the high priests outrank you now. Besides, I'm not even a priestess anymore. They disavowed me out when Claron declared me a traitor and had me imprisoned."

"They can't do that!" Lyra's head and wings sprang up in response to Erra's anger. Was it the skulking presence? She hoped it was the skulking presence. "No, Lyra, there's no danger." The disappointed dryad curled back up to Cali.

"I was also discharged from the guard, and it remains to be seen if anything of my noble titles survive. It's the guard that stings most, I think. I suppose I have Garit to thank for stopping the torture and execution. The marriage stunt may have been self-serving on his part, but I admit he did save my life, at considerable risk to his own safety and perhaps survival."

Erra said nothing. She knew the unfairness of life, and that everyone had a different view of what unfairness was, but she'd given up on any hope to marry anyone, let alone a future duke. She made peace with a life of celibacy, since the best a poor and less than attractive woman like her could hope for was a lover who didn't abandon her the moment she got pregnant.

Elruin, too, had no thoughts to offer. She was too young for marriage to be a consideration, and now she was more concerned with the bad man who wanted to kill her in the name of Enge.

"The church is in chaos." Cali dropped the subject, unwilling to commiserate any further. "Everything's in chaos, but especially the church. Normally the solution would be simple: the high priests hold the moot, then act accordingly. They've tried twice that I know about, but Enge hasn't responded, and they don't know what to do. I think that's why he's so desperate to have you sacrificed. If Enge acknowledges him to the priests, then they will kneel without hesitation. The entire empire becomes his with a single edict."

"And until an edict comes, they won't stand against him," Erra concluded.

"More like can't." Cali scratched Lyra harder; she couldn't hurt the dryad if she tried, and it was nice to relieve a little stress. "Carrying one of Enge's artifacts should be proof enough of right to rule, but Claron is giving orders that specifically violate scripture, but he's doing so in ways that provide charity to the poor, so there's confusion in the ranks. More to the point, he's too powerful to oppose. Only Lyra can challenge him, and he's working on changing that."

"Is that possible?" Elruin asked.

"I don't know that it's impossible," Cali said. "And he needs it for more than just fighting Lyra. He's already taken Milet and Lesel, and is preparing to move to other cities in the near future. Right now, he seems to want to find some special way to attack Engewal, either by taking control of the Palici, or with a weapon that can threaten them in combat and end the war in a single battle. If that fails, he's going to take all of Engeval except the capital city, and starve it out."

"And if Claron can force Engewal's surrender, he'll have command over the church, and therefor command of the Palici." Elruin knew Palici were the guarding spirits of Engewal, much as Lyra was here in Arila. Unlike Lyra, they had no human handlers, and remained asleep much of the time. Whether the twins were stronger than Lyra was unknown, but it appeared Claron wasn't taking any chances.

"The worst part is, Engewal doesn't know there's a threat," Calenda added. "Not to this scale, at least. The rainy season's over, but it will be another month before the crops are ready for transport. If those trade caravans never reach Engewal, they will face shortages by the end of the year. It may take two, perhaps three years for Engewal to run low on supplies, but they will run low. People will die."

"And they can't send their armies out to reclaim farms, because Claron will know and attack them himself." There were a handful of the strongest dragonslayers who might be able to stop Claron, but they couldn't be everywhere at once. "Luring him into an ambush might work."

"Which requires someone getting out of here and warning the remaining free cities." Cali squeezed down on the purring Lyra, who enjoyed her vigorous massage. "And making it through the wilderness while Claron's forces hunt them down. The one saving grace would be that they can't send more than a few at a time without the risk of drawing powerful monsters. But none of that matters, since we can't even escape-."

Lyra roused herself from her comfy spot under Cali's ministrations, then walked several feet away. Earth rumbled and cracked, then a hole fell away, leaving a pit behind.

"I... think it goes outside," Erra said. "It's difficult for me to figure out her mood at times."

"Well, that's inconvenient." Cali brushed some of Lyra's moss off her clothes. "Now Claron will know that you have a way to escape the city. He'll have the exit path found, and blocked off."

Lyra looked back, regarding the girls for a moment before stomping her foot next to the hole. Distant echoes could be heard through the pit she'd made. She then flitted away, back to her nest in the trees.

"I... think there are now dozens of exit-holes around the city in every direction. I hope they don't last long, or we'll have monsters sneaking under the walls in no time."

"Then I'm going with you," Cali declared.

"Sorry, Sis, I see where that goes." Scratch stuck his head out of the ground beneath Elruin's feet. "We go down that pit, then seconds after we climb out the other side, we have an unconscious necromancer being dragged right back to the wall. Claron pisses himself in joy, and I'm back to looking for a new partner. Entek ne."

Erra stepped toward the ghost. "Priestess Calenda would never!"

"That's my cue to leave." Scratch dropped beneath the earth followed not long after by Lyra landing near Elruin.

Erra began to rub the dryad's back. "Lyra, it's fine, nobody's in danger. I promise, I'll call you if I need help."

"I'm afraid I made you a liar, twice," Cali said. She drew her sleeve back to reveal the magical ink. "Elruin is in danger, because of me. I'm magically bound to deliver Elruin to Claron's clutches, using any method I can think of. Prioritizing the plans I think are most likely first."

"And telling her that's the plan is your best idea? No offense, but that sounds crazy."

"Well, I can't force her to leave thanks to this peace magic, so the easiest plan can't work. And nothing's forcing me to think very hard about my plan. Besides, being honest opened a way out of the city, and now all I have to do is convince Elruin to leave with me. If that fails, then I will go warn. So if it's crazy, but it works, then it's not crazy, is it?"

"Well, then I can have Lyra take you prisoner." Erra stood tall, while the dryad approached. "Don't worry, nobody will hurt you, and we'll keep you comfortable, but you won't be able to do anything to harm Elruin."

"I'd rather you didn't," Cali said. "But I'd be forced to say that by the spell, regardless of its truth."