Tala watched as Sanguis and Be-thric examined the items that she and her strike-team had pulled off of their fallen enemies.

She surreptitiously took a bite of a pastry. Rust, these are delicious.

-Uncannily so… Still, I don’t detect any magic, poisons, or addictive substances, so we should be fine.-

The wrapped boxes of baked goods sat on a nearby table. Only one had been opened, and the various members of the strike team were enjoying the treats as unobtrusively as they could.

Tala had fed one to Terry, and while he’d seemed to like it, he hadn’t wanted another.

The two Pillars seemed quite pleased with the haul, though neither of them was partaking of the treats.

Apparently, several of those in the square had been higher level officials of the opposing House, and they’d had some important documents on them in their dimensional storages.

There were manifests for inter-city shipments due to arrive in the near future, lists of supposedly unaffiliated groups who were shadow organizations run by the House of the Rising Sun, and so much more.

It was honestly a little astounding that so many things of note were in one place, which had them suspicious. In truth, as Tala listened in, the Pillars suspected that many of the items on each list were decoys, meant to bait enemies into attacking neutral parties, or otherwise wasting resources or goodwill.

Even if it were all true, there was nothing illegal or truly incriminating in the documents, but the House of Blood strike teams would be busy over the next couple of days, sussing out and acting on the information gathered.

There were several magical weapons or other simple items, which would be added to the House vault, and quite a bit of coinage, though nothing on the scale of House finances.

“Well done, Eskau Tali.” Sanguis smiled her direction with evident sanguine contentment. “Your forethought in having the strike team in place turned what could have been a loss into a stunning victory.”

She gave a slight bow to the man, equal to what Be-thric would have given in her place. “Thank you, Pillar Sanguis. I aim to succeed.” So I can get the rust out of here.

“Indeed.” He then held up the bracer, which was the protian weapon she had gained from the cat-man. It had been the whole reason for the mission. I wish he’d been a bit of a jerk. He was polite before he died.

-Almost everyone is kind in the right circumstances. It doesn’t mean he was a good person.-

It doesn’t mean he was a monster, either.

-Do you want to feel guilty?-

No… She just wanted to go home.

Sanguis directed Be-thric to extend an arm, and the older Pillar fastened the bracer in place on his junior. Then, there was a flex of power as Sanguis bound the weapon to Be-thric, subtly changing its magics.

If Tala interpreted the new flows and pathways correctly, this bracer would now create close-fitting, seamless, flexible armor of light directly overtop of Be-thric’s skin, below anything he was wearing. It could also create a similar set of armor, forged of fire, overtop whatever the Pillar was wearing. There were a couple other twists and paths that Tala couldn’t quite interpret, but she was proud at how her mage-sight interpretation was coming along, as a whole.

“And with this, Pillar Be-thric, your defenses are nearly up to proper standards. The remaining pieces will be utilized offensively and for utilitarian purposes.”

Be-thric gave a shallow bow, his grin a stark, gleaming white between his onyx lips. “Thank you, Pillar Sanguis.”

The bracer then vanished with a bending and twisting of the world, and it was done. Something about the vanishing felt like it came from Be-thric, rather than Sanguis.

Something about the change binds the armor to the Pillar in a facsimile of soul-bonding.

-Yes, but it is a…looser connection, somehow, and with almost entirely different features.-

Sanguis departed. As he left, Tala saw the smallest flicker of power reach out and a single pastry vanished from the open box.

Tala kept herself from smiling at the covert snatching.

The strike-team left as well, each to their own duties. They were not subtle with the pastries, each grabbing an unopened box to take along for their next tasks.

Finally, Be-thric and Tala were left alone.

“So, my Eskau. Shall we check on the progress of your sanctum?”

“As you wish.” She nodded her head in acquiescence. She picked up four of the remaining boxes, trusting that the servants would parse out the last few.

They walked through the hold, back towards the entrance.

Tala had left Kit in the form of a door, attached to a wall in one of the side courtyards of the House of Blood’s main hold.

When they reached the place, that courtyard was abuzz with activity as several foremen were coordinating the movements of various servants and workmen.

Large carts full of soil were being backed up to Kit and dumped through.

Off to the side were similar wagons of nicely dressed stone, large barrels of water and innumberable plants.

Empty wagons were moving off into the hold or towards the exit to be refilled, depending on the material required.

Tala found an empty table off to one side and set down two of the boxes. “Pastries!” She called, her voice filling the space. “We have to get through, so you get a short break.”

The workmen each found an easy place to stop and moved out of their way.

Be-thric glanced her way and gave a small smile. “Good, Thorn’s lessons are settling in. It is much easier to manipulate and control with kindness than with force, though both methods have their place.”

Tala barely kept anger from her features and a shudder from her body. “Your wisdom is great, Pillar.”

As one foreman spotted them, she made her way over and bowed. “Esteemed Eskau Tali. I believe that I was told that you are able to increase the size of the door to be even larger. Is that possible?”

Kit’s entrance was already as large as three standard doors across and half-again the standard height.

Still, Tala gave a nod. “I will do that as we enter.”

“Thank you, Eskau.” She then bowed to Be-thric, but didn’t speak.

It would be rude for her to address a Pillar without need. Tala was starting to understand some of the nuances of the social interactions in arcane lands.

Tala and Be-thric reached the door, unimpeded, and she touched the doorframe as they walked through.

Kit heard her desire and the opening enlarged again, doubling its width.

A happy cry went up from the servants and workers behind them, but Tala and Be-thric were already focused on what stood before.

They were now walking on perfectly laid paving stones, put together into a road, wide enough to have two carts pass with relative ease.

The roadway was bracketed by raw dirt, stretching out into the distance. I wonder what I’ll put at the end of this road, when we move the default location of the entrance?

Tala glanced back. Many of the workers had already finished their pastries, and she was able to watch a cart being tipped, dumping its load through the entrance. As the dirt fell through, the soil vanished.

Kit is moving the material as it comes in. Tala began purposely expelling as much power into the air as she was able.

Be-thric glanced her way, not seeming the least bit startled or alarmed by her use of such quantities of magic. “That seems wise. Your little sanctum is doing a lot of work. We wouldn’t want it to run dry.”

The power she directed into the air was whisked away even faster than the dirt had been.

As they walked down the road towards the buildings in the near distance, they simply examined their surroundings in silence.

There were rolling hills of moist soil. Tala knew that clover seed had been dumped through the door the day before, so as long as they were actually able to add an artificial sun of some sort, these hills would be green in no time.

That was apparently due from the craftsmen later that afternoon.

The strike had taken place in the early morning, coinciding with the target’s usual routine.

She still felt a bit bad about the cat’s death. She would have much preferred to just take an arm…well, and his weapon.

-Really? This again?-

I can wish something hadn’t been required while still knowing it was a good outcome, all things considered.

-Fine, fine.-

Tala felt a twinge of loneliness as Alat’s response reminded her of Rane. She desperately hoped that he and Mistress Odera and her family were all right. And Lyn and Holly. There were so many people that she wanted to get back to.

All in due time. Rushing this will cause failure and taking my time will lead to success in every regard.

Tala felt a connection to the sanctum, but not like she was bound to it, not directly. It was odd: she could feel her magic flowing through it, or at least magic that matched hers in flavor and aspect.

She could feel that power all around her, and it oddly reminded her of when Tali was in command. Tala was surrounded by what seemed to be her own power without the ability to control it. She knew that her power was being used to do a ton of things without her direct input or management.

Huh. Is this what it feels like to be you?

-In a sense.-

Interesting.

Through her deeper connection with Kit and the sanctum as a whole, she knew that under the pavers that made up the surface of the road other work had been done, and other materials laid out. As such, this road would be a robust, long-lasting thoroughfare.

Similarly, she knew that, under the loamy topsoil, rock and clay had been brought in and placed to ensure the stability of the terrain over the long term.

It was amazing how much work went into establishing a hold or sanctum. I am so glad I didn’t have to do this all on my own. I cannot imagine the expense.

-We know what it cost us.-

That was a sobering reminder of the situation. Who’s bringing us down, now?

-That’s fair. It’s just hard to reconcile that none of this is free for us. We’ve paid a ridiculous, involuntary price.-

Don’t worry. I haven’t, and won’t, forget. We’ll balance the books, and this sanctum is a part of that.

In no time at all, Tala and Be-thric had crossed the soon-to-be-verdant space and arrived at the closest structures, at the center of the sanctum.

Craftsmen and magical engineers were working to build systems of power, which caused reverberations of magic to resonate distinctly within various sections of the food-production area.

Several sections were already set up. In fact, the entire central area seemed almost complete. It had been less than a week of work, but the various crews had been rotating out for near-nonstop progress.

Tala and Bethric walked through a tunnel of raspberry vines, and Tala saw that the trellises were practically vibrating with power, which would be compatible with her magics that enhanced her vascular system.

She could see that power suffusing the plants even as they continued to establish themselves.

The whole thing was so well put together that none of the resonant magic came anywhere near the path on which the two walked.

They came out of the tunnel into a central square with paths leading off in various directions.

Workers were coming and going from this point as well, though they seemed to be more of the skilled variety than the laborers dumping in material at the entrance.

In their center, a small figure was giving orders.

Be-thric leaned over towards Tala and spoke softly. “The foreman is Pride, the foremost expert in the area in the permanent establishment of foodstuff production infused with specific magics, a key asset to every major house in this region.”

Tala nodded. Don’t offend the expert. Got it.

The figure was a hue-folk who stood half Tala’s height. Purple skin and a bald pate were the first features that Tala noticed, followed closely by the most unusual means of inscription she had ever seen.

Large swaths of Pride’s body were covered with silvery metal in broad, rough scripts, and inset into those were incredibly fine, black spell-lines.

Is that zirconium?

-It must be, if it’s naturally black and a base metal. Though, it could be an alloy.-

Can you make inscriptions out of zirconium?

-Not that humanity is specifically aware of, but you can, theoretically, use any material for spell-lines.-

Huh.

In addition to the odd inscriptions, Pride wore loops of silvery chains along with other, similar jewelry practically everywhere there was space.

In contrast, the foreman’s clothing was simple in design if not in quality of construction, composed of sturdy black cloth with silver accents.

Additionally, it seemed that the foreman spent more time at a desk, or reading a book, than doing manual labor, though Tala couldn’t have said why she got that impression.

The purple figure turned towards Tala and Be-thric as they arrived and bowed. “Pillar Be-thric, Eskau Tali, welcome to the progress. My tasks are almost complete, and I have no doubt that you will be elated with the results.”

A silver and black bedecked, purple finger pointed in each direction. “This is the quadrant that I was given to work with. In the direction we are calling south, where you came from, we have the mundane berries and other fruits, infused with magic compatible with yours, of course, Eskau Tali.

“To the east we have the vegetables and grains, similarly infused.

“To the west are the animals: pigs, rabbits, chickens, and cows.

“Finally, to the north, is the path to the living complex.”

Be-thric smiled and actually gave a small bow. “Thank you, Pride. You really put yourself into your work. I trust that you don’t have time to give a tour?”

Pride’s head shook. “Unfortunately, not. I must transmute the magical structures into permanence and then be off to my next commission. Thank you for engaging us for your project.”

“Of course, Pride. You are the best at what you do.”

Pride grinned. “And with honesty like that, discretion is unquestioned.”

They bowed slightly to one another before Pride turned to Tala.

Tala cleared her throat and gave a bow mirroring Be-thric’s.

“Thank you, Pride. I look forward to sampling the fruits of your labor.” She hesitated, checked Tali’s memories, and found that there was just enough there to allow her to continue, “And, of course, the vegetables, grains, and animal product of your labor as well.”

Pride snorted a laugh and waved her off. “Thank you, Eskau. It is my honor to be of service to the House of Blood.”

Without further delay, Tala and Be-thric continued to the ‘north,’ exiting the courtyard and moving up another path to an open-air building, set on the high-point of the sanctum.

In the center was the raised platform with Tala’s seat of power. While sitting in it, she knew that she would feel much more connected to the hold, and it seemed that Kit could understand her desires more minutely as well.

To the right of the platform was a large training ring, empty ponds already in place around it to mimic, but not mirror, the training area she’d used as a candidate.

To the left was a bunker-like building, which would eventually house the entrance and exit by default. Magical defenses were being imbedded into it both to keep out any unwanted intruders, and to slay or restrain them if they managed to enter anyways.

All the magics were being hooked into Kit, itself.

More of a magical burden to empower.

-All the more reason to expand your gate. That is next on the docket, I believe. At least it should be, after the inspection.-

Straight ahead, on the other side of the dais, was a series of rooms for herself and guests whom she allowed to visit. They were all arranged around a library, kitchen, and dining space, the latter of which was situated to look out towards the ‘north’ of the sanctum, where the non-food bearing forest would be located.

Apparently, mature oaks, maples, and aspens were being brought in, and would be the backbone of her forest, though younger trees would fill in around their older fellows.

There seemed to be a whole industry surrounding the preparing of materials to outfit new holds. Quite a few arcanes simply spent their days creating base materials like soil, rock, and water, so that the filling of holds didn’t force them to strip zeme down to a husk.

I wonder just how much extra-dimensional space has been tacked on to our planet over the eons.

-There’s no way to know for sure, but in this city alone, there’s enough land in the various holds to exceed the size of this continent, and this is far from the only arcane city.-

It was an interesting line of thought.

She might have wondered why humanity didn’t just have their cities in dimensional pockets, except that she now knew the deeper reasons for the cities’ relocations. That many humans in a pocket dimension would slowly degrade its foundations. A few moving about could be compensated for, the weakness caused by their gates repaired, but even as few as a thousand gated humans would slowly ruin any pocket city they tried to inhabit.

Tala shook her head. It was not the time for morose thoughts, or considerations of what could not be.

She stepped up on the raised platform, slowly turning to take in the commanding view of the sanctum.

Waterways were already created and reinforced, though there was still very little water as of yet. Tala wasn’t a fan of eating fish so those that would be added to the water systems wouldn’t be for consumptive purposes.

“Well, my Eskau? What do you think?”

Tala found herself smiling, despite the one she was talking with. “Amazing. Truly.”

“As befits my Eskau.”

There was no sun in the sky, despite the pervasive light. The sourceless light was an illusion maintained by Kit so that they could see.

Tala patted the armrest of the throne and whispered, “We’ll get you a proper sun soon enough.”

The chair did not respond.

Thorn came out of the structure to the north and bowed to each of them in turn. “My Pillar. Eskau Tali. I trust your mission was a success, Eskau?”

Tala smiled, feeling genuine pleasure at seeing him. He was growing on her, even if mainly due to his constant presence. “Thorn. Yes, we had a few complications, but we were successful.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” He turned to Be-thric. “My Pillar, may I show her the reinscriber?”

“Of course, Thorn. I would be glad to have you do so.”

Thorn bowed again, then stepped up onto the raised platform.

He stopped and knelt behind the throne, prompting Tala to move over beside him.

There, embedded in the ground, was a small hatch.

Thorn pulled the hatch open, revealing three gold bars, two silver, and one copper.

“Here are the metals that the magics pull from to enact the reinscriptions.” He glanced at her, saw that she understood, and closed the hatch once more. “Anywhere on this platform, you can give the command and the magics will do what needs to be done.”

“Can anyone activate it?”

“On themselves?” Thorn glanced toward Be-thric before shaking his head. “I don’t believe so, no. The magic of the one activating the reinscription must match yours, and that of this sanctum. There is a separate command that others can give to reinscribe you if you are on the platform, but I don’t know it. Pillar Be-thric is the only one who does, and he wrote that, along with other secrets of the sanctum, down in a small book that is awaiting you in your room. If the reinscriber can do anything else, it will be recorded, there.”

“Thank you, Thorn.”

“It is my pleasure to serve the House of Blood.”

Tala surveyed the hold around her and frowned. “We’re sure that this will be able to run itself?”

She really, really didn’t want to have to have servants in here. That would complicate her life immensely, especially when she made good on her escape.

Again, Thorn glanced towards Be-thric, but this time the dwarf nodded. “Yes. The manipulation abilities your dimensional storage brought to this hold means that so long as you understand what needs to be done, when, and wish for the hold to do it, everything should run smoothly.”

He cleared his throat and scratched the side of his neck.

“We are creating a task list that you can run through each day, mentally, until things are fully established. That way, it should become ingrained within the cycles of the sanctum.”

Set deep below the raised platform, Tala knew there was a massive storeroom that couldn’t be accessed from the outside. There, Kit could store everything out of the way, awaiting her need of it. That was just one of the features being added, which relied on Kit’s previously demonstrated abilities to move things about at her desire.

Assuming Kit doesn’t eat the stuff while I’m not looking. That wasn’t really fair. Kit had never eaten anything she cared about. Not that I’ve noticed.

-Not that either of us noticed, and we have perfect memory of what should be in here. Kit seems to be playing the long game, and look around. It’s paying off.-

Tala grinned. “Thank you again, Thorn.”

“It is my pleasure.”

Ironically, Tala realized that all of this was meant to save the House of Blood resources in the long run. If she were really going to be an Eskau for decades, if not longer, then this sanctum would pay for itself many, many times over.

They are good at long-term planning.

-Indeed.-

It’s a shame that it won’t profit them this time.

-A real, rusting shame.-

As Tala was basking in the glory of what was coming together around her, a messenger ran up the road they’d just come in on.

The young, dog-folk boy bowed low. “The great Da'talus requests access to this sanctum and quick passage to its heart.”

Tala recognized the name of the craftsman who’d been commissioned to make Kit’s artificial sun. She looked to Be-thric who gestured for her to continue.

Tala smiled. “Of course.”

She sat in the throne and flexed her will and power.

A door materialized just to the south of the platform, directly in Tala’s line of sight.

It was normal sized, and when it swung open, it revealed a small man, who would barely reach Tala’s waist if she were standing.

He stepped through the door, the messenger ducked back through, and it shut once more, on its own.

Tala felt the entrance return to its current, default location within the sanctum, reopening and expanding for the workers to continue the depositing of materials.

Da'talus bowed, holding before him, clasped between his two hands, a relatively small object.

It was roughly the size of Tala’s head, and it radiated odd mixes of energy.

The craftsman was currently expending a massive amount of power, generating a protective field around the creation.

“Greetings Pillar. Greetings Eskau. I apologize for skipping formalities, and for asking for expeditious access here, but this is a delicate creation, and timing is key. I would have been here sooner, but some sort of disruption in the city has caused all manner of delays.”

Be-thric had indicated that Tali should take the lead with this craftsman. He apparently wanted her to continue to practice ‘what Thorn was teaching her.’ So, Tala responded, “Of course, Honored Da’talus. What do you need from us?”

“Where is the central pillar? I must link this to the core inscribed and inherent matrices.”

Tala stood and gestured at the throne. “It is here.”

The diminutive, orange-skinned man’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I see.”

Even so, he did not hesitate.

With quick movements, he climbed onto the platform and walked to the throne.

He sat the creation down on the seat and Tala got a good look at it for the first time.

It looked like nothing so much as a gyroscope with hundreds of gimbals, each as thin as foil, each imbued with natural magics of durability and reduced friction, among other powers. They seemed to be of a whole host of metals, each layer different than every other.

They were spinning already, but Tala thought that that was more due to inertia than anything actively making them do so.

She caught flashing glimpses of an odd material at the core of the contraption, and it was that material that was radiating the odd power that Da’talus was struggling to contain.

As the creation sat on the throne, Da’talus thrust his magics outward, seemingly creating pathways in the dimensions of magic and forging them between the heart of the sanctum and his creation.

They weren’t spell-forms, simply channels for power, like Tala’s own void-channels, simply more permanent.

As he did that work, the spinning gimbals began to pick up speed, each on a fractionally different axis.

After another moment, the device seemed to be generating its own protective field, and Da’talus retracted his magics, almost seeming to stagger in relief.

“There.” A smile blossomed across his features. “That will regulate this hold for a thousand years at least, if it functions for a day.”

Be-thric chuckled. “Only a thousand years? I thought we paid for an eternal sun?”

Da’talus waved him off. “Nothing is eternal. A longer lasting sun would have to be bigger, but then it would be oversized for this hold.”—He looked around appreciatively.—“To give any significantly longer life, would require a hold at least ten times this size, if not as large as the House of Blood’s hold. Otherwise, the star would be too much, and destabilize the whole space.”

“Can it be…refueled, if that is the right term?” Tala asked hesitantly. She had a hard time grasping the timescale of a thousand years, but ideally, she’d be leaving soon, and it was very possible that this wasn’t replicable by humanity, not in this way, not at the moment. So, she needed answers now.

Da’talus shrugged. “Of course, with the right applications of space magic and the right material. I sent ahead a booklet detailing all the functions available to you. This is a complete environmental controller.”

As they’d chatted, the connections through the dimensions of magic had seemed to solidify, until now they felt like they were a permanent part of the hold.

Without any of them doing a thing, Da’talus’ creation suddenly blazed with light, very much like a miniature sun. It then rose up into the air, moving to match the sun’s position outside their hold.

I wonder if it’s matching the House of Blood’s sun, or the real one?

-Those should be the same, but I would bet the informational booklet would tell us if one has precedence over the other.-

Fair. Let’s read that sooner rather than later.

Da’talus grunted in satisfaction. “I’ll need to move about the hold and take measurements for the next few hours. I’ll let you know if any tweaks are required, as it is now outside of my ability to affect.”

“Thank you, Honored Da’talus.”

The small man bowed towards Be-thric. “It is my honor to be of service to the House of Blood.”

As the craftsman walked off, Tala stared up at Kit’s new sun. She whispered up towards the sky, “Well… you have your own star, now.”

The sun did not respond.