Chapter 57: Enclave XXVII
The degree to which Id underestimated Ephira became clear the moment I took at seat at the table. Id thought her melodramatic and petty. She was those things, but she was also more.
I was skilled in negotiation and statecraft.
Ephira was a master.
The Chefs at the long table to my left side chopped food just a bit louder than necessary. The table was pulled slightly too far away from me to be comfortable. And I had no doubt the wobbly chair had its legs intentionally shortened. Every time it shook I was forced to cling to the table, and my eyes would naturally go to the massive chasm to my right.
At the distant base of the chasm, I saw a massive demon with a head half the size of its body skewer a smaller one, tossing it dozens of feet in the air, only to be tackled Every time the chair shifted, it made it nearly impossible to think.
My father once told me that there are three aspects to a successful interrogation. Patience, leverage, and destabilization. Shed shown patience by sending a carriage for me and bringing me to her, rather than showing up at my house. She already had ample leverage over me for everything that had occurred at the Derdre Estate. And this entire set-up was her attempt at the latterthe attempt more literal and direct than most, but still effective and well executed.
Im happy to answer whatever questions you have. I said.
Oh, not yet, dear. Im not so rude as to invite a guest to lunch and not feed them. She drank from her glassa colorful mixture garnished with a black cherry sitting at its base.
I didnt like the way she said it. Or the way any of this was going. I needed to get her to break from the script.
We can dispose of the pretense, councillor. I am aware that I overstepped yesterday, and intend to make good on my promise to make it up to you.
She extended a finger from the hand holding her glass, emphasizing each word. Nonsense. Pretense is important. As a prince, you of all people should know this.
I waved her point away. I find that pretense is often little more than an excuse for high-born and nobility to edify themselves with boring pageantry.
My, my, are you currently bored my dear Cairn? Ephira asked. She wasnt wrong. I was many things, but bored was not one of them.
Sorry, sometimes I gloat, Ephira continued. Its a character flaw. My point is that pretense is part of ritual. And ritual, is all that separates us from them. She pointed down at the warring demons in the abyss with her glass.
I might as well ask. Im sure she was dying for me to.
Why are they fighting?
They are fighting because that is a particularly resource rich section of the Sanctum shallows, fraught with soul fragments and blood glass. But if you mean in a philosophical sense
I didnt I interrupted, but Ephira barreled on regardless.
They are fighting because they are animals. And animals must struggle to survive. It is in their very nature. Just as it is in our nature to jockey and negotiate for position.
You look down on them.
On the contrary, I enjoy watching them because they remind me how important the simple institutions of cordiality and manners really are. Should those institutions fall, we will be down in the dirt with them, murdering over scraps, consuming the flesh of the fallen. It is a struggle of the soul, if you will.
It was a common line of thought amongst the wealthy in Whitefall as well, typically brought up and bandied about whenever there was an uprising. Funny, how important manners were, when you wanted for nothing.
So thats all we are, in your eyes. Animals capable of higher thought, but animals just the same.
After a fashion. Ephira confirmed.
I decided to engage with her, if only to distract me from the surrounding environment.
Id like to think were better than that. That the soulor the essence of what makes us people, individuals, that it elevates us beyond the four-legged creatures that snuffle the ground and demons that battle in the dark.
Isnt that the same argument that allows your kind to dismiss us wholesale? The purity of the soul? Ephira asked. As her gaze pierced me, I noticed for the first time that her eyes werent completely white. An outline of iris lurked beneath the ivory sheen.
Shall I take responsibility for every slight a human has made against an infernal, then? I regretted the jab as soon as it was spoken. Sarcasm would come off as petty and defensive.
I suppose not. Perhaps we should stay on topic.
Yes. I sighed in relief. Lets get to it then,
To lunch. Ephira said, and I suppressed a groan. The chefs brought a handful of plates, their portions incredibly small. The appetizers included a simple wedge salad with a balsamic dressing and a small portion of soup, but what really gave me pause was the main course.
On first inspection it was nothing but ice, served in a steel bowl that reflected my questioning face as I peered down into it. As I looked closer, I noticed something of a visual distortion on the ice itself.
Then it moved. I jumped. There perhaps a dozen small translucent squares. Ephira was watching me, a self-satisfied look on her face.
I know your hosts arent exactly wealthy, but surely, you havent lived in the enclave for a year now without hearing about sceo?
As it happened, I had. Sceoquel gossamer slugs were mentioned around the enclave the same way humans might reference the Tacorn beef of Hiawakira.
Only in passing.
Yes.
What tipped you off? Ephira asked.
A number of things. The fact that we werent told where the gem was. We were given two possible locations. I thought back to those initial planning moments. The way Shear had seemed completely comfortable with the haphazard nature of the plan. But when we got there, the way was already unbarred for us. Shear said another team had swept through and cleared the way, but that didnt make sense. The sewer passage being open was one thing. But the grates leading up from the sewer were unlocked from above. There was no way for a person to access the locks unless they were already in the yard.
Implying Persephone has someone inside. Ephira observed.
Right. If she has someone on the inside, why wouldnt she know where the sapphire is?
Maybe the person doesnt have access. Mifral employs a number of gardeners and landscapers, any of whom would be uniquely positioned to unlock the grates but not have a free-range within the rest of the estate. Could be a fluke.
Not when you combine it with everything else, I insisted. The gravity field was supposed to go off when we made our exit. Yet it went off nearly immediately, and Shear tried to pin it on another person. Add to that the fact that they sent us to check the bedroom safe, rather than the trophy room, when Id imagine the chances were much higher it would be in the bedroom instead of out on display.
Youre not wrong. Ephira admitted. She pushed the bowl containing her sceo aside, and I watched in muted fascination as it began to reform. Mifral loves to flaunt her wealth, but the truly exceptional pieces she always keeps safeguarded and hidden.
But the biggest giveaway of all, I continued, Was that you were there.
Me?
Yes. This thing was planned down to the minute. And if Persephone is as competent as she pretends to be
She is. Ephira confirmed.
Then it seems highly unlikely she wouldnt know a high councillor was scheduled to visit the target of a theft.
So, if the point wasnt the sapphire, what was it? Ephira asked, in a voice that hinted she already knew the answer.
Mifral is the biggest gem trader within the enclave. I cocked my head at her. You werent there for rest and relaxationor if you were, it was a business meeting couched as a spa day.
Nothing youre saying is exactly hidden knowledge, Prince. Ephira said dryly.
Persephone knew you would be there. She wanted you to lose face with Mifral, and intended to use a spectacular but ultimately bungled robbery to do so. Although I got lost in thought, having reached the end of my mental rope. Im not sure on the specifics of why.
For the first time since the discussion began, there was a silence that hung between us.
Well Ephira finally said. I know why.
I perked up at that. Oh?
First, Ill need some assurances.
Once Id sworn the proper oaths and assured Ephira that my relationship with Persephone was nothing more than a matter of convenience, and that I would work with her to achieve the half-demons downfall, she finally explained the situation.
Mifral dealt mainly in gems, that was true. But she also dealt in rare artifacts that housed gems. These were often decorative, but as gems could be used to augment mana, they could be extremely powerful.
A few months ago a seventeen-year-old infernal returning from the Sanctum had brought back an artifact: a scepter crowned with a diamond the size of a fist. It had been sold to Mifral for a fraction of what it was likely worth. Only no one knew what it was worth because Mifral was holding it jealously, and not allowing for it to be appraised, forcing a blind bidding war.
There was an anonymous party in the bidding war that Ephira was confident was Persephone, and she was running out of money.
What could an artifact of that class possibly do? I asked
The possibilities are almost endless. Greed danced in Ephiras eyes. But generally speaking, diamonds are most commonly used in artifacts that create illusionsoften illusions so powerful, theyre indistinguishable from reality.
I stilled. I remembered my dark shadow, leaving Mayas home, soaked in blood. Everything seemed to come into focus.
So best-case scenario, Shear finds the scepter. But thats less likely that the alternative.
Ephira nodded. Persephone is trying to spook Mifral into selling early, while shes still in the lead.
I take it Guemons involved in this bidding war? I asked, coolly.
Not anymore. He dropped off in the last few weeks. Ephira said.
That confused me. Then whos left?
It was that moment, the membrane of the slugs writhing in my stomach finally burst. The tastethough I didnt taste it, exactly, more breathed itwas full, and savory, and exquisite, and overwhelming, as if Id never truly tasted anything before.
But I only had a moment to enjoy it.
Ephira held up three fingers. The remaining bidders are me, Persephone, and Ralakos.
