[February 5, 2006]
POV: Athaliah Beleth
"Why is King Meruem not present himself?" Lord Alphard Bael demanded. "Does he mock this council by refusing to appear when summoned, or has House Beleth grown so supercilious in its power that it no longer feels obliged to answer its peers?"
"His Infernal Majesty is presently outside the Underworld on an errand he judged of greater importance," Athaliah replied, allowing no warmth into her voice."He entrusted me with the authority to represent both his person and House Beleth before this council. Should that arrangement prove unacceptable, we may adjourn the hearing until my brother returns."
The silence that followed was gratifying. Athaliah stood alone upon the black marble floor at the center of the council chamber, surrounded on every side by tiered rows of carved seats occupied by the sovereign lords of the surviving Pillar Houses, the elder judges seated above them beneath their veiled statues, and Sirzechs Lucifer upon the raised throne reserved for the presiding Satan.
The summons had arrived during Meruem's absence from the Underworld, an absence known to everyone present, and the timing had been far too precise to owe anything to chance. They had feared that Meruem would refuse them outright, or worse, attend and force them to repeat their claims while looking him in the eye, so they had called House Beleth at the one moment when they knew its king could not appear and had settled for his elder sister, whom they doubtless imagined easier to corner.
"There is no need for delay," Lord Agares said. "Lady Athaliah is the king's elder sister, and a princess of blood. No one here could reasonably deny that she is qualified to speak for her House."
"Very well." Lord Alphard Bael settled back into his seat. "Let the record show that House Beleth has appeared through Lady Athaliah, acting under the authority of her brother. This council has summoned your House to discuss a matter whose consequences extend far beyond the boundaries of any one domain. The Eye of the Pit has been pacified, and its interior surveyed sufficiently to establish that it contains fertile territory and resources on a scale without precedent in the Underworld. Such a discovery demands the attention of the council."
"A discovery," Athaliah repeated, acerbitly. "How fortunate that the land became visible only after my brother cleared it."
That won a low cough from someone near the Sitri seat, hastily disguised behind a hand. Sirzechs lowered his eyes for a moment, and Athaliah could not tell whether he concealed irritation or amusement. Alphard Bael gave her a long, measuring look, perhaps wondering how much of Meruem lived in the sister they had hoped to pressure. Less than they feared, she suspected, and more than they would have liked.
"No one intends to deny House Beleth credit for the achievement," Lord Dantalion said. "King Meruem accomplished what generations believed impossible, and the council acknowledges the courage and power required. But the Eye of the Pit is no ordinary holding. Its agricultural capacity could relieve shortages across the Underworld and provide secure resources in the event of another war. The welfare of millions cannot be made dependent upon the pleasure of one House."
"The welfare of millions appeared to trouble this council very little when the Eye poured monsters into Beleth lands." Athaliah regarded him for a moment. "House Beleth paid for that danger in blood, coin, and generations of crippled strength, while our peers watched from a comfortable distance and assured us that territorial sovereignty prevented intervention. Now the same sovereignty has become an obstacle to the public good. Your principles possess a remarkable sensitivity to profit, my lord."
A few mouths twitched. Lord Dantalion's did not.
"The circumstances have changed," he answered. "The Eye was then a source of danger contained within your territory. It has become a resource capable of transforming the Underworld. Law must account for realities unforeseen by those who wrote it."
"Law has accounted for greater changes than fertile soil," Athaliah said. "The territorial codes are clear in this matter. Every natural resource, magical formation, and dimensional annex lying wholly within the recognized borders of a sovereign Pillar domain falls under the jurisdiction of that House - unless prior treaty, conquest, or judgment establishes another claim. No such thing exists. The Eye lies at the heart of our lands, and it has been defended by Beleth forces since its creation and it will remain so."
Lord Vassago raised two fingers, and the chamber quieted. "The legal point is less certain than you suggest. The Eye was created through a rupture connected to the Dimensional Gap, and some experts contend that it constitutes an extranatural territory whose connection to Beleth lands is geographical without being juridical. The old precedents concerning enclosed subdimensions are inconsistent."
"Then those experts may present themselves before the Elder Council and explain why an extranatural territory somehow imposed wholly natural obligations upon House Beleth for centuries," Athaliah replied. "Our soldiers were expected to guard its borders. Our treasury funded the fortification. Every prior ruling treated the Eye as ours whenever responsibility was discussed. It would be an astonishing legal doctrine that grants ownership to all and liability to one."
"We do not propose stripping House Beleth of all benefits," Lord Vassago said calmly. "House Beleth would retain administration, receive a generous share of the revenues, and hold permanent representation upon a governing commission through which the Pillars and Satan Administration would oversee the Eye. The Underworld would share in its prosperity while your House became wealthier than ever before."
Ridiculous. Athaliah would have been impressed by the temerity to suggest such a thing, if it was not so insulting.
"How generous of you to allow House Beleth a seat upon the body created to divide House Beleth's property."
Lord Foras leaned forward, his heavy gold chain settling upon his stomach. "The lady's wit does her credit, but mockery cannot answer the central concern. If House Beleth monopolizes the Pit, it will control the largest source of food and undeveloped land in the Underworld. Within a generation, every lesser House may find itself economically dependent upon Beleth markets and the balance among the Pillars could cease to exist. The constitutional order depends upon no single sovereign possessing enough wealth to dominate the rest."
"Strange, this principle has never troubled the council regarding House Phenex," Athaliah said, turning toward the golden-haired man seated beneath the sigil of the immortal bird. "House Phenex has held a monopoly over Phoenix Tears since its inception, but no lord has proposed that their fountains be declared the property of devilkind."
Lord Aurelius Phenex inclined his head, his amber eyes bright with satisfaction. "House Phenex would never accept the theft of its property."
"Your product is unique and limited, Lord Phenex," Lord Foras said. "The Pit contains natural resources on an unprecedented scale."
"The Eye is an inherited burden of ours. My brother has made it valuable through his own strength. I fail to see why the ownership would change just because we happened to prove fortunate."
"Fortunate?" Lord Alphard's voice sharpened. "Hearing you speak, one could almost imagine House Beleth desired the wound. The Eye itself was created through the folly of your ancestor to begin with, through his insatiable greed. Its danger threatened every territory had containment failed. One might argue that your House has no moral right to profit from the consequences of its own offense."
Athaliah felt something cold settle inside her. Every child of her House knew the shame of her ancestor, for other Houses had taken pleasure in teaching it to them. But the beasts had never reached Bael lands, nor Zepar fields, nor the jeweled halls of Glasya-Labolas, because Beleth soldiers had died keeping them contained.
"Is that so, my lord?" Athaliah looked toward him, and allowed herself a smile. "Then House Bael should surrender every fortress built after one of its wars and every province inherited from an ancestor's conquest. If moral purity has become the basis of property law, this chamber will empty its treasuries before supper.
"The origin of the Eye is irrelevant," Athaliah continued. "My great grandfather committed an act of monumental stupidity and paid for it with his life. His descendants paid again each year thereafter. House Beleth never asked the Underworld to share that punishment, though we would have welcomed the generosity. No armies came during our times of need. We were told that sovereign lords must govern their own misfortunes and so we did."
"Lady Athaliah, no one disputes the suffering borne by House Beleth." Sirzechs shifted upon his throne, and the faint movement was enough to quiet the chamber. "Property rights exist because they preserve peace between sovereigns. But every legal tradition acknowledges that rights are not ends in themselves. They exist for the preservation of the commonwealth. Tell me, Lady Athaliah, if exercising one right imperils the order that grants every other, does that right remain absolute?"
Athaliah had wondered when he would speak. Sirzechs had little love for Meruem, however carefully he concealed it beneath courtesy, and Dimora Bael's public execution had given that dislike a personal edge.
"My brother has issued no threat to withhold food nor any intention to imperil the right of others," Athaliah said. "He has not announced prices, restricted trade, or denied access to merchants. The council seeks to seize authority because of what he might do with it."
"The danger lies in the power itself," Sirzechs replied. "The old Satans taught us what follows when too much authority is concentrated in one hand."
"The old Satans commanded every House, every legion, and every law in Hell. Meruem controls his own domain as is his right. Comparing territorial prosperity to absolute kingship is rather biased of you, my Lord."
Sirzechs expression remained mild. "You know that I did not equate your brother with the old regime."
"You invoked the old regime to justify limiting his rights. Forgive me for not giving you the benefit of the doubt when you seem so determined to do the opposite for my house."
"Enough," Lord Alphard said, and struck the arm of his seat with two fingers. "This hearing was called to find a settlement, not to trade insinuations. House Beleth cannot expect the rest of the Underworld to ignore a development of this magnitude. If your brother refuses joint administration, perhaps he would consider guaranteed quotas, regulated prices, and permanent access for every recognized Pillar House."
"Would House Bael submit its mines and foundries to regulated prices set by its rivals?"
"I tire of this back and forth," Lord Stiri rose slowly. "Let us speak plainly. Your brother already commands one of the greatest domains in Hell. He possesses power few living devils can rival. If the Eye grants him wealth beyond Bael and Phenex combined, who shall restrain him if restraint becomes necessary?"
She was somewhat surprised that Lord Sitri would admit his fears so openly, though she supposed being the father of the current Leviathan granted a man enough security in his position to acknowledge such things without fearing that candor might be mistaken for weakness.
"His power is checked by the same laws that bind every sovereign Pillar," she said. "It seems to me you're seeking additional restraints because the existing ones do not diminish him enough for your comfort."
"We seek balance and prosperity in the underworld."
"Strange," she held her chin in an exaggerated, thoughtful manner. "I did not see this sentiment for the last nine centuries when my house and its lands were being ravaged by beasts."
"Take care, princess." Lord Dantalion's voice sharpened. "You stand before your peers."
"I stand before lords who watched my House bleed for generations and now call the reward for our survival a public asset," Athaliah said, irritated. "Spare me the wounded dignity. Had Meruem failed, you would've sent condolences."
Lord Agares raised one hand, and the chamber quieted again. He was broad-faced, blond-haired, and usually sparing with his words, for a lord who owned Agreas Island had little need to beg attention.
"House Agares supports the Beleth claim," he said. "As does the rule of law. Agreas Island lies within my jurisdiction despite its strategic importance, despite the value of its crystals, and despite Lord Beelzebub's residence there. A ruling against Beleth would establish a precedent that reaches far beyond the Pit."
"There are distinctions," Lord Glasya-Labolas said quickly. "Agreas has established administration, settlement, and production. The Pit is undeveloped territory newly made accessible."
"It was inaccessible because House Beleth contained the creatures within it," Agares replied. "Development follows ownership, not the other way around."
"House Phenex concurs," Lord Phenex said, giving a small nod. "The council may negotiate trade guarantees and limits upon predatory pricing. No more however. Territorial seizure would violate the settlement upon which every Pillar sovereignty rests."
Athaliah could have kissed them both, though gratitude had no place upon her face. Agares defended his crystals, Phenex defended his tears, and both happened to defend Beleth along the way. Mutual Interests made sturdier allies than affection. The coalition against her had expected envy to bind the Houses together. Fear of precedent now worked against them.
Lord Alphard saw it as well. "We do not intend to overturn Pillar sovereignty. The proposal recognizes exceptional circumstances. The Pit's agricultural output could feed millions, lower dependency on foreign realms, and protect every devil from shortages during war. Does House Beleth truly intend to place private enrichment above the survival of its own race?"
"We will grant no House ownership within the Eye," she replied. "No council authority over its administration, and no commission empowered to divide what belongs to us."
"King Meruem's position leaves little room for compromise," Lord Zepar grumbled.
"My brother's position leaves considerable room for trade. He sees no room for dispossession."
Athaliah breathed slowly. Anger was a poor servant in council, but it had its uses when harnessed. Meruem would have laughed in their faces by now, or threatened to feed someone their own feces. Her brother had placed House Beleth in her hands because he trusted her to hold what he had won. She would sooner return without a hand than open it willingly.
"There may be room between confiscation and absolute control." Lord Zeoctis Gremory said after the quiet settled. "House Beleth could retain sovereignty while entering binding agreements concerning minimum exports, emergency reserves, and nondiscriminatory trade. Such terms would protect the Underworld without infringing upon your title."
She had expected such a suggestion from House Gremory. They had long since ceased to be anything more than Bael's impeccably groomed lapdogs, forever eager to advance Zekram's ambition.
"House Beleth intends to cultivate the Pit and sell its harvest throughout the Underworld," Athaliah said. "Once surveys are complete and production begins, we are prepared to negotiate fair tariffs, long-term supply contracts, and emergency reserves during declared famine or war, provided equivalent obligations are imposed upon every other strategic monopoly, including Phoenix Tears, Agares crystals, Bael metals, and Sitri water reserves. We will decide what we sell, to whom, and under what terms, as every sovereign House does with its own resources."
Sirzechs studied her from the high seat. "Then for clarity's sake: House Beleth rejects collective administration and any claim that the Eye falls under shared Underworld jurisdiction?"
"Entirely and permanently."
A few lords muttered at that. Athaliah let them. Dimora's screams still spoke in rooms where Meruem had never set foot. Athaliah had disapproved of that spectacle, but she had never denied its political value.
"If House Beleth refuses all accommodation," Lord Vassago glanced toward Sirzechs. "the council may need to consider whether extraordinary legislation is required."
"The Lord Council may pass whatever law it pleases within its constitutional authority," Athaliah said. "House Beleth will decide its applicability as is our right as a House of kings."
Lord Alphard rose slowly from his seat. "And if the council decides otherwise?"
"Then King Meruem will answer according to his nature," Athaliah said. "If this council wishes to advise, my brother may listen. If it wishes to bargain, he may bargain. If it attempts to seize what belongs to House Beleth, then those who vote for such a course should understand whom they have chosen to provoke. I shall carry your concerns to him exactly as they were expressed, together with the names of every lord who believed his domain should be divided for the greater good. I would urge this council to remember Dimora Bael before it reaches for what belongs to Beleth. My brother's wrath is a peril each of you must weigh for himself, and those who invite it may discover that the Eye of the Pit was the safer monster."
Athaliah returned to Beleth Castle after the council agreed to postpone the matter until a later date, though she doubted they would press their claim with much courage once Meruem returned to the Underworld. She stepped from the teleportation circle and made her way toward the family council chamber, where the others were doubtless awaiting her report.
At the center of the room stood an immense table of imperial porphyry, its deep purple surface veined with white, and around it sat her younger brothers and sisters beside the former Fourth Queen. Morena watched Athaliah approach with a critical expression, as though the council's insolence had somehow been worsened by the time it had taken her to return.
"What did the council decide, sister?" Herodias asked once Athaliah had taken her seat.
"They decided nothing, as usual," Athaliah replied.
"It was always unlikely that those constipated fossils would accomplish anything substantial," Morena said. "Most of the Pillar Lords have monopolies of their own, and none of them will willingly establish a precedent by which the council may seize a private advantage whenever it becomes sufficiently profitable. And I suspect many among them would prefer to remain within Meruem's good graces while allowing Alphard to make a fool of himself on their behalf."
"You don't believe Zekram is behind this?" Belethriel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No," Morena answered calmly. "Zekram is far subtler than this and far too meticulous to waste political capital upon a scheme so crude and so unlikely to succeed. This is Alphard's work through and through. He is proud and has endured one humiliation after another at Meruem's hands."
"Lord Alphard seldom moves without Zekram's approval," Athaliah said thoughtfully. "At the very least, Zekram chose not to oppose this little scheme. That alone is worth considering. What does he truly gain by allowing Alphard to pursue it? Is he merely taking the measure of us, or is he hoping to provoke Meruem into overreacting?"
"It troubles me that so many of the Pillar Houses are more afraid of Bael than of us," Queen Morena said coldly. "That imbalance ought to be corrected. There should be a stark reminder of what becomes of those who presume to stand against my son. Perhaps I shall commission the finest bard in the Underworld to compose an epic recounting the fate of Dimora Bael and have it sung at every court from Lucifaad to the outer provinces."
"Nothing encourages political harmony like a chorus about public immolation," Hermon observed.
"Whatever their purpose, House Bael has grown entirely too pleased with itself," Belethriel said darkly. "You'd think that after Meruem dismantled their last little conspiracy so thoroughly they would have the good sense to keep their heads down for a few years. Evidently they have learned nothing. All the same… Meruem is not going to appreciate hearing about this."
"We were fortunate he wasn't present today," Hermon remarked with a grin. "His tongue has a habit of turning disagreements into blood feuds."
Morena's eyes moved toward him with immediate displeasure, though Athaliah could hardly fault the observation. Meruem was subtle whenever subtlety served him, but more often than not, it did not. She doubted he would have endured Alphard's questions with her restraint. There was a fair chance he would have answered the first demand with mockery, and the second by demonstrating why no one should summon him merely because they believed a council seal gave them courage.
"Have care how you speak of my son," Morena said, her voice dropping several degrees. "Had he answered those fools with less patience than they deserved, the blame would have rested squarely upon their shoulders…Still, I concede that he can occasionally be… impatient when lesser minds waste his time, and there are moments when he treats matters of consequence with the levity of a boy playing at war. Such habits are excusable in one so gifted, but they may create complications for those expected to govern around him."
Well, that was a miracle. Queen Morena had acknowledged a flaw in her peerless son, however carefully she had wrapped the admission in praise and assigned most of the blame to the world for failing to accommodate him. A priestess renouncing her god would have seemed only slightly more improbable.
"Sooner or later, he'll learn of the hearing," Herodias said. "It would be foolish to expect him to let the matter rest once he understands that the council attempted to place a claim upon the Pit. Speaking of which, where is he?"
"In the human world," Belethriel replied. "He left strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed until he returned and that any domestic matters were to be handled by us in his absence. Judging by the last conversation I had with him, I doubt he'll be back for some time. He seemed… unusually occupied."
"That may work to our advantage," Herodias said, drawing every eye to her. "If there is one thing I have learned about Meruem, it's that he despises passivity. An insult unanswered becomes an admission in his eyes, and any injury done to House Beleth must be repaid with interest. If he returns and discovers that House Bael attempted to use the council to strip us of the Pit while we did nothing beyond defending our claim, he may decide to settle the debt himself, and his methods would likely be less convenient for everyone. We should repay the insult before he learns of it. Then we may present the matter to him as a closed account, with House Beleth having answered Bael in kind."
That was… interesting. Her little sister was usually the quietest person in the room, preferring to observe while others argued, and Athaliah regretted that she knew her less well than she ought. She had deliberately kept a distance from her younger siblings during the years Amras Sallos had cast his shadow over her life, fearing that any closeness might one day place them in danger. Even so, she had always known Herodias had a good head on her shoulders.
"You have a plan in mind?" Queen Morena asked, narrowing her eyes.
Herodias smiled, showing a neat line of pearly teeth. "Recently, Virelia Forneus invited me to a beach estate belonging to her House in the human world. She belongs to one of their branch lines and happens to be the only young woman in the clan near my age, so the intention behind her sudden interest in friendship was painfully obvious. Her uncle ordered her to cultivate a relationship with me in the hope that proximity to House Beleth might eventually place House Forneus closer to Meruem. That portion of the affair was tedious and largely irrelevant, but the visit did yield something of value. I encountered another guest beneath their protection."
"My condolences to poor Virelia," Hermon said solemnly. "Being ordered to befriend you sounds like one of those punishments the old Satans reserved for treasonous vassals. I can picture the poor girl receiving the command with all the joy of someone informed she must wrestle a rabid basilisk."
"A witless cow like Virelia should count herself fortunate to enjoy my company," Herodias replied, rolling her eyes. "You may be content to collect companions indiscriminately, brother, but some of us have standards for people we associate with."
"Your standards appear to have left you with an admirably uncluttered social calendar."
"Peaceful solitude is preferable to spending one's evenings surrounded by idiots."
Hermon placed a hand over his heart. "There speaks the warm spirit who inspires devotion wherever she goes."
Athaliah allowed the exchange to pass, though it stirred a small unease within her. She could not recall Herodias speaking often of genuine friends. Belethriel had Sairaorg, while Hermon somehow managed to become acquainted with nearly everyone he met. Herodias and Meruem shared a certain isolation born of pride and exceptional ability - a conviction that few people could understand them and fewer still deserved the effort.
Perhaps I ought to do something about that, Athaliah thought. She understood the dangers of isolation and the creatures who searched for lonely souls with the patience of hunters. Meruem was different, she told herself. He needed neither companionship nor reassurance, and anyone foolish enough to mistake that independence for vulnerability would discover their error very quickly.
"Who did you meet," Morena asked, evidently unwilling to let sibling mockery derail the discussion, "and how does she relate to House Bael?"
"Lilitifa Vepar," Herodias answered with a faint smile. "A daughter of the once ducal House Vepar, whose fortunes were broken by the Great War and finally ruined during the Civil War. They have spent centuries living upon the memory of their former greatness, telling stories of what they once were because they have so little in the present."
Once, no fleet dared put to sea without first asking whether House Vepar sailed those waters. They had been the Original Satan's dominion over the oceans and masters of every storm. Their armored warfleets carried His wrath across the seas while hurricanes announced their coming long before their banners appeared upon the horizon. But every empire eventually pays tribute to time. Their mighty fleets vanished alongside the Original Satans, whatever survived the Great War succumbed during the Devil Civil War, and the once proud Lords of the Tempest slowly dwindled into another illustrious name preserved only in dusty chronicles.
"Lilitifa has taken sanctuary within Forneus territory and lives as their ward," Herodias continued. "I spent some time speaking with her and confirmed she is among the last surviving members of her line, and none of them has inherited [Tempest Dominion], the ancestral Pillar Trait of House Vepar. She depends upon House Forneus for residence and protection, while earning her personal income through a modelling agency based in Gremory territory. I had my own people verify the details after I returned."
"So she is another survivor of an extinct Pillar House," Hermon said dismissively. "There is hardly a shortage of those."
He was not wrong. A Pillar House ceased to exist politically when it could no longer hold territory, sustain the military obligations of its rank, or produce a living inheritor of the unique trait bestowed upon its line by Lucifer. Scattered descendants might survive for centuries afterward, bearing names that once shook nations while living as dependents beneath another lord's roof. House Vepar had lost almost all its former territory and wealth, and the last known bearer of [Tempest Dominion] had perished during the Civil War. By every accepted measure, the House was extinct.
"For the moment, yes," Herodias agreed. "Lilitifa herself inherited none of her family's power, which makes her politically worthless in her current state. But do you know who profited most from House Vepar's collapse? Which House annexed the greater part of their territories and wealth after the Civil War?"
Understanding dawned upon Athaliah.
"Bael," she murmured.
It had been House Bael. They had swallowed the lion's share of Vepar's former dominions while the rest of Hell busied itself dividing the scraps and the old Vepar lands had been rebuilt beneath the banner of the crowned bull for centuries.
"Exactly," Herodias said, satisfaction creeping into her smile. "House Bael attempted to place Dimora upon our throne and rule House Beleth through her. Why should we not return the courtesy? Lilitifa is scarcely more than a century old. She can marry, bear children, and one of those children may well inherit [Tempest Dominion]. If that happens, we suddenly have a legitimate heir to House Vepar, one with every right to reclaim the lands stolen from her ancestors. We would sponsor the restoration of the House, then support the heir's petition for the return of all territories annexed by Bael after Vepar's collapse. A lost child of the sea returning to reclaim his ancestral shores has a pleasing quality to it, especially when accompanied by enough legions to make the poetry enforceable."
"Leave it to you to discover political opportunity in the misery of a vulnerable woman," Hermon remarked with open disapproval.
"The Great Game has no place for sentimentality, brother," Herodias replied with an unconcerned smile. "Besides, Lilitifa benefits as much as we do. She already survives at the mercy of others, working for strangers while the history of her bloodline decays around her. We would offer wealth and the restoration of everything her ancestors lost. She would become the mother of a renewed ducal line and stand at the center of a court built around her blood. I fail to see the cruelty in offering a drowning woman a hand merely because we also benefit when she reaches the shore."
"You make exploitation sound charitable."
"House Forneus may have little reason to surrender a ward whose blood could become useful, especially once they understand our interest," Belethriel said thoughtfully. "Lilitifa may refuse to let strangers arrange her marriage and use her descendants as instruments against Bael."
"If Meruem grants me leave to pursue the matter," Herodias said confidently, the smile she wore reminding Athaliah so strongly of their brother that it was almost unsettling, "I am certain I can persuade both of them."
"You understand," Athaliah said slowly, "that Meruem may decide the scheme is too slow for his taste."
Herodias gave a small shrug. "Then I shall present it as an appetizer."
[Bologna - Italy]
POV: Griselda Quarta
To serve as an exorcist was to accept that the finest work of one's life would often pass unseen and unremembered by all save the Lord whose gaze missed nothing. Humanity slept peacefully because others stood wakeful at the edges of darkness, where things with claws and ancient malice pressed against the fragile boundaries of the ordinary world, and those who guarded that boundary rarely received statues, songs, or even the gratitude of those they saved. Griselda Quarta had never found bitterness in that truth. Praise was a pleasant thing, but it had little value beside the knowledge that another frightened soul had been spared the discovery that monsters existed beyond the tales told to frighten the young.
Her love for mankind had always grown from her love for God, for humanity remained His most troublesome creation, gifted with reason and freedom enough to wander into every manner of folly, but precious enough that Heaven had bled for its salvation.
The abandoned building in Bologna offered no such comforting evidence of labor completed. Dust covered the fractured concrete and late sunlight entered through empty windows in long amber shafts that revealed little beyond floating motes. Archbishop Emmanuel had entered this place accompanied by six experienced exorcists, and from that moment onward all seven had vanished as completely as though the world had closed over them.
No blood stained the floor, no bodies lay beneath rubble, and no residual holy power lingered from a battle involving servants of the Church. Even the ordinary traces left by human passage seemed strangely confused, with too many old footprints crossing one another and no reliable trail leading from the chamber. Griselda stood near the center of the ruined hall with her eyes half closed, feeling for any disturbance within the spiritual atmosphere, while Xenovia searched the perimeter with growing impatience and Irina knelt beside the final recorded footprint of one of Emmanuel's guards.
"There should be something," Xenovia said, her voice low and hard. "Seven people don't just vanish from an empty building. If they were attacked, there should be blood or some signs of resistance."
"Perhaps the enemy cleansed the scene," Irina suggested. "A Fallen Angel could erase holy residue, or a devil might conceal whatever happened through demonic magic. Archbishop Emmanuel was a good man. He would never abandon his post without warning."
Xenovia's hand tightened around the hilt at her side. "Then some creature of darkness murdered him and believed it could erase the deed. We should pray for guidance. The Lord knows what happened here, and He will answer if we ask with sufficient faith."
Griselda opened her eyes and turned toward them. Both girls were young, devout, and brave enough to mistake fervor for certainty when anger entered their blood. She recognized the impulse because she had once carried it herself, the longing to raise one's eyes toward Heaven whenever the path became obscure and demand that Providence illuminate every hidden stone.
"The Lord granted mankind free will so that our lives might have meaning," Griselda said. "That gift would become hollow if we appealed to Him whenever a door resisted us or a question lacked an immediate answer. Prayer should not become a substitute for thought."
Irina lowered her gaze slightly. Xenovia remained tense, though she listened.
"Would it be wrong to ask for help?" Irina asked.
"Help comes in many forms," Griselda replied. "Sometimes it comes through scripture, sometimes through another person, and sometimes through the faculties already placed within us. The Lord has no need to whisper every answer into our ears when He has given us minds capable of seeking them."
"Then where do we begin?" Xenovia looked around the chamber once more, frustration tightening her mouth. "I'm almost certain they died here, but the place offers nothing. It feels as though the building swallowed them whole. Whoever did this committed a perfect crime."
"No crime is perfect," Griselda said. "Perfection belongs to God. Every mortal act leaves some imperfection behind, though the evidence may lie beyond ordinary sight."
She reached beneath the folds of her cloak and drew forth a small silver frame no larger than her palm. The silver frame unfolded at her touch until a mirror taller than any of them stood upon the fractured floor, its oval glass enclosed by pale wood carved with closed eyes, weeping saints, and faceless angels.
"The Mirror of Simple Souls?" Irina regarded the mirror warily.
"It was entrusted to me for this investigation." Griselda explained. "The mirror can show us something connected to what happened through catoptromancy. Whether we understand what it offers is another matter. It speaks through symbols and images shaped as much by the question as by the truth being sought."
Griselda lifted one hand and gestured for them to move back. "Stand farther away, both of you. Don't stare directly into the glass once it awakens. An untrained mind may mistake reflected possibility for truth, and some have carried visions from this mirror for the remainder of their lives."
The two younger exorcists obeyed, retreating toward the edge of the chamber. Griselda approached until her reflection filled the silvered surface. She steadied her breathing, placed two fingers against the lower edge of the frame, and allowed a measured stream of holy power to enter the inscriptions. The carved eyes surrounding the glass opened one by one.
"Mirror of the unadorned soul," Griselda said, her voice carrying softly through the abandoned hall, "thou who showest the hidden shape beneath deed and desire, reveal what fate befell Archbishop Emmanuel and the six fellowship who entered this place beneath his protection."
Her reflection smiled and then the glass darkened.
A city appeared beneath a violet evening sky, its towers built from church spires and broken swords, while seven white candles moved through empty streets without hands to carry them. At the center of the city sat a child upon a window ledge, his face hidden beneath the head of a lion carved from black stone, and beneath his dangling feet spread a pool of shadow that breathed as though it possessed lungs. The first candle approached him and opened into the shape of a shepherd's crook. The remaining six became silver blades arranged in a circle around the child.
A voice without a mouth recited words Griselda could not hear.
The lion-headed child laughed. From the pool beneath him rose beasts stitched from darkness, each bearing too many limbs and mouths filled with human teeth. They fell upon the seven candles, and wherever their claws passed, white flame became red. The shepherd's crook snapped. The silver blades shattered. The beasts tore seven crimson fruits from seven hollow chests and devoured them while kneeling like communicants before an altar.
The image shifted. A vast lion prowled through a room made of mirrors, though its body remained the size of a boy's. Every reflection showed a different creature behind its eyes, wolves, serpents, winged corpses, giants, and nameless things crawling upon ceilings. Around its neck hung a chain of thirteen links, and one link was blacker than the rest.
Then came the strangest image of all.
A white-robed figure stood before the lion and held out an open hand. The lion looked upon that hand with suspicion, then opened its mouth and swallowed the figure's shadow. The white-robed body remained upright for one breath before collapsing into ash. Behind it, six headless saints knelt with empty chests, their hands raised in prayer toward a heaven that had become a sealed black door.
The mirror cracked.
Griselda withdrew her hand immediately. The vision vanished, and the chamber returned in a rush of warmth. A thin fracture remained across the glass, running from the upper left edge toward the center before stopping short of her reflected eye.
Irina drew a shaken breath. "What did you see?"
Griselda remained silent for several moments, arranging the symbols within her mind while resisting the temptation to force certainty upon them. Seven candles clearly represented Emmanuel and his companions. The dark child sat at the center of every image. The lion could signify courage, pride, violence, royalty, or a name. The thirteen-linked chain troubled her most, for thirteen Sacred Gears stood above all others as Longinus, and one among them possessed the power to create monsters from imagination.
"A child may have been here," Griselda said at last. "A boy connected to a lion, shadows, and possibly one of the Thirteen. He commanded creatures born from darkness, and those creatures killed the Archbishop and his guards. They consumed their hearts for some purpose related to imitation or inheritance or something similar."
"The Annihilation Maker?" Xenovia asked.
"It's the most obvious interpretation, which is precisely why I hesitate to trust it," Griselda replied. "The thirteen-linked chain could represent something else."
Griselda studied the fracture in the mirror. Something in the vision remained unresolved. The white-robed figure whose shadow had been swallowed might have represented Emmanuel, but the sequence did not fit cleanly, and the mirror's habit of joining truth and falsehood into a single symbol made certainty dangerous. She had seen no second assailant, and no sign of anyone beyond the child and the dead. If another presence had stood within this room, it had left no image upon the glass.
"We have a direction," Griselda said, closing the mirror as the carvings returned to sleep. "We will search every Church record concerning unusual manifestations of shadow creatures, every report of a gray-haired child associated with violence in Bologna, and every known disturbance linked to Annihilation Maker. We will also assume the wielder understands enough of his power to conceal his trail."
Xenovia drew herself upright. "And when we find him?"
Griselda looked once more upon the empty chamber where seven servants of God had disappeared without grave or witness.
"We will learn the whole truth," she said. "Then we will judge what justice requires."
AN: We're returning to Underworld politics, with House Beleth continuing its rise to agricultural dominance and as you might expect, not everyone is particularly thrilled about that.
I've also been thinking about the Rings of Power. I introduced them near the beginning of the story, but they've mostly faded into the background since then. I'd like to correct that in the upcoming arc and give them the focus they deserve.
Advanced chapters are available on my Patreon. If you want to read ahead, vote on which story gets updated each week, or simply support my writing so I can focus more on it, you can check it out here: /abeltargaryen?