“This one you know better I think,” she said and pushed open the heavy wooden door leading to the council room. Caspian, Faramir, and Lutheron sat at their customary table while Vaze and Remedy sat at another, sharing a pitcher of ale. In the back of the room at a table by himself sat Shade while Charm lounged in the rafters above. She moved aside from the doorway and allowed Kiernan to pass, drawing stares from all in the room. It was unusual to have so many council members together at once and even more unusual to bring to the meeting a man not even in the Fionaveir.
“Have good news for us?” Vaze asked, his voice a slow drawl common to the southern region of Morcath, though Symphony knew for a fact he rarely ever set foot in that country. His hair was a dark grey which hinted at Arovan blood while his eyes were so dark they appeared black. No one was quite sure what Vaze was, other than a talented fighter as far as she knew. There were, of course, rumors about him, but Lutheron was the only one that truly knew. He had brought Vaze to the Fionahold when he was barely days old and had raised him like a son.
Remedy, on the other hand, everyone knew well. He was Han’shy and Avanti by birth a highly unusual combination that he had proven could be quite dangerous. With equal skill in Mind magic as well as Enchantment the young man was formidable.
Kiernan paused in the center of the room and let his gaze fall across everyone there. Turning at last to Vaze, he shook his head slightly and then looked at Caspian. “It’s not her. I’ll stake my life on it,” he said bluntly.
“What makes you so sure?” Caspian asked leaning back in his seat.
“I’ve been watching the house for months and what I’ve seen has been pathetic. It’s what I would expect from poorly written street theatre. Every time I hear Myth planning, I expect it to be followed with dramatic maniacal laughter. It simply isn’t her way. Myth wouldn’t be so blatant,” Kiernan explained.
“Wait, her who?” Shade asked leaning forward with a confused look on his face. His voice drew dark looks from the council at his interruption but his eyes were only on Kiernan.
“Myth,” Kiernan replied patiently and sighed at seeing his nephew’s confusion grow. “Mythandry, or as you know her, Mythandar. My sister,” Kiernan explained patiently.
“What?” Shade exclaimed in shock. He shook his head and stared at his uncle as if expecting the man to chuckle and say he was joking.
“Mythandry was born a woman but chose to turn to male after the fall of her bloodline. A woman can only produce a child once every several months depending on the species. A male can procreate much more effectively,” Lutheron said impatiently and motioned for Kiernan to continue.
“Myth is pure changeling, Shade. Whatever a true changeling becomes, they in essence are. Be it switching gender or species, we function as that form was intended to,” Kiernan spoke gently to him but quickly turned back to Lutheron.
Symphony watched the exchange quietly and felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. His entire life had been rearranged in the past few weeks and it seemed he still had quite a few surprises in store. Moving quietly across the room she took a seat beside Remedy and smiled up at the auburn haired man. He was her closest friend in the Fionahold ,though she had rarely gotten to see him recently.
“I won’t move at all until I know where the true Myth is. She is too dangerous. I’m not sure what exactly she is playing at, but that creature in Morcath isn’t her. She could be anywhere,” Kiernan continued, his eyes flicking from face to face in the room.
Lutheron nodded slowly and scanned those present. “She isn’t here, I will promise you that,” he said quietly.
“How can you be sure?” Kiernan asked, his tone skeptical.
“I can sense some type of fear from everyone here, I have never been able to sense fear on Mythandry and I have been close enough to her several times to try. She is the one individual other than myself that I can say is fearless,” Lutheron explained.
“Do we have any guesses as to where she might be?” Symphony asked quietly, watching all of their faces. Most were blank but Lutheron looked thoughtful while Kiernan simply seemed guarded as usual.
“From what I know of Myth, she will be where she believes the most action will be. That puts her one of two places - here, or Sanctuary,” Lutheron said and looked to Kiernan.
“The one thing I’ve learned of my sister in our years together is to never try to predict what she will do. It was hard enough to guess her next move before her mind fractured. Now it is nearly impossible,” Kiernan said with a shrug. “What have you learned from Gaelyn?” he asked, looking to Caspian. “I do believe Myth was involved in that plot, though not actually directing it. Perhaps if I learn what she has helped create, I’ll get a better idea of what she is after,”
“We have learned that these Blight children, as they are being called, have effectively wiped out a majority of the population in Gaelyn. The city of Eldagar is overrun and most of the villages are destroyed. They have begun crossing the borders into Glis recently and we expect they will soon be affecting Arovan as well,” Caspian explained. He motioned toward the back of the room and Charm dropped down from the rafters. “Charm can explain more to you,” Caspian said.
Sitting back in her chair, Symphony watched Charm pace the room, and listened once again as he described the nightmare creatures he had been living among for nearly three weeks. How he had managed to survive she couldn’t guess but her respect for the rogue had grown considerably after hearing his tale.
Remedy shifted in his chair and leaned over toward her. “I was in Gaelyn not three days ago. Blackwolf is calling his son back as well as most of his reserve soldiers. Chastity will be in charge of the Glis district until this is over,” he whispered to her. The scent of mint washed over her with every syllable and she smiled. Remedy had a tendency of chewing on the herb to keep down his cravings for tobacco. Every other week he was quitting or starting anew depending on how stressful the current situation was. From what Charm described, she had no doubt Remedy had been smoking like a chimney in Glis.