章 24: 24. Ren Hears Some News
Ren slept, dreaming of hands pulling her into darkness. When a real hand touched her shoulder, she flailed and jerked away, opening her eyes to find herself in her bed and Jack cowering on the floor. Dawn light spilled into the hall, dappling the walls. Ren blinked, frantically trying to reassemble how she'd gotten there.
It had taken the three Servants hours to adjust and repair the magic in the portal room. Ren had tried to follow along, but she just didn't have the grounding in magecraft to really understand. Her one attempt to get them to back up and give her the basics was met with a flat refusal from Merlin, one so blunt and lacking in his usual playfulness that she'd been too astonished to argue.
Their conversation and the flickering energies made her sleepy, but she'd forced herself to stay awake and listen, trying to understand anyhow, just to spite Merlin. Yet when they'd finally relaxed as the blue lines of light stabilized and crawled up the walls again, she hadn't even realized they were close to done. To make matters worse, Merlin had turned around and said, "Oh, are you still here? Poor little thing. Shall I put you to bed?" But she'd declined with icy dignity and gone to bed all on her own.
Ren rubbed her face, trying to shake off the sleep that kept trying to drag her down again. Her bleary gaze fell on Jack, and she realized abruptly that the little Servant was trembling as she cowered on the ground. Guilt surged through Ren, driving off much of her remaining sleepiness.
"Oh, Jack, did I wake up badly? Augh. I'm sorry." She held out a hand to Jack, but the Servant didn't come to her, hugging her knees tightly instead.
"You didn't do that yesterday," she whispered.
Ren stared at her helplessly. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just… asleep."
"She hit me pretty hard our first day here, Jack," said Merlin from the staircase exit. "I'd probably still have the bruise if I wasn't me."
Ren frowned. Had she done that? Oh yes, he'd come back from picking fruit and woken her by whispering in her ear. She'd been dreaming at the time, and not of something pleasant.
"Oh. I had a bad dream this morning, but not yesterday morning. That's probably why."
She gave Merlin a curious look as he said inscrutably, "Ah." When he said no more she immediately became suspicious. But she decided it was a discussion for later, and not nearly as important as the kicked puppy look Jack still sported.
Ren slid off the bed and knelt next to Jack. "Listen to me, okay? I don't want to hurt or scare you again, so next time wake me up by shouting at me from the other side of the room, at least until I get used to being here."
Jack's expression became more wistful than afraid. "I liked sleeping in your bed, Mommy. I thought maybe I could sleep beside you sometimes."
"And there it is," muttered Merlin, not quite under his breath.
Ren fixed him with a frosty stare. "Are you here for a reason or did you just show up to piss me off?"
"Aw, Serendipity. I always have a reason for everything I do."
Cú looked in over Merlin's shoulder and said, "It's just sometimes the reason is to piss somebody off. Did you get some intel, Jack?"
Jack scowled at the other Servants and then flung herself at Ren, grabbing her around the neck and forcing herself into the lap Ren didn't have while kneeling. Once Ren gave in and sat properly, Jack wriggled herself into place, pulled Ren's arms around her, and stuck her tongue out at the others.
Cú ran his hand through his hair in exasperation, while Merlin said, "Yes, yes, we're all very jealous of what little girls can get away with. Did you learn anything?" He moved aside so Jekyll, coming up behind him, could also take in the scene.
"Hmph," said Jack. "Lots of soldiers in uniforms in a walled town two Regions away. Maybe five hundred? And other people in fancy uniforms, with pets. Fifty? Harder to count. No airships, but some of the pets fly with their masters. Eight of those. People afraid of the ghost wolf they saw running through the town last night."
"Any sign how well the lord fights?" asked Cú intently.
"Nuh-uh. But I heard some people in a bar saying nasty things about Tora, and then one of the summoners came in and they all shut up fast."
His eyes hard and calculating, Merlin said, "Were they mobilizing for a march?"
Jack shrugged. "Dunno. It was night. After the bars closed almost everybody except the night watches went to sleep. The lord lives in a big house in the middle of the town, near the black pillar. He slept too. I watched him. I didn't even try to kill him or anything." She looked over her shoulder at Ren for approval, and Ren gave her a squeeze.
"Good."
Merlin said, "I'm not inclined to wait two more days until he comes to us. Perhaps you could send her to finish the job tonight."
Ren winced. "No. She's my secret weapon."
"Nobody will know what happened even if it doesn't work, Mommy," said Jack reassuringly. "Nobody ever remembers me if I don't want them to."
Shaking her head impatiently, Ren said, "I don't want to kill him if we can avoid it."
Cú and Merlin exchanged looks, while Jekyll gave her a faint, reserved smile and Jack sighed melodramatically.
"Very noble," said Cú finally. "Uh, so is this going to be a regular thing, not killing people? I kind of need to know."
Ren remained silent for a moment, looking in herself, and then decided to be honest. "I don't know. I feel like a hero of justice would insist on that. But I can't afford to let my urge to be… noble…" she gave Cú a sidelong glance, "get in the way of making a safe world for Ritsu. On the other hand, this Kirri guy… Ignoring what he said when possessed by Avenger and going by what Tora said instead, he doesn't sound like a bad guy. He sounds like the sort of person I'd like to at least talk to once we've defeated him."
Her brow furrowed as she looked between her Servants and she added, "Actually, I wonder… Merlin, why did you not want him to see Tora herself?"
Merlin met her gaze with his own clear, untroubled one. "Have you changed your mind?"
"Was it because of your romantical ideas?" Ren demanded.
"Ahaha, what a suspicious mind you have, Serendripity! There are at least a half-dozen other reasons, too! We didn't want to look weak or afraid! It would have created conflict in Tora's heart! It might have provoked Lobo to actually see her! Do I have to go on?"
Ren gave Merlin the hardest of stares until her stomach growled and Merlin said, "Ooh, that sounds bad. I bet if you eat something you'll feel much better."
***
They brought Tora and Ritsu to the kitchen for a shared breakfast of bread and fried pork and berries. Tora moved slowly, as if being possessed by a Servant had left her aching, and accepted the introduction to Jekyll with aplomb. She caught her breath when saw Cú, though, and blushed when Cú grinned at her.
"I should hate you, for you killed my poor Eleron," she told him tartly. "But you didn't kill me and you could have. Was that for Ritsu?"
"Nah," he said. "I had no idea who you were at the time. I just don't like killing women as pretty as you are unless I have to."
That wasn't quite how Ren remembered his story before, but Ren found she was so pleased to see the more flirty Cú her story bubbles had recalled that she didn't mind.
"Is it impossible to resummon him? Your Eleron? Was that his name or his type?" she asked.
Tora blinked and, sounding just like her sister, said, "Wow, you really don't know anything." She glanced at Ritsu as Ritsu giggled, and then said, "His name. It usually takes a long time before a familiar can tell a summoner their name, but Eleron told me his on his second day." She sighed. "Resummoning a specific familiar is the biggest selling point of the regulated portal in the Sovereign Capital. I've seen it work, but you saw what happened when I tried to use that mirror's portal conduit." She glanced down at her own hands.
Cú handed her a plate of food, and gave another one to Ritsu. "How about using the portal down the hall?"
Tora shook her head and ate a bite, swallowing before saying, "That's… not encouraged. It can happen, but it's rare. A summoner who tries is likely to end up dead or worse due to repeated attempts. And I wouldn't trust that portal anyhow." She gave a sidelong look at the foxette perched on Ritsu's shoulder.
"It gave you all of your night lizards," said Ritsu, sounding annoyed. "And Eleron, too."
A dark look passed over Tora's face. "…The first time, yes. But the Sovereigns ripped him away from me and only let me call him back once Lord Kirri claimed me. If I hadn't known his name, he would have been lost forever."
Ren frowned. "Ripping….? Was that different from Cú slaying it?"
"Yes," said Tora flatly.
"Let the woman eat, Ren," said Merlin. "You're spoiling her breakfast. Plenty of time to chat later. We've got a couple of long, boring days ahead of us."
But, as it turned out, Merlin was completely wrong. Shortly after breakfast, as Ren washed some dishes and wondered if she could also wash herself under the kitchen pump, Jack came running in. "Somebody's outside the walls shouting halloo!"
"A villager?" Ren asked, perking up.
"Nuh-uh! A summoner!"
That sent Ren racing upstairs and out into the courtyard, where she skidded to a halt. She hadn't been out in the courtyard since the night before, relying instead on the facilities accessible through a small door in a side hall between the kitchen and the portal chamber. And it had been dark and she'd been distracted then, so she honestly couldn't say if the walls of the castle had been repaired overnight, or if Merlin had done it while she'd napped in the afternoon.
But the walls had been repaired, and judging from the flowering vines cascading down the three repaired sections, it was very definitely Merlin's work. The visiting summoner momentarily forgotten, she stared around. "Wow." Then her brow furrowed. Three repaired sections. There was no longer any place for a gate.
"Merlin," she shouted, her awe forgotten in her outrage. "How are we supposed to get out?"
Merlin appeared behind her along with the others. "Ahaha, you noticed that, did you? Regrowing the walls was a lot easier than constructing and installing a gate, so I did that." He preened. "And you thought I was a lazy good-for-nothing. But let me tell you, not just any mage could have regrown shattered walls over night. It took a great deal of cleverness—"
Ren stomped her foot as a voice caroled a greeting from outside the wall. "And what was your plan for when we need to leave the fortress?"
Merlin cocked an eyebrow at her, moved past her, and then turned and swept her legs out from under her in a princess carry. Before she'd finished shrieking and grabbing at him, he'd crouched and then jumped… all the way up to the wall-walk behind the battlements on one of the original wall sections.
Technically they went higher, and Ren had a glimpse of the forest beyond and some waiting figures, but other than a panicked moment where she though Merlin would miss and they'd go over the wall, she'd fall again, she didn't really process the sight.
The Magus landed lightly on the walk and said after a minute of Ren clinging to him, her face pressed against his shoulder, "Ren? We're here. I'll put you down if you let go of me. Um, if this is your version of throttling me, I should probably get you some lessons, ahaha." He shifted her in his arms so he could stroke her hair comfortingly with one hand.
Ren shuddered at the gentle touch and raised her head from his mantle to say coldly, "Put me down now please."
Immediately, he did so. Her legs trembled, but she shook off his steadying hand. A distant part of her wanted to turn and hit him, but too much of her brain was occupied with reliving the jumping, flying, falling leap, and the fall toward the forest a few days ago. She forced herself to look over the battlements at the land beyond and promptly swayed as vertigo overwhelmed her.
Once again Merlin caught her arm and when she tried to shake him off, she staggered instead. He put her hands flat on upright part of the battlements and said, "Oh, two of the Seals are back. Look at that. How pretty."
She felt the solid stone under her hand, and opened her eyes. Indeed, part of the Command Seal design had restored itself. It was a pretty design, with curly parts and little flares. The overall shape reminded her of a shield.
A pair of thumps down the wall broke through her intense concentration on the magical glyph and she looked sideways to see Cú, holding Tora, and Jekyll, lowering Ritsu.
"What's wrong?" said Cú tightly.
"Just a little acrophobia," said Merlin. "She's all right."
"Move," said Jekyll, his voice chilly. Merlin obediently moved aside and Jekyll took his place beside her. "We'll find another way for you to get down, miss," he said, much more gently.
A little warning bell went off in Ren's head. She raised her gaze to Jekyll's and saw a reddish glint in the turquoise eyes. A secret smile flashed across his face before it returned to sober concern.
Ren shivered, suddenly desperately wishing she had at least one companion she could trust. But even Cú unsettled her, if for different reasons than the rest.
That led her to realizing she hadn't felt the miasma from the portal yet that morning, and that in turned recalled to her the summoners waiting outside. As Tora said grimly, "I know them," Ren raised her eyes to look over the wall.
This time the vertigo wasn't as bad. As long as she didn't look directly down or think about falling, she could… look. Think a little.
Two people, two creatures. One of the creatures was as long as a man, with a fluffy white mane, a hairless purple body, short legs and a long snout, while the other was a big blue dragon. The dragon was far larger than Tora's had been, with what looked to be perfectly functional wings. Its summoner, a woman with long silvery hair, sat on a saddle on its back. A bow was strapped to the saddle.
The figure beside her was androgynous, and had body, limbs and even lower face wrapped in indigo blue fabric that reminded Ren of the night-colored light of the corrupted portal. They had three knives at their waist, two long ones and a small one.
"Who are they?" Ren asked Tora.
"The archer is Shina, and the one with the knives is Blue Violet," said Tora, despair in her voice again. "Two of Lord Kirri's lieutenants. Either of them is worth ten of me. I'm sorry."
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