“Oh, no, please. I’ve moved some things upstairs, the ones I’m working through in more detail.” Also, Vitus knew, the more intimate private sorts of books, because those were currently on a shelf in the bedroom for mutual exploration in comfort. Thirza stood, pointing out a series of the details in the decoration to Merryn. They were talking not only about the design, but about the illusion and charmwork and magic that had gone into specific aspects. The green of the vines, for example, and the way the colours subtly shifted, or how to get that particularly vibrant sheen to the blue geometric decorations.
The shift to talking about the library brought a smooth enough transition. Once Merryn had been shown a good number of things, they could settle down into a more ordinary sort of conversation for Vitus on a Thursday. That involved batting around some different ideas. Thessaly didn’t have all the background, of course. But she made several thoughtful suggestions about particular choices. Twice she asked particularly relevant questions that gave Vitus half a dozen new ideas to explore. He considered it an evening well spent. They walked the two older women out to the portal later, and Thirza took a moment to speak to Thessaly privately. When she came back, Vitus slipped his arm around her waist. “All right?”
“She was very clear that Aunt Metaia would be very proud of me. Had always been. But that whatever I was doing, it was going in the right direction. Care and something generative. Broadening. Not narrowing.”
“There you are, then. And you enjoyed talking to both of them, yes?”
Thessaly stopped, bemused, turning to peer at him. “Are you worried I didn’t like your friends?”
“Erm. Yes?” Vitus felt himself blushing. “If it’s a bother, I’ll make sure you don’t feel obliged.”
“I enjoyed the conversation. I want to learn more if we do that again. I felt like a dunce several times. And I’m not sure how to, how to have that kind of friendship? Not really. Though I’m getting there, a little, with Cyrus and Andie.”
“But friendships with others in Fox House always has a calculation in it?” Vitus offered.
“Yes.” Thessaly nodded. “And I’m not sure what I’m missing here. Or if I’m not actually, I just think there should be six more layers.”
“Ah.” Vitus chuckled. “We are more properly igneous rock, I suspect, and Fox is sedimentary, at root, layers put down.Or perhaps metamorphic, the layers warped by a vast surge of incredible power. And pressure.”
“Oh, definitely that one,” Thessaly agreed. “All right. Come inside and tell me about metamorphic rock, so I understand the implications better.”
39
MAY 27TH AT DINAS EMRYS
“We appreciate the time.” Thessaly had just settled in the chair when Vitus spoke. Cousin Owain was hosting. This was the sort of matter that required privacy, but going to the Council Keep might be noticed. They were up in Cousin Owain’s sitting room, the same one they’d used previously. Though this time, Emeline was downstairs having a couple of tea, rather than guarding outside the door. "I gathered from Thessaly that you’ve been exceedingly busy."
“Yes, far more than usual for the season.” Magistra Hereswith inclined her head, spreading her skirts out a little with one hand as she sat down. “But you implied you had important information.”
“A week ago, Laudine and Dagobert consulted Vitus on the creation of a talisman. The details, of course, are confidential, the usual sort of oaths, but he was permitted to tell me that much. And we’ve been discussing it since.”
Magistra Hereswith nodded. “And you have something specific?”
“Yes, and no.” Thessaly pulled her notes closer, though they were cryptic to the extreme. “First, I heard this morning, they sent a note round first thing, that Laudine and theirnewborn son are well and recovering. So, whatever else, we may reasonably assume the family will have other occupation for the moment. Distraction.”
“The remaining family.” Cousin Owain said it quietly, but it was what they were all thinking. “What do you think of her, Thessaly? Of both of them, actually.”
Thessaly inhaled. “Laudine was more honest with me, and more helpful, than the rest of the family put together, I think. Though it’s tremendously difficult to weigh that, given the number of secrets that weren’t shared. Sigbert was trying better, before.” Her voice broke off. “They asked Vitus for help, and I think that shows some degree of good sense.”
“You are biassed.” Vitus sounded almost amused. He’d been nervous about this meeting. He was far less used to talking in this manner. Thessaly wasn’t a great deal more experienced, exactly, but she had learned from Aunt Metaia that Council Members were also people. Some of whom she liked, and some of whom she did not.
Now she smiled at him. “I am, but it is a measured bias. May I ask, Cousin Owain, about the quality of the problems you’ve been keeping busy with? Something with the Fatae, with the land, something else? The broad category? You’d said that the Fatae were ill at ease in your ordinary negotiations.” She was trying to feel her way through what to say next.
The two Council members exchanged glances. “The Fatae are unsettled, in ways they have not been able to describe. It is nothing that is yet an abrogation of the Pact, but it feels like it might come to that. Or it has. It does not seem to be entirely localised, which is part of the confusion. We have had a range of odd events. Bright blue roses popping up.” Blue in that hue was an impossibility with ordinary flowers. Even those of Albion, without help from illusions or charms. “A swath of a beach turned to shimmering mother-of-pearl, and then it washedaway. Rumours of black beasts on the moors— oh, those are common enough, but these sounded like ancient elk. Possibly also sightings of bears and a pack of wolves, maybe a lynx.”
“It’s more usually large cats or hounds, isn’t it?” Vitus asked.
“Oh, yes, and we have checked the usual reason for that, and come up with nothing.” They didn’t explain it, of course, and Thessaly filed that into Council business not discussed with outsiders. Cousin Owain glanced at Magistra Hereswith and added, “The timing does not seem to fit any ordinary ritual cycle, not in aggregate. A few points do match up with specific events, including the last two solstices. Others do not, especially more recently.”
Thessaly nodded. “And has the frequency increased or changed, or whatever the useful measure is there, I’m not sure what?”
They exchanged another of those glances. Magistra Hereswith said, slowly. “Increasing frequency until recently, the last month or so. But we’re not sure if there are what you might call ripple effects.”
“A change sent out into the world continues to create change,” Vitus said, speaking up. “The amplitude may change over time, the strength. Sometimes things get stronger.”
“Just so, ” Magistra Hereswith said. “You’re asking questions with a particular purpose.”
Vitus cleared his throat, and Thessaly let him speak. “I have suspicions about something. I cannot discuss them, as things stand. I may be able to investigate and get additional information. This past week, some other relevant discussions suggested a way to look at some of the notes that Thessaly’s Aunt Metaia left.”
