Crimsoncrest: Chapters 10-11

Chapter 10

After so long fighting against the Asplundat Movement, Fiyu had almost begun to think of them as enemies, so it was very strange to be traveling within their territory. Even stranger to be ordered to relax and enjoy herself. If Friend Nauda didn't seem so committed, she never would have managed it.

Despite the early conflicts, Relative Guchiro seemed to be getting along well enough with her companions. Whatever Friend Theo had said to him must have had some effect, because though Relative Guchiro was clear he wanted to return to Ichil, he was supporting them for now. As far as Fiyu was concerned, this was an excellent result: they could all support their allies in Fithe, then they could all continue their journey in Ichil.

The only problem was that they were rushed from place to place with no time to truly relax. She couldn't stop soulcrafting, of course, so that left her with sadly little time for her companions. When she finally had more time with Friend Nauda, it was the night before the official planting of the crestflowers.

They met outside their temporary quarters, wearing the new clothing that they had been given by the Asplundat Movement. Simple tunics with belts and pants, made of the same material as all the others. That made them blend in, though only to a very superficial degree. Fiyu smiled when she saw her dear companion.

"You look very lovely, Nauda."

"Do I?" Friend Nauda fidgeted with the shoulders of her tunic. "They claimed that one size will suit everyone, but I don't feel like it's suiting me."

"The clothes are unremarkable, but you are lovely." Fiyu hooked her arm and led her toward the hills beneath the mountain, where they were to meet the others. "I believe we are early, so we can take a slower walk."

"That sounds nice." As they did, however, Friend Nauda looked over at her. "The colors are pretty drab, but I imagine you don't care about that. Is it the material, then? Just a single layer, pretty sturdy but not exactly complex."

"Yes, you grasp the basics. This is practical for the local environment, but layers are more interesting, and much more flexible."

"You know, we've never gotten proper Ichili clothing. I suppose nomads would use different layers as different defenses?"

"I would love to tell you about all of that, Nauda, but first I must give you a present before we are interrupted." Fiyu reached into her soulhome with her free hand and revealed the sublime material she had carefully cleaned in preparation. "These are teeth from a giant ghostworm. They are not skulls, but I hope they will be appropriate for your death tower."

"Surprisingly strong." Friend Nauda looked over one appreciatively, then cast her a mischievous glance. "Did you fight a giant monster just for me? You shouldn't have."

Fiyu stifled a giggle. "It was one of my duties, but I would fight a monster if you asked me, Nauda."

"I'm afraid I don't have anything for you, though. I've just been fighting in the Dustwind Plateaus, trying to catch up to you two."

"That is perfectly alright. Come, let me tell you more about nomadic clothing..."

They discussed the topic and nothing in particular along the way, and it was glorious. Aside from the presence of Friend Nauda, the hills were increasingly occupied by wild crestflowers, which really were beautiful in their intricacy. Relative Guchiro and Friend Theo joined them along the way, which was perfectly fine. Ally Homez and many others from the Asplundat Movement joined after, which was less fine.

As much as Fiyu would have liked those quiet moments to continue, she could feel the rising tension: through Friend Nauda's arm, much less her back. Even though this was supposedly a simple ritual, it symbolized much more. In participating, they would be contributing to a sublime material so powerful that it attracted attention across the Nine Worlds.

When they drew close and Fiyu was given a small seed, it didn't seem like it could be anything significant. Barely a sublime material at all. It had three ridges between the poles, however, and more internal structure than most seeds, which intrigued her until Ally Homez stepped before them and began to speak.

"I know you're all thinking about the military aspect," Ally Homez said, "but this has been a simple festival for generations. Today you'll plant a seed with all your cantae, it will grow for three months, then you can then harvest along with everyone else. This is the first time that anyone still associated with the Ruling Cities has been allowed to participate."

It seemed like there were many others from the Asplundat Movement alongside them, moving toward the mountain. Some families appeared to have their own hills or smaller sections, and they moved with strong emotions, whether joy or solemnity. Fiyu noted whole families, lifemates, individuals, and other groups she couldn't immediately classify.

"When the crestflowers bloom," Ally Homez continued, "all of them will have three crest-like flowers. They actually have different colors, from the lightest to darkest red, and their potency will have strengthened."

"How much?" Friend Theo asked.

"These are not immensely powerful materials, admittedly, but their strength depends on the tier of cantae you use when planting. Crestflowers are generally considered worthy of having a place in a soulhome, but this isn't about power. For average citizens, the meaning is more important than the cantae. Each of the crests has a meaning: one is given to a family member, one to a friend, and one to a current or potential lover."

Fiyu's eyes widened. Friend Nauda asked some question about whether some people were showered in crests, but Fiyu wasn't thinking about such community-damaging things. Instead she looked over her companions and realized that her decision would be simple indeed.

As they joined the others and began the formal ceremony, Fiyu found herself smiling. They might have different priorities, but they all had Blacksilver in common, and they used Fithe as a second home. She would plant her crestflower seed with all her strength and then defend it.

~ ~ ~

Everyone moved to the hills, using special triangular trowels to plant their seeds with reverence. Nauda watched them, waiting for her turn, and realized that this was a socially knotty event.

There was the political angle, of course: Homez had invited them against custom as a very obvious gesture toward peace. For the normal citizens she saw around them, it was entirely a social custom. The elders looked thoughtful while the young were impatient, no doubt more interested in the results in three months. As she had suspected, even in a place like the Asplundat Movement, people couldn't avoid playing popularity games.

What interested her even more, however, were the social implications among them. Fiyu was the only one who appeared content, no doubt having made her decisions. Guchiro analyzed his seed and then refused to participate, which was accepted with begrudging grace - he was suspicious, but didn't have strong objections otherwise he'd have made trouble. Theo appeared to be negotiating with Homez for a second seed, no doubt purely focused on the power aspect.

But what did it mean for her? Even as Nauda was given a trowel and directed to a plot of earth, she wasn't sure.

Generally speaking she didn't take these things so seriously: social customs only had the power you gave them, and they were all too often used to manipulate a community. Even if this one seemed harmless, she couldn't simply participate, instead she analyzed its effects. The only part she felt certain of was that she thought Homez had a good idea with this gesture of peace.

Nauda knelt down, trying to copy the reverence of the others, and dug a small hole. She cupped her seed in both hands, flooding her cantae into the tiny material.

One petal for a friend, one for family, one for a lover. She was certain that Fiyu would be giving her the last, so Nauda would do the same. That part of the decision was obvious enough. But what should she do with the other two petals? Did it even matter? It made sense to give one to Theo, but whether she labeled him friend or family, she would be left with an awkward petal.

Lost in her thoughts, Nauda poured so much cantae into the seed that it nearly burst. She carefully set it down, covered it, and ceremonially watered it. The only easy part of the whole ritual was that she didn't have to decide right away.

As she rose to her feet, all other thoughts left Nauda's mind: Tythes was kneeling on another hill, planting a seed of his own. He met her gaze, but he didn't joke this time, in fact he looked like he was taking the ceremony utterly seriously. After a moment he inclined his head in another direction, then turned away.

When Nauda followed his gaze, she saw someone she had never expected: Wiltur, head of House Crimson. He was standing with a small delegation, obviously from the Ruling Cities despite their new clothing. She still remembered how vicious he had been, even destroying a weirkey to throw them into Slest. And now, somehow, he had also entered the Movement and gained permission to participate.

Walking back to the others, Nauda reflected that the political games were more complex than she had been thinking at first. Homez might have reached out to them, but there were other factions of the Asplundat Movement making different decisions. For all that they put forth a unified face, they were a government like any other.

Speaking directly on the hill would have been inappropriate, but as soon as they stepped away, Nauda grabbed Homez by the arm and pulled him aside. "What is House Crimson doing here?" she hissed.

"It's the western bloc again," he told her. "Leadership agrees that there's too much pressure from different sides and we need to make some sort of concession. But it's worse than you know: another faction invited the delegation from Tymetron. They refused magnanimously, but that doesn't mean they're uninterested."

"There's no question what Wiltur is here for." Nauda looked back to the man staring toward the mountaintop hungrily. Couldn't they all see the greed in his eyes, the lust for power that made the Asplundat Movement hate the Ruling Cities?

Then again, Theo had been looking much the same. Beneath the politics, Nauda realized that most of the people weren't looking up at all. For them, this wasn't about grand materials, it was simply a local village custom. Most were adolescents thinking about infatuations, not imagining that huge forces were looming over them.

Suddenly Nauda's decision didn't seem so important anymore. The Asplundat Movement might not be perfect, but she wouldn't let all of this be trampled. If this was the first act of the war, she would fight it however she could.

When they got away from the hills, Nauda pulled Fiyu and Theo aside. As soon as they saw her expression, they knew she wasn't thinking about the ceremony.

"Both of you have been giving me gifts and I haven't had anything to give in return." Nauda was interrupted by Fiyu protesting, but pushed past her. "Well, I've made a decision now. I hoped the war would wait long enough for all three of us to hit Stronghold, but that won't be possible. I'm going to focus on helping the two of you ascend so we make it through this."

"We need you to keep soulcrafting too," Theo said.

"Of course I will, but it's obvious I have further to go. I saw House Crimson and Tythes here, and Homez says Tymetron is pressuring them... this is going to get ugly eventually. We can't let Strongholds lord it over us like in the convocation, we have to play a role here."

"Thank you, Nauda." Fiyu dipped her head, accepting the gesture in the spirit it had been given.

Now that she had said her piece, Nauda stepped away to get to work. It was one thing to say that and another to follow up on it. Before she could get far, however, Theo slipped up beside her and slipped something into her palm.

"This is another crestflower seed," he said. "They aren't supposed to be planted inside a soulhome, but I think we should do it anyway. Might teach us something about the process, and you have the best garden."

"Got it." Nauda clenched the seed in her hand, this time crushing it into her soulhome. She carried it to the center, between her three towers, and carefully placed it into the soil. This planting had much more meaning than the ceremony.

Chapter 11

The relationship flowers nonsense was over, which meant that Theo could get to work.

Despite all the subterfuge and politics, Theo instead flew away from the Asplundat Movement. It was simple distribution of labor: the Ichili were by far the best spies and Nauda had the social connections, so this was his job. He had given Nauda his weirkey and flown to the west, to finally make his appointment with the House of Coin.

Given everything he'd learned, that could turn out to be more important than he'd believed at first. When he'd last left Kathina, her star had been on the rise thanks to their gambit and she had been optimistic about work with the Asplundat Movement. Clearly other issues had gotten in the way, but considering that she asked to meet him within their territory, they must have made some progress.

Thanks to his official status, he wasn't stopped along the way, though he got some strange glances. Nothing stopped him from finally arriving at one of the western cities, yet another blocky grid with an unimaginative name based on its location.

Ignoring those details, Theo looked for signs of the House of Coin. It didn't take long: amid all the prison-like Asplundat architecture rose a golden building with arches and balconies. Actually, it was restrained compared to House complexes back in the Ruling Cities, but compared to the rest of the location it looked opulent. There were fully three floors and the lowest one seemed to be in heavy use, with local citizens moving in and out.

Not wanting to get caught up in the crowds, Theo flew toward the roof instead. Just as he was about to land, an Authority in House of Coin robes moved into his path. Those robes were restrained too, gold-colored cloth instead of actual gold, but they stood out compared to all the uniform tunics.

"Hold," the Authority said. "You may be an Authority, but you have to apply for an appointment like everyone else."

"I'm here to speak to Kathina," Theo told the man, looking past him for the entrance. "She invited me."

"That's absurd. Why would she possibly wa-"

"Theo! You finally arrive!" Kathina's voice rang out from a partially concealed set of stairs and the Authority immediately looked anxious. Clearly his job was stopping anyone from annoying his boss, and he'd just realized that he'd overstepped.

His anxiety was further explained when Kathina emerged. Not only was she floating, she had the dense liquid cantae of a Stronghold, which made her one of the House of Coin's top soulcrafters. Normally he would have ignored her clothing, but he noted that she wore gold-colored robes cut to look very similar to the standard Asplundat uniform. Clearly a concession to their cultural modesty, completely belied by the power radiating around her.

"I told them I had a guest coming," Kathina said with a shake of her head. "Honestly, this is shameful."

"Mistress, I... I..." The guard looked like he was about to faint before Theo put a hand on his shoulder.

"I imagine you do a good job keeping distractions out," Theo told him as he passed. "Keep things quiet for us, okay?"

The man looked marginally relieved, glanced to Kathina, then swallowed and nodded. She seemed only mildly amused by the whole affair, but the guard looked like he saw his career flash before his eyes. Considering that he was just doing his job zealously, Theo let it go and forgot about him as they descended into the building.

"Sorry about that," Kathina said. "That really wasn't a scheme or test or anything."

"Clearly the fault is mine." Theo ran a hand over his armament coat. "Is my outfit really so shabby?"

Kathina chuckled and gestured for him to turn a corner. "This way. No, that's still a quality armament, but the problem is that they value humility here. We're doing our best to play according to Asplundat rules, so we cut down on anything that would give us a bad reputation. Can't have Ruling Cities soulcrafters being given special treatment."

The interior of the building was mostly laid out according to standard Asplundat format, without any of the ornamentation that Theo would have expected. When they stepped through an ordinary wooden door into Kathina's office, however, Theo noted the difference.

All of the furnishings in the office held up a mask of frugality while betraying luxury. The desk was simple wood, but had a highly polished surface and loomed over the position of supplicants. Behind it was a chair that looked like crude planks, if he hadn't recognized the grain as highly flexible and comfortable Aathali wood. The only decoration on the walls was a single sword display, as if this was a simple soulcrafter official's office, but Kathina was clearly not suffering.

One of the subtle ploys was that the chairs in front of the desk were a little too small, leaving people awkwardly slouched and looking up toward Kathina. When she took her position, Theo pretended to sit down in the chair but hovered two feet above the surface so she would have to raise her eyes toward him.

A smirk played across her face, clear acknowledgment that she noticed, but Kathina didn't mention it.

"They consider this place a hardship posting," she told him idly. "I'm shocked how many otherwise competent officials don't understand that this is the next major frontier for the House of Coin."

"You've opened trade with the Asplundat Movement, then?" Theo asked. "I admit, I was skeptical when you said you'd try."

"Of course they have a lot of mistrust of the Ruling Cities, but we've managed to portray ourselves as simple merchants. It took years, but we've built up a decent relationship."

"Is their trade that profitable?"

Kathina waved vaguely to some of the papers on her desk. "The Asplundat Movement has a stronger economy than you might think, lots of agriculture and manufacturing. Where they really fall short is variety and luxury goods, so even their highest citizens don't have many options."

"I can't imagine it'd be profitable trying to bring those in."

"No, no, we're playing their game. Not trying to corrupt them with our decadent ways, just providing needed materials at a fair price. Doing that properly is what got me to this position."

"I know you mean the office, but I'm more impressed by the ascensions." Theo sat back and pretended to look her over, though her soulhome now had a golden shielding wall that prevented him from examining it. "Elevated all the way to Stronghold. I didn't know the House of Coin had such resources, and it almost feels a bit unfair."

"It does, doesn't it?" For the first time Kathina's good mood ebbed and her eyes shifted to the side, keeping her own counsel. At first he wondered if it was a ruse, then he considered that he had actually struck upon a topic of concern.

For someone like her, a powerful Ruler in the good graces of her House, to ascend twice over the course of years was hardly impossible. She had been a Ruler for a long time, though, and he hadn't expected her to advance so far. Even the House of Coin would need to invest significant materials to make someone ascend, and Theo didn't think there was any way to do it cheaply.

No doubt she was a real Stronghold, but she wasn't a fully military one. The display on her wall held two swords, dedicated to fire and water like he remembered, but they weren't the same blades. These looked new and unused, and he saw dust gathering on the hilts.

"So if you were making so much progress," Theo deliberately changed the subject, "how did House Crimson end up here?"

"You have no idea how infuriating that was." Kathina ran a hand through her hair restlessly. "I thought we were far ahead of everyone else, then they just show up with permissions. They're ostensibly a splinter faction, not the real House Crimson... even though that's obviously Wiltur at their head."

"We saw him at an official ceremony."

"As far as I can tell, he's pretending to have abandoned the Ruling Cities for ideological reasons. That sort of thing has happened before - not with Strongholds, but it's happened. What I can't figure out is why in the Nine anyone in the Asplundat Movement believes it."

"I assume you've already considered the economic angle." Theo crossed a leg over his knee and sat back, considering. "They must have something that the Movement wants, something they aren't buying through you."

"If they do, I can't figure it out. I should show you some of the reports later." Kathina began shuffling through some papers, then suddenly flattened them to the table, her eyes fixing on him. "No, never mind, I didn't call you in for a light chat with an ally. We really need to talk."

"Sorry it took me this long. As you know, these have been strange days."

"You're understating it. There's more going on than you know, more than I know, probably more than my superiors know. I don't want to bore you with all the details, but there's a conflict going on underneath the surface. More than just the cold war with Tymetron, there are other forces moving."

"I know that there are aeon-class organizations here." Theo said it casually, like he was remarking on the weather.

For just a moment Kathina's red eyes stared at him. It was only a flash, then she gave him a look that seemed authentically puzzled - it was a masterful act, a perfect imitation of an intelligent person being briefly confused, wondering if this was some sort of trick.

"What's that now? I haven't heard of an organization called that, but you might know more than I do." Kathina regarded him with another strange stare, the perfect follow-up.

Theo couldn't see through it, but she had been just a second too slow and he was sure that he'd seen recognition in her eyes. The House of Coin wasn't just aware of bigger organizations, they had been contacted by one of them. He'd been gambling on that and hadn't actually believed he would turn up a connection so quickly.

"Why don't we be honest with each other?" Theo spread his hands to either side and smiled too much, a parody of reasonableness. "You're working for the House of Coin, I'm working for House Blacksilver. Our interests won't always align, but the last time they did, I think it worked out very well for both of us."

"Not going to deny it." Kathina gestured around at her office and he wasn't sure if her apparent relaxation was feigned. "Look, I won't talk down to you: there are bigger forces at play. But the truth is that I don't know all of them either. I'm not sure who's supporting House Crimson or the Asplundat Movement."

"There's a force behind the Movement?" Betraying ignorance was usually a mistake, but Theo pushed past it. "I'll be direct: that's news to me. There's someone manipulating them?"

"Someone has definitely been giving them support beyond what they should have, but we don't know who. Sounds like you're already in the thick of it, so you know that there are fingers meddling from all sides. No one willing to act directly, all working through proxies to avoid their rivals, so everything is rather muddled."

"It would be less muddled if you told me who you're working for."

Kathina's old smirk flashed briefly. "Not yet. What I can tell you is that we were... approached by an outside force. The House of Coin trades some between worlds, of course we do, but we could tell this was something different. They seem to be an elite organization, as far above us as we are above a merchant who owns a single stall. According to them, they are looking for suppliers on Fithe who can bring them exceedingly rare goods."

"If these are the sorts of people I'm thinking of," Theo said, "they can get almost anything they want. Why work through you?"

"Perhaps it's just part of their shadow games against their rivals, not wanting to betray their hand. I can tell you that they're extremely selective: of all the thousands of sublime materials we've presented, they've accepted exactly two. But the sums they paid for those two were worth all the hassle. What they want here is less clear."

Theo suspected that Kathina was lying to him, he just wasn't sure how much. By this point he was virtually certain that the giant marble slate on the crestflower mountain was the only sublime material that could attract all this attention. The question was whether Kathina didn't know that, whether she knew and didn't want to tell him, or whether she believed something else entirely.

Since they had worked together before, even fought side by side on Slest, Theo considered being completely honest with her. But as he sat in the well-appointed office, feeling her House-granted power, Theo realized that they had grown apart. Maybe if he and Kathina had traveled together all this time they'd be committed allies now, but he'd taken other paths and had to live with that.

"It seems like there's a lot of uncertainty these days," Theo said mildly. "But you called me here, so you must have a clear idea what you want."

"I was hoping we could work together like last time." Kathina leaned back in her chair, almost wistful. "Let me be frank: the bigger forces here don't care about our war. You and I and the entire Norron continent aren't interesting to them. But their involvement has a very high likelihood of destabilizing the armistice and giving the Tymetron empire an opening to attack. And if that happens, everyone here loses and all the scheming manipulators will simply leave."

"You're telling me that you care more about stability than profiting off this?"

"We may be a mercantile House, but this is our home. Of course I would be happy if we were able to make a profitable deal with our patrons... but if it came down to it, I would be satisfied if anyone comes out of this on top over that empire."

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Even House Blacksilver?"

"Even Blacksilver." Kathina sank back into her chair. "I know you don't fully trust me, but our two Houses have worked well together. We've been instrumental in helping Blacksilver turn itself into a proper inter-city organization. I don't mind benefiting them again... but not everyone in the House of Coin feels the same way, do you understand?"

"I understand." Theo stopped hovering and landed on his feet. "It sounds like neither of us can fully commit. But I'll be investigating, especially Tymetron and the other forces that work against all of us. We can exchange information, is that a good enough start?"

"Good enough." Kathina rose and shook his hand. She escorted him to the door, but didn't follow him out, leaving him to walk through the hallways alone.

As he went Theo resisted the urge to look back. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of that meeting. It had been only a first step, and it would be a huge mistake to assume the House of Coin would be an ally, but at least now he had a clearer picture of what was going on.

Multiple aeon-class organizations working by proxy, it was just a question of which powers were using which sides. He had a clear idea of one, and that was a good start.