.
The night was still fairly young, but even if it wasn’t, my fairy sight was revealing the signature of Arken’s [Secret Chamber] spell on the walls, floor and ceiling. We wouldn’t be disturbing any neighbors with our meeting.
Which was good, because now that I was up to speed, we had a lot to discuss. A mission requires a lot of planning, and a lot of information.
The most important detail from Talene was the fact that, until recently, Arelia had regularly swept the Tabad side of the border, looking for bandits. They had held these patrols back recently, informally recognizing it as an ally’s territory, but the morning after next, they would once more send out a company of cavalry.
Not tomorrow, because tomorrow was the Day of the New Moon, the first day of the Month of Gentle Rains (or whatever it was called on the Benemite calendar). Religious sentiments were too strong in this part of the world for a military expedition to set out on a holy day.
Our guest was confident that the Arelians would supply horses to the team so they could cross with them, as adventurer corps irregulars, then let the team split off under cover of night.
“The Arelians are just going to trust a group of foreign adventurers, on your say-so?” Allia wondered.
Talene puffed out her chest. “I’m the Sage Talene Gramellasdaughter, junior disciple of the Great Sage Miröen Fairling, you know? I’m the consultant they have already contracted. They will listen when I vouch for you as trusted acquaintances.”
The dwarven surname hit me slightly by surprise. It wasn’t the time to ask about it though.
Turning to me, she stated, “These are Your Highness’s people. If you tell me that I can trust them, I will do so.”
I nodded. “You can trust them.”
Regardless of how some of them had treated their comrade, I didn’t believe any of these people would betray their client.
After this, the discussion moved to exactly how much effort we would put into the search for this theoretical entrance, assuming we went forward with Talene’s plan. It might be a great ruse to get us into the Tabad without raising the curiosity of Berado patrols, but it wasn’t our mission. We were there to rescue Amelia.
We poured over the maps for a while, discussing where we might focus our efforts, including how much I might be able to detect from the air in order to speed the search and get the Arelian request behind us, if I left Amaga to Dilorè.
After this discussion carried on for a while, Talene turned aside to Allia and stated, “Unless I’ve badly misjudged, you are somebody with whom my scholarly order has had many dealings. You’re the Baron’s Bloody Daughter, aren’t you?”
“That’s what they call me, it seems,” Allia confirmed with a slight grimace. “You’re a Danissian?”
The others were continuing the main discussion while this exchange went on. Since the main discussion was mostly about what routes made the best sense on horseback, and I would likely be flying, I kept my attention on the two women, scooting closer because Melione had left her seat to make tea as she always did when these mission meetings broke out.
“I am,” Talene answered with a hint of pride. “You’ve had dealings with my master, right?”
“Mm,” she responded neutrally. “You said your master was Miröen Fairling? I do seem to recall that name. So, what does it matter in this context?”
“The work my order has hired you for in the past was Divination, right? There are very few people outside of the Royal Augurs of Orestanian who possess the ability.”
The Royal Augurs include both high level mages capable of divination and high level priests skilled as oracles. Most regard them as one of the primary pillars supporting the kingdom, along with the Royal Knights, the Royal Ministries and the seven great academies.
“It’s a skill with a very limited utility, Your Wisdom,” Allia answered, now on guard. “The conditions have to be just right, the questions phrased with precision, and the answers are seldom in a clear and useful form. It also takes quite a bit out of the diviner. If I do one, I’m wiped out for at least a day. If divination could be used so easily, I could just pinpoint our target and head straight to her location.”
Talene smiled tightly, then glanced at me before replying to Allia. “It will be a question of how well we can focus our questions, right? Both when it comes to completing the Arelian request and your real mission?”
Allia frowned. “You want two divinations out of me?”
“You have all day tomorrow to recover from the first one,” Talene told her. “And the second one requires a lot more information than we currently have.”
Allia scowled. “The first also requires more information than we currently have! A foolishly phrased question like ‘Where is the open entrance to the great space underground in the Northwestern Tabad’ might sound terribly precise, but Divination seeks the most compact answer. You are most likely to learn that it is located at the upper end of the tunnel leading to the great space underground in the Northwestern Tabad!”
Talene smirked. “You make the gods sound like terrible pranksters.”
Out of nowhere, that prompted a response out of me. “It isn’t the gods’ fault, Your Wisdom. Divinations are not answered by them.”
She and Allia both looked at me, puzzled. It wasn’t until that point that I realized I had just blurted out some anachronistic knowledge from Senhion’s mental encyclopedia. As fragmentary as it all was, it was still becoming integrated into “my” knowledge, and I was beginning to lose the ability to distinguish between them.
“My Lady,” Allia stated with a slightly lecturing tone, “Nobody knows precisely how the answers to a divination actually arise, but it is a matter of faith for most that the gods are their source. You cannot claim with such certainty it does not come from them.”
But Talene shook her head. “There are several competing theories as to how the answers are provided, Lady Allia. The working theory of my scholarly order is actually somewhat similar to what Her Highness just stated. Based upon the observation that no amount of prayer will change the result of a divination when it is repeated, no matter how righteous or devout the diviner, we believe that the gods merely command the laws by which it operates.”
Allia arched an eyebrow. “That is merely conjecture. The fact remains that it is one of the great divine mysteries, known only to the gods. My Lady should avoid making such claims.”
Well, you’re probably right that I should avoid it, I reflected ruefully.
Talene smiled, gave me another speculative glance, then noted to Allia, “I would say that Lady Allia should avoid claims that ‘nobody knows’ in a world in which demigods walk. Since it is a fact that everyone you meet has a chance to be the descendant of a god, Her Highness could well have inherited divine wisdom on the subject. My master tells me that her ancestry is rather remarkable.”
I didn’t want my ancestry discussed in any detail, so I frowned at that last sentence. But Allia’s attitude underwent a slight change upon hearing that hint. Perhaps Talene had reminded her of her suspicion of me as an actual strega, the other day?
Both their gazes turned to me, with Talene’s head tilted down to give me the expectant ‘upward-turned-eyes’ stare, clearly giving me the floor.
My ears burning bright red, I stated, “The diviner, by following the methods and laws handed down by the gods, gains momentary access to a divine resource called the Sea of Knowledge. The limited minds of the mortal world are only capable of taking the briefest glance at this information that the gods read in great detail. The gods do not guide the answer the mortal receives, as they do for an oracle. That is why any failure to obtain the information the diviner desires is strictly the fault of the diviner, and not the gods’ responsibility.”
When Talene had made the statement about my remarkable ancestry, Allia had gone from dismissive to receptive. She had grown deeply attentive by the time I finished. I feared a progression to ‘reverent’ and decided to stop my answer there.
As best as I could tell, this wasn’t the end of what Senhion knew about it. Divination had been a key skill for her, her means to gain information from the upper realms without incurring the high ‘entropic penalty’ that directly requesting it from somebody like Oranos would cause. The magic known as Divination was, in fact, the internet connection that Oranos and his companions had created for us so we could access the database that was the Divine Sea of Knowledge when our Mortal World resources failed us.
That’s why the spell requires at least a Sixth Level mage to pull off. One is trying to wield a divine instrument intended for the use of immortals.
Talene nodded as she noted, “That description matches well with the most ancient sources on the subject. Especially, there’s a fragment surviving from the ancient Library of Broa Eianum that stated something very similar.”
Allia shook her head. “Whether it’s correct or not, the fact remains that my divinations cannot be used so conveniently. We almost certainly have to get our answers the hard way, because we lack too much information to make a divination.”
“Confirming the Tabadan entrance isn’t a success condition,” Talene noted. “We don’t have to provide a result to the Arelians, simply make a credible effort. But that mission is a hindrance that we can eliminate by finding the entrance. And I believe I can provide you the details you need to frame a successful divination.”
“How?” Allia demanded.
She tipped her head, her brow wrinkling as she grew a troubled smile. “I am a sage, you know? I know I look like a teenager, but that’s thanks to being a half-dwarf, with an assist from Master’s magic.”
I realized that the room had grown silent at some point. I’m not sure exactly how long the others had been listening to the conversation, and probably, neither did Talene, because she proceeded to summarize her plan in one sentence, for their benefit.
“I will research overnight to frame the proper question for Lady Allia’s divination, which she will perform in the morning, allowing her to recover by the following morning, when the cavalry sets out.”
“And if we agree, you believe that will give us the location of this Tabadan entrance so we can satisfy the Arelians,” Arken interpreted, “Freeing us to spend the rest of our time across the border on our real mission.”
“Giving us the exact location is a stretch,” Talene hastened to answer before Allia could dispute Arken’s statement. “More than likely, it will only give us the ability to locate it quickly. It depends upon how successful I can be by tomorrow morning.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for you to do this research of yours on the proper question to find the princess, instead?” Ryuu demanded. “Our job is saving her, not doing this extra work you’re pushing on us.”
“Ryuu, that lady’s a sage,” Brigitte muttered to him. “Speak more respectfully.”
Talene shook her head. “He’s not wrong, but the problem is, I don’t have enough information yet to frame the question to find your princess. I have much more to work with, concerning the entrance.”
“But you don’t have any stake in rescuing our princess,” he countered. “You’re working for the Arelians. Locating your entrance takes precedence for you, doesn’t it?”
She laughed. “I’m working for His Majesty the Fairy King, sir. Helping the Arelians is just a side job for my master, and he probably gave it to me to keep me nearby in case you needed me. The Fairy King sent us to help King Owen, who would certainly prioritize his daughter. That is my stake, sir.”
Turning back to me, she said, “You’re shuttling back and forth, I understand. When do you return to the Amaga next?”
I remembered the talking stone in my wallet and reminded myself to pass it to Arken. It was going to rescue me from this nightly commute. But for now, I needed to base myself there, not here.
“My purpose for coming this time was simply to synchronize our information and stay in touch,” I answered. “I’m headed back as soon as we’re done here.”
From next to me, I heard a slight sound of dismay from Ceria. I patted her hand and whispered, “Sorry.”
