Burning Night: A Tale of the Everburning City

Chapter 17: Tabitha

Twenty-three chairs were arrayed in a small circle, in a windowless room that was likely meant to be a supply closet. A single flame poured out from a small exhaust pipe in the ceiling, casting an entrancing dance of lights in the dim, dank room.

"Is this the best place you could find for us?" Tabitha heard Benden Tammerlane ask, as the colonel stepped inside and surveyed the room. His left hand rested on the pommel of his Coldstone sword. "And who called this ash-choked meeting?"

"I did," Tabitha admitted, gesturing towards the chairs. "Please sit, colonel. This meeting shouldn't take long."

"You called this meeting? What the burning hell is so important that you're willing to call us out here well after dark?" Benden asked her, as a few other people stepped past him and sat down.

"I suppose I don't really need the entire council," Tabitha reflected. "As soon as I have the members from Oversight, we can start."

The voice that replied wasn't Benden's. The rich, powerful timbre in the voice of Sun'il Tavore, Parliament's speaker, was a familiar sound to much of the City. "You're here to nominate your shadow."

"Tavore?" Benden asked, as Tabitha looked to the door, to see Parliament's elderly stateswoman step inside and set her cane against the door. "You know something about this nonsense?"

"Not yet. But Crafter a'Loria has never been a fan of subtlety," Sun'il Tavore said, as the woman stopped at the seat next to Tabitha, and sat down.

"Or patience. I'm still wondering why this couldn't wait a few days," Benden said irritably.

"I was beginning to despair," Tabitha said scathingly, fixing her gaze towards Benden. "I don't get invited to these meetings anymore. I missed you all."

"You weren't invited because most of our meetings were about you. A battalion storming Parliament and declaring their commander the City's emperor is less serious than you going berserk," Benden said.

"I suspect I'd have a messenger bashing on my door again if that happened," Tabitha remarked dryly.

"Benden's concern is an opinion I concur with, a'Loria," another voice said from the doorway. Tabitha turned to see the streaked brown hair and faded red coat of Crafter Lionel Adams. "You spent a great deal of yourself, solving Oversight's problem for them."

"The Foundry is the City's problem," Tabitha replied tersely. "And it's secrets are our problem. Which is part of why I've dragged you all out of your beds for this meeting."

To Tabitha's relief, the contingent from Oversight, five people in all, arrived in that moment. Leading them was Agrias, who nodded politely to her before she sat down.

"This meeting of the Council Privy to Hushed Whispers is meant chiefly for the members from Oversight, and since there's here, let me begin," Tabitha said, as the Council Privy's five shadows took their seats. "I hereby nominate Mathias Aranhall to serve on this council."

"Seconded," Agrias said instantly, as Tabitha knew she would.

"Wait," Lionel Adams said. "Aranhall? Any relation to-"

"Her son, actually. He heads the division in Oversight known as the 'Nannies'," Benden answered.

Tabitha's eyes widened briefly in surprise, and she waited silently, hoping Benden would add to that explanation.

To her disappointment, Benden didn't speak again.

"No matter how big the City gets, the infamy of names can live through generations," Lionel Adams reflected.

"Infamy? Is that how you see it?" Benden asked. His expression and tone suggested surprise, and to Tabitha's eyes, a little disgust. The soldier turned back to Tabitha and smiled. "He's demonstrated a willingness to put the City first. Few in the City can match his worth in that regard. What secret has he stumbled over?"

Tabitha clenched her fist, and took a deep breath. "He and I went into Research, a few weeks ago. Even after we killed Nathaniel Olman, he and I searched the Foundry for others. In our search, he found something he would not normally have seen."

Tabitha waited with what was left of her last breath clutched in her chest, waiting to see if any of them believed her lie.

She nearly sighed in relief, when Lionel Adams nodded and followed her half-true statement to the implied lie. "He found out how Coldstone is made."

The room went quiet, and every eye fell on Tabitha. "He knows, but he hasn't told anyone yet. Even me, in so many words. Given his history, I felt it best to bring his situation to you, rather than act on it of my own accord."

"It doesn't help that he's your shadow now, and his disappearance might be hard for you to explain," Sun'il said.

"Oversight, you have your nomination. It has been seconded," Tabitha said. She let her voice drop, and smiled a little as the air in the room went still. "All in favour?"

"Why are you so keen to rush this vote?" Lionel Adams asked, and Tabitha could feel a swirl of distorted air, as the ancient crafter raised his own heat haze.

"I have been given my final evaluator, Adams," Tabitha reminded him. "I'm rather cognizant of my own mortality."

"Fair enough," Adams replied, nodding his head.

Tabitha was amused to note that his heat haze did not dissipate.

"Aye," Agrias said. The shadow's hand was up, and her gaze was fixed on her companions. Two others had raised their hands by the time Tabitha glanced back to the group.

"Since only the five members of Oversight vote, we have a majority. The matter is settled. Mathias Aranhall will be introduced to the Council Privy soon," Sun'il Tavore said.

"Has a Crafter ever nominated someone from Oversight before?" Agrias asked, facing Sun'il.

"Not as long as I can recall," Lionel Adams said.

Tabitha shook her head, taking the old crafter's words seriously.

Lionel Adams has sat on the Council Privy since before the Fifth Invasion. His real age was one of the secrets the Council Privy kept.

"Well, history's been made today," Benden said, standing up. "But if you don't mind, I need to get some sleep. There's that ceremony tomorrow, and the honour guard is made of a pet project from an old friend. I can't be late."