Fall of the Spectrum

Chapter Seventeen, Part Two

Forneus waited, idly tracing the runes on his rings with one finger, his gaze flitting past the many operatives coming and going from the council chamber.

Receiving yet another tiresome glare from Pantha as she headed toward the lower levels, he released a weary sigh. He would have much preferred to go with Lyka to retrieve Gwen himself than wait around and suffer the dark looks of those who blamed him and Gwen for the most recent mission's failure.

In spite of Apollo's backing, in spite of even Zeus making it clear they weren't to blame, that Lucas's demonic nature and alliance with Reeves had been previously unforeseen—never mind that no one else should have been able to track the artifacts as Gwen could—it seemed a great many of the operatives felt as Pantha did.

Too blinded by their arrogance and preconceived notions to understand otherwise, Forneus thought, experiencing one of his rare moments of anger. He could bear the finger of blame being pointed at him, but he couldn't abide it being levelled at Gwen any longer. He would have to do something about it, and soon—before Pantha and her ilk caused further discord among the Regulations Force.

Before their hostility toward Gwen went beyond dirty looks and scathing remarks.

Hearing the familiar clap of shoes on crystalline steps, Forneus glanced to his left just as Gwen came into view, rounding the bottom of the stairwell to pass amid the four, Corinthian-styled columns at the corners of the Central Junction's main platform.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Forneus smiled at her. "I was starting to think you'd gotten lost."

Gwen made a face at his teasing, and he laughed. The sour expression melted from her face and she returned the smile in kind, albeit somewhat distractedly. "No. I just waited around a bit longer, to make sure Astral was feeling better."

She averted her gaze when she said this, but Forneus didn't press the matter. Instead, he offered his arm to her and began leading her toward the upper levels on the right.

"Come, I thought it might be a nice change of scenery if we talked in the Lounge over food and drink," he said. "After staying at Astral's bedside all night, you must be famished."

Gwen's stomach gave a slight gurgle of approval, and she blushed. "Well, I guess I could use something to eat," she admitted, ducking her head at Forneus's renewed chuckles.

"There's plenty of ether to spare in the Lounge. I'm sure I can come up with something suitable." He patted her hand reassuringly. "And while you're eating, I can tell you the most recent news from the council—including what I managed to unearth in the archives about Reeves' new accomplice."

"You mean that Lucas guy?"

Forneus nodded. As they continued up the stairs and onto a winding path, he said, "I couldn't remember where I'd seen him before, but when you mentioned his name, it fell into place."

He could feel Gwen's full attention on him, her eyes reflecting the swirls of colourful ether at the Spectrum's core. However, with the number of operatives and council aides passing them, now was not the time to go into further detail. The council had made it clear that the information regarding Lucas was far more sensitive than even the topic of the artifacts, and given everything they had recently found out about Lucas, Forneus wasn't about to take any chances.

Especially when they still didn't know who the Spectrum's traitors were.

"But as I said before," he went on as though there had been no interruption, "we'll discuss that later. Away from prying eyes."