The Testimony of Her Eminence and Most Puissant Sentience Tara del D’myn, Matriarch of Skarsia and All Humanity, Nuncio to the Combine of Sentients
Elma’ashra came through for us. The situation in Eavis was under control; there were remarkably few fatalities thanks to first-responders both Cu’enashti and human. We knew, in a general sense, the location of D’noe’s nau’gsh; the incident had given us a good pretext to put it under military guard.
So in some ways, we had made progress. In others…I ordered a microcam to follow Tielo. At the moment that etch barged into my sitting room, my husband, the Archon of Nightside, was hopping across the north lawn like a ra’aabit.
“You’d better see this,” she said. “It’s a local broadcast from Shambhala, but somehow it arrived six days before expected.”
“SongLuminants?”
“Probably,” confirmed Thoughtful 45. “They can send information even faster than we Quicknodes can.”
As the holo began, Nan-Zee was making a speech. Everyone seemed to be taking her quite seriously despite the fact that she was dressed like an engraving from a Lewis Carrol book. Almost Alice, except for the pink ombre hair. She must be in her thirties, but she’s another one like Elma who plays at being sixteen. Arrested development all round. At least Nan-Zee has the excuse of a disturbed childhood.
“The former Archon has agreed to meet with me personally,” she said, “to facilitate the transfer of power.”
Behind her, Lamark was glaring poisonously.
“That’s a rather broad interpretation of your offer,” remarked etch.
“We are ready to receive him at any time,” Nan-Zee continued.
There was something about the glint in her eye when she says that. “I’ll bet you are,” I muttered. Lamark had seen it too, and scowled even more poisonously.
But our viewing of the transmission was interrupted by a noise from outside, a roar that shook the building so hard that I wondered if there had been an explosion. At first I didn’t realize that it was only the wind; that there was lightning flashing outside the building.
“Uh oh,” said Tielo, from his position in the middle of the lawn. It took less than a minute for him to be completely drenched by the sudden, violently howling gale.
“Uh oh,” he repeated, pointing westward, towards the coast. He was pointing at the Atlas Tree, but I couldn’t see that far down the strand in the density of this downpour. Then I received a message from Zosim, who was still over at the War Cathedral. As he spoke, I could hear about a hundred klaxons wailing in the background.
“Your Eminence,” he said. “The honor guard at the Ipsissimal Park is reporting a crisis situation. Starbright Point has turned to ice.”
“Wait, what?”
“Go go time,” sang Tielo, running into the house. Then a moment later, I watched him emerge in the rain, driving a hovercar.
Tielo can’t drive.
“Wait for me!” I yelled, running down the stairs. I burst onto the verandah below. “Tielo, wait!” But he had already vanished into the thick rain, and I was in danger of being blown over the railing and into the garden.
I stood in the pouring rain, trying to sort it out.
D’noe was pissed off.
D’noe was very pissed off. This was why I didn’t want him to know about the message I’d sent to Nan-Zee. This was why the PAF did. At this point I think their strategy shifted from cleverly usurp our government to cause as much panic and confusion as possible. Perhaps they thought if Lamark could really make a Matriarch to order, they could sort it out later, picking their own puppet to put on the throne. A puppet unlike me or Nan-Zee, one with no Dolparessan sap in her bloodline. One that SongLuminants could simply possess.
D’noe was pissed off, but he was still incompetent. He couldn’t direct the power flowing through his roots with any nuanced control. He just threw everything he had at us in a fit of blind frustration.
He couldn’t direct the power. How big was he? Larchan public groves? There’s nothing of any size there. I realized that it wouldn’t be long before he burnt out. He would meet the same fate as the first Archon, but in a matter of months instead of centuries. I felt sorry for him.
The PAF knew that, damn them. But they didn’t give a burst bubble. They never intended to put either Venahalee or Nan-Zee on the throne.
I made it back inside of the palace just in time. The gale had ripped one of the Seville orange trees out by the roots. It careened across the verandah and smashed into the window behind me. I was almost at the hallway door, so most of the impact missed me, but a shard of glass impaled itself in my shin.
I slammed the door behind me and yanked the damn thing out. It hurt, and it was bleeding. What a crybaby. I’d gotten so used to Ash instantly healing every little booboo.
Starbright Point had turned to ice? That couldn’t be good for the Atlas Tree. Either its roots would freeze, or if Ash tried to use nul-energy to warm them, the mountain would melt, and Atlas would go crashing into the sea.
There was nothing, nothing I could do to stop it. There was no other tree big enough to fight the Archon. Tielo had to pull himself together enough to deal with this.