Four Roads Cross (Craft Sequence #5)(20)

Aev growled. “She fell in combat; She stood alone against murderous hordes.”

“Which sounds great in a poem,” Tara said, “but to a banker the important word is ‘fell.’ Seril takes big risks, and they don’t always work out. Let’s say an Alphan Securities banker wants to analyze Kos. She learns that Kos protects Seril—who tends to find Herself in sticky, fatal situations. Seril lacks assets or income. Her power’s tied up in the gargoyles and in Justice, neither of which is liquid. To our banker, Seril looks like a massive undisclosed liability—Kos has given tacit backing to a volatile, costly entity. Now that people know the gargoyles are back, they’re already wondering if Seril’s come, too. When she’s found, and she will be, we’ll see our first test of the tacit guarantee. Someone will try to kill you and your people.” She nodded to Aev. “If Kos defends you, an attack on him will follow soon after, through the courts.”

“We do not need Kos to defend us,” Aev said.

“You might. This isn’t a battlefield. Your enemies won’t announce themselves. They don’t want a fight. They want you to die.”

Nestor leaned forward in his chair. “Why are we just hearing this now?”

“You,” Cardinal Bede said, “are hearing it because the time has come for you to share the uncertainty Ms. Abernathy, Aev, and I have shared for the last year.”

The gargoyle nodded. “Why do you think we have kept such a low profile?”

“This is your idea of a low profile?” Nestor asked.

Aev’s growl caused the easel to rattle against the stone floor.

“We don’t have time for recrimination,” Tara said. “We need to work together.”

The Technical Cardinal frowned. “What options do we have?”

She remembered that burned paper, but she said, “At Cardinal Bede’s direction, your priests have spent the last year preaching groundwork for Seril’s return, which gives Her more faith to draw upon. That’s good. And Aev and her people have built themselves a solid mystery cult from scant resources, based on dreams and aid in dark alleys. Much as I wish they’d taken fewer risks, they’ve built the foundation for a Serilite movement in Alt Coulumb. It would have worked if we had more time.”

Stone wings twitched in the dark room.

“In addition to encyclical support, I have diversified our Lord,” Bede said, “using commodities investment to reduce his exposure to a sudden collapse in our creditworthiness. That protects us in the short term, ensuring Lord Kos will not walk weaponless to battle, if it comes to that. Meanwhile, Ms. Abernathy has pursued options for protecting Seril Herself.”

Tara recognized her cue. “Seril’s lack of liquidity is Her main weakness. By attacking the gargoyles, a Craftswoman can hurt Her directly. I’ve spent the last year tracking Seril’s treaties with old gods, without much luck. Other than Kos, most of Her partners died in the Wars, and their debts to Seril were written off in the necromantic process.” That dead end had taken eight months of work. “My next step’s to seek property Seril lost in the God Wars. This is a long shot: the Wars were hectic, and many Craftsmen immediately used power they seized from one god to kill another. But we might find something useful. Meanwhile, we have to ensure news of Seril’s survival breaks under conditions we control. Aev’s people have promised not to answer prayers. I’ve called for double Blacksuit patrols in the Paupers’ Quarter during the next few nights. In the meantime, bring any ideas, concerns, fears, or prophecies to me first.” She looked around the table. “Some of you have to run. I’m sure there are more questions. I’ll stay to answer those. I know the news sounds bad. But we can win this. We will.”

Nods, with determination in various shades of grim.

She’d convinced no one. But they pretended they believed her, that everything would work out for the best.

Tara hadn’t expected more. She didn’t quite believe herself, either.

Abelard excused himself; Aev followed. So did Cat. That left Tara, the Commissioner, and the Cardinals—and then the hard questions came.





11

Cat closed the conference chamber door, guillotining Cardinal Bede’s rambling many-subclaused question before His Eminence reached a verb. The door she’d chosen led to a stone landing and a stair winding down and up. The hem of a rust-red robe disappeared around the stair’s descending turn. “Abelard,” she called, but he didn’t stop, and she found herself alone on the landing. Or so she thought.

A stone rumble from the shadows brought her hand halfway to her badge before she recognized the voice. “I do not think he wishes company,” Aev said.

“Do you guys have lurking contests or something?”

Aev stepped forward. Light chiseled her planes and angles from the black. “Why?”

“If so, you’d take the ribbon.”

Aev gestured to her bare stone torso. “Where would I pin a ribbon?”

Cat looked away. “I haven’t seen Abelard in a while, is all. Guess he has better things to do than talk. Tend the boilers, power the city, keep us from freezing in our beds or roasting in our towers. At least it’s a distraction.”

“Ms. Abernathy’s claims concern you.”

“It’s all so far above my pay grade.” Cat pointed down through the floor. “Thought we could work it out together, Abelard and me, but he hasn’t been himself these last few months. Then again, I don’t suppose any of us has been herself.” She frowned. “Themselves? Themself?”