Storm Breaking

He was tremendously grateful that he no longer had to represent Karse at the Council; one of the Sun-priests who had fought with the Valdemarans against Ancar had come North at the same time that Natoli's father had gone South. He had never been comfortable in such a position, had never felt particularly capable of handling it, no matter what Solaris herself said. And certainly about half the other members of the Council had doubts now and again about his competence and even his integrity. But that Sun-priest had certainly seen magic and believed in it with his whole heart. Perhaps he could help convince the doubters.

'What about the weapons themselves?' someone else asked intelligently. 'If we can get rid of them harmlessly, we'd be able to lessen the danger by that much. Is there any way of dismantling them?'

'When Urrrtho sssaid he could not?' That was Treyvan, his, voice indignant. 'When he left a warrrning to that effect? Arrre you mad?'

Ah, the things a gryphon can get away with saying, just because he's larger than anything or anyone else! Karal was glad that Treyvan and Hydona were there to say all the rude things that needed saying.

'We are proceeding very slowly in our understanding of these devices,' Firesong said smoothly. 'If there is a way to dismantle them, we will. We may be very lucky; at least one of them simply disintegrated with age, and time might have done what mortal hands could not.'

It was interesting to Karal how Firesong had taken on the role of spokesman for the group. Not that anyone else had rushed to volunteer, but Firesong was by nature a bit lazy, and not apt to take on any more responsibility than he had to.

Then again, if Florian or Altra had held the teleson link open, the Councillors would have seen only Karal, the Companion or the Firecat, none of which were good choices for inspiring respect. Sejanes had no mind-magic, nor did Master Levy. An'desha did, but he was no better choice than Karal, although thanks to his magic-whitened hair, he looked a bit older than Karal. Need could have gotten respect, but if Need had held the link, they'd all be seeing Firesong anyway. At least people respected Firesong; even feared him a little. One good thing; his acidic wit made a fine weapon to wield against intransigent or argumentative Councillors.

Then again, it is a chance for Firesong to be seen, appreciated, and admired, and who else has he had as an audience lately?

'First we have to discover what, exactly, they are supposed to do. Then how they do it. Then we might be able to judge if we have the ability to disarm them,' Firesong explained patiently. 'If you think of them as enormously complicated traps with a weapon in the middle, this will make more sense to you.'

'But—' someone began, and stopped.

'Fortunately,' Sejanes picked up smoothly, 'this study does not at all interfere with our studies of the mage- storms, because that is taking place up there, among you. Here we are still operating on the assumption that we may have to trigger one of these weapons to counteract the final Storm. We already know which are the best choices, and together with the notes we found in the workshop below, we are studying them to see if the same solution we found the last time is viable this time.'

'And what if you can't find an answer?' That voice sounded strained and somewhat panicked, So there was at least one person on the Council who was taking this threat seriously! Karal only hoped it was not someone who was inclined to take a panicked view of everything. Getting people to organize their own defense would be easier if they did not think of the person goading them to it as a chronic overreactor.

'You really ought to be operating on the assumption that we won't, and that all we have done is to buy you time to prepare,' Master Levy replied truculently. He was very impatient with the Council, and had said as much before this meeting began. 'We told you that in the beginning. When I left, the Artificers were devising a formula to predict the pattern of the circles of damage.'

'We're still working on it,' said another voice. 'The model isn't perfect, but we expect to have an answer before the stormlets start, and we'll check its accuracy with measurements as the stormlets increase in strength. By the time there's real damage, the formula will be tested and ready for use.'

'So, there's your answer. If we can't come up with a simple solution, you simply keep people and livestock out of those dangerous areas, drain as much power as you can out of that stone under the Palace and shield it with everything you have, and wait for the final Storm to pass.' Master Levy's tone said the rest; that any idiot should have been able to sit quietly and figure that much out for himself.

'While you all sit there safe and sound in the Tower? someone else accused angrily.

That was a mistake. Karal braced himself for the riposte. Firesong was not in a good mood, and there was going to be blood on the Council table in a moment, even if it was metaphorical blood.

'Safe? Sound?' Firesong asked dangerously. 'Where did you come by that incredible notion? Would someone please remove that man for incompetence and put him in the kitchen washing pans where he belongs? If I were the lot of you, I'd throw him off the Council. I do believe in encouraging those of lesser ability, but I think that appointing a congenital idiot to a Council seat is going too far.'

There was an indignant spluttering on the other side, then a certain amount of commotion; Selenay continued