Ashes of Candesce: Book Five of Virga

As concisely as she could, she told them the rest of it: how she'd found the emissary and gone with it into Aethyr and beyond; how, on her return, ships from Abyss and the Home Guard had pursued them; and how they'd all crashed on the surface of Aethyr.

Leal had lectured many times, but she had never told a story in such a way as she was now, and never a story so true, never one with her at its center. She spoke in a kind of ecstasy, and there was complete silence among her listeners.

--Until, as she was describing their harrowing flight through the lost city of Serenity, someone off to the left shouted, 'Can't a man defend himself in this court of opinion?'

She blinked and looked over: Eustace Loll stood on the path beside the ranked chairs. He was in a formal suit and he wasn't alone.

Rustling murmurs sprang up again, and Leal heard the squeak of floorboards as people crisscrossed the podium behind her. Chaison Fanning had discreetly stepped aside during her speech, but now he appeared at her elbow. 'Those men are from your country?' he asked her quietly. She nodded, suddenly ashen.

Loll fronted a delegation from Abyss--that much would have been disaster enough, for her. But beside them stood another group, newly arrived as well, and these men wore the severe black of the Home Guard. Considering the weight of the medals, braiding, and epaulets on their jackets, she assumed these were the Guard's very leaders.

And worse, much worse: next to the Guards stood fifteen unnaturally beautiful men and women, all tall and haughty, and dressed in beautiful, shimmering clothes. The virtuals had sent their own delegation to the colloquy.

The ecstasy of using her voice, of practically singing out her story, collapsed. Leal shrank back from the podium, but stopped as someone strolled to the front of this parade. Leal saw the dress first: black as space, adorned with random splashes of diamond, and cut very low. The lady's skin was pale, as were her wide eyes that were a gray so light as to nearly be white. Her mouth was a scarlet line, her hair a tumble of blond curls. She slunk along the line of alert Guardsmen, a sly smile on her face. 'What?' she said. 'Were you thinking we wouldn't show up? Not,' she added with a pout, 'that any of us received invitations.'

Chaison Fanning was trotting down the steps of the stage, a broad smile on his face and his hand held out. 'On the contrary,' he said with all evidence of relief, 'we'd announced to the world that this meeting was open to everyone, and we're very happy to see you.'

'Are you?' She glided up to him, and he took her hand and bowed.

'Lady Inshiri Ferance, I take it?' he said, still in his bow. Leal heard some gasps from the crowd. 'I am Admiral Chaison Fanning, and on behalf of our gracious hosts I would like to welcome you to the grand colloquy.'

'Would you, now?' She took back her hand. 'Then,' purred Ferance, 'you'll have no objection to our delegation making its own case, since your so-called free press has already painted us as the villains?'

'We would like nothing better,' said Fanning. 'We will make space for you in the program.'

'We demand to go first,' said Ferance.

'That,' Fanning said, 'I think would be harder to arrange. We want to ensure that all the delegates start with the same basic information--'

'What information?' One of the Guardsmen came to stand next to Ferance. This man was unnaturally tall, and ropy muscle bulged under his black uniform--which was festooned with medals.

Fanning bowed again. 'To whom do I have the pleasure...?'

'Nicolas Remoran, general secretary of the Virga Home Guard,' the newcomer boomed. It was suddenly dead silent in the amphitheater. Without invitation, he stepped up onto the stage next to Fanning, where he loomed over the admiral of Slipstream like a tree. 'And what is this information that you have about the outside world that can possibly compare to what the Guard has accumulated painstakingly over centuries?'

There was a momentary silence. Then: 'Well, they knew I was alive. You didn't.' Leal spun to see Hayden Griffin strolling past her, hands in his pockets as though he were spending an idle afternoon in the gardens. He walked right up to Remoran and said, 'And anyway, it's not about what you know, is it? It's about what you never told the rest of us.'

There was muttering, murmuring, and a smattering of applause. Remoran whirled and shouted at the crowd, 'Do you want to know the truth?' His voice was huge, utterly filling the space. Moneyed powerbrokers and ancient nobles blinked in surprise. 'Well, do you?' he roared.

There was a subdued reply. Fanning was calmly looking around, but Leal saw that his gaze was alighting in succession on the knots of soldiers he had scattered around the space. These were beginning to move forward.

'You're saying you don't want to hear our side?' shouted Remoran.

A hunched old woman in the front row stood up. 'We do, we do,' she said. That got a cheer, and the crowd began to chant, 'Truth, truth, truth!'

Fanning threw up his hands and shook his head in sympathy to Leal. She shrugged in return.

The admiral held up a hand. 'In the interest of keeping everyone happy,' he said with a glare at the crowd, 'we will allow the Home Guard delegation to go first.' Before anyone could summon up a good cheer he added, 'But anyone who tries to disrupt our program after this will be summarily ejected from the building.'

Remoran crossed his arms and looked down at Fanning. 'Fair enough,' he rumbled.

Fanning tilted his head in ironic assent. 'Then say your piece.'

* * *

FOR A MINUTE or so Remoran prowled the edge of the stage, like some caught beast. Then he stopped in the center, clenched and unclenched his fists, and went through a remarkable transformation.