A queue of visitors was slowly making its way up the stairs and into the schoolhouse. Cassie fell in behind several people who were chatting excitedly in a foreign language. When the pythia finally reached the vestibule, she felt a tap on the shoulder.
“Hello there. Nice to see you again.”
It was Griffin. She gave him a relieved smile. “Hey, haven’t seen you for a while. What’s going on? Faye called and told me to be here by seven o’clock.”
“Yes, she called me as well and asked me to be your escort. That’s why I was waiting here for you.”
“I need a date for this?” Cassie asked in surprise.
She noticed a slight blush suffuse Griffin’s face. “A date? Good heavens, no. Faye just thought someone should explain what you’re about to see, that’s all.”
“Don’t tell me it’s a human sacrifice!” Cassie exclaimed tongue-in-cheek. “It isn’t, is it?”
“A human sacrifice?” Griffin echoed in disbelief. “Where did you hear such a rumor? Of course not. It’s a special gathering of the Concordance, and we’d better get inside soon if you don’t wish to stand through the whole meeting.”
He hurried her into the main hall which, for the first time in Cassie’s experience, was ablaze with light and life. More than two hundred people were milling around: some deep in conversation, a few greeting old friends, others climbing the risers to the tiered box seats that lined the walls.
Griffin motioned to two seats in a lower tier which they hastily claimed. Once they were settled, Cassie looked around curiously at all the new faces. Some she recognized from the vault downstairs, but most of them were strangers to her.
She noted that many people had adopted strange attire. Some wore business suits with sashes across the chest. Several were sporting unusual headgear—a turban, a fez, a burnoose. One woman was dressed in a silk kimono while another wore a feather cape over a black gown.
“If there’s a dress code for this event, I can’t figure out what it is,” she confided to Griffin.
“For a ceremonial gathering such as this, some members like to show off their native costume. Unfortunately for the majority of them, the climate of the Midwest is a bit chillier than where they came from. Practicality dictates that they must dress for warmth, but they like to wear some scrap of indigenous clothing as a memento of their homelands.”
“Good thing nobody’s being judged on their fashion sense. It’s a runway nightmare!” Cassie commented.
Griffin chuckled but offered no opinion.
As the pythia looked around the room, she noticed Erik. He was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms folded across his chest. While there were empty seats nearby, he chose to remain standing.
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s he doing here?”
The scrivener followed her gaze. “Erik? He is an elected member of the Concordance, so he can attend if he chooses.”
“Let’s hope he doesn’t open his mouth,” Cassie murmured under her breath.
Griffin gave her an odd look. He was apparently unaware of the animosity between the two.
The pythia continued her inspection. Her attention settled on the round table. The thirty chairs were now occupied by people of various hues, nationalities, and odd styles of clothing.
“Why thirty?”
“Hmm?” Griffin asked absently. He had been looking in the opposite direction, waving at someone he knew across the room. He glanced back toward the center. “Oh, you mean the main table? Tradition. The original idea was to have five representatives from each continent, but that seemed unfair to the continents which had the majority of the troves. The current system provides proportional representation based on the number of troves. The allocation among continents changes from time to time as the number of troves changes.”
“And who gets to decide who sits at the main table?”
“Each trove chooses a representative to the Concordance, and those representatives elect the people who sit at the round table which, by the way, is called the Circle. Circle members are the governing body of the organization. They are the ones who vote on matters of import affecting the Arkana. However, when a topic is up for debate any member of the Concordance may participate in the discussion.”
“Will I be allowed to say something?” Cassie asked eagerly.
“Fortunately for you, the title of pythia carries with it automatic inclusion in the Concordance, so the answer is yes, you may.” A worried look crossed Griffin’s face. “What were you planning to say exactly?”
Cassie shrugged. “Not sure, but it’s good to know I could speak up if I wanted to.” She scanned the room once more. “I don’t see Faye yet. Where does she sit?”
Griffin leaned over and pointed. “Look there.”
Cassie followed Griffin’s instruction and noticed two men carrying a chair forward to place it at the table. It was more of a throne than a chair with a high back and ornately carved arms. She seemed to remember seeing it parked against the back wall on her previous visits to the schoolhouse.
“That chair is only used if Faye, herself, is conducting the meeting,” Griffin explained.
Cassie was surprised. “You mean sometimes the Concordance meets without her?”
“Yes, if it’s an issue that doesn’t require her involvement. But she called this session, so she will definitely be presiding.”
Cassie shifted her full attention to Griffin. “Do you know what this meeting is about?”
He smiled cryptically. “Oh yes, and it should prove quite interesting to see how they take it.”
“How who takes what?”
Cassie was about to badger him with several more questions when her attention was caught by a small white-haired woman making her way toward the center of the room. People stepped to either side respectfully to let her pass. The woman was wearing a white silk dress and long matching jacket. With a start, Cassie realized it was Faye. She had only seen the old woman in her flowery house dresses before. Tonight, her attire made her look more like the Queen of England with the regal bearing
