“How do you find who you’re looking for?” Lucy asks, sitting alongside me on the stained-glass floor.
“You study the extent of the disguise and ease of movement,” Sianna replies, pointing to an example of this theory. “The lady who has just arrived to our right. Her make-up is lightly applied but the hair isn’t her own … her pale, freckled complexion suggesting a redhead hiding within a mass of black hair. Secondly, she heads straight to the cocktail bar nearest to her — the rash remedies section — giving you the desired disfigurement in one gulp.”
“So, what does that tell us?” Conrad asks, tapping his feet as he considers Sianna’s method of identifying Society targets.
“That she’s arrived here in a hurry, maybe unsuccessful in securing shelter along the way. Remember, most inhabitants of The Royisin Heights seek peace and sanctuary, having no interest in engaging with others. The people you see below aren’t part of this group who live in the mounds of earth decorating the landscape. They are the moving feast … entering and exiting through the four doorways to seek transformation and configuration.”
“Configuration?” I query, managing to suppress a sneeze.
“Adapting their plans to lengthen their time here,” Sianna replies, “normally meaning entering into deals with those offering shelter and passage to wilder realms.”
“Who are the people who offer the deals?”
“The Domitus until recently … Odin and Neve arriving on their tamed Silverbacks to intimidate and negotiate … transporting the desperate to remote realms for a price.”
“Like Alice Aradel,” Lucy adds.
“Yes, Lucy,” Sianna replies as she clicks her fingers, causing the stained-glass floor to fade away. “Alice arrived here some time ago, realising her time was up in Society Square. Luckily, she hadn’t carried out any serious crime— the rumour of her planned kidnapping of your young wizarding crew being hard to prove.
There’s no way back to the heart of the S.P.M.A. for Alice, however, meaning an increased reliance on groups like The Domitus to keep her hidden: a plan that only ever had a certain amount of life.”
With the stained-glass floor disappearing from view, Sianna gestures for us to follow her along the passageway, the shards of glass illuminated by the Quivvens glowing underneath our skin. We reach a wider space soon afterwards, opening out into an extension of the decorative feature of the passageway: shards of glass glimmering around us … each one offering insight into the different shades of The Royisin Heights.
All we have to do now is close our eyes and allow our Quivvens to go to work, mapping the territory hidden within the shards of glass, seeking out a Domitus on the run, hiding in plain sight: a cocktail of remedies transforming her features in the hope that freedom will last a little longer.
With my eyes closed, the surrounding space glitters into life … the glass shards spinning in the walls until one fragment catches my attention … a group moving on foot in the darkness … Drandok in the distance.
“Alice Aradel’s old mob,” I say, pointing to the fragment in question.
Conrad and Lucy huddle closer, turning their attention to the spinning glass shard illuminated by our Quivvens. Lucy isn’t familiar with Alice Aradel but Conrad is, pointing out Eschen Blin who leads the group. Eschen guides a figure who walks with his coat pulled over his head, protecting himself from the swirling wind. It’s his first mistake, the conditions not severe enough to require a cover for his face: Odin Blin.
Odin’s relying on his cousin, Eschen, to get him to the underground sanctuary of The Royisin Heights, assuming it to be a place where he can hide for a while — just as Alice Aradel had done quite successfully for some time. The Society wasn’t actively looking for Aradel, though, judging her crimes insignificant in contrast to those who had killed and maimed in war.
Odin and Neve’s crimes aren’t at that level, either, but Society rules are clear: any attack on another comrade has consequences, and the two Domitus who started this dance in Poridian Parlour are in for some bad news — about to discover their hideout can be viewed through a certain looking glass, courtesy of a witch with a gift for ghosting. The witch in question disappears moments after we’ve tracked down Odin.
“Where’s she gone?” Lucy asks, turning her attention away from the spinning glass shards.
I look down the passageway, seeing nothing but the blue light of my Quivven, realising that Sianna has done her duty, guiding us to the location of the two people we seek. We’re in danger of outstaying our welcome so we decide to move on.
We whistle for our Williynx, watching as they glide through the passageway, settling by our feet, about to take us back into the air on the track of a desperate Domitus. The only thing left to do is work out the best way of exiting Sianna’s home. A Cympgus is the obvious option, providing a portable Perium of light for us to step through, but it’s always fun to work out the unique transportation methods of new places.
“It’s probably an incantation only known to Sianna,” Conrad suggests, kneeling to stroke Erivan’s turquoise feathers.
“Sianna wouldn’t have left us if we needed that,” Lucy counters, rubbing her hands on her jeans. “It’ll be something straightforward.”
“Such as?”
“Tapping the shard of glass that showed us Odin’s position,” I reply, keeping my eyes closed as the Quivven floods the space with bright light.
“Well, let’s try it,” Conrad states, leading the three of us to step closer to the spinning fragment.
We reach out to tap the shard of glass, watching as it separates itself from the wall, floating above us.
“What if it tries to stab us?” Lucy asks, putting a hand over her face just in case.
I smile at the thought of this. “A killer glass shard; it would be a funny way to die.”
“You’ve got a morbid mind, Guppy.”
“And
