Maeryn was trying very hard not to let her nerves show as she walked behind Lyra with her companions. Dan and Frankie had insisted on coming along this time, though Terrance had opted to remain aboard Stonewing for reasons that he kept to himself. As Lyra had had no objection, Maeryn was grateful for the company.

  Dan’s nervousness manifested in him checking several of his many pockets every dozen or so seconds, as if he were reassuring himself he had whatever ingredients needed for whatever encounter was to come. Not for the first time, Maeryn wondered exactly how Dan remembered where everything was, but she wasn’t about to distract him by asking.

  Frankie, by contrast, had fallen oddly quiet, though her hands twitched towards her utility belt frequently. Maeryn couldn’t blame her; after Sipund and the guards had arrested her the previous night, Frankie had every right to be on edge.

  As they approached the Council building, Maeryn’s heart sped up, and her body tensed up. She wanted to run. Every part of her wanted to run. But Lyra had given her word, and Maeryn trusted her, so she swallowed down the spike of fear, and followed the Skymaster inside.

  The waiting room was still empty, and Maeryn stumbled at the sight. Last time, it’d been a trap, her brain screamed at her. What if it still was?

  Dan caught her by the arm and helped her regain her balance. “I’ve got you,” he muttered. “Breathe.”

  Maeryn nodded jerkily and took a deep breath. She wasn’t alone. Right. Even if it was a trap, Sipund and the guards couldn’t handle all of them at once. They hadn’t even been able to handle Maeryn alone less than an hour ago, so everything was going to be fine. Right?

  Instead of sitting down to wait, Lyra walked straight back into Council chambers, and Maeryn followed a moment afterwards.

  The three councilors were all there, and the moment Maeryn crossed the threshold she heard them arguing with raised voices. The soundproofing was truly impressive, and she couldn’t help but wonder how they’d managed it, before paying attention to the words themselves.

  “... tolerate such disrespect!” Sipund swore. He and Lorn were both standing up, red with rage and in each other’s faces. Honestly, it looked as though they were about to come to blows, from Maeryn’s point of view. “We are the Council, and our authority is the highest here in Cloudreach! Letting that brat go will only encourage others to spit upon our decision-making, and we’re in a bad enough position as it is!”

  “And the entire reason she did it is because of people like you, Sipund! The only reason I had to try to go about things the way I did was to try to keep the peace when I have to share power with a bigot like you!” Lorn argued hotly. “I should have simply offered her the deal when she was here yesterday and dealt with the consequences, but no, I wanted us to get along and show a united front! And now look at what happened!”

  “Enough!” Dreen demanded, standing and raising her voice to the fullest. “In case you two fools haven’t noticed, we have company, and by the four winds you will maintain decorum or I will make you regret it!”

  Sipund and Lorn both blinked, looked at Dreen, then looked at where Lyra was staring at them with an incredibly unimpressed look on her face. Lorn stepped back, took a shuddering breath, and sat heavily down in his chair. Sipund took a moment longer, but stalked over to his own desk and threw himself into it angrily.

  “So… I take it the Roc was dealt with?” Lorn inquired, obviously trying to change the subject.

  “Twelve Mistwarped Rocs were killed,” Lyra reported evenly. “The remaining three fled.”

  “Twelve?! No, fifteen?!” Lorn gasped, clearly taken aback. “How… How many casualties?”

  “Zero. We have Captain Maeryn and her crew to thank for that.” Lyra stepped aside, revealing Maeryn, Dan and Frankie behind her.

  “You!” Sipund ground out, rising from his desk again.

  “Sit! Down!” Dreen commanded icily, and Sipund sat, much to Maeryn’s surprise. Then Dreen turned towards her, and Maeryn froze in place at the intensity in her gaze. “Captain Maeryn. Your actions earlier today were unacceptable. The Council has not yet determined an appropriate course of action for them, but you will not repeat them. Am I clear?”

  Maeryn almost instinctively responded with a “Yes, ma’am,” but bit her tongue in time to prevent the words from coming out. She wasn’t about to submit to their authority after having flagrantly defied them less than hour ago. “I’m here because Skymaster Lyra asked me to be,” she said slowly, carefully not apologizing for anything. “I would ask that we move to the reason why.”

  With her words, all the councilors’ attention shifted to Lyra, who straightened subtly. “I’m not particularly skilled in wordplay, so let me lay the cloud bare,” the Skymaster stated briskly. “Captain Maeryn and her crew saved many lives today. They had the opportunity to leave us, after the - pardon the Geovan term, but I think it’s fully appropriate here - stonewalling you three gave her.”

  She paused, glancing at each councilor in turn. “The Mist is an eminent and, more importantly, imminent threat to all human life.”

  “Oh, there’s some vocabulary,” Frankie muttered under breath. “Eminent, imminent, what’s the difference again?”

  “Eminent is obvious, imminent means it’s soon,” Dan murmured. “She’s basically calling them blind and stupid if they don’t see the Mist as a threat.”

  “Gotcha.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Sipund’s face was turning a fascinating shade of red, Maeryn noticed, but he somehow held his tongue when Dreen gave him a look. Lorn, on the other hand, looked as though he didn’t know whether to laugh at Dan’s bluntness or weep at his accuracy.

  Lyra cleared her throat, obviously trying to recapture her momentum from the unexpected interruption. “Yes. Quite. In any case, there is no reason not to share any research regarding the Mist or the mana depletion with all and sundry, regardless of the nation they hail from. By the North Wind, what did you expect to happen? Had I been in Captain Maeryn’s shoes at her age, with the Mist threat literally threatening to kill me and everyone I knew and loved in a year’s time, I would have stolen the research, set fire to the Council building, and left in the dead of night! I certainly wouldn’t have been so kind as to save the city right after you tried to arrest her for doing what you effectively forced her to do!”

  Maeryn blinked and looked at Lyra again. The expression on her face, the heaving of her chest, everything spoke of finally getting to spill how she really felt after years of having to hold it back. And, was that… was that an almost wistful look in her eyes? Had Lyra often thought about burning the Council building to the ground, watching the flames dance in satisfaction, and leaving in the dead of night?

  Maeryn wouldn’t have taken the professional for a potential arsonist. But the most stoic people had the deepest depths, she guessed. “Um… where are you going with this, Skymaster?”

  Lyra took a deep breath, calming herself. “Right. Sorry, I got somewhat worked up there. I apologize, Councilors. The point is, I think that it’s in everyone’s best interests if we try to start from a fresh breeze… I believe the Geovan equivalent is ‘wipe the slate clean’? The Mist is by far the most important problem, and we serve the best interests of our peoples by working together.”

  “I think,” Sipund began, only for Lorn and Dreen to chime in with a synchronized, “Shut up, Sipund”, complete with matching glares that could have frozen the sun mid-sky. Maeryn struggled not to laugh as the man’s jaw worked soundlessly like a fish on dry land, staring incredulously at his two fellow councilors.

  “You’ll get your turn, Sipund,” Dreen promised, “but if the words out of your mouth only consist of racist comments against Geovans, be aware that I’ll be filing for your dismissal immediately afterwards.”

  With that done, the councilor redirected her attention to Maeryn. “I am… exceptionally aware that our laws and rules do not account for every extraordinary circumstance. I acknowledge that there are times when laws are actively harmful, and that is when they must be revisited. I will further acknowledge that the Mist is an extraordinary threat to Geovans and Zephyrians both.”

  She sighed, suddenly looking a lot older than before as she slumped against her chair. “I understand that you were trying to do your part, and that our actions - or lack thereof - left you few options. I understand that from your perspective, our refusal to share research that could prove invaluable for ending the Mist threat was unconscionable. I ask that you see our perspective as well, that we are tasked with maintaining order in a society that is already on the brink of self-destruction.”

  Maeryn blinked, taken aback by Dreen’s words. “What do you mean?”

  “No doubt you’ve heard by now about where most of our nobility went, and how they took almost all of the airships with them,” Lorn began to explain, sounding pained. “The reality is that they took most of Cloudreach’s talent with them too. The best engineers, cooks, alchemists, glassmakers, everyone. If you had a talent and caught their eye before they left, the nobles took you and your family with them. It’s all because of the Mist. And as Sipund pointed out before… most of the remaining population blames Geovans for the Mist.”

  “We just don’t have enough trained adults to keep everything going indefinitely,” Sipund continued gruffly, looking away. “Your fault or not, our society is breaking down, and everyone knows that Cloudreach will be the first city to be forced to land. More of our people leave us every year, at every opportunity. Part of our job is to keep everything running smoothly as best we can while hoping for a miracle.”

  “We’ve encouraged the people to have more children, but that’s a long-term solution, and doesn’t help us in the here and now,” Dreen added. “But the point is that our refusal to assist stemmed from the precarious position as the leaders of a failing society. All of our decisions are public. What do you think would happen if people start spreading rumors that their leaders are sellouts, just giving things away to the Geovans that people believe are the source of all their problems?”

  “Oh.” Dan’s quiet utterance led everyone to look at him. “It would lead to civil unrest. Possible riots and violence, and injuries where it can’t be afforded. Society would break down faster. You’d be forced to land in the Mist sooner.”

  “Exactly,” Sipund agreed with a curt nod, looking directly at Maeryn. “I’m going to be blunt. I don’t like you. I don’t like any of you Geovans. I still think your society is somehow to blame for the Mist, and I will believe that until the day someone brings me proof otherwise. But I’m not stupid. Every stray gust of possibility needs to be pursued in the name of ending the Mist. But I have a responsibility to this city, too. I can’t give you the research. I can’t let you get away with sneaking into the noble district. So give me an option, something that lets us save face, and we can… negotiate.” He ground out the last word as if it physically pained him.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Frankie asked, cocking her head to the side. “We just saved your city from the Mistwarped Rocs. Just say that you gave us a copy of the research in exchange, so long as we deliver another copy to some other flying city. That way it’s presented as both a reward and us doing you another service when you’re short on airships yourself. You get more out of it than we do, and we all fly away happy.”

  “And how do we explain the alchemical fire from last night? People are going to want answers for that,” Dreen asked tiredly.

  Dan stepped forward, pulling a vial out of his pocket. “We could pretend I dropped a couple of these at the fountain yesterday when I was eating. A kid found them and decided to play a prank. You called Maeryn earlier to get answers, she went and fetched me, we dealt with the Rocs, and then we came here to set the record straight.”

  “A prank would line up with what the guards last night thought anyway,” Maeryn added cheekily, getting a dirty look from Sipund and a tiny chortle from Lorn.

  “And your lack of alibis?” Dreen questioned archly.

  Maeryn shrugged. “You’ll have to manufacture something, I guess. If Skymaster Lyra’s okay with it, she could say that Dan and I were dealing with things on Stonewing last night at the same time the alchemical fires went off.”

  Lyra’s lips pursed at the idea, but she didn’t immediately refute it.

  “That is likely the best we’ll be able to do,” Dreen concluded after a moment. “In the future, Captain Maeryn, do try not to literally kick our guards around the room next time you disagree with our decisions.”

  Maeryn blushed as Dan, Frankie, and Lyra all turned to stare at her incredulously. “... I only promise to try.”

  “Good enough!” Lorn interrupted, seeing Dreen begin to glower at Maeryn. “We’ll have a copy of all the research sent to Stonewing in, say, two hours? That’ll let you leave right after lunch. We’ll include the heading and distance to Airspire, the Zephyrian research capital. Anyone have anything else to discuss? No? Meeting adjourned, let’s get moving so nobody accidentally creates another international incident thank you very much!”