Maker of Fire

Asgotl, Black Falls, Cold Season, 1st rot., 3rd day

I liked the Mounts Residence in Black Falls. Ud had done an excellent job. She placed it on the eastern edge of the new city so it was downwind of the human habitations. It was split between the garrison, the manse, the shrine, and the mounts guild, which provided commercial services. It had a spacious park surrounding it with lomba oaks for eagles who wanted to escape outdoors and two pastures for flying horses who wanted to graze. It also had a magic roof and two magic plazas that turned black when the weather was cool, to collect the warmth of the sun for griffins like me who liked to nap in a patch of sunshine.

The King left midday for Is'syal on Flavriansha. That made my life a bit easier. Now I didn't need to hide in a stall so she could have space, though her presence didn't stop me this morning when Spot and I took Melk to the healers after the old eagle started feeling ill. That event signaled that the backlash from the revelation had arrived. The healer on duty had to cast a charm to alleviate the pain every bell. Poor Melk had it bad.

For once, I was not on the receiving end of all the griffins avoiding me. Today, every garrison mount in the residence wanted to greet Melk and pay their respects. One of the free eagles who took on contract jobs took off for Eagle Territory last night, to tell the Mother of Nesters that Erhonsay had picked an eagle as a revelator. While I wanted a sunny nap on the magic black roof, it was more important for me and Spot to be with Melk.

Hanging out with the other two revelators had an added benefit. I heard all the gossip without eavesdropping. The whole Flavriansha situation had cut me off from staying on top of all the mounts' gossip, but sitting with Spot and Melk meant I heard everything sooner than everyone. Nedotl talked to me for the first time in a year and a half, and Pibl was even polite.

Of course, like all mounts, we were trading tales of our narrow escapes with our riders. Melk told a riveting story of how she and her rider, Listayodas Prince, survived a harrowing duel until Melk's wing was broken. They survived because Listayodas used the last of his magic to break their fall. Then, Pibl related how she and her rider, the Holy Kamagishi, had lived through a fireball attack during the siege of the Crystal Shrine the previous year.

"You have your own fireball story, Asgotl," Pibl prodded after she finished her account.

"It doesn't come close to what you lived through, Pibl," I had to reply, because it was true. "I doubt that anyone can match being rescued by the god Galt in his aspect of the wrathful tempest. You were surrounded by the god while he destroyed the mounted cavalry squad that attacked you. All I did was give the Prophet a ride. I would be embarrassed to share it."

"Why don't you let us be the judge of that?" Melk said.

"It's nothing really. The god Erhonsay told the Prophet that she needed to persuade the High Priestess Ilsabess of the Valiant Shrine to let the people of Salicet leave the city."

"Context, you feather-brained griffin. Context! Don't you know how to tell a story?" Pibl squawked at me. "Start with the background."

"I'm not used to telling stories, Pibl. I'm not a fighting mount. I'm just a taxi. Very little exciting ever happens to me. The only reason I have a job is because I'm big enough to carry the Queen."

"Down, boy," Melk interjected. "Chill. Just start at the beginning. Where were you and why were you carrying little Emily around?"

"It was last year. The god Galt wanted Salicet and everyone in it destroyed, and he gave her three years to do it. Emily made a deal with Galt. He would allow the inhabitants of the city to live if she could destroy the city in four or five days. Of course, Emily had a way to do that, but it required help from the Queen. The Queen cast a compulsion on the entire city to evacuate, but the Impotuan army moved to prevent that. The eagles of the Blue Mountains helped us by attacking Kipgapshegar. That got most of the army out of Salicet, leaving behind a small force of two hundred warmages from the Valiant Shrine. Erhonsay told Emily to talk to the Holy Ilsabess, to convince the high priestess to let us empty the city before it was destroyed. I was Emily's ride into Salicet. The Holy Kamagishi and Pibl came with us as witnesses.

"Emily had me fly as slow as possible up the main boulevard of the city, so people would see us and follow. The warmages showed up to capture us. Emily told me to ignore the warmage who told us to follow her. That mage threw a couple of those big fireballs over our heads, but Emily told me to keep flying slowly. Emily said the gods would protect us, so despite being so scared that I could lay an egg, I kept flying low and slow. Then, the mage threw a fireball directly at us. I thought I was going to die, but we flew through the fireball, which didn't hurt us in any way. That's all that happened."

"That's all?" Pibl gave me a look that signaled sarcasm. "Kami and I thought you were grilled griffin on a skewer, with a garnish of Coyn. And then, when you landed, a warmage tried to grab the Prophet, and her arm burst into flames. Amazing things happen around Emily."

"Yes, that's true," said Nedotl. "I heard from one of the staff that the god Gertzpul appeared today in front of Emily at the parting grounds. That's why the shrine bell rang between the third and fourth bells for no reason. No one rang the bell. It rang itself."

"Gertzpul appeared before Emily?" Like everyone else, I too had heard the bell ring outside its schedule. "Do you know why?"

"Now, this is secondhand, but I heard Emily was at the bidding farewell rite this morning. She asked the gods to stop the outbreak of the fever, and the gods agreed. The nine silverhairs at the parting ground all heard the mindcasting exchange. Then Gertzpul appeared and told Emily to go find a crystal for the memorial to the dead Coyn."

"I heard the same thing," said Hekees, who stuck his head around the partition. The space for Melk in the chapel shrine was too small for all of us to fit in Melk's stall.

"Sorry, I've been eavesdropping." Hekees didn't look at all sorry. "I wanted to say hi to Melk. There are so few of us oldsters left, and it's been too many years."

"Hekees! There you are!" Melk hopped up and down on her perch bar. "When I feel better, we need to go cruising, just like the old days."

"It's a date, lovely lady. Let's talk this evening. Neither you nor I are going anywhere with our riders until tomorrow."

"How's that?"

"Well, you're recuperating, and so is your rider. My Mistress set your prince's leg bones today, so he's in nest, just like you. And I'm stuck here because my Mistress won't head back to Aybhas without the Prince or the Prophet."

"Wait," I butted in. "Without the Prophet? Is she going somewhere else?"

"Oh!" Hekees blinked and tilted his head. "You don't know. The two-footeds are all frantic because no one's seen Emily since the bidding farewell rite this morning. Tom's a bit upset, too, but not as upset as the stomp-ups."

"What about the Prophet's shadow?" I asked.

"You'll love this," Hekees replied. "She left the Singing Shrine this morning without a wraith on her tail. The wraiths are so understaffed that only one was assigned to Emily and Tom last night. Tom left Emily in bed to find some breakfast for her. The wraith followed Tom, thinking the Prophet was safely tucked in. While they were gone, she got dressed and slipped out without a wraith. The spider man has had poor Cadrees flying the service roads in the berry bogs all day, poor guy and his wings."

"Emily ditched a wraith?" I was gobsmacked. I felt both proud and worried about her. "If Gertzpul paid her a public visit, she might be upset. She likes to isolate when the gods mess with her head. Let me see if I can find out more."

"What?" Melk looked at me funny.

"I have a charm that can alert the Queen that I want to contact her," I explained. I rarely used it. The last time I tried it was when the Queen was missing. I had used the charm then, but she never answered.

Aylem embedded the charm in me when we first met. Like most reunion-type charms, it relies on her power because griffins don't have charm magic. If I wanted to alert her, I just had to say a string of nonsense words that she had me memorize. I've never heard of anyone using a reunion charm like this, so I think it's unique to Aylem.

"Olly olly oxen free," I said in my head while thinking of Aylem.

*Asgotl?*

It worked! I was pleased.

*Of course, it worked, feather head. My charms always work. What do you need from me?*

*Emily back yet?*

*Usruldes is still looking. She has Ud's shirt, so I can't find her with a charm.*

*It's not time to panic yet. The gods messed with Em's head again, so she's probably found a quiet place to think. That's what she does. She'll be fine. She'll show up either before dinner or before bedtime. If she were in trouble or needed a ride, the Lord of the Winds would have told me. You know he would, just like he has in the past. After all, Emily is part of my god-assigned responsibilities.*

* . . . *

*Aylem, she'll be fine, so chill, girlfriend. The gods won't allow their pet prophet to get hurt. Tell you what: you should head back to your twins in Is'syal, and I'll stay here and act as Em's mount when she shows back up. I'll contact you as soon as she arrives.*

*No, I won't be able to rest until I know she's safe.*

*Alrighty, your greatness, whatever you say. I'll be napping and running up your bill at the mounts residence while we wait.*

Moo'upegan, Black Falls, Cold Season, 1st rot., 3rd day

The Queen was a frightening creature. She was so tall that my eyes were level with her chin, and I'm very tall for a mage. She occasionally leaked power, which was scary. On the other hand, I was impressed by her knowledge of both magic and commerce. She was quite intelligent. The way she discussed systems of taxation and government finance made them sound interesting. That was a marvel. I offered her a job as my chancellor of the exchequer, which I'm happy to say made that humorless lady laugh.

At times, she was unreadable – and I pride myself on my ability to read people even without empathy or snooping in their thoughts. The way people hold their bodies is a language all its own, and I have spent years learning how to translate that. However, the Queen has learned the knack of maintaining a neutral expression and stance, which is a valuable skill for a royal. I found it vexing because I wanted to understand this person whose existence was so important for the Beloved.

After I observed the Queen through the evening after the handfasting, I realized some of her behavior was based on her public and private faces. She was more relaxed and unconstrained in private. She even laughed when she was inside her own quarters. But when she was out in public, she was guarded and hid her feelings behind her neutral face. She seldom smiled and she never laughed. Was she afraid that she would be judged for acting inappropriately as a ruler?

I also noted that she rarely initiated conversations. She let others control the flow of conversation. When she spoke, many felt wary, even if what she had to say was innane or innocuous.

In a room filled with ruling mages, I saw that more than half of them were scared by the Queen's power, so much so that they didn't see the woman behind that power. Watching the social dynamics of the festivities, I realized that Aylem Nonkin, the so-called Mad Queen of Foskos, was a lonely soul, nervous about reaching out and frightened of rejection. And I saw some of myself reflected in her.

In the morning, I asked to see the measures the Foskans took to handle their epidemic that took the lives of many Coyn. I was eager to see what I could learn from their experience, so I might prevent such things from happening in Mattamesscontess. Apparently, fevers and agues were rare in Foskos. The current outbreak was exceptional and took the local government by surprise. The Blessed Lisaykos, the avatar of Mugash herself, gave me a tour of the tent city set up for the sickened Coyn. She then took me to the east gate of the city to show me the inspection of Coyn entering and leaving the city, to make sure everyone of them had a charm gem of health.

I was astounded that everyone in Foskos had a charm gem of health. I was even more astounded that the Coyn had been permitted to destroy their defunct control gems. I would have simply mandated that all Coyn must replace those with charm gems of both identity and health. After all, the populace doesn't always do what is best for themselves. That's why rulers must act for the common good, even if folks dislike having to wear charm gems.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mattamesscontess had twenty times the population of Foskos. I wondered what the cost would be to create charm gems of health for each of my subjects. I did find it clever that every charm gem in Foskos was first left in the Well of Mugash, even the ones used to preserve food or make light for those without magic. It's no wonder they didn't experience as many epidemics as other countries. The universal health gem policy was extravagant and sensible at the same time. Charm gems of health were a black market item in Mattamesscontess, smuggled in from the now-destroyed all-gods temple in Mattamukmuk. They were beyond the reach of the merely affluent.

After visiting the city gates, I knew I had to visit the Building Shrine of Giltak to see the beginning of the gem manufacturing process. Kora Kor, Mattamesscontess, and Mattamukmuk did not have a stand-alone shrine devoted to Giltak, but given how the Foskans used charm gems, I knew I wanted to establish one of my own. Would the Foskans give me one of their stash of spare great crystals so I could found a new shrine?

By midday repast, I appreciated why Vassu wanted me to visit Foskos. I had so much to learn here to bring home to my own realm.

I shared the meal with Lisaykos and her brother, Prince Listayodas, in her guest quarters at the manse. I found myself liking this old lady. She was dignity personified, but she had a rogue-like sense of humor that peeked out if you watched carefully.

Lisaykos had to attend a meeting after the midday meal, so I checked up on Storm Walker. He looked different when dressed in Foskan clothes. Without his hood, I saw his hair for the first time, half white, half red. I expected that since his beard was the same mix. The son of the Blessed Lisaykos had arranged for a Tirmarran-speaking instructor to keep him company and to begin instruction on how to read and write in Fosk.

I felt ashamed that I had forgotten to look after Storm Walker in all the excitement of the previous evening and the morning's tour with Lisaykos. He was now my retainer. I should have remembered him before now. I would need to express my appreciation to the Blessed Lisaykos's son for covering my neglect.

Storm Walker actually smiled for the first time when I came to see him. He appeared pleasantly surprised by the care he had received. His leg was splinted, and he was hobbling about on crutches of a clever design that made them easy to use. The crutches had handles, allowing the user to support most of their weight with their arms. He would keep the crutches when we relocated to Aybhas, as Emily's guests at the Healing Shrine of Mugash. Lisaykos's son had arranged for the instructor, a priest of Surd, to follow us up to Aybhas for Storm Walker's benefit.

I had to keep myself from laughing. The priest was named Idikfupsi Slimdee. Foskans had the strangest-sounding names.

After Lisaykos left for her meeting at the shrine, I received an escort to visit the residence of the flying mounts in the city, to check on Melk at Prince Listayodas's request. I was happy to go since Melk seemed to be a personable eagle, and now a revelator besides. I found her surrounded by a cadre of well-wishers, including the flying horse revelator Spot and the griffin revelator Asgotl.

The griffin and flying horse became revelators only last year. The frequency of the gods meddling with the world had accelerated since the Queen first met the Beloved three years ago. I felt lucky to be alive because I was privileged to witness divine actions. I knew when this period of intervention was over, it would probably be more than a millennium before the gods acted again. I wondered briefly why the gods acted in this manner. Perhaps the High Priestess of Tiki, an expert in the scriptures, would know. I made a mental note to ask her when I visited her shrine.

I felt out of place when I walked into Melk's stall space. Six pairs of eyes measured me as I entered. Then Melk bounced on her perch.

"Halloo, halloo, Exalted One! How nice to see you again. Hey, friends, this is the Exalted Moo'upegan of Mattamesscontess. She rescued us from Tirmarra. She's my friend."

"Ah! You're Emily's friend!" the griffin Asgotl said. "I am happy to make your acquaintance. I'm Asgotl, and the flying horse is Spot, Revelator of Gertzpul. The brown eagle is Hekees from Aybhas, and the other brown griffin is Pibl from Is'syal. The grey griffin is Nedotl, from Two Ferry Island."

"I, Moo'upegan nu Mattakwonk, greet you all."

"Hey, Melk," Spot said, "why did you say exalted? We don't have any of those in Foskos."

"Not again," the eagle Hekees shook his head.

The griffin Asgotl groaned. "Spot, Moo'upegan is the Empress Presumptive of the Empire of Mattamesscontess. 'Exalted' is the correct honorific."

"Ohhhhhh." Spot nodded his head. I wondered if he was a little slow upstairs. "Are you really an empress?" he asked me.

"I am, though the proper term is Empress Presumptive because I haven't been enthroned yet."

"That doesn't make any sense," Spot protested. "What's enthroned?"

"It's a ceremony, Great One. We humans hold ceremonies to mark major changes in our lives, like handfastings or shrine enrollments. An enthronement is one of those."

"Ohhhhhh. I understand now. It's another of those things, like marriage or dancing, that humans do that uses time and food for no observable effect. I don't understand what purpose these activities serve. If you skipped all these ceremony things, wouldn't the world continue unchanged anyway? Why not skip the ceremony and use the food for the poor? That would at least help others."

"You did it again, Spot," Pibl said.

"What? No. I didn't say anything wrong this time. I just made an observation." Spot stamped a hoof.

"You did do it again, Spot," Asgotl groaned. "We can discuss this later, okay? I hope you don't take any offense, Exalted One. The Blessed Spot was raised in the great herd on the island of Alkinosuk and is still learning about the culture of other races."

"I am not offended, Great One. The Beloved Emily warned me that the Blessed Spot was still learning about other races."

"Speaking of Emily," Asgotl said, "has she returned yet?"

"What do you mean?" His question surprised me. "Did something happen to her?"

"You don't know? Emily snuck out of the shrine this morning. She attended the bidding farewell ceremony for the latest fever victims. The god Gertzpul appeared to her there. He told her where to find a crystal for the memorial for the dead Coyn."

"Oh no. That's not good. Getting another chore from the gods probably upset her. And because it benefits other Coyn, she will feel obliged to comply. She probably went somewhere to think, if I know my Emily. She'll turn up when she gets hungry or sleepy."

Asgotl laughed. "Yes, you do know your Emily. I tried to tell the Queen that she would hole up to think, but would show up for the next meal. Nope, no one ever listens to me, even though we are bonded. So, instead of letting Emily be Emily, the Convocation is currently meeting because Emily went for a walk."

"So, what's wrong with their clairvoyance? It's not hard to find someone as short as Emily in a crowd. I've had a little practice with that myself. The Queen should be able to find her with her outsized power, even without a great crystal."

"Emily has an undershirt made by the spider mage Ud that blocks the Queen," Asgotl replied.

"Oh, that's right." I had forgotten about Ud's magic shirt. "Wait a moment, I can find her using the shirt." Knowing that the shirt blocked the charm of reunion the Queen placed on Emily, I put a charm of reunion on the shirt when Emily and I were adrift in the wrecked Chem ketch. It made my life easier when Emily wanted to go off alone. She could have her privacy, and I could still check up on her. "Oh, she's fine. She's up on that promenade thing that goes around the base of the dome at the shrine, chatting with a Cosm boy. Poor Emily. If I had all the high priestesses looking for me, I would delay showing back up, too. She's uncomfortable around gatherings of Cosm."

I was privileged to see six flying mounts making fish faces at me.

"You put a charm of reunion on Ud's shirt?" Asgotl asked. He started laughing. "Oh, that's rich. But Exalted One, whatever you do, don't tell Emily. None of us should. That applies doubly to you, Spot. Never, never, never repeat this to anyone. Don't give me that look, youngster. The reason is simple. If Emily knew someone had put a charm of reunion on Ud's shirt, she'd stop wearing it. We don't want that to happen, so the seven of us here should swear to keep this a secret."

"I'm fine with that, but should we tell the Convocation so they can stop chasing poor Emily?"

"Let's not, Exalted One," Asgotl replied. "If we tell them where she is, they will send someone to fetch her. And if we tell them we know where Emily is but withhold the location, they will hound you."

"They can try, but I have a peace treaty I can leverage." My navy may have been in tatters, but in five years, it would be rebuilt and could shut down shipping along my coast. The new Foskan owners of Mattamukmuk had to be aware of that. "Besides, I don't need to tell them I cast a charm on Emily's shirt. I can simply let them know that Emily is safe and will be down for dinner."

"And if Emily doesn't show up for dinner?" Asgotl asked.

"Then I'll fetch her myself. She's not stupid. She has to know that the longer she stays out, the more upset people will be. She'll want to avoid making them too upset."

"I have a proposal for you, Exalted One." Asgotl got to his feet and shook out his feathers. "Why don't you and I drop in on Emily and ask her what her plans are for the rest of the day?"

"I like the way you think, Great One. Would it be too much to ask you to demonstrate this dive bomb thing Emily told me about?"

Convocation, Black Falls, Cold Season, 1st rot., 3rd day

Eleven high priestesses and the Queen sat in the Well of Sassoo. Senlyosart was not pleased with the impromptu meeting. She would have preferred meeting in her study, but the Convocation simply showed up and occupied the Well. Every high priestess wanted to hear the details of the Prophet's travels, and most of them were unhappy to be denied a prompt reckoning.

"Sisters, my advice is to go home and invite the Prophet to meet with us in a few days," Sutsusum said. "The world won't end if the Prophet takes a day or two to settle in and relax." Her breathy, ethereal voice echoed under the dome of the shrine.

"We wouldn't have this problem if you hadn't let the Prophet slip away this morning," Irralray groused.

"And what problem is that, Sister?" Sutsusum raised an eyebrow. "The Prophet does not work for the Convocation. She works for the gods. We do not command her time. If anything, she commands ours. If the Prophet wanted to continue her walk this morning, because she wanted some time to think, then it was not my place to stop her. I will not apologize for putting the Prophet's needs before my own."

"Sutsusum has made a most germane suggestion," Lisaykos stated. "While I know everyone wants to know everything the Prophet has done and plans to do, it is true that we can tolerate waiting. Emily has not been home for a year, and she has just been through several fraught days. Giving her time to get back on the towpath would be a kindness, not just for her, but also for me. This is the first time she's brought home house guests. Let us meet, sisters, in five days at the Healing Shrine. That will give me time to take care of the three guests Emily brought home with her. It will also allow Emily to have some time to herself, which – in my estimation as a healer – she needs right now. She wasn't in a good state of mind last night, and she was obviously still doing poorly today."

"But where is she?" Aylem interjected. "She has the unfortunate habit of getting injured, which is made worse by her recklessness. I can agree to a meeting in five days, but I'd feel happier about heading home if I knew where she was, or at least if she had a wraith shadowing her."

Several startled voices from outside the shrine invaded the stillness under the dome. The members of the Convocation all looked outside with their clairvoyance.

The Queen groaned. "Emily must have told the Empress about flying tricks with Asgotl."

"We should be content that they didn't hit the bridge or any boat masts," Lisaykos remarked. "The Prophet's recklessness and the Empress's enthusiasm may not be the best combination. The Blessed Asgotl's rebelliousness is not an asset in this situation. I'm getting too old for this."

"You keep saying that," Fassex commented, six years Lisaykos's senior, "though I note you've never stopped Asgotl's own reckless behavior."

"He's not Lisaykos's mount," Aylem interjected. "He's a free agent. He does as he pleases."

"But it's not safe," Foyuna jumped in. "He almost got himself and Emily killed in Salicet. And now he's taking a foreign royal for rides? We should at least discuss our concerns with them."

"I am tempted to veto that suggestion, Sister Foyuna," Aylem replied. "Both Emily and Asgotl are contrary souls. If you tell them not to do something, they may go out of their way to do it, especially activities they consider harmless, like stall turns and dive bombing or crawling inside the walls of the Healing Shrine."

"I fear the Queen's estimation is correct," Lisaykos added.

"They're landing, here, on the gallery," Foyuna said, looking up.

"And there is Emily, on the gallery with one of your trainees," Fassex said, "right above our heads this whole time."

"Shall we fetch her down?" Kamagishi asked, eager for all the details of Emily's adventures to supplement Moo'upegan's account from the previous evening.

"No," Senlyosart said while using Voice magic to keep her sisters in their seats. "We now know the Prophet is safe. We will meet in five days at the Healing Shrine."

"You dare use Voice magic on us?" Rakkalbos of Surd snarled. "You know we can break this magic."

"I concur with Senlyosart," Aylem said. Then she used her own Voice magic, and every high priestess knew they could not break the Queen's compulsion. "None of you will go to the gallery to bring Emily down or speak with her there. We will meet in five days at the Healing Shrine."

"Explain this to me, cousin," Foyuna asked. "This is overboard, even for you."

"That was harsh, Foyuna," Aylem replied as the blush of anger flooded her face.

"This is extraordinary," Fassex said in a calm and soothing voice. "You have never been heavy-handed with the Convocation before now."

"The trainee with Emily is the Revered Sidros Arkalkin," the Ice Queen said. "Sister Senlyosart reacted to protect him. This is for him. Imagine the lasting impression we would leave with that shy, frightened boy if one or more high priestesses went up there to fetch the Prophet. How welcoming and considerate we would look as we bullied that powerless little Coyn to meet with us against her will. I will not ask forgiveness for being heavy-handed because I support Sister Senlyosart in shielding that boy from our ungentle selves."

"While Sisters Senlyosart and Aylem acted precipitously," Rakkalbos stated, "I will not argue with their motivation. Acting to protect a child is a right action. We should adjourn, sisters. I will meet you all in five days." Rakkalbos stood, bowed to the rest of the Convocation, and walked out of the well. The rest of the Convocation followed, leaving Senlyosart, Aylem, and Lisaykos behind.

Senlyosart leaned back in the shrine's throne of judgment and grimaced. "That could have gone better."

Lisaykos got up, walked over to Senlyosart, and put a hand on her shoulder. "You might profit from a charm of peace, sister. May I?"

"I won't turn you down. That was not a pleasant meeting."

"I guess that may have been overreacting on my part," Aylem said softly, "but we are committed to keeping Sidros isolated until he is older. I think many in the Convocation have no concept of how it feels to be a small, timid person confronted by an overlarge, overpowered avatar of a god."

"Are you referring to Sidros or to Emily?" Lisaykos asked with an uplifted eyebrow.

"Yes." Then the Queen sat up abruptly. "No, oh no. Should we stop them?"

"What?" Lisaykos studied the Queen.

"No, it's too late now," Aylem looked like a parent ready to discipline an erring child. "Emily and the Empress just strapped Sidros into Asgotl's saddle, and that soon-to-be-deceased griffin is ascending to dive bomb the river again."

"No," Senlyosart shed the charm of peace that had just been cast upon her. "He doesn't have any falling protection."

"Emily stuffed Ud's shirt on his head. He'll be fine even if the saddle fails. Oh, I'm going to kill those two."

"What about the Empress?" Lisaykos asked as she cast a second charm of peace on Senlyosart.

"Visiting royalty," Aylem sighed. "Not much I can do about her other than pray that the combination of Empress and Prophet isn't too outrageous."

"It's not all bad, Aylem," Lisaykos said. "Emily hasn't done any reckless flying with that disreputable griffin yet."

"Yet is a loaded word, dear heart."