Jamie gave the High Talbot a moment to settle, not wishing
to appear too eager. He heard Del leave
to fetch the tea cart and counted to twenty five. As he counted he wondered how
many miles the tea cart went in a day.
While it only had to go from kitchen to parlor and back again, there
were days when it made the trip more than a dozen times.
“Maybe I could attach a pedometer to it,” Jamie
thought. He navigated around the spread
map and oddly placed furniture and crossed the hall into the receiving parlor.
As he crossed the hall he noticed that several letters had been placed on the
table in the hall next to his calling card holder. He wondered if those were responses to his
invitations to tea and reminded himself to check after the High Talbot left.
As he entered the
parlor, the High Talbot turned to look at him.
Jamie felt the High Talbot’s gaze taking in his appearance and he fought
not to squirm. If the High Talbot wanted him to dress up for visits than fair
warning would have to be given. Jamie
smiled welcomingly at his visitor.
“I trust Del will be returning with tea shortly,” Jamie said
as he walked over to the free chair.
“High Talbot, welcome. What may I
do for you today?”
The High Talbot smiled and Jamie noticed that he looked
tired behind his neutrally pleasant facial expression. It made him look oddly
more human, although he doubted the High Talbot would appreciate such a
sentiment.
“My apologies for not calling ahead, but unfortunately
things have been somewhat unsettled as of late. I have come regarding the
imposter,” he told Jamie. Jamie
nodded. Del appeared in the doorway with
the fully laden tea cart, In addition to the tea pot and various accoutrements
the tray featured a three tiered tray laden with cookies and delicate pastries.
They were silent as Del prepared their cups and presented each with a
plate. As they dealt with the social
niceties, Jamie thought about the imposter.
The imposter had tried to kill Jamie and take his place as
Keeper. Unfortunately the Keeper had to
be human. Whatever else the imposter had
been, it wasn’t human. At best he had
been a goblin-kin with clan markings no one had seen before. In order to pass as human, he had created
some form of human suit in a vat in one of Jamie’s outbuildings. Del finished
serving and with Jamie’s thanks, he departed, closing the door behind him as he
left.
“Unsettled?” Jamie asked as he stirred his tea.
The High Talbot sighed heavily and if possible looked even
more exhausted than he had the moment before. “Yes,” he replied. He took a sip of tea and then popped a small
flaky pastry into his mouth. Once he finished, his intent to do no harm proven,
he set the plate aside, but continued to drink his tea. Jamie thought that the High Talbot was not
going to elaborate on the unsettled nature of things, but after a brief silence
he continued.
“There have been a great many rather influential people who
have not been seen since the Lune Merdos,” The High Talbot said. Jamie kept
quiet. After the Lune Merdos Jamie and Del
had visited the Lustan and found lots of small piles of ash and bone. The backlash of power as the Brotherhood of
Shadows tried to destroy the crossroads had been beautiful and terrible to
behold. Jamie was fairly certain of the
fate of those who had tried to stand against it and didn’t think those missing
people would be returning anytime soon.
“I see,” Jamie said as the High Talbot seemed to be waiting
for a response.
“Do you?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. “We see so little
change. Having this much at once is
highly irregular, some are not adapting well.”
“No?” Jamie asked.
Considering the Fae tended to live for centuries he was willing to
accept that their social structure changed little. “I suppose there are those
pleased with the possibility for advancement just as there are those who
dislike those now putting themselves forward?”
The High Talbot blinked at him in surprise. “That is very perceptive,” he replied. “Our power structure was stable and well
established. There was no reason to
believe it would be changing anytime soon.”
“And now you have a power vacuum.” Jamie concluded.
“Indeed.” Came the response.
“Anything that should concern the crossroads?” Jamie asked
when he seemed disinclined to continue.
“If anything, there should be less concern for you,” came
the response. “There will be no more
permits issued for those wishing to work outside of our lands until matters are
somewhat more settled. There are those who live in the crossroads and they will
remain, but there will be much less traffic.”
“Ah,” Jamie replied.
Considering he had started his tenure by being thrown into the middle of
things, a little quiet time didn’t sound like such a bad thing.
“I understand the tomte known as Levas has received a
request from you,” The High Talbot continued. “He will be allowed to keep his appointment
with you and either remain on this side or return through the crossroads to
stay on our side until this matter is settled. As he has been cleared to work
for the House of the Keeper in prior years and the permit was never revoked, it
will stand.”
“Thank you,” Jamie replied.
The High Talbot inclined his head, accepting Jamie’s
thanks. “Now to the imposter,” he said. “The
contents of the vat are still being analyzed. The ingredients are being checked
against the registry. Several of the ingredients are somewhat unusual in
nature, or at least to our nature.” He
pulled out a vial filled with a dark, oily looking fluid.
“It was thought that some of the human alchemists might be
of use in such a task.” He handed the vial to Jamie, who set it to the side,
far away from the tea tray. Somehow placing
it next to items meant to be consumed seemed like a bad idea, no matter how
well sealed the stopper.
“I will have them look into it,” Jamie heard himself
replying wondering if the yellow pages would be helpful in looking up someone
capable of doing a chemical analysis or if he would just end up having to
explain to the police that he wasn’t producing some form of illegal drug on the
back of his property.
“Excellent,” The High Talbot replied, unaware of Jamie’s
current concerns. “I also have this for you.”
From one of his pockets he pulled Jamie’s digital camera. “An ingenious device although I do not know
how the images are recovered since they slid from view quickly.”
Jamie smiled and took the camera from him. He had explained how the camera worked so
pictures could be taken but the High Talbot had insisted that he had no real
use for human magic and beyond basic operation had not asked many questions.
“I can recover the pictures,” Jamie assured him. “Did you record all of the clan markings?”
“We did,” he was told.
“The clan markings, the wounds, the seams where the, how did you put it,
ah yes the human suit came apart, and the distinguishing features of the
creature that emerged from within. If
you know anyone who can find information, they will provide you with a
comparison. I thank you for providing this magic for use in the investigation.”
“You are welcome,” Jamie replied, not wanting to once again
attempt to discuss technology with the High Talbot. All previous attempts had just given Jamie a
headache and as his skull still felt tender from his bout with the birth
certificate, he wasn’t about to try again at the moment. Like many of the older High Court Fae, the
High Talbot had little to do with humanity except where it intersected the
House of the Keeper of the Crossroads and still tended to think of humanity as
it was in ages past. As Jamie set the camera to the side an idea occurred to
him.
“Out of curiosity,” Jamie asked. “Do you deal with all of the crossroads or
just this one?”
“I only deal with this one,” the High Talbot replied. “But do not worry, those who deal with the
others will likewise be restricting access until our internal affairs are
settled.”
Jamie smiled and nodded his understanding but was unable to
shake the unease that seemed to have settled into his belly at the High Talbot’s
words.
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