TRIGGER WARNING for issues of loss of autonomy (skip to the end of the chapter for more information)
an: *Raises head meekly* Seriously, how is anyone still reading this? I AM SO SORRY. I say this every time! It's always true! This year has been… eventful? I am now employed, twice, and had another job (unpaid) for three months before getting these two, and…yes. Eventful! But I am getting the hang of it now, and also the Rayearth Forum – .net, is back up and running, and there are a bunch of us flailing over there, which has dragged me back down into a constant state of LOVE for Rayearth.
As a result of which - I have been writing and posting some, uh, snippety Rayearth things and things which have a slightly/quite a bit higher rating on archive of our own, where I am 'down', with 'dragon of winter nights' as a sub-name for (eventually) posting the (revised) Protecting You, as well as the sequels when I get that far, and also sidefics - a number of which are slowly beginning to filter onto the internet, and which I'm going to start posting here too... (I didn't want to touch ffn until I had this done!) There is also some complete crack up on AO3 from me now, heh. And there's a link across in my profile if anyone wants to go take a look.
Major thanks to everyone who has encouraged me on this chapter, including my beta, who doesn't let me get away with things, and Milieva, who has been poking me roughly every DAY the past two months and would totally have let me get away with posting an unbetad 17k chapter. *grins* She's also bribing me with fic. It's totally working?
This is… um. Long. Hopefully it also works. It was a pain, because Clef freaking out and attempting not to? Is not a good vehicle for channeling prose through. Whoops… But I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, SO MUCH. I know I haven't even got back to those of you with accounts this time, but please know I love every comment people take time to send me. This time, I am even going to try to stop freaking out and actually answer them!
And now I will shut up and get out of the way.
~down
oOo
Chapter Twenty Three : Out Of (Your) Mind
oOo
The world blurred down to a rush over Umi's head, passing her by; a catch in her breath and a coldness she couldn't shake eating away at her senses, dragging possessive fingertips down her spine. Clef caught tight hold of her wrist and awareness rattled about her but couldn't quite make it inside.
"How much did you swallow?" Clef hissed, voice low and urgent. Umi pressed her tongue to the top of her mouth and tried to draw a clean breath of air, had to swallow hard before she had a voice to answer with. It was strange, how steady her voice sounded. How normal.
"A mouthful, just that, no more. Clef-"
What have I taken? She wanted to snap, to yell, but Clef closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and something in his expression halted her. She saw him draw a breath, shuddering and deep, before he raised his voice a fraction too much to be talking to her.
"This has kuracchi in it, Umi, you know you're allergic to that! If you'd managed to drink any of it - what happened to asking me for the ingredients before you try anything new? I don't want to put up with you complaining your mouth itches all the way home tomorrow!"
…Kuracchi? Wasn't that one of the fruits she had eaten on Chizeta? One she had liked?
She couldn't be about to… to keel over. Not if he was playing for an audience. She had no doubt he would have dragged them both out of the room without pausing if he had to, and he was certainly not talking to her. She wrapped her determination about that fact and used it to haul herself back under something like control. "You were drinking it!" She snapped back at him, and got the tiniest nod of encouragement, the faintest tightening of his hold on her arm, and it wasn't hard to sound annoyed with him because she was, spitting mad, and shaking underneath – and what had she taken? "Damn it, Clef, everyone's drinking it! And you were so busy talking business-"
"So you decided to punish me by making yourself feel miserable?" He glared at her for a moment, then span about and set the glass down with a sharp crack on the tray of the server who had given it to her.
The waiter who, now she looked… put him in fancier clothing, unbind his hair from the tight knot hiding it, and you would be looking at the aide who had been with Kuregu that afternoon. The one whose now-disguised hair she had been too jealous of to note the features of the man himself.
Staring at him she almost missed the flickers of light in the sticky-sweet liquid, but she felt the echoes reporting back to Clef, the bond between them cracked open again;he was radiating emotion after an afternoon of silence, and none of it happy. She bit down on her tongue before she started loudly demanding answers.
Clef glared at the false-waiter, making him pale like a ghost. "Get out of here." Clef ordered, too low to be overheard. There was no doubt the aide knew what he had done; he flinched away, glancing at Umi. "Get out of here, and don't let either of us ever see you again."
The waiter flinched into motion, dragging the tray close to his body and hunching over it as he scurried away, grace abandoned for speed. His passage disturbed the crowds, and a few extra curious faces turned their way; Umi watched, numbly, until Clef wrapped his fingers about both her hands and dragged her attention back to him.
"Sorry, Clef." She said, honesty cracking through her voice, and bad enough she'd been stupid enough to even take a drink from someone here and ignore the warning-spell – she couldn't, wouldn't fall apart in front of these people. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
"Well, I guess it's partly my fault, abandoning you for so long. You always manage to find trouble somehow." Clef's voice was still loud enough for the eavesdroppers to follow, but they wouldn't feel the way his hands went tighter on hers as he said 'my fault'.
Umi found herself distantly bemused by the convenience of their inconvenient cover-story even now everyone knew she could fight. After that afternoon anyone would understand him feeling protective of his lover when she tried to get into trouble. Hopefully they'd miss the part where his bodyguard had.
Clef began to draw her away. But instead of pulling her to the exit – or even back to his half-finished negotiations – he headed past the waiting figures and on to the back of the room, to the dance floor.
"Come on, then. If you're that bored, I suppose I should entertain you for a few minutes - excuse me, please." He nodded to the he was abandoning as they passed. "It seems I've been neglecting the Lady Ryuuzaki shamefully this evening." Their indulgent smiles made Umi's cheeks flame hot, her stomach churn.
(Unless that was from-)
She ducked her head and stumbled on, letting the tables and people they wove through blur together. The last few obstacles gave way to the free space of the dance floor and Clef gathered her close, wrapped his arms about her. Umi gave in and leant into him, dropping her head to rest against his shoulder. Thank heavens it was a slow dance and she didn't have to think, just let Clef lead her in a slow swaying circle.
"Umi-" He whispered, then she felt his fingers twist in her hair and his thoughts pressed against her mind. /Umi- they won't interrupt us here, it's as private as we can be./
/What is it? What have I taken, Clef?/ She closed her eyes and let him spin then wherever he cared to while she struggled with her control. /That drink – what – am I-/
/A drug aimed at mages like us, who-/
She shot upright to stare at him, nearly hitting her head against his chin. /Not poison?/
/What?/ He caught on to her fear and misstepped so badly they fell out of time with the music for one bar, two, before he dragged them back in line with the beat. /No! No, you're not -/ His vehemence struck her like a tidal wave, too strong to be a lie. /Not dying, Umi, you – do you really think I'd have kept us here if you were – that I'd have let him go just like that? No!/
Umi blinked, hard, then buried her head against his shoulder again and screwed her eyes tight against the terrible prickling of tears as he pulled her close, thinking apologies at her for shouting. His arms were steady about her, his cheek warm against her temple, and in that moment she forgave him every inch of distance he'd forced on them that afternoon, because he'd brought her to the one place in the room where she could fall apart without anyone noticing what was happening.
She was still – it wasn't good, she had still taken something which sent bitter fear through Clef's thoughts, but compared to what she had imagined… /What will it do to me?/
/It – on most mages, it erodes control. Makes you pliable, open to suggestion – to questioning. But Cephiran mages… Our magic is such an intrinsic part of us; we seem to simply lose control, and act on impulse alone. Quick to react, to anger. Like Brooke, when he attacked outright. In his right mind he wouldn't have done something so stupid even if he'd wanted to. Probably, anyway. I guess it depends what kind of stupid it was./
Umi couldn't even smile at that. The most she managed was an awkward twitch of her lips, still hidden against the curve of Clef's neck. /So it's likely to, what, make me violent?/
/…Yes./
She was holding on to Clef so tight it had to be hurting him, but he didn't complain. People wanted to use her to shame Clef? To make her cause a scene – to hurt people, out of control of herself, and shame Cephiro? She felt sick. There were children in here, hundreds of people who had done nothing to offend her – and many who had, but only with words.
The afternoon's fight lashed through her memory. If she turned that kind of power on anyone who couldn't defend themselves…
And that moment's weakness was all the break Selece needed to escape the grip she had on him. Cold slammed down over her, goosebumps breaking out over her bare arms as he flooded into her mind with a snarl, with all the violence she was flinching away from. Even Clef stumbled, hissing against her ear, his breath hot on her skin and jarring against Selece's presence. But he kept them upright and moving, which was more than Umi could have done with the world vanishing about her as Selece overpowered all her senses, her thoughts.
/HOW DARE THEY?/ Selece's rage poured into the gaps where she had gone numb, and she scrabbled to contain him, and to stop herself just vanishing off into her Mashin where she would be safe, where people wouldn't put things in her drinks-
/I will find them!/ Selece snarled. /I will find them, whoever they be and I will-/
Her grasp on him wasn't strong enough to keep his words from leaking through to Clef. It was Clef who snapped back, while she was occupied just staying where she was, and on her feet, and breathing. /Not now! You'll only draw people's attention to us, and we have to get Umi out of here safely! If they know it worked, someone will try something-/
Selece growl rumbled through Umi's chest, itching in her throat. /You will look after her, mage, and then you will find me the ones responsible for this, and I shall make them pay./ Selece promised, and Umi waited for Clef to tell him no, he couldn't do that – but Clef hesitated, like he was actually tempted to agree.
But they were both idiots, and that gave Umi the resolve to pull herself together.
/No, Selece. If they're harmed, whoever they are,/ and she carefully didn't think of Kuregu. It wasn't utterly certain it was his doing, after all – and she didn't think she could hold Selece back if he had a target./It's Cephiro who will pay for it. Us, not them./
/But-/
/No. You will promise me you won't do anything of the sort./
There was a pause, echoing with the snarl he wasn't uttering – and with his concern, so vast and deep that Umi reached out for him, let their connection wrap about her instead of trying to hold him back. /It's all right. Clef will look after me. Thank you, Selece, but I don't want you to hurt them. And… it's my choice./
/…So fierce, my little one./ He sighed, resigned. /Very well. I vow not to harm those who have acted against you tonight for what they have done here./
/One more thing. I need you to promise you won't come if I call you tonight. If I'm going to be out of control, I need you not to come to me. Who knows what I might ask you to destroy. So, until I'm myself again…/
/…Umi…/ Clef whispered, wrapping his arms tighter about her. Selece sighed, subsiding until he didn't press so hard at the boundaries of her mind.
/Unless you are in immediate danger, I will not manifest and attack at your request tonight. Does that suffice?/
/Thank you./
/Do not linger here./ He ordered Clef, who radiated agreement. /I do not trust these people to not take advantage of this situation, should they realise it./
/I certainly don't mean to let them! Hopefully we've thrown them off the scent by not retreating immediately, which would have been the expected response if she'd drunk any of it. We should be able to slip out without too many people noticing soon./
Selece grumbled, but he faded away and she took a deep breath for the first time since he'd joined them. She pulled back a little further from Clef as the music shifted into a slightly faster tempo, and forced them back to their original conversation.
/So, Clef. What, exactly, have I taken?/
It was a plea for him to launch into one of his explanations. From the way he hesitated, she thought he wasn't going to humour her; then his shoulders slumped, and he looked away.
/It's a drug – well, in truth, it's closer to a virus, but it's used as a drug – used on mages, like I said. It's actually illegal within the UCA, which means it's also expensive, and rare./
/Just on mages? Why?/
/Because it feeds on magic. It's made from cells from a plant – a parasite, really – which grows on a magic-rich world not too far outside the boundaries of the UCA. It feeds on the magic produced by other organisms; clings to the walls of shrines and sucks away the energy of the worshippers, the spirits who live there. Sends spores into the air and drains anything which inhales it. This version is dead, it can't grow the same way, but it still feeds off our power; as a by-product it releases a chemical which affects judgement. It erodes control, and it erodes control over magic most acutely. Besides which, the chemicals are toxic as well as mind-altering so illness follows until your body fights it off. The combination of low power and high fever leaves us vulnerable to any enemy./
/I'm going to want to be bad, and then I'll feel bad. Right./ There was a hysterical little laugh fighting its way out of her throat; Umi swallowed it back down. She wasn't sure the familiarity of his semi-lecture was actually worth knowing all this, but not knowing would have been worse. Probably.
/With the small amount you've taken, it will take some time to have an effect; half an hour, maybe? And you should fight it off swiftly, as there is so little of it. Hopefully you won't have many symptoms?/
He sounded far too uncertain. /But why would people have such a thing? Why bother to smuggle it if it's so expensive and illegal, and there are other poisons which make people just as ill or controllable? They can't have used this on Brooke, he isn't a mage!/
Clef sighed, softly. /Because it's virtually undetectable by magic, and there's no spell I've heard of which can neutralise it. It's also completely harmless to those without power, as it has no energy source to work with./
/…Ah./
/…It was a popular weapon in the mage wars, for the non-magical who could get hold of it. It's about as much of a myth as Cephiro./
/So people think it's just a legend, but then sometimes it turns up to the meetings and starts voting?/
/Yes./ He dropped his head to rest their foreheads together, closing his eyes, and they twisted aimlessly on the spot. /I'm sorry, Umi./
She still felt like an idiot for having been too high on her victory (and too low from the silence between them) to think before she ignored the warning in the detection spell. /I should be the one saying sorry, Clef./
/No! Don't be sorry - don't you start to apologise, Umi! This isn't your fault!/
/I should have read the poison spell right. Or at least asked you what the oddness meant./
/You learnt that spell less than a week ago! It's far too complex to master this soon, even without our magic being so tangled. Umi, even I didn't recognise that reaction when I first felt it!/
/Yes, well, but you wouldn't have drunk anything!/
His hands tightened. /I did, though./
/You - I - no! I... you were drugged?/
Something fell into place, and she leant back to look at him, focusing properly on something which wasn't the thing creeping through her body.
/…That's what Kuregu thought he had. When he tried to blackmail you, I mean./ She was certain enough it wasn't even a question, but the shift away from her would have answered if it had been. /And you were alone here./ She thought, horror rising, and her hands tightened on him until he laughed aloud, the sound anything but happy.
/Not entirely. That was rather the problem, in the end./
/Clef…/
Clef closed his eyes, and when he opened them again and faced her his expression was so open she didn't want to see it, couldn't look away.
/It wasn't quite a seduction, but it probably would have been if that would have given them any hold on me. Instead they dosed me with that stuff. He dosed me with it, the aide who had spent the past week and a half acting like a decent person, working his way closer, until it was plain I wasn't going to just start telling him state secrets or leaving papers lying about even if I had let him into my bed. I was… lost, at those first Assemblies. I didn't know what I was doing, and I just… I was blundering about trying not to mess up. Trying to keep my temper./
Umi held steady against him, frightened of interrupting the words spilling faster and faster from him, a confession which must have been weighing on him since they arrived.
/He dosed me, because I stupidly trusted him enough to take the drink from him and ignore any hint of strangeness in the spell. And when the plan went wrong, and when I was left drugged and struggling for control, dangerous and frightened and ill, he stayed with me, and looked after me, and proved I had been right. He did care. But that neither stopped him trying to flirt his way into my confidence, when he had no actual interest in being there, nor stopped him handing me that drink when the first plan failed./
/…That's why you dislike the aides so much?/
/I hate what they've agreed to be, signing up to Kuregu's regime. To get what they're asked to, they'll betray everything about themselves. Identity, interest, moral decency – Kuregu's demands are somehow more important, and that he can have that power over them… it's terrifying./ He shrugged, and took a breath deep enough to make him shudder.
/But, yes. That's what Kuregu thought he had over me. Why he knows the effect it has on a Cephiran – I've no doubt he tested it on his own people afterwards – and why he thought I wouldn't detect it, as they never knew I got a read off it – not given I drank it anyway. They wanted to ask me questions about Cephiro's weaknesses, all the rules we weren't following, all the ways we shouldn't really have any right to that seat on the Table. It would have been disastrous. Whether or not he used the information, Cephiro would have been under Kuregu's control. But I lost control of my magic and my temper when they tried to ask about her. They needed an emergency healing for two of the aides; I was lucky that the Guard had people who could respond quickly enough to save them./
/...Clef.../ She said, and she would have hugged him then but he shook his head, distress vibrating through his hands, through their magic.
/And now you're- I'm so sorry, Umi. Because of me, the same thing has happened to you. If I'd warned you…/
/How many times am I going to have to say it's not your fault? Even if you'd told me, I wouldn't have recognised that taste as anything but too much of your power in the spell!/ She snapped, barely keeping herself silent as she cut him off. He tried to pull back, but she'd managed to wrap one hand about his neck as they danced, winding through the soft hair curling about the base of his skull, so all that really happened was he opened his eyes and stared at her from a few inches away. She didn't mean to shout at him, not after that, but she couldn't bear being part of the reason for him to feel so bad.
/But it is! Even without that, I made you a target, bringing you here-/
/Idiot. I made myself a target, running about battering 'invincible' assassins with swords all afternoon. It's what I came here for – what Ferio's paying me for./
/But only because of me – if I wasn't here, you wouldn't be, either./
/Maybe not./ She said, with a huff. /But only because anyone else sent here would be sensible enough to bring a whole team of Guards./
/But-/
/Of course, they'd have died the night of the explosion, if they'd even lasted that long. And they certainly wouldn't have been idiotic enough to stand up and say no so fiercely to the Defence Force, so that would probably have gone through. Eagle wasn't here to start anything early enough, Tatra would have needed to drop the airhead act and that would have meant too many people distrusting her for it to work, and ChangAn is too set in his ways to start a rebellion – people would be too startled to listen to him! I bet you no one else would have chosen it; I bet they wouldn't have won./
"Umi…" He breathed, again, eyes wide, an endless, fractured blue, and did he really think that she could have done all she had, any of it, without believing in what he was doing?
In what they were doing?
/I'm not sorry./ She told him, fiercely. /I'm not sorry, and I don't want you to be, either. Nothing you say will change that. This is nothing like the same thing that happened to you, because you're here with me. I know you won't let anything happen to me, you won't – won't let me happen to anyone else! You'll have to put up with me being an awful, whiny patient. That's enough punishment for anyone, deserved or not, and you really might deserve it for thinking I wouldn't come if Cephiro needed me here, with or without you! You aren't the only one who gets protective of her, Clef!/
She ran out of steam there, and dropped her head to his shoulder, letting go of him and stopping her hands from doing anything more forceful than clutching his shoulders. There was a pause, and the next thought came quiet, and small, and… meek.
/May I be sorry that you're going to feel bad?/
/…Yeah, okay, you can get away with that./
She closed her eyes and leant against him as they twisted, barely moving from the spot, and slowly the worst of the tension shivered out of Clef's shoulders, his arms. He pressed his cheek against her hair, and sighed.
/Come on, we've danced enough people aren't watching us anymore, we'll go back to our suite. You'll be safe there./
Clef tugged at her, but Umi leant back and stayed where she was.
He wasn't the only one here who could be protective of Cephiro, indeed, she thought wryly, a plan forming. She couldn't control what the drug was going to do to her, but maybe… maybe she could still chose to control the effect it had on them. Running back to their rooms felt like letting Kuregu win anyway, chasing them away from the last chance to drag concessions out of these people. /...How long is left? Of this sort-of Ball?/
/Perhaps an hour and a half. Maybe a little less?/ He frowned at her, and then he caught up with her (mildly shaky) resolve and his eyes narrowed further. /No, Umi!/
/As long as I'm not... not a danger, Clef, we have to stay. I know politicians. They won't give you these promises next time you see them. Awe doesn't last that long, and you aren't going to throw Cephiro into the permanent hot-seat where they might hold onto it for a while and court your attention. It's now or never, and we could really use these connections, we both know so./
She met his eyes firmly, ignoring the uneasy twisting in her stomach. In truth she wanted nothing more than to hide away from everything until she knew she was in control of herself, but the world wouldn't wait, no matter how valiantly Clef tried to promise her it could. She was tired, shaky, frightened; if the adrenaline crash earlier had been the rug pulled out from under her, then this was the floor giving way. But.
But.
/You trusted me earlier, with Hardwick. Now I'm trusting you with me. Promise we'll stay as long as we can, and I'll do everything you say without a fight./
She knew she'd won when his eyes widened at that - he must have caught some of her discomfort with handing over control. Even with the bond, with all the trust she had, it wasn't easy. (And she was going to have to tell him about her nightmares now, the ones she still had of the time Aska's spell turned her hand against Hikaru and Fuu. She'd dragged so many of his bad dreams into the open it was only fair.) He stayed silent, and she pushed again.
/How many people do you still need to speak to? You haven't spoken to all the people you meant to, not with Indira and the others constantly coming back to get in the way./ He hesitated, and Umi frowned. /Should I remind you that I'll get mad if you lie to me? And I'll know. We're trying to avoid me losing my temper. So, how many?/
/...Three. There are three Representatives left I should make an effort to find./
/So we'll find those three, and then we'll leave./ She told him, firmly.
This was her choice.
Clef closed his eyes and clasped her hand with his own, drew it to his mouth, pressing drink – sticky lips to her knuckles. "As you wish." He said, softly but aloud. He looked so worried, so reluctant, that Umi wanted to hug him again for letting her make this choice without all the arguments he could so easily have given against it, but they were still in the middle of a den of mildly drunken snakes.
There was work to be done, and now they had a time limit.
oOo
This now won the award for most nerve-wracking party Clef had ever been to. Umi was in trouble, and she was still trying to make him feel better. She'd heard him confess nearly all his worst mistakes, one way or another, and yet she was still standing by his side, trusting him so terrifyingly much.
Clef needed to pull himself together, and be worthy of it. He could not let her down.
This didn't come naturally to either of them, he knew, all too well. He might have learnt to read people, but trying to talk them about - all the networking and manoeuvring - he had never needed before, and it did not come naturally. Besides which, each new piece of manipulation, of steering others about, made him feel guilty.
It didn't help that the first time he had needed to lie like this was to the newly-summoned knights.
As for Umi - she was honest to the point of being completely tactless, and years of exposure to politics growing up might have taught her the rules, but that didn't change the fact her first instinct was always to attack any weakness she saw. She was sharp, and sharp-eyed, and this was an entire crowd of people she could read as a threat to them.
Kuregu was easy enough to spot even in the dense sycophantic cluster of people about him as Clef looked across the room; he was taller than many and stood straighter than everyone else, a permanent iron rod fastened to his spine. Clef twisted the fingers of his free hand, the motion hidden by the sway of his clothes as he walked, and he barely had to concentrate to fling the thought-spell at Kuregu.
The spell met a layer of whispering resistance; Kuregu must be wearing some kind of anti-magic ward, how Dleivan of him. But pointless. Clef wasn't going to be stopped by anything so meagre. He blasted through it like a cobweb, noting with satisfaction how it fell irreparably to shreds. Kuregu faltered halfway through some expansive gesture, head snapping up.
/I hope for your sake you intended to win enemies other than Ost tonight, Kuregu. Add three more to the tally, and one of us a God./
That was all Clef said. He dropped the connection as abruptly as he'd formed it, and just in time – Umi, distracted by the spell she'd probably felt the edges of, was about to lead them into a table.
"What did you just-" She spluttered, aloud, as he steered them about it. "Did you really-"
…Perhaps he'd been a little too loud. And his shields… weren't quite as high as they should be. "He needed to know not to try anything else tonight, that we're on guard."
"…And I thought it was my temper we were worried about." Umi muttered, darkly.
"I wasn't…" He stopped, bit his lip. The force with which she'd insisted Selece stay out of this weighed on him. "No reaction would have made him suspicious, Umi. Given the…" The role they were acting out here.
"Flimsy excuse. You just wanted to yell at someone." She didn't sound too angry, though, or like she felt he'd pushed in on her territory. "…I guess that one was your call, as we're staying a while."
Ah.
He really needed to warn Umi just who he'd meant to speak with. Clef couldn't rule out the chance she would know if he tried to fob her off with easier conversations. He'd been leaving the more problematic two until, hopefully, the complementary drinks had mellowed them. Or perhaps he'd simply been putting it off while there was still other business to be done, uncertain how wise this was.
Now he was paying for that procrastination.
They threaded between scattered people and furniture. /Umi… I need to finish up the conversation I was having, and the next person I want to find is, well, Schwarzem./ He thought, . and was almost pulled over when Umi stalled beside him. He tugged her back into motion.
/Schwarzem? But – he was in on the whole Army thing! We thought he was evil for a while there!/
/And now we know it was Ost behind the attacks… I know, Umi. He doesn't seem the likeliest ally. But he never openly allied himself with the Three or Huginn-Muminn-/
/So he's a politician, colour me shocked-/
/-except on that one issue, which is resolved. I have to make some kind of gesture to show Cephiro isn't prejudiced against other lands simply because they vote a different way to us. We're all here to represent our land, our people; sometimes that's going to be different for each of us - none of the lands who campaigned for the Army have come to speak to me, though I've approached a few of them. He's the most obvious candidate to reach out to – he's close enough to the Table that we actually might be of use to each other in the future, if he's willing to consider it. Which means he's significant enough to be noticed, and people will have noted he voted for the Army even if they don't recall he called for it. So there's something in it for him too./
/But he's not going to like you forcing the issue in public./
/…Maybe. Given my record with the more prominent supporters…/
/You and Elphinstone nearly started fighting over the Table, in full view of everyone. I remember./ She shot him a wry look. /It was rather memorable./
/I have to try./ They were nearing the group he'd abandoned for Umi, still clustered where he'd left them and apparently talking happily enough among themselves. /If you could spot him, while I finish up here? We were nearly done./ He wouldn't have bothered going back, but he didn't dare be so discourteous. And Umi stood a little straighter with something to do besides worry over the drug.
He was greeted with indulgent expressions which made his skin crawl, but he made himself smile back – and he pulled Umi through into the knot of people with him. It would make her task harder, but last time he'd let her wander off – no. (He'd promised to look out for her, and how could he do that if he couldn't see her?)
This wasn't some complex negotiation or debate. These were lands who'd never thought about what they might ask Cephiro for, or offer her, because who would have suspected they'd want to? They were all looking for a chance to make overtures, to quiz him on Cephiro's stance over their pet issues. (He hadn't even heard of some of the lands, let alone their problems – like Ips and Norw, and the trade imbalance between them. But 'Cephiro doesn't actually care' wasn't an acceptable answer, however honest, and he scraped together enough focus to reassure them that Cephiro was interested in learning more about their point of view. It was probably even the truth.)
Clef disentangled himself from them with more grace than the first time, and offered his arm to Umi; she took it and used it to steer him through the crowd, towards the main doors. "He's by the column just over there. See him? In black and copper. He's been creeping closer to the exit since I spotted him, I think he's trying to leave."
"I see him." Schwarzem's clothes were sober in cloth and cut, but metal gleamed from wrists, neck, and ankles, in deference to the occasion. Getting through this swiftly and politely was their best chance of getting out of here safely, before the drug had a chance to get to Umi. He needed to focus, but he couldn't make himself focus without also being aware of her.
His shields had already slipped a little; now he lowered them until he could feel Umi's surprise at it, but she didn't say anything, just dropped back a fraction as they reached Schwarzem. Clef was loathe to let her out of his view, and she must have caught that – and be either humouring him or picking her battles with caution – because she stayed where he could see her in his peripheral vision.
"Good evening, honourable Representative." Clef bowed, lower than he usually would to someone not a known ally – he wanted it clear he wasn't here to mock, which meant he couldn't bow too deeply either.
Looking up, he'd managed at least to confuse Schwarzem instead of angering him: the man's usual scowl hadn't deepened into a glower. "…Good evening, honourable Representative Clef."
"I realise that there has been little enough contact between our lands before now, and I wish to say that that has been an error on the part of Cephiro." Clef said, watching for Schwarzem's reaction all the time – Umi seemed steadier than he felt himself, right then. "It does not have to remain so."
"…I might ask why, when we voted against you on the most important issue of this Conference." Schwarzem's eyebrows had almost vanished up under his hair. "We've never had reason to speak before this. Why begin now?"
"We've never had cause to speak before, but that does not mean we will never have such a cause. And voting differently on one issue, or two, does not mean that we will be opposed to each other on the next. If, in future, we are in agreement, I would be glad of it. If we are not, then I would not wish that to discourage communication between us. After all, our lands are in very similar positions, in many ways."
"How so?"
"Temes came successfully through a change in political format less than a century ago without losing any status – indeed, you gained, and Cephiro would do well to learn from you as we do the same. We are also both largely self-sufficient worlds, lacking major export industries. Most of the lands with status in the UCA have built theirs on trade; we are different."
"You think that Temes and Cephiro could work together?" Schwarzem said, still warily. Not that Clef would expect anything else.
"I do." He affirmed.
"…Very well. I shall bear it in mind, Master Clef." Schwarzem said, and Clef blinked at the personal title. Umi shifted slightly, and he could feel how close she was to taking offence on his behalf – he tensed, but hadn't moved when she stilled again, and he realised that he was being studied intently. Which… made this a test; Schwarzem was still deciding which way to play this, which meant he hadn't decided to shut Clef down.
One didn't get to a position so near the Table without being a consummate politician. You could remain on it, with the privileges of rank and tradition and the powers of an established Table position – Clef had done precisely that – but those seats closest to the Table were seen as achievable, and the object of fierce scheming. And Temes (Clef had checked his notes while Umi was in the shower) was in the unenviable position of sitting just where Huginn-Muminn and the Three's unofficial territories crossed over, in the space both of them tried to dominate; that kind of environment would make it even harder to build your own position.
Schwarzem would know this for a signal to the rest of the Hall, and clumsy one, but Clef was also making an honest offer. Hopefully it showed.
There were enough people watching that the back of Clef's neck was prickling from the attention. Most of them wouldn't be able to hear what either of them were saying, of course.
But when Schwarzem folded into a neat bow, they saw that, and they saw Clef return it.
"I don't know what you were talking about. That wasn't difficult at all!" Umi declared with a forced brightness, when Schwarzem was safely away, and Clef glared at her.
"Except on my nerves! But… you're right. I suppose caution looks appealing after the mess Ost has got Pedredan into." It was almost more shocking than it would have been if things hadn't gone well – Clef had been expecting that, not acquiescence.
Umi's hand found his, and he held on without thinking about it. The warmth of her skin was a shock against his; from the worried look Umi shot him, his hands really had gone cold. adrenaline redirecting his blood ready for a fight. "Maybe it's because he knew that you actually do mean it." She said, softly. "You would like to be mutually useful."
He took another deep breath, and rolled his shoulders until they clicked. "One down, two more to go. Dienchya next, I suppose. To give my heart rate a chance to recover."
"…Why do I know that name?" Umi asked, and Clef blinked at her.
"I haven't the faintest idea, Umi. Sorry. Perhaps we sat next to them at breakfast? If we did, I didn't notice, which is a pity. Presea only gave me one core trade agreement to get into place for the Smith's Guild, and I entirely forgot about it until this morning. Then once lunch had been hijacked…" Umi looked fine, still. A little tired, maybe, but that was only natural after the day they'd had. His sense of her was no more volatile than before they'd approached Schwarzem.
"Why's Presea getting you to trade stuff, anyway?"
"What? Oh. She managed to get hold of some rock or mineral or something of theirs – one of her Guild did, anyway. Apparently it's perfect for training new smiths, because it's easily formed into more complex shapes than most things? Something like that. I… may not have been listening as closely to the details as I should have been. It was the day before we left, and I was trying to haul together all the preparations for the Academy so it could get further while I was away, and you can stop laughing at me, thanks. Just don't tell her, I don't want her to start plotting my demise – I saw what happened to the last person who trespassed in her storerooms without permission! I think I've spotted them, anyway, come on."
He pulled her along and Umi managed to get her giggling most of the way under control before she caught sight of their target and stalled again, grabbing at his hand with both of hers and folding over on a new round of laughter.
"What is it?"
"I recognise them! They were late! When we were coming here, on Dleivus-"
Clef was hit with the image of the harried attendant, that first day, ink on his fingers and pens in his hair as he ushered a group of people up into a Transport. The image was too sharply defined to be his own thought; Umi was projecting it at him. "Stop that, please?" he muttered, rubbing at his nose to hide the smile he couldn't help, Umi's amusement infecting him.
They were swiftly closing in on the Dienchyans, but Umi wasn't managing to stop laughing. She was actually getting worse. "Umi!"
"I know!" She gasped out, pulling one hand back to press it to her chest, and he stopped walking, turning back to her. Umi leant against his shoulder and shook with laughter, and Clef wasn't amused now. This wasn't like her.
"Can you calm down? We really can't afford to start laughing at people anymore than we can afford to yell at them –"
"Apart from Ash, Robin and Elphinstone?" She was trembling, each breath she managed to drag in shaking down into her lungs. "Or Jyuudi and Marku – or Kuregu, for that matter-"
"…Apart from those who are never going to help us, and are openly aggressive towards us first, and even then losing my temper is bad and I should have known better…" Clef tried to get Umi to look directly at him, and failed, repeatedly. Each time she met his eyes, she folded down again on a fresh wave of giggles. "…Maybe we should just leave now. We've come far further than I could have dreamed of, this Conference, we don't need to-"
"No, no, I'm fine! I'm fine. It's not – don't you ever get a fit of the giggles?"
Not when I'm surrounded by the enemy and there's a drug corrupting my thoughts. Clef winced, but she hadn't heard the thought. "Yes, but you have to try to calm down now-" That won him a dirty look, and he flinched again. "I know, you're trying already, just… take deep breaths?"
"You calm down! I'm fine. I'll be fine." Pulling away, she rubbed her hands over her face. "Come on, we'll just – I'll stop when I have something to focus on?"
"…You realise I can tell how uncertain you are about that, right?" He muttered.
Umi thumped him on the arm. "Don't freak out on me, Clef. If you do, I will too." Which was probably true; if she could feel the edge of his emotions through the bond, then they were going to be influencing her. And the way she was staring him down said she was back in control for now. "…We're not wasting time having the same argument again, both of us know I'll win it."
He gave way.
The group from Dienchya were ecstatic that anyone would actually want a mineral so indecisive that it kept one form for a few hours at most before morphing or collapsing into something else. They didn't seem surprised that Umi stayed at his side instead of falling back, and though the negotiations took longer than approaching Schwarzem had they were easy enough. Presea had done her homework, and put together an offer which suited both sides. None of it was confrontational, just boring. Umi seemed as steady when they finished as she had when they began.
Perhaps they'd been lucky – maybe the dose she'd consumed was so small that she would escape most of the effects?
Clef had to hope so, anyway, because when he explained who he wished to speak to next she stared at him as if he was out of his mind, and he was inclined to agree. "But-!" She flailed her hands out, and Clef watched nervously for any flickers of power about her fingers. "Why on earth would you think that that's a good idea?"
"We aren't on Earth, for one?" He offered up the thin joke with a wry smile, trying to coax a returning one from her. She refused to do anything but stare at him. "I know, Umi. Approaching a Table land this late in proceedings-"
"One who I don't think even likes you! She only voted our way because you got Whituvii and others to badger her into it, and I swear she's been grumpy about it ever since..."
"-seems foolish, but I didn't realise until today that I needed to. If we can get Whit on board, I'm certain we can get the road system extended out in our direction – which will improve our situation, and that of our neighbours, and use up resources which might otherwise be used elsewhere. It would be good for Chizeta, for Fahren, and for Autozam's patrols. It would also help Ealdor, though Reigan won't endorse anything until we've got a viable motion running. Another Table land would give us that."
"How? We still wouldn't number half the table."
"No… but we would outnumber the Three and Huginn-Muminn."
"…Ah."
"Precisely." He said, wryly. "The others may or may not be amenable, but the extension of the road network is obviously wanting. They'd need a real reason to oppose it, if there was enough interest to get a motion going. It won't actually help many of them, because our section of the UCA is sat firmly the other side of the areas controlled by Ealdor, Dleivus, and Fahren. Actually, half the expansion would be almost inside Fahren's sphere of influence. Kuregu shouldn't object, it's an easy enough way to look like Dleivus isn't biased against the outer lands, and Reigan-"
"Should want it because it will improve her position, as she's out this way, I get it." Umi waved a hand impatiently, and Clef dodged as it came perilously close to his nose. "Why is Samesu so important?"
"Because every one of our closest neighbours, when I spoke to them this evening, mentioned trade with Whit."
"That… would do it." Umi muttered, her attention drifting over his shoulder. He glanced back to see a woman in screamingly bright clothing approaching them fast, like a spell following a tracer. Umi winced in his peripheral vision. /Those should be illegal. She's clashing with the background enough to give me a headache./
/No matter what she's wearing, she won't as bad as Selece./ Clef shot back, thankful Umi had the presence of mind to switch to thought – which he should have done half a conversation ago, curse it. /It's a grab for attention, same as our clothes, only she's trying to point out who she supports. …Or possibly she's just shouting for attention. The colours are right for the Three, even if they haven't managed to clash that badly this year, but the cut-/
/Stop trying to calm me down!/ Umi snapped. /I am irritated, her clothes are irritating and she is on her way here to irritate us when we've got stupid things to get done – being irritated isn't a crime, and it's certainly not new! I'm not going to attack her for wearing things I don't like!/
/Sorry, Umi./ He took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair – then tried to smooth it out again. /It's just, we know how Cephiran mages react to this stuff, I made sure of that once we realised it was an issue, but-/
/How'd you pull that off?/ She had bounced back to amused again, in the space of a heartbeat, and Clef did not like that. /It's a banned substance, isn't it?/
/Yes, but one which is plainly still available if you talk to the right people, or it wouldn't be in your drink! The thing is, you aren't actually from Cephiro-/
/But my magic is./ She told him, firm. /It's just as Cephiran as yours. Now stop being paranoid, we have company./
"My greetings, Honoured Representative Clef, and your Lady Ryuuzaki. I have come to offer you congratulations on your feat this afternoon." The woman said, bowing to a respectful height.
/…You notice she didn't say you actually are honourable, just that people honour you?/ Umi thought, the irritation creeping back about her amusement. /And I'm your lady, not hers – that's fine, I don't want to be hers./
Trying not to respond to the running commentary was hard, but better than Umi saying anything aloud, so Clef did his best. He nodded, no more than politely. "Your congratulations are appreciated. I'm sorry, I don't believe we have been introduced?"
/She didn't congratulate us, either. Just said that's what she'd come to do./
/Passive voice sounds more formal in many cultures. She probably doesn't realise she's doing it./
"I am Dorche, of Gabond." She bowed again – and not so deep as she might, Clef noted. "It was quite the surprise, seeing someone from an inner table land being quite so violent, of course. But I suppose when the occasion calls for it – it's just rare for a situation to be allowed to escalate so far."
Umi radiated silence at Clef, enough it actually made his temples itch. He had to agree, and narrowed his eyes. "Yes, it was a surprise that someone not only managed to infiltrate the Conference, but avoided the search even when the Conference was suspended and evacuated for Representative Kuregu's people to find them." He said, fighting to keep his tone mild when he wanted to be anything but polite. Umi almost choked beside him. /You were right. This is deliberate./
"I… yes. That is…" Stuttered Dorche, and Umi stood taller as his meaning sank in – this was a deliberate attempt to provoke Umi, probably set up by Kuregu to see if she had dodged the drug. Clef reached out, but she was speaking before he caught hold of her hand.
"Well, I'm glad we could at least entertain you! Was there anything else we might do for you? Cephiro, of course, must return all the compliments she has been paid this evening, but I'm afraid that it's hard for a newcomer like myself to learn who everyone is my first time here; obviously I've had to concentrate on the important figures first. One day I expect I shall know everything worth knowing about your land!"
Her smile was terrifyingly bright, and Clef should not laugh out loud. Not even if it was satisfying to see that condescension returned in kind. And though it was an outburst, it certainly wasn't the one Dorche had intended to provoke. (He wondered if Dorche had even been warned what was likely to happen if Umi lost her temper while drugged.) But the Representative gave some kind of response and retreated swiftly after that, deflated.
They didn't have much time left. His own temper was going to be a problem if he had to endure much more of this, so he turned to look for Samesu and check Dorche was actually leaving them alone. Samesu wasn't by the doors, or the ballroom, perhaps she had already left? In which case-
Umi freezing solid against his arm was the only warning he had before finding himself face-to-face with Robin, her clothes another obscenely, defiantly bright clash.
oOo
"Evening, Representative Clef." Robin said, dropping the 'honourable' and avoiding the word 'good'.
Two could play at that. 'Evening," Clef said, with a minor tilt of his head, neglecting both name and title.
"Are you enjoying yourselves?" The words came complete with a sneer.
"...Excuse me?" Clef said, blinking slightly.
"Are you enjoying this? All these people saying oh, isn't it awful, how dare someone bring an assassin here. How dare they use negation, weren't you brave to stand up to them..."
"There have been a few comments, yes. Do you find it surprising that people are shocked an assassin managed to infiltrate this space? That they disapprove of his methods?"
"You think the disgust people are feeling towards him is because he tried to kill you? Because he went beyond knives and natural magic to do so?" Robin said, a horrible twist to her voice. "Let me make something clear: it isn't. It's because he lost. Publicly, in front of all these people. Ost, too – he lost this evening, when he was ordered out. It will take a revolution and a century of space before Pedredan gets onto the Table now."
"Why tell us this?" Clef asked, mildly as he could, tightening his grip on Umi's arm when she took a step forwards. "In your reckoning, that means we've won."
"Your win today has bought you a few fairweather allies, and a determined set of enemies." Robin promised him, voice low. "You will lose. In the future, you will lose, just as publicly as they have. When these treaties fall apart, the enemies will remain, and you will lose. That is the price you pay for this victory. You'll fall so hard from the Table that you'll be dropped all the way back to your backwater little land and stay there, out of the way of people whose plans are worth something – whose plans are going to build something worthy of history, while you'll remain a fairy-story no one cares to tell anymore."
Umi took another step, startling Clef out of the urge to do something drastic himself. Clef tugged at her arm again, and she stopped, but she wouldn't step back. "But we did win. What does that make of your efforts this Conference."
"Leave it, Umi. The least we can do now is give our colleagues an example of how to behave." Clef stared at Robin evenly. She wasn't flinching back from Umi - she, at least, had no idea that there was anything going on. It was a very small consolation when Clef wasn't certain he could actually persuade Umi to let this go without visible measures, if this went on much longer. But a few other things were beginning to make sense. "After all, I doubt Ost was able to bankroll a Cephiran assassin without some... additional support."
"Are you implying something, Representative?"
"Not at all. You may infer whatever you wish. I am merely thinking aloud."
"Dangerous, that, here..." Robin murmured, and Umi was pulling at Clef's hand now, trying to get free - which snapped him back to what was he thinking? No arguing! For Umi's sake!
"I think we've proven we're more dangerous than endangered." Umi hissed. Clef swallowed hard, adrenaline running cold fingers down his chest. Robin didn't even have the sense to back up as the air began to cool about them.
The cheerful interruption from his side startled him so badly he nearly let go of her.
"Robin! I must say, I'm surprised to find you've changed your opinion so much." Eagle smiled at her, brightly. "Why, you've been chatting with Clef here long enough half the Hall is watching! Have you come to congratulate him, too?"
"Hardly." Robin spat out, making no attempt to be polite – but then, Eagle hadn't bowed at all, just addressed her with a familiarity guaranteed to insult her. "Bear in mind what I have said, Clef. Or you will regret it even more than you inevitably will." With that, and one last half-snarl at Eagle, she turned on her heel and stalked away.
"...Thank you, Eagle." Clef said, heartfelt. Umi's hand was gripping his slightly less painfully; the tingle of pins and needles began to itch at his fingers as circulation returned.
The commander shrugged. "You looked like you were in need of a rescue."
"You have no idea how true that is." Clef muttered.
But... Umi was pulling a face at him, anger visibly subsiding. /Sorry, that was just me./ She reported. /The nerve of her, threatening us like that! But I'm fine. I want to speak to Geo, anyway. I've got a cooking question for him.../
/A... what? Umi-/
/You're ignoring Eagle. Don't be impolite - I promise I'm fine./ She flashed a grin at him, shedding her irritation. And... he certainly wouldn't have been able to do that, under the influence of the drug. Perhaps she wasn't...
Geo had followed Eagle across the room at a more sedate pace, and was just reaching them. Clef watched Umi bounce over to him, biting his lip, until Eagle coughed politely to pull his attention back. "My apologies, but I do need to speak with you before the dismissal tomorrow – may we visit after this Ball has finished?"
"Not tonight." Clef said, still trying to track Umi – was she asking Geo about recipes? – and it was a moment before he realised Eagle was staring at him, one eyebrow raised. "What? I – oh, no! It's not – I just meant, Umi's... exhausted. Both of us need to sleep tonight, and we still have to pack before leaving tomorrow morning…"
Clef wasn't announcing this situation to anyone unless he had to, not even Eagle. And if Umi was able to stay calm a few minutes more, they shouldn't have to. Besides, Eagle wasn't watching Umi as if he thought anything was wrong. If he hadn't spotted anything...
Eagle didn't push the issue. "Be that as it may, I do need to speak with you tonight. There is no guarantee I will be able to catch you tomorrow. Would you give our speech a little more privacy?" Eagle suggested, his voice softening further, until it was hidden from eavesdroppers by Geo's enthusiastic discussion of Autozam's cakes. He brushed aside the hair from his forehead, tapping one finger against his temples as he did so. "It's a rather delicate subject."
"We would look very strange standing here not talking to each other." Clef objected, throat tightening.
"Then isn't it fortuitous that we can stand and appear to be listening to our bodyguards conversing with each other?" Eagle said. Clef hesitated, still, and after a moment Eagle sighed and appeared to let it drop. "Might I ask a question instead, then? About the fight this afternoon?"
"Of course." Clef replied, warily. "I cannot guarantee you'll get an answer, but you may always ask."
"I shall have to chance it, I'm too curious. Why did the assassin stop attacking this afternoon? After Umi broke his weapon and then trapped him he still had his magic, yet he made no attempt to break from the cage. I would have expected him to try given what he must have known would happen once he was caught."
Clef winced at that reminder, but it was a fair question. "Because – well. Because he had lost." He half shrugged, glancing at Umi. "In an open fight, he had three tactics. His magic, his weapon, and the negation-magic. The first Umi had already comprehensively defeated – there would be no point using anything but your best spells against a Magic Knight, and she found the weaknesses in each spell remarkably quickly. He could have used magic in combination with a physical attack – that was the biggest danger, really – but Umi managed to keep him moving too much to cast anything strong until she'd broken his halberd. That weakened his magic. It was his focus-item, and the backlash would have been painful."
"…Ah. He did yell, rather. Couldn't he have made himself another weapon? Umi crafted her shield in the middle of the battle, after all, and there was enough mud to make a thousand spears."
"Umi's shield was a temporary thing, meant for one battle only. His halberd must have taken him several days' work to form, to face up to a blade made of Escudo! Nothing less would have withstood it."
"But her temporary shield held up against his permanent weapon, which was strong enough to stop her sword. Surely that means her temporary shield was as strong as the halberd?" Eagle objected.
"Yes, well, the magic she used was-" Clef shut himself up, but not fast enough to keep Eagle from pouncing on the slip.
"Was what, Master Clef?"
So much for Eagle leaving things alone. "Was particularly suited to deflecting things. Ice is slippery! Anyway -" He rushed on – "that left him with only the negation magic, which he tried, and it was overpowered by her spell. Negation had already failed him against my shield, and even in the bomb; he didn't know how we were protected against it, so there was no point attempting to break free; he had no way left to defeat us."
"Yes? And have you written your report for the Guards about that yet?"
No prizes for guessing Eagle didn't mean the fight or the bomb, but their mode of survival. Umi was back at his side before Eagle had finished, though he didn't know if she had been listening or if he'd been exuding wariness. Her hand rested against his elbow.
"It's-" Clef swallowed, and now facing Eagle was easier than facing Umi. "It won't be an issue for much longer, Eagle. The situation will be resolved when we return, and there will be no effect on the connection with Autozam."
She let go of him, slowly. Not just his arm, either - she drew her shields carefully back up.
Eagle sighed. "Whatever your intentions might currently be… Three days. Please. Tell him, tell Dal LaFarga, within three days of reaching Cephiro, or-"
"Or what?" Umi demanded. "You'll tell on us, like we're naughty children?"
"I don't want to tell him anything!" Eagle bit out, voice still low but urgent. "It shouldn't be his business – it certainly shouldn't be my business – but because of Autozam it is. And… most of all, I don't want to lie to Lantis ever again. Not for anything, not even by omission."
How could Clef feel angry, when Eagle's grief was still haunting his voice? He'd had to turn against Lantis, fight him with every piece of information Lantis had given away. Clef looked at Umi for permission; she bit her lip, and nodded.
"Three days. Not that we should need them."
"Just in case things don't go to plan. ...Thank you, Clef. Umi. I'm sorry to have to ask you."
oOo
"Come on, then." Clef turned to Umi, when Eagle had left them, Geo apologetic in his wake. "Time for us to leave."
"What? No!" Umi folded her arms and frowned at him - then away, to at the kaleidoscope of people in glimmering finery. "You've only spoken to two of them! We said we were speaking to three." He recognised her obstinate head tilt with a sinking feeling. "We need to find Samesu."
"I can't see her, Umi - she's left already, I suspect, which means we should-"
"Well, find someone else to talk to, then!" Umi snapped. Clef was uncomfortably aware of the attention being sent their way by the constant plaguing audience.
"Umi, won't you just listen to me?" He demanded, stepping closer so he could drop his voice low - with the height of her shields he couldn't use the bond, and given the volatile edge to their magic, he didn't want to risk the thought-spell. Umi glared at his throat, instead of meeting his eyes. "I'm not lying to you! I can't see Samesu, and your control is slipping - I have no idea how you're still holding yourself together!"
"I'm fine! There are hundreds of people here, I'm sure you could do with speaking to some of them."
"You promised you'd do what I asked!" Clef insisted (because insisted was a better word than 'wailed'). Umi just rolled her eyes at him.
"Not if you're being stupid, I'm not."
Clef shut his eyes and rubbed his hand across his forehead, giving himself a minute when he didn't have to look at her. How could he simultaneously want to strangle her and pull her away to somewhere safe and hidden and defensible? It was bad for his nerves, this insanity.
"We've done all we can tonight. Please, let me keep you safe."
Umi wavered, and then bowed her head, giving way. Clef breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped closer, tilting her head up so she would look at him. "Thank you," he told her, softly, and she leant into his hand with a sigh, eyes closing.
Clef... froze.
Her cheeks were beginning to flush with a sharp dry heat. That shouldn't - the fever didn't come until after the loss of control! Could this be a reaction? An allergy - but she'd been following the same symptoms as he had. Maybe it was because she'd taken so little it hadn't managed to erode her control so badly? But then it wouldn't be enough to make her run a temperature either, and this... Was it because she wasn't Cephiran? She hadn't grown up in a land with power, perhaps that meant her reserves weren't as…
Umi pulled away, staring at him. There was a high colour in her cheeks, beginning to look too blotchy to be healthy. "What is it?"
"I'm the worst kind of fool in this whole place." Clef whispered, unable to believe he'd been so stupid.
What kind of reserves could she possibly have left after that afternoon?
Not enough to fuel the drug long enough to steal all her control, and not enough to buffer her against the worst symptoms of magic depletion alongside the toxin. He focused on the bond, instead of the emotion wrapped in it, and shivered - there was hardly anything coming from her, and she was pulling more from him than she had been.
"Come on." He said, catching her hand and turning for the doors. He was so focused on her that he nearly walked into the person who had been behind him, who Clef recognised belatedly as the man who accompanied Reigan, and the Representative was there too.
At first, she just glanced their way and moved on, but then Reigan stopped. She looked closer at Umi, who proceeded to glare back haughtily. Clef shifted closer and wrapped his arm around Umi's waist. When Reigan's expression darkened and turned on him, he just tilted his chin up, inviting whatever comment she wanted to hit him with – but his grip tightened again, and she probably noticed he was turning so he stood between her and Umi.
Instead of saying something cutting, she stared at him for just as long, just as silently, while all he wanted was this conversation done so he could get them out of here.
"You can take this game of theirs too seriously, you realise." She eventually said, and he flinched. "Some things should not be wagered."
"Clef's not the one betting." Umi told her, forcefully. Her control wasn't exactly gone, but it was less than diplomatic; Reigan's expression didn't change.
"But he is, little knight. He's the Representative, you are merely a bodyguard – and not even from Cephiro. Whatever happens will be on his head."
He moved without thinking, getting further between them. "I am responsible, yes, for what we do, but others are responsible for the outcome of what they might have chosen to do to others – and I will support the choices Umi makes. I will not let her down, no matter what people may think of me."
"No?" Reigan raised an eyebrow, watching them both – then sighed, and shook her head. "I have told you before, I do not care to be drawn into the petty squabbling among the lands here. But you have begun to show signs of some promise it would be irritating to see wasted so swiftly. After you stopped him from taking to the field this afternoon…" Her gaze went to Umi again, lingering on her, and Clef wondered suddenly what Reigan had been like when she was younger, if she saw echoes of herself in Umi.
"You – how do you know I stopped him?" Umi blinked.
Reigan huffed out a short breath. "I have eyes, and I use them. It showed you have some common sense; your partnership seems to be working. So pay attention, Master Clef. It is a dangerous game you have started playing. This-" she flicked her fingertips at them, and the tiniest, most tightly controlled slip of wind imaginable brushed over his shoulder to press against Umi and stop dead on her lightly flushed cheek without stirring her hair at all – "this is nothing more than a warning shot. An opening salvo."
"This is no game." Clef snapped, too loudly. People turned to look, and he had to fight the snarl off his face.
"But you are in no position to dictate that, when the rest of these players decide you're on the board."
She nodded at his hesitation, and before he could drag any response together she turned, and walked away from them. The crowds parted about her, her passage marked by a wake of ruffled dignitaries.
"…I wonder, then." Clef muttered. "Are you a player too, or are you aiming to be a gamemaster instead?" He closed his eyes and rubbed his free hand through his hair. "Okay. Enough. We're getting out of here now, no more complications." He declared, and tried to move.
Umi swayed against him and blinked up, sluggishly.
"I think - Clef, I think -" she stuttered, and he knew exactly how disoriented she felt as her shields crumbled, all of them, mind growing too scattered to focus as the fever hit. It was very much time to leave, but she could barely walk in a straight line - three steps was enough to prove that, even with an arm about her waist, and how were they going to get out of the room without attracting attention?
He wasn't even thinking about Cephiro's image, he just knew that Umi despised the idea of anyone seeing her out of control like this. He tugged them back against a pillar, out of the way. Umi stumbled and tried to stand up, faltered against him again. He turned into her, pressed his lips to her temple, thought /sorry, Umi. Sorry./
"I want to leave now." She whispered, leaning into his neck. Clef wrapped his arms about her and stared about, feeling helpless. He couldn't transport them - with Umi lacking control, it would have been a dubious prospect. With her magic drained and his propping her up, it was never going to happen. But she would hate it if he carried her somehow... They were still half a room from the doors, and it wasn't even a clear path - there were people and tables scattered all through it, plus the steps up to the corridor. She would never be able to walk it.
But one of the people between them and the door was the Chizetan Princess, who spotted him, and was excusing herself moments later to make her way across. She curved about a few of the tables so it didn't look quite as though she was launching across the room to them - and while Clef appreciated the effort to not draw attention, he'd really rather she got to them as soon as possible, because a desperate plan was forming at the back of his mind.
"What's wrong?" Tatra asked as she reached them, softly, glancing down at Umi, and Clef had never before been so grateful for someone else's intuition.
"Can you control another person's motions?" He asked, sharp and low, and when she hesitated all he felt was impatience. "I've seen Caldina do it, I don't care if it's some secret art, or forbidden, or below the dignity of a Princess – can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Then I need you to walk Umi out of this room with me, with no one noticing she's being controlled." He demanded, low, and Tatra's eyes widened for a split second and she looked at Umi again, at the fierce grip she had on Clef's robes, and a soft 'oh' fell from her lips – but she didn't ask for details, just nodded.
"You'll be okay after that? She'll be alright?"
"She should be. I can't transport us back. If she panics and tries to grab control of the spell…"
"I will walk her to your rooms." Tatra told him, voice firm. "I will need to find somewhere I'll not be watched, and a mirror to see what is happening. Give me three minutes at most. …If you can keep her calm, then…"
"I will. She promised me she'd listen." Clef murmured, tangling his hands tighter in Umi's hair and turning down to her. Umi shifted and looked up at him, her eyes too dark, pupils wide under the influence of the drug, and then she wrapped her arms about his neck a little unsteadily and leant against his chest again, closing her eyes, and… well. They weren't going to get any strange looks for leaving early, he thought, wryly, trying to hold onto that instead of his fears.
The Princess took her leave and made her way from the room – not directly, with more than a few stops to exchange conversation, and all the while Clef kept his arms wrapped tightly about Umi and wished Tatra would hurry up and get on with it, even though he knew that it might destroy their charade for her to do so.
If Umi resisted… she'd broken a spell like this before, and she'd only grown in strength since facing Aska. Even with her reserves drained she could interfere. But if he used his connection to her magic and tried to stop her fighting with it – that much meddling couldn't go well. /Umi,/ he thought, trying to become as calm as he possibly could and lowering the shields to let that flow through to her. /Umi, will you trust me?/
She didn't reply as such, though her hands wound tighter in his shirt, and he remembered vividly the feeling that words were too alien a concept to grasp, but for once the present moment was more powerful than the flashback. /Do you trust me?/
Umi still didn't reply, but she responded; she tilted her head to press her lips to his cheek. (And, yes. Really no one at all was going to be surprised they were leaving early, were they.) The tangled mix of emotion emanating from her folded into something full of irritation and – and affection, and of course, you idiot.
He felt, suddenly, like crying. /Trust me, then. Please, trust Tatra, and trust me. We're going to get you out of here. It's going to feel strange, but don't fight it, don't fight her, please? It's alright, I promise you. It's going to be alright./
oOo
The moment the spell came over her, he knew. She went tense against his side, and then she was standing upright without leaning against him. The smile on her face didn't fit it, and it didn't reach her eyes. And there was a pressure wrapped about her magic, her will, which he could feel through the bond – a muffling, like a layer of thin silk cloth separating them.
Tatra's power.
Clef kept his arm wrapped about her, and together they walked to the door, Umi moving with all the grace she should have; it was more jarring than even her collapse had been, but without the bond, he probably wouldn't have noticed a thing out of place. Tatra had Umi's way of walking down perfectly, which was vaguely terrifying: no one should be that observant.
(Clef knew it was perfect, but he'd been together with Umi a lot more.)
People smiled, people turned to greet them – Clef smiled back, and nodded, and kept his mouth shut. No one stopped him. They made it to the corridor, to the stairwell where there was still a hole in the carpet. Clef dropped the smile, but left his arm about Umi, walking faster. She came along, and glanced neither to right nor left, made no response to their surroundings, to him.
The only sound was their footsteps, all the way until the door closed behind them and Tatra's spell broke; Umi dropped, puppet with the strings cut, and even with his arm already about her waist Clef barely caught her.
He stood there, in the dark of the room, and just tried to breathe for a moment. But the itch of the door-shaped hole in the shields behind him was too much to ignore, and he pulled Umi further upright so he could get one arm free and flail his hand backwards. He didn't so much drag the shield shut behind them as slam his hand against the door and shove power at it until it got the idea and closed up. He poured more strength into it, until the heat stung his palm, and he still didn't feel safe.
He wanted his castle back about them, the power of the wards singing at him through every wall and floor, the stones he knew intimately standing strong about them. He wanted to be able to go to ground in the room where Emeraude had hidden from the world and from herself, so no one and nothing could reach Umi while she was hurting like this.
And as he thought it, there was a shudder in the air; he snarled and tossed caution aside, throwing out his free hand and demanding until his staff slammed into it.
/Stand down, mage. I am no threat to you./
Selece's voice echoed about the room as much as it did through Clef's head, and as he watched there was a moment when he could see the dragon coiled about the walls, wrapped about them. The light flung off by his staff went straight through the transparent limbs. Clef had enough time to look up into sharp eyes before Selece faded into invisibility, but not away. He settled into the shield through the threads of Umi's power bound into it.
/I shall watch without. You will be safe in this room. For this night, not even Mokona can order me away, not while my Knight needs me./
Clef shuddered, and closed his eyes. He relaxed his grip on the staff, but couldn't bring himself to let it go entirely – not least because it made a handy stick to lean on, .That was… better. That was better. Selece was probably as formidable as the whole of Cephiro's massed power, all in one stirred-up teeth-bearing form.
/Now you must stop feeding her more magic than she is drawing on naturally./ Selece said, and Clef stared wide-eyed at the place his head had been.
"But! The drain, my Lord, her magic-"
/She is anchored to you. This would need to be far stronger to outpace your connection, like the traps of the mage wars; you are only feeding the drug./
Clef winced, and bit his lip. The only thing he could think of to help her, and it was making things worse?
/Do not feel guilty, little one./ Selece's voice softened, as much as it could. / Your actions helped keep her calm until you were safe, but that is no longer necessary. I shall watch closely for signs she is getting too low, and tell you if need be./
"...You wouldn't pass magic on to her yourself?"
/My power is not the same as that you draw from Cephiro, it would not be precisely compatible. But, come. Both of you must rest./
Clef closed his eyes, and consciously let go of the bond, and there was a moment when Selece's satisfaction seemed to wash through the room. Meanwhile, Umi was still leaning into Clef's hold. Surely she should have pulled herself away from him by now? Protesting the magic which had bound her at his request – he knew she must have loathed that. It was all his fault she was here enduring such things. "It's over now." He promised her. "No more control spells, no more politics or assassins or drugs. We'll get you to bed and you can sleep this off, and tomorrow we're going home, okay?"
"Teeth." She said, clearly, and he blinked.
What?
"Teeth." Umi insisted. She listed away from him, in the direction of the bathroom. He was half expecting Umi to pull away from him; he wasn't prepared for her to tug him with her. But then, she couldn't stand, what was he expecting her to do?
"Here, come lie down. Forget brushing your teeth, if you sleep it off –"
"No!"
"The bed's closer! Umi, you can barely walk, you can clean your teeth tomorrow!" She ignored the plea, yanking hard enough he had to drop the staff and grab her with both hands again before she tipped both of them over.
Then she turned and looked up at him, her eyes large and pleading, and he folded within seconds.
He helped her to the bathroom, stood steady so she could scrub at her teeth and her tongue. When he spotted flecks of blood in the foam he coaxed her into setting it aside and coming back to the bed.
Her hands were freezing, but her cheeks burnt against his palm. He picked up the loose hotel nightshirt she'd been using and thought it onto her in place of the thin dress, eyes closed, before helping her under the covers. Umi made a cocoon, wrapping the duvet high about her shoulders, and when he tried to pull back she wormed one arm out and latched onto his sleeve.
Clef kicked off his boots and sat down beside her. "I'm here." He murmured, softly. "I won't leave you." Umi curled into him and his throat tightened, but he forced himself to keep talking, calmly, stroking one hand slowly over the fall of her hair.
It was more than an hour before her fever started to go down, and only then did he finally manage to believe Selece was correct - that this would pass quicker if he didn't feed it more, even if it left Umi cold and shaking. Time had stretched horribly as she shivered violently and he could do nothing, but now she lay still, and he was so exhausted that he was seeing double. He began to untangle himself, thinking that he should get changed - his mantle couldn't have been comfortable to lean against - but the moment he got his hand free Umi stirred, with an unhappy noise. Clef curled closer about her again, murmuring quiet nonsense against her hair until she was resting more-or-less peacefully. He rested his head against hers and sighed, so reluctant to move that he knew he really, really should.
Some time later he opened his eyes blearily and realised two things in quick succession; he had dozed off, and something had woken him up.
"Why is it," Umi asked, somewhat groggily, "that you make more sense when I'm drugged?"
His eyes shot open, but beyond that he couldn't move - weighed down with sleep and mostly with Umi draped across him, holding him in place against the headboard. Her eyes were a half dozen inches from his own.
Clef swallowed, his mind entirely blank.
She sounded coherent. More than that, she sounded entirely like herself again. He'd been holding her for far too long. All his plans of getting his distance and composing himself before she woke up again - gone.
"Umi..." He said, a warning in his tone. Somewhere. Buried under the trembling.
"But now I understand. You're afraid. Of me."
oOo
end chapter twenty three
oOo
*Ducks whatever Milieva might chose to throw at her for that ending* I PROMISE that the next chapter will NOT take so long! Honest! I am not likely to start three jobs again. (At least, I really hope not! I want to keep the two I have now!)
In case that confused anyone, the drug sapping magic worries Clef because it's not blocking magic off, it's eating it, rather like the negation does but naturally. A mage needs a certain level of magic – because that magic is also their life, their soul. That's why the assassin was sealed instead of having his power removed.
SPOILERS/TRIGGER WARNING INFORMATION: The loss of autonomy deals with characters being drugged so they lose control of themselves, so that they are controllable or will become violent against their will.