Sophia frowned. Dav definitely meant that he didn’t think Samuel was behind the corpsevine resurgence. She wasn’t so sure about his reasoning; she didn’t know Samuel well enough. She certainly didn’t want to think that he’d be responsible, but then those were the people who could succeed, weren’t they?
She couldn’t quite dismiss the option out of hand, with the connection between fire and phoenixes, but she definitely wasn’t ready to accuse him either. He seemed more likely than Halven, but Sophia didn’t really like either of them as options. Maybe the Registry Master was inviting people here to get them to help her find out who the culprit was?
Sophia couldn’t think of any other reason she’d keep the four of them there. Why, she hadn’t even given them a chance to change!
The lack of fresh clothing was made even more obvious when Aymini hurried into the room. The blonde receptionist usually dressed in fashions that made her look younger and a bit unsophisticated, but her formal dress was completely different. It looked like white silk with accents in green and red covered by a wide golden belt with a moon covering over the buckle. With her hair down other than a small crown of braids and a set of crescent moon earrings and necklace, she looked several years more mature than normal.
Aymini [https://i.imgur.com/ZgVRPwZ.jpeg]
Aymini heaved a sigh as she slowed down. “Looks like I’m in plenty of time. Jen is covering the front desk, she’ll send the others up when they get here. You have the cushions, Halven?”
Halven nodded and held a cushion out to Aymini.
“Thanks.” Aymini nodded at him and took the cushion. She looked around the room, then made her way to the wall where Taika (still in Dav’s backpack), Dav, Sophia, and Amy sat in a row. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”
Sophia wasn’t sure why Aymini chose to ask her. She wasn’t the one who called the meeting and she felt completely out of place here right now.
“Not until everyone’s here,” Registry Master Jessamine intervened. “I’d like to only go through it all once, and that means after the Mage-Chancellor arrives.”
“Right.” Aymini said. Her tone was fairly respectful, but she rolled her eyes before she set her cushion down in the air a few feet from the trio, closer to the center of the room. She was close enough to talk back and forth fairly easily but also between them and everyone else. It was obvious that was deliberate on Aymini’s part, like she expected them to be important to the meeting.
If that was the reason, Sophia couldn’t argue with it. It made sense that Aymini would assume they were the reason the meeting was called; they were the only people there who weren’t in dressy formal clothing, plus Sophia somehow doubted that these meetings were commonly called with no notice and with strangers present.
Rensyn was the next to arrive. It took Sophia a moment to realize that he’d clearly showered and changed before he arrived; his outfit was very similar to what he’d worn earlier. Unlike the others, his robe was more like a long shirt; it was only closed to the waist. Below that, it was split and even that only came to his knees, revealing the pants and boots he wore below. Sophia strongly suspected that he didn’t bother to have better clothing because he didn’t care about it.
Rensyn [https://i.imgur.com/tqSEEE4.jpeg]
Rensyn found a spot near Aymini to sit. Once he had, Jessamine picked a place facing towards Rensyn and Aymini to set herself down. With Halven and Samuel on one side and Johan opposite them, they were now roughly in a circle that did not include Taika, Dav, Sophia, or Amy.
“Did the Mage-Chancellor say how much longer he would require?” Jessamine asked with a smile. “He’s necessary.”
“He was eating, but he said he would hurry,” Rensyn answered. “I’m not sure how long that means.”
“Not long, unless he decides he needs to change attire,” the Registry Master answered. “He might even get here before the Commander. What is keeping that man?” She sounded annoyed.
“I’m trying to run a war!” The words echoed up down the dark corridor ahead of Matt Walsh, the man they met over a geode and a corpsevine-infested arm. “It’s not over, even if we’re getting higher rewards from it now!”
The redheaded Commander stalked into the room like he was on a runway, showing off. His hair billowed behind him and his hands clutched one side of his robe, as if it made him more accessible. Like Rensyn, his robe didn’t reach the floor; instead, the greenish teal and red top covered a red skirt or robe that did reach the ground. Both pieces had the same gold pattern of a bird with its wings to each side and a huge tail whose plume stretched below it. Sophia would have called it a peacock if the tail were behind the bird; as it was, it was clearly a stylistic representation but she wasn’t certain what it represented.
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Matt Walsh [https://i.imgur.com/kRAm2jR.jpeg]
Sophia frowned at the symbol. Was that supposed to be a phoenix like the pin? It was in gold, so there was no color clue to help her, but if she squinted it was certainly a lot closer in shape than Halven’s waterfowl. There were three strong candidates present for the person responsible for the corpsevines based on their clothing symbology, but none of them seemed to fit perfectly.
Of the three, Commander Matt Walsh seemed to have the best position to take advantage of the corpsevines to take the city. He was, after all, the man tasked with defending the city against the corpsevines; that meant he would get the credit for success or the blame for failure. One way or the other, it would go to either him or the Mage-Chancellor. Sophia supposed she should add the Registry Leader to that list; she was also responsible for the defense of the city. Of those three, the only one they hadn’t eliminated as a likely culprit was the Commander.
Even so, Sophia was starting to doubt it was as simple as their first guess. Few things were that simple, and could he really set it up so that they had to evacuate and yet still know he could win? For that matter, could he even guarantee they’d have to evacuate? That wasn’t even mentioned before the Leveled Challenge was created. Maybe this really was nothing but pointing fingers at the air because there had to be someone to blame.
While Sophia stewed on the thought that she might be completely wrong, Registry Master Jessamine asked Commander Walsh about the progress of the effort against the corpsevines. That turned out to be more than enough of a question to fill the time they had before the Mage-Chancellor arrived; the two talked until they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps.
The newcomer was definitely related to Lade Essia. He was taller and thinner than his daughter, with similarly pointed ears and a prominent chin. His furry ears were very similar, as well; Sophia still couldn’t exactly identify which animal they belonged to. His hair was messy; part of the golden band woven into it seemed to be loose in some places. It was clear he must not have changed before heading over.
That impression was enhanced by the clothing he wore. Unlike the others, it wasn’t shiny silk; instead, it was rich-looking cotton, in several colors, with wide golden bands at the neck and shoulders. Sophia wasn’t sure if she could name all of the pieces of his outfit, but he was wearing at least three layers despite the recent heat wave. He even had a cloak or more likely a cape pinned to his split vest by a brooch that supported a line of semiprecious stones on each side. Below his belt, the dangling jewels turned into a strip of cloth with gilded edges and patterns around the stones.
Golden bracers and earrings completed the outfit. Sophia had no trouble imagining the man as a powerful rules, but she also had no trouble imagining him as a petty one. It was hard to tell what he was like from the clothes. The one thing she knew for now was that when the Registry Master said to come quickly, he came. That was clear evidence in favor of Amy’s assertion that there was no reason whatsoever for a Registry Master to want to rule a place like Casterville.
Mage-Chancellor [https://i.imgur.com/FLJqiJY.jpeg]
“Registry Master,” the Mage-Chancellor inclined his head towards Master Jessamine. “You requested my presence?”
She nodded with a smile. “Mage-Chancellor Ansari, please have a seat. Aymini, can you get the door?”
Halven handed another cushion to the Mage-Chancellor while Aymini made her way to the entrance. As it closed, Master Ressamine turned to Commander Matt Walsh. “Commander, before I forget, this turned up recently. I think it may be yours; did you happen to lose it?”
The phoenix brooch glinted in the light from the glowing blocks in the ceiling. Sophia had a hard time tearing her eyes away from it to look at the back of the man the Registry Master was accusing without him even realizing what she was doing.
The Commander’s voice was calm, even pleased, as he reached for the pin. “Yes, thank you. I’ve looked everywhere for it; I couldn’t figure out where I lost it.”
“The pin on the back is bent,” the Registry Master stated. “I suspect that it bent from the stones you carried to the West Conservatory, or possibly from the effort it took to break them open.”
Sophia could tell when the Registry Master’s meaning made its way through the Commander’s mind. He froze with the brooch in his hand for a moment that was just a little too long to seem innocent, then slipped the brooch into a pocket. Sophia no longer doubted the man’s culpability; he knew exactly what the Registry Master meant. It might or might not be his plan, but he was definitely involved.
“Taking rocks to the West Conservatory?” Mage-Chancellor Ansari shook his head. He placed the cushion near the Registry Master’s seat, then took his spot once the chair formed. “I don’t remember that in the plan.”
“That’s because it isn’t,” the Commander stated firmly. “I’m not sure what you mean, Jessamine?” He settled back down into his seat. As far as Sophia could tell, he didn’t seem uncomfortable at all. He might know what the Registry Master was implying, but he’d clearly decided that his best chance was to deny everything and try to ride out the problem.
Master Jessamine smiled in response, but it didn’t look pleasant. Instead, it looked somehow both fierce and tired at the same time. It definitely wasn’t a look of triumph, but there was also no give there. Instead of addressing the Commander’s question, she turned to Rensyn and asked him something Sophia didn’t expect. “Mentor Rensyn, you were the first to bring the idea of a corpsevine resurgence to me, after some of your mentees found one. What made you send them out to look?”
Sophia was certain Master Jessamine already knew the answer to her question. It would be foolish to ask in this setting if she didn’t. This was obviously all part of a plan to put the Commander off balance and deal with him, probably under the Mage-Chancellor’s authority as well as her own, before he had a chance to hide his tracks.
Mentor Rensyn, on the other hand, was clearly caught by surprise. “I, ah, heard some rumors about people disappearing on the west side of the city. That worried me, of course, that’s how it happened last time. I didn’t really think it was, it’s never corpsevines, but this time it was.”
Registry Master Jessamine nodded encouragingly. “Can you remember who told you about the rumors, or where you heard them?”