Even a dozen feet away, Garrett could feel the intense, suppressive power of the artifact in front of him. This was the source of the protective bubble that should have shrouded the palace. However, it was clear that something was wrong with it. The mirror that should have refracted the crystal's energy to spread out throughout the palace had spots that were cloudy, obscuring portions of the palace from the suppressive force the crystal produced.
On the surface, everything seemed to be fine, as if it was working normally. But the slight smudging on the mirror drastically reduced its strength, making it so weak that it hadn't even been able to pick up the dream flowers riding along with the princess when she returned to the palace.
Having just felt the energy exuded by Victor, and seen the nightmares attached to various maids and guards, Garrett immediately knew what was going on. Coupled with the words spoken by the guard at the gate moments earlier, Garrett was 100% confident that he was looking at the work of his father.
At first, Garrett hadn't understood why Victor Klein may have wanted to reduce the effectiveness of the supernatural shield around the palace. He had assumed that Victor's plan revolved around a physical confrontation. But after meeting the Duke, it was clear that there was no way a direct confrontation of physical force would work. The Duke's strength was simply too great, greater even than either of the dream rulers Garrett had faced. He had assumed that they were in the Shaper level, but given the immense sense of pressure Duke Arkov released, even without flexing his aura, Garrett was now coming to understand that they had only been at the top of the Shaper stage.
Victor must have realized the same, and rather than engaging in a direct confrontation, he was clearly planning something completely different. Garrett had no idea how he intended to deal with the duke. But considering how Victor was bringing nightmares into the palace, Garrett could only assume that it would be through the use of the dream. Remembering his own experience with Kabod's maze, Garrett thought that it was possible mysterious artifacts would be involved. Regardless, it was obvious that one of the forces from the dream was meddling in the waking world.
Garrett's suspicion landed firmly on the Crimson Eye of Shalmoroth. He had been surprised to find the Crimson Eye listed nowhere in the city as a ruler, which meant that it was a great ruler from beyond the city walls. Its chosen had ranged through Insomnium when Garrett first arrived. But after defeating the possessed Henrik, Garrett hadn't encountered any of the Crimson Eye's forces. Until, that is, he felt the energy his father wielded.
There was no chance that Garrett would ever forget the feeling of the Crimson Eye's possession. And even now, when he thought of the eyes opening all across his body, it was all he could do to keep from shivering. Just over an hour earlier, when his father had surrounded them in the power of the dream, Garrett had felt that same force. Catching sight of the faint, bloody color in his father's eyes had only further reinforced his suspicions.
If it was true that the Crimson Eye of Shalmoroth was using his father to make a play for the city, intending to place its own ruler in the city, Garrett knew that the fight for the throne was about to get a lot more difficult. At the same time, he could tell that his father didn't actually know how to wield the power of the dream, and may not even have known that he was possessed, as he clearly hadn't noticed the dream flowers surrounding Garrett.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Victor was simply a good actor. But given his intimate knowledge of his father, Garrett seriously doubted it. He thought it much more likely that the Crimson Eye of Shalmoroth, or potentially one of its chosen, was manipulating Victor without the steward knowing it. And if that was the case, Garrett was confident in his victory.
Seeing that Garrett was still staring up at the crystal, the princess began to look around, poking through the rest of the room, until Garrett suddenly called her over.
"Princess, why is it that when I try to get close to the crystal, it pushes me away?" This was a serious question. As Garrett had rolled closer to it, he had found a suppressive force pressing him back, not allowing him to come within arm's reach.
"It's because it's a blood-bonded crystal," the princess replied. "The crystal has been bonded to the blood of the royal family, which means we're the only ones who can control it. See?" As she spoke, she took a step forward and touched the crystal, before looking proudly back at Garrett, who had a suitably awestruck expression on his face.
"Wow, that's really impressive," he said, causing the princess to smile widely. At the same time, Garrett's power surged, sending out half a dozen dream seeds from the princess's dream flowers. Thanks to the connection the dream flower had with the princess, the seeds didn't burn up as soon as they got close to the crystal, like the ones Garrett had sent out had done, and instead burrowed into it, causing the crystal to shiver for a moment.
For a brief and terrible second, Garrett wondered if he had accidentally broken the thing, as its energy flickered. Thankfully, it returned strong, and a moment later, invisible to everyone's eyes apart from Garrett's, dozens of blooms erupted from the crystal, nourished by the intense mental energy that formed its core. Garrett had no idea whether infesting the crystal with flowers would be of any help, but he figured it was something he could explore slowly later.
Edward, who had felt the tremble in the crystal's energy, stepped into the room, his brow furrowed when he saw the princess touching its smooth side.
"Your Highness."
Looking like a little girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar, the princess quickly pulled her hand back and stepped away.
"I was just talking to Garrett about the function of the mind crystal," the princess said. "He was curious, since he couldn't get close to it."
Glancing between Garrett and the princess, Edward nodded. "It serves as one of the defenses for the palace," he said. "It identifies any time a foreign entity enters the palace, and those of royal blood can wield it to eliminate them."
"Foreign entities? What are those?" Garrett asked, looking at the princess, who shrugged, and then at Edward. The old man scratched his beard and shrugged as well.
"You know, ghosts, stuff like that. Or mysterious artifacts, which have the same sort of aura as ghosts. Mysterious artifacts can be quite dangerous, so it's better to not have them brought into the palace. That's why the mind crystal is so important. If a mysterious artifact is brought into the palace, the mind crystal will alert every member of the royal family, allowing them to identify where it is and track it."
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"'Have you ever experienced such a thing?” Garrett asked the princess. After a moment of consideration, she nodded.
“Sort of. I mean, there are mysterious artifacts in the palace. They're just all gathered in this room right here. Well, except for a few others, but those are held by specific individuals. It's hard to describe, but it's like I have a feeling for where they are in the palace at any given time.”
“It's an impressive system,” Garrett said, glancing at the crystal again. “And I'm glad to know that it's there to keep you safe.”
“Princess, it's time to leave,” Edward said. “After all, staying in here isn't a good idea. Some of these mysterious artifacts can have a negative impact if you're around them too long.”
Seeing that Ryn was beginning to push Garrett out of the room, the princess nodded and followed close behind. Once they were out, Edward carefully locked the door behind them, and they headed up the stairs to the first floor of the palace. It was almost lunchtime, but Garrett declined the princess's invitation. Before he left, however, he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for her to see.
“Princess, I know you're safe here in the palace, but it would ease my mind if you would wear this.'
“What is it?' the princess asked, taking the small necklace. There was a charm on the end of it, gleaming polished silver, formed into the shape of a flower with five petals. A faint texture decorated one side, and as the princess moved it in the light, she saw iridescent ripples running across it.
“You might think of it as a good luck charm,” Garrett said. “I know it's silly, but the people in the Northern District swear by it. If you keep it on your body, it will be able to protect you, even when everything seems to have gone wrong.”
Though she didn't know why, the princess felt like the charm was particularly attractive.
“Thank you. Miss Ryn, would you do me the honor of putting it on me?”
“Of course, your highness.” Taking the chain from her, Ryn carefully fastened it around the princess's neck.
“You don't have to wear it on the chain,” Garrett said as the princess stepped back and admired the flower once more. “Just keep the charm on you, preferably outside of your clothing.”
After they had left the palace, Garrett asked Ryn to pause, and for a moment they remained on the palace steps, before he opened his eyes and smiled.
“Thank you. We can go back now.”
Rather than take the royal coach, they hired a coach to take them back to the Northern District. While it was significantly less comfortable than the royal coach, it didn't cause nearly the stir, which made Garrett quite happy. They arrived back at the inn, where Garrett found two people waiting for him. One was Thomas Gelavin, looking quite harassed, while the other was Gero Twin Blade. When they saw Garrett, both got to their feet at once, and then exchanged glances. Gero gestured to Thomas for him to go first, while he repeated the gesture towards her.
“Please, I insist,” the young nobleman said.
“Ever the gentleman, Thomas,” Gero said with a smile. “I've just come to let you know that I've delivered the goods you asked for,” she said, turning to Garrett. “They were a bugger, and dangerous too, nearly chewed my hands off. Anyway, I put them down in the basement, though they won't survive long without more water.”
“Thank you,” Garrett said. “I'll be able to handle them from here.”
With a nod, Gero moved to leave, but Thomas quickly stopped her.
“You'll want to stay to hear this too,' he said. "'In fact, if you stay, it'll save me one more trip. An emergency meeting of the ten seats has been called. Given the uncertainty over the political future of the city, multiple members have recommended that we meet and discuss what we're going to do."
Thomas spoke as if he was reciting a speech he had given before, and looking at his disheveled appearance, it was likely that he had.
“We'll be meeting tonight. Sorry for the short notice, but given how volatile the situation is, we thought it best to strike while the iron was hot. Whew. All right, that's done. I need a drink. You two were the last, so after this I can actually go get some sleep. You know, I was up till seven this morning at a party, and I stumble home only to find that I've been elected spokesperson. Miserable. I spent all morning tramping all over this city just to deliver a message that could've gone by courier," he said.
Gesturing for the bartender to give Thomas a drink, Garrett frowned.
“Who's calling the meeting?” he asked.
“Silver Song, Telabron, Marble Griffins, and the Hunters,” Thomas said. “And honestly, the Moonlight Council thinks it's a good idea as well, so Rackham's Blade is involved. With more than half of the gangs agreeing, well, here we are. I need to take a nap, though, before tonight, as I imagine it's going to be a long meeting."
Slamming back his drink, Thomas put his glass on the bar, took a deep breath, nodded to Garrett and Gero, and took his leave.
“Sounds like they're up to their old tricks,” Gero said.
“Have you had trouble with them before?” Garrett asked, watching as Thomas boarded a carriage in the yard outside.
“Yes. Silver Song and Telabron are particularly troublesome, constantly reaching for more power. Whatever they propose probably isn't in our best interest.”
“Thank you for the warning,” Garrett said. “I'll keep that in mind.”
Glancing at the young man, Gero hesitated, as if she wanted to say something. Ultimately, though, she kept quiet and took her leave.
The rest of the day Garrett spent dealing with the large, watertight crates that had been delivered into his basement. They were heavily chained, but even then, thumps and thrashing could be heard from inside of them. Garrett called Delrisa and her necromancers to come and pick them up, sending them down into the tunnels under the city.
Each crate contained one or more live fishmen, a sort of humanoid fish monster native to the swamp. The awakened dreamers had reported seeing them in the dream, so Garrett was interested in seeing if it was possible to crossbreed them with the dream flowers in the same way that the flower ghouls had. While the flower ghouls could swim and didn't need to breathe, they weren't particularly fast or agile underwater, whereas the fishmen were completely in tune to that environment.
The fishmen weren't the only monsters Garrett was interested in testing to see if he could make hybrids, and once the situation with the princess was stabilized, he planned to turn the tunnels under the Noble District that contained trolls and goblins into his personal laboratory. The thought of having an army of nigh-indestructible flower trolls put a smile on his normally impassive face.
Around dinner time, Garrett called Ryn into his office. When she came, she was munching on a drumstick and held a plate piled high with food.
“Francis says you need to eat something,” she said, putting the plate down and sliding it over.
Though it all looked good, Garrett wasn't particularly hungry. Instead, he directed his gaze towards Ryn.
“Tell me, if I gave you an opportunity that would allow you to grow more powerful, but at the cost of some of your freedom, would you take it?”
Lowering the drumstick, Ryn licked her lips, her expression growing serious.
“It's a really good question,” she said. “I think I'd have to know more about the opportunity.”