— Gonzo Monforte, Royal Palace, Lavradio —

It was an august gathering, mostly: King Leonardo, Queen Farava, City Minister Marvao, First Prince Estevan, and Baron Monforte. There was also a royal luthier whom Gonzo didn't know, an older man with a nervous tail and nimble fingers. Finally, there was Gonzo: the third child of a baron with no special office. The company was chosen from people who had known Taylor before he picked up his holy symbol and became Phillip the Younger. They were also people on good terms with him, which wasn't true of everyone in the royal family. Gonzo didn't know all the particulars, but there was a reason the Dowager Queen was absent.

They gathered in a private room of the palace, with only two royal guards in attendance, sitting around a table with a strange device as the centerpiece. It was very much like the body of a stringed instrument, without a neck or strings: flat on top, slightly oblong, and curved along the sides. Several other models were stored in the room, made in different shapes and of various materials.

Music flowed out of the magical instrument, Our Wild and Beautiful Fringe, filling the room with grand sweeps of longing for high wild places. If Gonzo's friend Taylor had stuck to beauty products and music instead of entering the church, his life would have been a lot simpler. Then again, Lavradio might be in ruins.

Gonzo checked the gauge in front of him: Barely any magic radiated from the instrument, even when he held the youngmeter close.

When the song was finished the King thanked the elder craftsman for his efforts and paid him in gold. The luthier departed with a deep bow, knowing full well he had participated in a revolution. He left the palace with his pocket full of gold and a trembling awe in his heart. Music sent across vast distances, reproduced with near perfection! All the world would want these sounding boards, and soon.

Gonzo took another device from the bag he used to carry it. It was similar to the large one, but much smaller and more round. He placed it on the table where everyone's voice could reach it. Unlike the bigger instrument, this device could send and receive. It also used quite a lot more spirit, which Gonzo supplied by adding spirit to the inlaid gem. Taylor's voice came from it.

"How was the sound quality?"

"Superb," said Minister Marvao, "almost as good as having the musician with us."

"And power usage?"

"The small ones use about a twentieth of a young," reported Gonzo, "close to nothing. This big one uses a fifth of a young, but the sound is amazing. We should be able to power these with cheap gems, but the gems still have to be refilled."

"We'll arrange that on our end," offered the King, "since we have the young Monforte. There is the small matter of disguising his involvement." Gonzo couldn't use prayer because he wasn't anointed, but he had plenty spirit and technique to fill the gems.

"And what about the filaments?" The instrument had engravings around the main sound hole, a design that branched out and encompassed three smaller sound holes which the luthier claimed were strategically located. The magic circles were filled with silver wire flattened into the grooves, to form the inscriptions that made the device work. They had tried a variety of silver alloys across several instruments.

Gonzo had been keeping score. "The better wire doesn't do anything for simple instruments but greatly improves the high-end ones. You can go up to sixty percent silver and two point five percent manganese, with copper or zinc as the base metal. Anything purer than that won't make an audible difference. Not to our friendly craftsman, anyway. I wish you could see this instrument, Taylor. She's a sway thing."

"What's your plan, Outlander?" asked Estevan. He always called Taylor 'Outlander' when annoyed, or thought he was doing something inscrutable. It was a far more endearing term than Estevan used when they first met: 'ignorant savage'.

"Hold religious services, broadcast news and education programs, and get our story out there. We can't let Encalve talk about us without some kind of counter. It'll feel miraculous to most people, and the music will be good, so they should be popular. Anyone can make one, so they should spread quickly."

The queen spoke, for the first time since their greetings. "Enclave will ban them, as soon as they find out about them."

"I'm counting on it," said Taylor. There was wry laughter in the meeting room. Any mayor or monarch knew what happened when something popular was banned.

"There is still the issue of providing spirit," Marvao reminded him.

"That's an issue. Fortunately, we have access to a lot of beryl ore. We'll sell strings of beads that will store enough spirit for a few hours each. Healers can fill them once they've been taught the trick. The thing that worries me is the risk to listeners. When Leadership realizes that banning the devices only makes them more popular they'll resort to force. They don't have armies outside of Dace but they might impose on local governments to punish heretics on their behalf. Or worse yet, let the church arm itself within their borders."

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"That never ends well," declared the king darkly. "Religious purges are invariably ugly. My counterparts in Ullidia and Moldonia know better but I'm less confident about Gallia. They have something called a prime minister who changes every several years. I don't know this new woman who just took over."

"I suspect the Senate is walking the same line Your Majesties are." Taylor told them about the Gallian crusade, and the Senate's refusal to prevent or support it. They didn't want to defy Enclave so strenuously that they were targeted, but they didn't want any part of the crusade either.

"Twelve hundred," echoed Minister Marvao, alarmed, "you don't sound concerned."

"It's handled." Taylor's voice was authoritative. Final. A hammer on coffin nails.

The room went silent. The crusaders didn't know it yet, but they would live or die as Taylor saw fit. Gonzo shivered. His friend could be scary when he was protecting Nexus.

"It sounds like the matter is well in hand," said the king. "On another topic, may we speak with our sister?"

"Of course. In three or four days we should be together, and you can talk to her then."

Estevan and Leonardo both grimaced. They knew what their sister was like, and how little patience Taylor had for noble privilege. Gonzo didn't know Princess Francisca, but he'd heard stories. None of them would be surprised if Taylor had sent her away to punish her. On the other hand, if the princess came to harm due to neglect, it would complicate Nexus relations with the royal family.

It was left to Farava to ask, "Why is she not with you? Is there a problem?"

"No," said Taylor, a little too casually, "not currently. I'm in the field, and she's at headquarters. As soon as we catch up to each other, I'll reach out to Gonzo and make an appointment."

The meeting closed soon after that, with mutual well-wishes and Taylor's permission to build the sounding boards right away.

"Not currently," Estevan repeated, "that doesn't sound good."

"But he hasn't sent her home," the king added, "yet. Gonzo, has he said anything to you about her?"

"I know they call her Anisca, Your Majesty, to hide that she's a royal. A couple of weeks ago she did something that made him very angry, but he wouldn't say what it was. Last week, he complimented her negotiation skills. He hasn't said anything about her in the last two meetings."

"What do you two talk about?"

"He's been teaching me something called thoughtmancy. It's like exercises for the mind, to improve memory and computation. I'll write a report if Your Majesty wishes, but it won't make a lot of sense."

"How do these things work?" The king indicated the large sounding board and the smaller two-way link. "I've read all of scripture, and there is no prayer for anything like it. Has he used an ancient art?"

"No, Your Majesty." Gonzo hesitated to say any more. He was a loyal subject of Lavradio, but he didn't want to give away Nexus secrets: he planned to join them one day. Gonzo didn't know much but Taylor had, perhaps inadvertently, suggested things. They both tended to get excited when practicing or talking about the arts.

But King Leonardo wouldn't let him off so easily. "Then what art powers these devices?"

Gonzo winced inwardly. Sorry, Taylor, but you left the door open for this.

"He's made a new one that he calls Inscription Arts."

"He made a new art?" Only the queen seemed to grasp what was obvious to Gonzo: that it should have been impossible.

"It lets practitioners create devices to control natural phenomena. That's why he's been revealing Natural Law to our world: so we can use inscriptions. He's 'arming us to change the world and defy the burning sun.' His words, Your Majesties."

"He made a new art," said the queen wonderingly. "No wonder they want him dead."

The church's prayers were divinely revealed knowledge handed down by the One God Olyon to Neuman Battani, His Chosen One. Ancient arts were viewed with suspicion precisely because they weren't scriptural and nobody understood them. But there was an unspoken assumption the Ancient Arts were based on some intrinsic cosmic truth. The idea that someone could make a new art raised all kinds of questions, not least of which was this: where did holy prayers come from? Did God reveal them, or did Battani invent them?

The king didn't seem to grasp the problem. He cared about the power the new art represented. "How well do you understand this art, young Gonzo?"

"I have copied the circles he's shown to me and learned a few principles, Your Majesty. There is a vast amount I do not know."

"Do you think he could be convinced to teach you more?

"I don't know, Your Majesty. He doesn't want the world to learn about inscriptions until after Enclave has fallen and Nexus takes its place. He's holding an advantage right now and he intends to keep it."

"You're an especially bright young man, Gonzalez. I see this, the same as Nexus does. How would you feel about focusing your efforts on this new art, and perhaps one day becoming Royal Inscriber?"

"Your Majesty!" The Baron swelled with pride; what father wouldn't? Nobody in their right mind would turn aside such an offer, even one contingent on criteria yet to be decided.

"I am prepared to negotiate with Nexus to obtain the arts before other countries. We need a practitioner to learn them. Someone who understands the workings of spirit. Someone who already has a head start. Someone he trusts."

This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Gonzo was supposed to become a priest of Nexus, roam the world, and perform miracles. Not sit in a basement somewhere, squinting at patterns, letting his talents wither. He wanted fieldwork.

But one did not say no to a king.

Gonzo walked around the table, approached the king's chair, and knelt. "Your Majesty. I love Lavradio, and I love our Barony Fringe most of all. But, I believe the best way to protect my home is to become a Nexus disciple. I plan to join them as soon as I reach adulthood. I will gladly work directly for the kingdom until then. I ask Your Majesty to indulge my personal goals when deciding my fate."

Taylor had known this would happen. He had known the king would want Gonzo for himself, and had prepared that speech for him. One did not say 'no' to a king. But, one could ask for limits or considerations.

"Well Baron, your son certainly displays a disciple's nerve. They say the Fringe never falters, and I believe it. Rise, young Monforte. You're not in trouble. Let's discover Nexus's conditions, and work from there."

It was reasonable to think the king would be generous with Gonzo. Nexus would be a great power if they overcame their trials. Fair treatment of the future hierarch's friend could pay good dividends.