The summit was nearing its end, and there still hadn’t been anything more than that one attack on Regina. She was starting to realize that maybe she had misinterpreted what problem she’d have to deal with.
Or maybe she’d just missed it. It was still clear that the collection of states beyond Nerlia were coming together, and against the hive and the Empire. Regina was starting to wonder if the Esemen had their hands in play.
They didn’t share any borders, as far as she was aware, but it would still make sense. They’d all be concerned about the Empire, and common enemies made for easy alliances. Besides, it could help to explain how these other countries had (somewhat) united. None of them was extraordinarily religious — although a few seemed more invested in it than Nerlia or Cernlia — so it was probably a relationship built on political goals and agendas rather than religious ideology. Regina tried not to wonder what they’d say about her own group, the countries making up the Empire.
Luckily, a lot of the meetings didn’t require her presence. Kiara, June and the high-ranking delegates from the newly Imperial countries pulled their weight, as did Janis, who was now more involved in the summit. It was clearly an adjustment for her, but Regina was confident she’d continue to handle it well.
Janis’ relationship with Kiara was clearly also going well and she was growing closer with June. At this rate, the Nerlians might feel left out, Regina considered. She might have to find some way to build a personal relationship with one of their young royals, directly or indirectly. Not another apprenticeship, though; as talented as Raymond and Adelaide were, she had no desire for that and had enough to do teaching June in addition to all of her other commitments.
June was doing quite well, though. She was clearly growing into her role as a princess, although Regina didn’t have as much to do with that, it was more Kiara’s problem. She was teaching June things beyond magic, of course, but they focused more on her old life’s knowledge and, at most, the new Empire and what they were building here. That would probably still be very useful to the girl.
June was also very good at magic, Regina had to admit. In fact, she’d had more formal education and practice with it than Regina, so there was a limit to how much she could actually teach her. Not that their own teachers were on the same level; Regina had tips and lessons from Galatea that she could pass on. She’d previously focused mostly on healing magic, for obvious reasons. Now that June was getting good enough to not need any help managing her condition, she could branch out. June’s mana senses were evidently not as good as Kiara’s, but they were still quite good, which would help her. Regina’s were also better, probably, but she had a lot more mana to use, not to mention her psychic abilities, so it was a bit hard to be sure of anything specific. Either way, she tried to help June with it.
Regina was a bit curious whether the girl would be able to learn psychic abilities. She hadn’t really tried teaching her yet, but it was definitely something she’d look into.
There was still one event Regina was waiting for, although by the time it happened, she had almost given up on it and was surprised when she sensed and then heard the reports from her drones.
In particular, she was surprised that Alix Castaway, the Delvers’ Seer, and Madris were arriving together. Not just together, they were talking animatedly and barely stopped long enough for polite greetings with Regina and the rest. She’d been watching them come closer for a bit — mostly though the eyes of her drones, although it would be impossible for her to miss Madris’ mind with her psychic senses, anyway — before she actually had to come out to greet them.
In hindsight, Regina really shouldn’t have been surprised; they were both Delvers, after all. It probably would have been the best option to ask Madris to send a message to the Seer, come to think of it. I suppose I just mentally put her into another category than the other Delvers I’ve met. And to be fair, she’s pretty independent and from much farther away.
Regina shook her head and dismissed the thought, focusing on her visitors again. They clearly weren’t just here to attend the summit, since it was almost over. But they’d come when she called, so she couldn’t complain.
“It is great to see you again.” Kiara greeting them pulled her from her thoughts. “And by a lucky coincidence, you have come just in time for dinner. I hope you will both do us the honor of joining?”
Regina forced a smile and agreed with her. They had scheduled a dinner with a number of delegates and people from several countries as well as a few of the Delvers, so it wasn’t like it was a private meal she’d want to exclude them from.
We can speak in private, later, after this, Madris told her quietly. Out loud, she said, “I’d be honored to accept, Your Majesty.”
At least they had good food, Regina supposed. She felt like she’d already been patient for a while, but she could keep it up for longer. Instead, she watched with interest as the Delvers interacted with each other and the other people present.
Alix clearly received a degree of deference from the other Delvers, which she’d already seen previously, because of his seniority or maybe his role. But Regina wasn’t sure of the extent and whether it was more than superficial. Madris, on the other hand, didn’t, but people mostly seemed unsure of how to deal with her. She was probably the first dark elf most of them had seen (not that Regina was any different on that account). A few of the non-Delvers present seemed almost afraid, definitely cautious. She also had a very high level, of course. Regina still wasn’t sure of the exact number, but Madris was probably the highest-leveled person in the building. And a psychic, which wasn’t exactly a common specialization.
Regina herself didn’t talk too much over dinner, since she’d already learned that people tended to defer to her and she might accidentally stifle conversations more than she’d want to, making people uncertain and hesitant to say too much. Well, if they didn’t try too hard to ingratiate themselves, anyway, that would be worse.
Instead, she listened to Madris draw Janis into a conversation. It started with the effect of conventional magic on psychic powers and quickly moved on from there. Regina listened intently, she hadn’t learned enough from Madris or Galatea yet to miss out on any opportunity for more. They discussed psychic abilities in general terms and then quickly dove into magic. Judging by the blank looks from most of those at the table who tried to listen in, it soon got too technical. Regina probably kept up only because she had been taught by Madris, and Galatea, of course. The two seemed to use the same general theoretical framework, with some differences. Which raises interesting questions, since Galatea presumably learned theory from observation and listening in on others supplemented by what Leian taught her. She figured it at least indicated it was the best (or one of the best) approaches to the theory to use.
According to them, psychic magic tended to be a very separate branch but wasn’t entirely dissimilar from ‘regular’ magic, with many underlying commonalities, something her experience seemed to support. It meant interactions were possible, if rare and often hard to predict. Magically powerful people often had some resistance to psychic aggression and psychic gifts tended to correlate with magical ability, although it didn’t always line up. There were advanced techniques to use more elemental-based magic for psychic effects, which both mentioned but didn’t want to discuss in detail in this setting.
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Regina joined the conversation more than she’d originally intended and almost regretted it when the dinner ended. She didn’t linger, though, and made it clear they wouldn’t hang around for long after-dinner drinks.
Instead, she quickly found herself in a simple meeting room with some Delvers. Gwen and Owin had decided to come, apparently. Janis and June were present as well, while Kiara continued to entertain courtiers and diplomats. And, of course, Alix and Madris were the center of attention.
“I assume there’s some crucial new development explaining why you’ve summoned both of us?” Madris asked. “Your Imperial Majesty,” she added as if an afterthought. Congratulations, by the way.
Regina smiled thinly. At this point, she was used to Madris and didn’t let it bother her. If she was a centuries-old very high-level psychic, she’d probably find it hard to show ‘the proper respect’, too. Thank you, she responded. “There is, in a manner of speaking.”
Then Regina paused, considering the people present. But June already knew part of it, and Owin and Gwen knew she’d asked for the Seer, and they wouldn’t have missed Madris, obviously. They were bound to suspect something. In the end, it was probably better not to make a big secret out of it, at least with people she mostly trusted.
“As you no doubt know, three people tried to kill me, courtiers from Cernlia and Nerlia,” she said. “I interrogated them, forcing entry into their mind past surprisingly strong and rather similar mental walls. In investigating why they would have done something like this, I found that they seem to have been affected by psychic influence.”
“I see,” Madris spoke up before anyone else could. “Describe their shields for me, please. Psychically, if you would.”
Regina tilted her head and focused on her teacher’s mind. They felt similar, hard, unyielding, probably not bound by their focus, or at least not too much. Like this … she recalled how the assassins’ mental shields had felt and how she had gone through them and sent Madris her memory and impression of it.
Madris stared at her for a moment, obviously thinking deeply, although she didn’t let any of her thoughts show. The others clearly realized what was happening, at least in general terms, going by their silence.
“And this influence,” Madris continued, asking the same question mentally as well. She brought her mind closer into focus for Regina, like she was mentally taking a step closer and bridging a gap between them.
She’d only done that once or twice before, but Regina could immediately tell it made communication easier. It also allowed her to get a general impression of Madris’ thoughts and state of mind, which was presumably why one should use it sparingly.
Without putting it into so many words, Regina told her she was unsure about conveying what she’d found in their minds. It was subtle and not the kind of thing she could easily bundle up and tell someone else in a simple message, since it relied so much on the building blocks of someone else’s thought process and the gaps in it. Still, she did her best.
Madris nodded. You’re right, and I’ll investigate them myself, but this is already helpful. You’ve done well, Regina.
Regina couldn’t help a smile. It always felt nice to get praise from her teacher. But she let it fade quickly and focused on the other people in the room.
"Is there anything you can tell us that would help, Seer Alix?” she asked.
The old Delver shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid not, My Empress. Not at the moment, at least. I didn’t know what to look for, but now that I do, I can try to find out something. Seeing the assassins in person might help, however.”
Regina nodded, then glanced at the others. They didn’t seem to know quite what to say, although she could tell Gwen and Owin had thoughts about all this. Janis and June were watching the Delvers evenly. “Let’s go, then,” she decided.
The walk to the secured room where they stored the prisoners didn’t take long, although it felt a bit awkward. Regina used the opportunity to catch up with Madris, talking telepathically both to stay in practice and in hopes that she might say more than she would otherwise. Madris regaled her with a few stories of her recent travels, which seemed to mostly be in Cernlia, but she didn’t really mention anything important.
The assassins, as everyone had apparently taken to calling them despite the fact they’d failed their assassination attempt, were visibly a bit worse for wear. Regina hadn’t seen the point in pampering them, although they’d been given a change of clothing and enough opportunity to wash with some buckets of water that they didn’t stink and their hygiene wasn’t a problem. Two of them were still injured, although they’d been healing at a steady rate. Regina was monitoring their health. It was a bit of an unspoken truth that injuries were some of the only things that could slow down mid- to high-level fighters and generally wouldn’t heal wrong or cause trouble later, and Regina had decided not to heal them any further.
It … didn’t sit well with her, with respect to the doctor’s oath she assumed she had taken, but she could hardly let her actions as Empress be dictated by those maxims … and how much could she be bound to an oath she didn’t remember taking, and might not actually have, anyway? Something to ponder later, she told herself.
The humans were awake, though, and sat up straighter when they saw the visitors. They’d been chained to several fastenings and the drones had put up metal cell bars to form an enclosed space around them, anyway, but the prisoners still had some room for movement. It was plain to see when they checked the System addresses of those coming and read Madris’ information, going by the slight flinch.
Madris, for her part, didn’t waste any time. She strolled up to the prisoners and paused just outside the bars, close to them. Regina felt her reaching out, though only because she was so focused on her and Madris didn’t bother to hide it.
There was a drawn-out minute of quiet filled with tension, the rest of them standing silently by. It turned into two, then three. Then Madris took a step back, shaking her head slightly.
Regina glanced at the prisoners and paused. She reached out for their minds and found her suspicions confirmed. Madris had torn their mental defenses down further, leaving little more than rubble of the walls that had been erected. It allowed her to sense their emotional state as easily as anyone else again. Unsurprisingly, they were rather frightened.
“This particular defense is not quite like anything I have encountered before,” Madris said, quietly, but still out loud. “It does resemble some other cases I’ve seen, however.”
“And the mental influence?”
“Tricky.” Madris frowned, turning to look at her. She felt a bit hesitant, but didn’t pause before speaking. “It is, in principle, something any sufficiently skilled psychic can do. At least someone of sufficient power to be a proper psychic. These three all do have some talent, but not enough for more challenging applications. They’re not actual psychics, I wouldn’t say. This influence, though, does exist — in all three, although I’ll grant it was quite subtle in the woman. It would not be easy to do.”
Regina frowned. That means I could learn to do this? And so could anyone else with enough psychic power … She glanced at the prisoners again, then at the others who’d been listening to them talk and were clearly uneasy about this revelation.
“How responsible are they for their decisions?” Janis asked quietly, taking a step closer to them.
Madris hesitated. “That, I’m afraid, might be a question for a court of law. Or a philosopher.” She sighed. “They were in control of themselves, at least broadly speaking, and somewhat responsible for their course of action, although their choices were influenced.”
“That’s helpful,” Regina muttered.
Madris turned to her and shrugged. “It might be helpful to keep them for study,” she offered.
Regina sighed. “I’ve been thinking about doing that; commuting their sentence or something, if they’re sentenced to death as is likely. Maybe if we assemble a jury to judge their guilt or innocence and I decide the penalty.”
Janis caught her gaze and Regina found the understanding and empathy from her that she hadn’t realized she wanted. Madris cleared her throat, inclined her head and stepped over to the other Delvers. Alix was staring at the prisoners fixedly. As she watched, he blinked, turned his head and stepped away. Apparently, he didn’t get any immediate insight, at least, but hopefully giving him some time would lead to something.
Regina squeezed Janis’ shoulder as she passed and went to join her guests, leaving the prisoners behind.