When they arrived in the village, a few farmers and spotted them and drew others' attention. Soon Naveen the rich landowner hobbled into view with a cane, saying, "Now what disaster are you bringing us?"

Ruyo smiled wickedly at him. "Hi there, neighbor! I'm solving a problem for the Averell authorities." She turned away from him and spoke more seriously to the escapees. "Remember, please keep out of the town itself unless you're invited. The shrine is right there by the pond. I need to go now and speak with the authorities here."

It was the best she could do for them. She met with the village headman in his hut and tried to explain the situation.

The leader had been informed by Miras the priest, so this situation wasn't a surprise, but he still scowled at Ruyo from behind his cluttered desk. "You've dropped off a bunch of troublemakers on my doorstep."

"I know, sir. I'm going right away to Averell to explain, and to tell them you had nothing to do with it. The slaves have also been told to leave you alone, and I'm responsible for feeding them."

He spread his arms. "While they sleep in the open forest? What if a bear or worse comes by? I can't even defend them without risking trouble. And so far I'm assuming they all behave themselves, and that the city doesn't march troops in here."

"Right now I haven't got a better alternative. Taking them west really makes me look like I'm aiding and abetting. You can have one or two run back and forth to fetch food -- but not the whole gang, please. Maybe you can put the rest to use cutting trees, as an excuse to keep an eye on them and offer any help you feel like giving."

The headman drummed his fingers on the desk. "Ruyo, this is a potential bandit gang. I can give you a few days. After that I'm telling them to try your cave den or go back to their masters."

She bowed politely. "That's all I can reasonably ask for, sir. Except... we'd get to the city faster if I could borrow two horses for my assistants."

#

She hurried onward with Elly and Lisette. The sisters had a little riding experience but were still unsteady and slower than she'd have liked. They made it to the city's southern outskirts, the Glasstown district, by noon.

The sisters were wide-eyed at their first sight of the mighty city. "How many?!" said Lisette.

"Well over ten thousand people."

Along the way they'd passed some of the outlying farms that helped to support the place. Lisette said, "All the people outside work so the city-dwellers don't have to grow food?"

"Most of the city folk are doing something, or they don't eat."

"Still doesn't seem fair."

At the city gate, one of the guards peered at Ruyo. "Ruyo the water mage?"

"That's right. I need to speak --"

He had one hand on his sword hilt. "Stay right there. The Council wants you."

She obeyed, while the other guard ran off and summoned two more to escort Ruyo's party. Nobody had mentioned arrest or taken their weapons, but they were headed for the blocky stone bunker that was headquarters for much of the city watch. At the door, an officer came out and greeted her formally, then said, "The girls will have to wait outside."

"This is their first visit here, sir. There's probably a lot to learn from sitting in on this conversation."

"No, ma'am. I have my orders. Come in."

Elly tensed. Ruyo said, "All right. Could you arrange a tour, maybe?"

The officer looked startled by the idea. "A tour! I suppose so." He looked to the guards with him and said, "Volunteers?" He picked one. "Take the afternoon off and show them around."

Ruyo handed the sisters some coins, and shrugged.

The guards led her to a conference room she'd seen before. The officer took off his plumed helmet and said, "Several Council members will be along. Tell me what you know about the slaves."

Ruyo answered honestly, explaining where the group was. "I'm not happy about the situation, for what it's worth. Was Tulia involved? Is she all right?"

"We have her under arrest. It sounds like she didn't outright encourage the trouble but didn't stop it. Right now you're a free woman, but the Council needs to speak with you and they're not pleased."

She tried to keep her cool. "Understood. Hopefully we'll be able to work something out."

The captain rubbed his eyes. "You helped stop a major fire. What's really going on, ma'am? Besides there being a cult of over-enthusiastic scholars in our midst?"

"I inherited the potential for a lot of power, sir. I'm trying to use it well. For everybody, really, but it may be a long time before I get around to helping Khyber."

He nodded. "Is there anything I can do for you while you wait? It may be an hour before the higher-ups get their act together and arrive."

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"I want to examine some leather goods," Ruyo said. She'd been thinking about this lately. "Any samples, really. More materials to study means more ability to create them for you."

The guard-captain looked puzzled, but nodded. He left her and had someone walk in with a saddle, a scabbard and a leather strap.

She was still in trouble, but hey, here was something productive to train with. While waiting alone in the conference room, she felt and stared and sniffed at each one, comparing them to the leather breastplate she wore. The texture and hardness were different in each case. Shoes; she could learn to make shoes too. Or more likely just the material for others to make them, which was nearly as good. Better to compete with many kinds of tradesmen a little than to threaten one whole industry.

The door opened and a guard came in, saying, "They want you at the Council chambers."

#

That meant leaving the building and heading for the imposing Bastion, a fortress-cathedral made from a hill and centuries of earth-shaping magic that added walls and towers. The surface was smooth concrete covered in glittering glass. Two soaring arches connected it to the oldest city wall. Just walking in required climbing a ramp into a reinforced cave entrance.

Inside, the Bastion shined with magelights. Several floors of offices and bridges lined the huge open room, surprisingly roomy. Men and women in uniforms of brown and green carried books and carts around. It all smelled faintly of moss.

"In here," said her escorts, and ushered her into an auditorium. Dozens of seats faced the far wall, where seven nobly dressed men and women occupied most of the raised seats and two more stood empty.

Ruyo was suddenly the lone subject of the rulers' attention. She gulped. Besides getting out of here a free woman, she needed to get these people's support and resolve a revolt!

"Welcome," said the central figure, a man she didn't recognize. Anemos the wind-mage was on his left, and on his right sat a stern woman with the rooster crest of an important landholding family.

The central man said, "Please approach. If you don't know, I am Tivius, today's chairman." As Ruyo walked closer he began introducing the others, whose names she instantly forgot except that the rooster-lady's family was Ovida.

Ruyo hadn't been invited to sit. She stood with her hands behind her back and said, "Thank you for this audience, your graces."

Lady Ovida said, "Few people say that to a court!"

"This isn't a court of law," the chairman said. "We well know what you've been doing, and we've been told about the uprising. You deny encouraging it?"

"I do. You must've heard the doctrine I authorized. It doesn't say to run away right now."

"Doctrine!" said Ovida. "Who are you to call yourself a prophet and a god! Half the people in this room could take you in a magic contest."

Ruyo bowed. "They probably could. My skills are specialized, and I haven't reached my full potential."

Anemos said, "Which is why we need her."

The lady said, "Then let's not mince words. We're at war now and expect your full support, not going behind our backs to cause more problems. If you want to continue being at peace with Averell --"

Chairman Tivius held up a hand. "We're at peace with her now, and that's the important thing. Lady Ruyo, how do you propose getting our servants back?"

Ruyo sighed. "I see a few options. You could send soldiers to capture them at swordpoint. Wasting time to chase them, then killing some, demoralizing everyone involved. As far as I've been told, they've not murdered their masters, only stolen themselves."

Tivius nodded. "Go on."

"Or, you could let them go completely."

"Unacceptable!" said one of the other councilors.

"A third option is to use them. Invite them to join the Pillars' mercenary band or the official army, converting their duty to their masters into a duty to their new employers."

Anemos said, "And why would we do that, Lady, instead of forcing them back to speak with their fellows still in bondage?"

His strange wording was an obvious opening to Ruyo. "Because they would speak. They'd spread the notion of rebellion among even more people, using my teachings as an excuse, and then you'd have a bigger and bloodier uprising."

Ovida said, "Your teachings! Why don't we just have you tell everyone to accept their lot, since you're handing out pronouncements?"

"You certainly could tell me to. Threaten me enough and maybe I will. And how will the slaves perceive that, when I'm suddenly completely doing your bidding?"

Tivius grunted. The councilmen argued among themselves. Ruyo let them, like a family of customers discussing among themselves whether to buy from her.

Finally Tivius said, "If we did draft them as soldiers or military support, would you continue to encourage more revolts in any way?"

"As I understand it, your grace, slavery in Averell is mainly caused by debts, crime, capture in war, or occasionally a parent selling her baby. Yes?"

"It's so."

"Then I propose saying this: that a slave should if possible, work honestly to get free. That implies there is a way to work and earn freedom in a reasonable time, not some wildly impractical path. Can you make that true?"

A councilman said, "Earning your freedom is possible in some cases already. Making it practical for everyone, though? It means a major loss to us."

"Is it? The common people rarely own slaves so they probably don't care much. As for you high ones, your responsibility is to set an example of hard work for the community. You could make a sacrifice of this little part of your property, especially in wartime."

The man slapped his hand on the table before him. "I'll not be lectured to on morality by someone who refuses to even join the Church."

Chairman Tivius said, "He makes a good point. The reason you're here, besides having some useful and unusual magic we want, is because you claim to have special religious authority. Have you found time to study the scriptures?"

Ruyo lost her cool and laughed at the nobles. "Do you have any idea how busy I've been this last month?"

"We do. And with your current record, you intend to continue running around in a frenzy inventing spells and digging through ancient trash and having people build shrines in your honor. You show no interest in even learning proper beliefs, let alone preaching them. You've left that entirely to your priests, which has already caused a major problem for our entire city. I doubt you'll find the time."

"That's... that's not true," Ruyo said. "I did visit a chapel in the city, and Brotherhood House, and I've spoken with the monks in Brotherhood itself."

Ovida said, "Did you expect to get divine authority by handing out bread, and neglecting the spirit?"

Anemos defended her. "Lady Ruyo is a useful asset to us."

"As a pretentious clown, maybe! Why didn't you work on your act for a few years before coming out of your cave to say 'look at me, worship me'?"

Ruyo shouted back, "Chicken and egg, Lady Birdkeeper! I don't get the powers unless I act the part! It's harder for me than for some --"

Anemos coughed and gestured, slashing his hand across his throat. Ruyo shut up, feeling her ears and cheeks burn.

The chicken farmer noble said, "Acting the part of a holy figure includes setting a moral example, not just handing out gifts."

Silence reigned. Finally the chairman said, "Well. Good to get that aired. Let's get to the point. Ruyo, do you think you can provide fresh food to a significant number of troops in the field with your magic? For at least a hundred or several hundred?"