Upon a Solid Foundation
Second Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
"Perhaps a library for educating the people on the Planes and the arcane, meant as much a monument of hope that not all that comes seeking us is evil and wicked, as much as a reminder that there is much to be wary of," you reply after a moment's thought. No less than any other city, Volantis will need its symbols, and you would rather they be something other than the towering Black Walls that for centuries have divided the city against itself. "The ruins should be torn down to the very foundations, of course, and the library warded by the combined efforts of the Mysterium and the Red Faith. Let what was once a cage meant to contain Ymeri's influence be made instead into a commemoration of the collaboration that banished the False Flame's influence from the Volantis."
Zherys and Benerro readily agree, of course, and Teana seems pleased with the notion, though melancholy lingers in her gaze a moment longer before she resolutely walks away from the ruined manse and onto the streets filled with curious onlookers. This time you step back to allow the Lord of Volantis and the Flame Keeper to give an accounting of what had gone on within the manse and what that means for the people of Volantis, highborn and low, faithful of the Red God or any of a thousand other powers. The peril of another Day of Flame had passed at last, no more would they have to guard the wards from intrusion of the mad or those ensnared by dark powers. Upon this place would be made a library that commemorates magic not as a wild destructive force, but as the lore and skill may better the lives of all.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Benerro is more skilled in sparking the fires of hope in the crowd than Zherys who is more adept in dealing with a restrained audience studied beforehand, but the former High Speaker is by no means lacking. He proclaims that just as the Rhoyne and the Sorrows reclaimed has been tamed so too will Volantis rise to to heights even the Freeholder Lords had not contemplated. The fact that he also goes out of his way to thank the blessings of R'hllor even as Benerro praises the arcane skill of the Mysterium does not escape you. There is nothing quite like victory to engender generosity.
You had at first been somewhat surprised when neither mage nor priest had mentioned it had been Rina who struck the final blow, but as you bid farewell to Benerro at the gates of the great temple Rina thanks him for keeping back her part in the battle, something she must have silently asked of both him and Zherys.
Noticing Teana's politely curious look the sorceress explains: "I did not wish to explain where my power is drawn from. In Sorcerer's Deep people are used to odd comings and goings, to Companions. I do no want anyone resting uneasily thinking they might have replaced one peril with another."
That is not quite the whole of it you suspect. She would have little love of the attention the announcement would garner. Still, that is ultimately her choice. You nod in understanding and somewhat to your surprise so does Zherys. "Being ever in the eye of the city can be more trying that even the most complex arcane working in its own way." A faint smile touches his lips. "Once I had no great ambitions to hold sway in mundane circles, only to rediscover the secrets of the past, then the world turned and it was more a challenge to guard Volantis from the perils those secrets brought with them."
"Stretching the truth thin enough to see daylight through, isn't he? He might have been startled at the opportunity, but he seized it with both talons." Varys asks amused in the stillness of your mind. You cannot disagree with the point, but Rina clearly takes heart from the magister's words so neither can you begrudge them.
"There is one other matter I would discuss with you, my lord," you address Zherys once you were all back to the privacy of the archon's palace. "The dragon-binding."
The Archon of Volantis looks as pleased as you would have expected of him. "Caraxes, whose name is death, and well chosen for the fate he shared with his last, ah...
tempestuous rider..." he trails off in thought
"I would not begrudge you naming Prince Daemon the fool he was in truth, my lord," you interject.
He shakes his head, the small scaled wing rising from his shoulder twitching distractedly. "It is not
your feelings I am concerned with in the matter, Your Grace. The dragonrider Nettles was rather taken with the prince. I do not imagine she would appreciate being unexpectedly presented with another riding the beast. I would speak to her first. As Wisdom Vanor is quick to remind us, ill will between dragonriders is a peril that should not be allowed to take root."
"A wise thought, my lord," you agree. "The lady is helping to pacify the Western Flatlands besides the Legion. A raven addressed to the commander there should narrow down precisely where she might be found."
With Zherys soon to bind Caraxes the matter of the last unbound dragon, Meleys, the Red Queen, looms in your mind. Who will she be bound to?
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OOC: I wanted to do a scene with Zherys binding the dragon, but as I was writing I rolled for knowledge to see if he knew about Nettles and Daemon and then I realized he would not risk potential bad blood with another rider for something that could be handled diplomatically.
