Upon a Firm Foundation
Second Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
"Perhaps a library for educating the people on the Planes and the arcane, meant as both a monument of hope that not all which comes seeking us is evil and wicked, yet also 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. 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 great city of Volantis."
Zherys and Bennero readily agree, of course, and Teana seems pleased with the notion, though melancholy lingers in her gaze a moment longer before she resolutely looks 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 follower of any one 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 intrusions 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 an expression of lore and skill able to better the lives of all.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Benero is more skilled in sparking the fires of hope in the crowd than Zherys. The Master of the Mysterium is more adept in dealing with a restrained audience studied beforehand, but he is by no means lacking. Zherys proclaims that just as the Rhyone and the Sorrows reclaimed were tamed, so too will Volantis rise to heights even the Lords Freehold had not contemplated. The fact that he also goes out of his way to thank the blessings of R'hllor, even as Benero 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 mentioned that it had been Rina who struck the final blow, but as you bid farewell to Bennero 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 the source of my power. 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 for 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 than 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 by the opportunity, but he seized it with both talons." Varys comments, 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 dragon rider 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 dragon riders is peril that should not be allowed to take root."
"A wise thought, my lord," you agree. "The lady is currently helping to pacify the Western Flatlands alongside the legion. A raven addressed to the commander there should narrow down precisely where she might be found."
With Zherys soon to bind Caraxers, the matter of the last unbound dragon Maelys, the Red Queen looms in your mind. Who will she be bound to?
[] Write in
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. Not yet edited
