Chapter 18

If Tellianghu is the position all ambassador candidates aspire to, Ormbtai is the one we all dread. But it's the other one we are all trained for without fail, because no matter what, every Serenthuar ambassador must pass through Ormbtai.

Serenthuar no longer tries to alter the status quo here, because Ormbtai will take any opportunity to increase their oppression. Serenthuar ambassadors strive to maintain lest they lose more ground; gaining isn't even on the table.

It's no wonder they thought I could never be allowed to pass through.

The cheer Liris felt after a preview of a future with Vhannor faded rapidly when they crossed the border into Ormbtai and were promptly delivered into a holding cell.

Without their skimmers, which was to be expected, but the confiscation of Liris' metaphorical wings by Ormbtai of all places had her itching to lash out, to break their attempt to confine her any way she could.

"You have a Serenthuar look about you," a guard told Liris suspiciously.

"Met many then, have you?" Liris asked. "Or do you think all brown people are the same?"

His pasty skin blotched. "Every Serenthuar ambassador passes through our Gates."

This Gate specifically, no, but infuriatingly true in essence. The problem with Ormbtai—well, there were many, but the fundamental one any Serenthuar ambassador had to contend with was its geography.

The Gate to Serenthuar was hidden in a forest. Every other Gate out of Ormbtai sat in very visible, open grassland, and there was no way to get to them without leaving the cover of the forest. Ormbtai kept their "asset" Serenthuar isolated and under control by overwhelming guarding of those Gates. Accordingly, that meant there was no way to cross their borders without coming to the attention of Ormbtai officials.

Vhannor's credentials, fortunately, could not be safely scorned. When they nevertheless tried to hold Liris for longer, she stayed quiet and tried to enjoy his blistering takedown of this violation of her rights.

Part satisfying, to know he would defend her and they couldn't stop him.

Part bitter, to know that nothing she said or did would have mattered in a favorable way.

Ultimately transportation was brought for them, as well as a detachment of guards to bring them to Ormbtai's government seat. Liris and Vhannor were settled into a carriage with two guards inside and more surrounding them without. Their guard detail included casters, but Liris was confident that this set, they could take without trouble. She arched her brows at Vhannor inquiringly.

Vhannor asked in Hinsheorese—of course he chose the rare language isolate, she loved him, but agh—"I defer to your expertise. I imagine their treatment of you will get worse before it gets better. Are we better off... making our own way?"

Making our own way.What a delightful way to phrase "utterly destroying everyone who thinks they can trap us and leaving them in the dust."

Liris sighed and shook her head. "It won't matter. Besides, this is our one chance to arrange the only backup that might arrive in time. They're taking us where we need to go."

Ormbtai might be convinced not to do the right thing for the right reasons, but to weaken Serenthuar's position and standing? That, they would consider.

The guard said, "None of that. You're not doing yourself any favors speaking words we can't understand. Can't trust anyone Serenthuar trained."

"Oh, I'm worse than that," Liris said, fluently in the most aristocratic High Enchor tones he would understand. "I'm not only smarter than you, I also don't care about courting your opinion."

Vhannor snorted and said again in the obscure language, "Not going to make any useful friends here, I see."

Liris answered him in kind, smiling pleasantly all the while at the guard whose visage darkened. "The government's recruitment process for Gate guards specifically tests for any sympathies toward Serenthuar, and they don't hire those people. Ormbtai's Gate guards freely lie about Serenthuar in order to advance government officials' agendas. So, no. In this case it is safe to assume all agents of the state are irrevocably against me, and I don't need to pretend patience for their bigotry."

Their plan, fortunately, did not depend on members of Ormbtai's government seeing the error of their ways. Liris liked to think there might be enough time in the world for that someday, but not now.

And she was trained to use the resources she had.

Vhannor nodded, switching to the same aristocratic tones she'd used before. "I admit Ormbtai's behavior thus far has been more shameful than I expected. Perhaps I'll have to adjust my affairs."

This wasn't particularly true: even before Liris had relayed her own knowledge of Ormbtai, his opinion had been low. Vhannor already acted accordingly in political gatherings.

The guard didn't know that he wasn't embarrassing his masters to the Lord of Embhullor, however, and blessedly shut up, albeit with bad grace.

He did, however, make a point of shifting when they approached Ormbtai Palace to make sure they got a good view.

This, too, was an Ormbtai directive. All Serenthuar ambassadors were taunted with this.

The palace was painted shades of blue and white, designs they could afford to upkeep. Behind the gorgeous castle miles of forest were visible, a testament to the resources Ormbtai had at its disposal—both without Serenthuar, and to keep Serenthuar contained.

Liris had seen images of this very view, of course; all Serenthuar ambassadors were prepared for this in advance. Still.

Still, even as angry as she was with the decisions the elders had made for her, for their people, this demonstration viscerally offended her.

But she didn't have to react any of the ways she'd been taught to. Liris didn't represent Serenthuar, and that was impossibly freeing.

She looked at Vhannor. "You know that shop on the road up to the university that looks like someone upended a bucket of paint over it?"

He considered. "Which one?"

Liris smiled. "Any of them is a worthier sight than this."

The guard scowled.

Vhannor would understand she was completely serious.

The prince of Ormbtai himself was not in residence, which was unusual for this time of year: probably squirreled away for safety while the rest of the government functioned more smoothly in his absence.

And by government, she meant—after spending a not insignificant amount of time being passed among functionaries up the chain—Chancellor Ariurn, who welcomed them with smug coolness, directing all his attention to Vhannor as if Liris might as well not exist.

"No need for a formal audience right away, I assume?" the chancellor decided. "You've come a long way today and will no doubt wish to rest."

Translation: you won't have an opportunity to exert public pressure.

That mostly suited her anyway. However: "While I've heard many enviable tales of Ormbtai's comforts, I'm afraid we won't have time for more than sampling them. You will, of course, know already why we're here."

Chancellor Ariurn regarded her sidelong. He looked like he was glowing with good health, and Liris had some idea of how many tinctures he applied to himself to maintain that effect.

His silence lasted a beat too long; an attempt to quell her with shame for a misstep without saying a word.

"Oh dear," Liris said. "Have I surprised you? How unfortunate."

Chancellor Ariurn rolled his eyes and didn't deign to respond. Instead he glanced sympathetically at Vhannor as if they shared a joke, then ignored her, setting off to ostensibly lead them to their rooms. All Serenthuar ambassadors learned the floorplan of this palace, however, and Ariurn's route took them around the palace to show off the best views.

He wasn't ignoring her at all. He was rubbing her face in what Serenthuar didn't have and expecting her to take it.

Natural resources like trees, lakes, and huge swaths of arable land for crops. But also people, not just in different uniforms with gear—because they could afford that kind of differentiation—but others at leisure.

The hallways were lined with pastoral paintings on one side and wide windows on the other, but Liris felt the weight of all their implication pressing on her like the halls of Serenthuar had.

She had broken out of the life Serenthuar had planned for her, but in a way, she had managed to make her way right back to it.

But she no longer had to bite her tongue.

This circuit gave Ariurn an opportunity to demonstrate how well Ormbtai had their surroundings in hand: the stationed guards, the sight lines to the edge of the forest where they sat.

Liris remarked to Vhannor in a bored tone, "Yes, the palace used to actually be inside the forest, until excessive and misguided forestry management efforts led them to kill their own forests. They're still learning how to fix them with Serenthuar's scholarship."

The chancellor paused and narrowed his eyes at her. He wouldn't have ever met a Serenthuar ambassador who didn't have to take his shit.

Liris smiled back, showing her teeth.

Ariurn said to Vhannor, "Perhaps, Lord of Embhullor, you might rein in your hanger-on."

"Inhibit my partner's effectiveness on purpose? I shouldn't think so," Vhannor said. "Perhaps, Chancellor, since we've skipped the formal audience, we might skip the posturing as well."

"You do name her partner, then. You ought to know Serenthuar are always grasping for an angle."

Not an unfair assessment of Serenthuar ambassadors, though the fact that they were trained to do so because they had to, because of people like him, and yet he should nevertheless criticize them for it, was quite a thing.

But Vhannor said, "That has not been my experience. If it has been yours, consider there is another common denominator."

Ha.

"And frankly, Chancellor," Liris said, "rest assured your reputation precedes you. If I have learned anything from my colleagues, it is that you cannot easily be moved, which means I don't have time to bother trying."

Finally, he faced her directly. "Do you think I'm stupid?" he asked idly. "Do you think I don't know you're attempting to manipulate me?"

"You've already pointed out you'll assume that in any case, so I don't see why I shouldn't," Liris said. "Pertinently, however, you might note that I don't do so on Serenthuar's behalf. Have you considered what a Serenthuar ambassador might be capable of if they were not so consistent in their allegiance?"

"Yes," the chancellor hissed.

"Splendid," Vhannor said crisply. "Then you may have some appreciation for the fact that I've been teaching Liris everything I know about spellcraft."

"You what?" Chancellor Ariurn erupted, going pale. "That's a treaty violation!"

"If I still fell under Serenthuar's authority, absolutely," Liris agreed. "I don't."

"Of course she's a prodigy," Vhannor continued as the chancellor's expression conveyed his rapid internal calculations, cycling through horror and avarice. "Which is fortunate for us all, because so is the man who's taken Serenthuar hostage."

"Hostage?" Chancellor Ariurn sneered. "Serenthuar is willingly dealing with demons, and the world knows it. You won't rewrite that."

"As the person the elders specifically meant to sacrifice to those demons," Liris said softly, "I know that better than you. I am not here to apologize for them."

"What's in it for you, then?" Chancellor Ariurn gestured around. "We have the situation under control. Special Operations is of course welcome to make its own report of Serenthuar's treachery, but you didn't come here for that."

"The better question," Vhannor said, "is what's in it for you."

For the first time the chancellor looked amused. "Oh, this ought to be good. You think you can pitch me on the Coalition, then? Princess Nysia is na?ve, but I didn't think a man like you who spends hands-on time out in the world would be." As if Chancellor Ariurn knew the first thing about doing his own work. "It will never work, and Ormbtai has no need to offer our resources to realms that support demons."

That attitude was what had taken so long for the Coalition to come this close, but Liris didn't say that.

She knew the awful, self-interested, short-sighted language he spoke.

"What's in it for you is a return to the status quo that benefits you," Liris told him. "The demonic situation in Serenthuar is untenable. You haven't done much trade these past days, and that's bad for everyone, isn't it? We're here to remove a problem for you and Serenthuar, and his name is Jadrhun. When the demons and their master are gone, what happens after that is not our affair unless you wish it to be."

"Then what need have you of me?" Chancellor Ariurn pointed out the window to the forest. "The Gate is that way. I'm happy to send you with a small escort to make sure you don't get lost on your way." He made shooing motions with one hand, his expression sardonic.

"So," Vhannor said, "you're happy for Special Operations to handle your affairs, but you oppose the Coalition? With that attitude, once it exists in truth, you'll have difficulty obtaining assistance for any demonic threats to your realm."

Not that Vhannor would ignore calls for aid; he'd just make sure the government paid for it.

"Ah, by that time I won't have any demonic problems, will I? Hypothetically, in a world where the Coalition were possible, which is not ours." Chancellor Ariurn smiled. "And if it were possible, and demonic problems reappeared, well. The council would no doubt be dismayed to learn you had misled Ormbtai in your dealings here."

Vhannor narrowed his eyes. "How tremendously short-sighted."

"On the contrary." Chancellor Ariurn slanted a glance at Liris. "I've tangled with Serenthuar ambassadors too long to be manipulated so easily as that, Lord Embhullor. In fact, nothing you've said convinces me that our present difficulties are of concern to Ormbtai at all, and not entirely a problem for Special Operations."

This wasn't working. They hadn't even officially asked for the support they needed to face Jadrhun and who-knew-how-many casters and demons, and he wouldn't even consider, let alone long enough to balk.

Vhannor growled, "Do you truly understand the scale of the problem in Serenthuar?"

Chancellor Ariurn's expression didn't so much as flicker, and that careful stillness was telling enough.

"Ah," Liris said knowingly, drawing both their attentions.

The chancellor would not, of course, reveal the extent of his own intelligence. He might even know a great deal, and perhaps he already understood what a risk their current endeavor would be for any Ormbtai he sent. But he couldn't know enough.

What she was about to try would be risky. Very, very risky, because she'd have to be able to back it up.

But they couldn't afford not to take risks.

And this time, Vhannor would be at her back.

"I imagine," Liris said, "there is one source available to you, Chancellor, that you have not been able to fully tap."

His expression turned keen. "Indeed, Ambassador Shaisse is adept at reticence. Do you truly think you, a candidate Serenthuar never endorsed, will learn any secrets from her?"

Hot anger smoldered in Liris' chest, and her smile at Chancellor Ariurn was not kind. "Oh, yes. The ambassador from Serenthuar will speak to me."

Their route changed abruptly toward the upper levels. Even with Serenthuar in disgrace, their ambassadors were too valuable to mistreat—physically.

Vhannor slowed his pace and held Liris back with him. "Talk to me," he murmured. "What's the plan here?"

"Improvisatory," she confirmed.

His look was plainly unimpressed.

"We'd lost the chancellor with regular arguments before we came here," Liris said. "He'll have to be provoked into action. The resident Serenthuar ambassador is the best positioned to know how to make that happen."

"You expect her to help us for Serenthuar's sake?"

Liris snorted, loudly enough that Chancellor Ariurn turned back to them suspiciously. So she raised her voice to include him as she said, "Ambassador Shaisse absolutely won't help our cause if she can possibly avoid it, and she won't make learning anything about the situation in Serenthuar easy."

The chancellor's nod was too smug. "Indeed. But you're certainly welcome to talk to her. I of course will be joining you, in the event she shares any information relevant to Ormbtai's security. I trust that won't present an obstacle for you?"

Liris laughed. "Never fear, I did not think for a second you would let me into a room with her alone."

Ariurn didn't expect her to learn anything—he in fact planned to use that to discredit Liris further, not to mention Serenthuar's reputation—but if Ambassador Shaisse did let any secrets slip, he wouldn't miss them. And he certainly wasn't going to let Liris and the ambassador speak alone, in case Shaisse could arrange any deals to improve her personal or political position.

Liris' answer satisfied him though, as he turned his back to them again.

To Vhannor she elaborated in a quieter voice, "The Serenthuar ambassador stationed in Ormbtai is traditionally the best of the best at smoothing problems away. But that skill gives her an almost magical sense for what will upset the chancellor's equanimity. That's what I hope to use."

"You hadn't met the ambassador in Tellianghu, but you know this one," Vhannor realized.

Liris smiled bitterly. "Oh yes. She was one of my teachers."

Teacher, judge, and jailer.

There was no time for more; they'd arrived at the door, and Chancellor Ariurn was waiting for them nearly gleefully, or what passed for it with such an exploitative creature as he.

Nevertheless, Vhannor caught Liris' hand. "What role would you have of me?" he asked.

The chancellor's expression froze for a moment.

The Lord of Embhullor naming her partner was one thing, even letting her lead, but taking direction from a Serenthuar? The chancellor of Ormbtai couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Gods, she loved Vhannor.

Liris squeezed his hand and smiled. "This one."

And that was how she entered the room to face a challenger she'd never yet bested in the one way that mattered.

Liris took in the elegantly appointed room at a glance, just as she'd been trained. Not the ambassador's own rooms, as there was nothing of Serenthuar in them. A cruelty: that she should be surrounded in a height of excellence subsidized by Serenthuar that did not in any way include Serenthuar's gifts. The only view faced outward, Ormbtai's grassland stretching into the distance she would never be permitted to reach.

Ambassador Shaisse sat on a plump couch in the center of the room, sipping tea as if she were entirely at ease. She, too, took in Liris and her company at a glance. As she was prepared for any entry into the room where she was kept to be an attack of some sort, no part of her so much as twitched.

Always in control. That was how she expected to be, how she expected any candidate to be, and yet at each turn she undermined them lest their control threaten hers.

Liris always could provoke that part of her like no one else, even when she wasn't trying.

"Ambassador Shaisse, how tremendously unsurprising," Liris said, dropping into a seat opposite her. A small table sat between them with other cups; Liris ignored it in favor of leaning back insouciantly.

The ambassador delicately sipped her tea. "Former Candidate Liris. It's been too long."

Since she'd had an opportunity to put Liris in what she saw as her place, she meant. Liris grinned almost despite herself; a masterful set-down, avoiding Liris' bait neatly.

Not quite masterful enough, though, this time.

"You will of course recognize my companion, the Lord of Embhullor," Liris said. "I'm assisting him with looking into the situation in Serenthuar, as, you are no doubt also aware, I am more familiar with its inside than anyone."

Shaisse knew her well enough to recognize the wry acknowledgement of her imprisonment made with veiled cheer. She set down her cup in its saucer with an admonishing clink and replied, "I am unsurprised you of all Serenthuar would intentionally lend your energies against your people. You never did learn your place, never appreciated the gifts you were given. But I never thought your judgment would extend to thinking I might help you do so."

Vhannor crossed into the room to stand at Liris' side.

"No doubt she has been telling you tales, Lord of Embhullor," Ambassador Shaisse said. "Of her treatment, of Serenthuar's character. You can see why she was not judged capable of speaking for Serenthuar."

"A pity," Vhannor said.

Before the ambassador could react to that, Liris purred, "Oh, no, you misunderstand me, ambassador, I know perfectly well I can't bestir you to ethics on Serenthuar's behalf. You've only ever cared about yourself and the security of your position, never about what was actually best for Serenthuar. I understand that all too well."

"You would accuse me of this?" Ambassador Shaisse raised her eyebrows, adjusting the angle of her head so she was obviously, intentionally looking down on Liris. "You, who have never appreciated what Serenthuar is, who never believed Serenthuar was worth defending? And yet you moaned year after year, how could Serenthuar keep you away from its most important business? Of course we would not give you scope for your selfishness."

"By which of course you mean you," Liris said calmly. "You personally advocated to keep me locked away, where I couldn't disrupt anything for you but you could still use the fruits of my labor. Did you not?"

"Do you think I'd deny it?" Ambassador Shaisse returned coolly. "Naturally I did, and now more than ever you prove I was right to do so. I am not ashamed of my judgment, Former Candidate. Quite the reverse."

Liris had maneuvered her into this on purpose, so it seemed unfair that it should still have the power to hurt her.

It did not, however, have the power to stop her.

Not anymore.

Not ever, in fact, despite the ambassador's best efforts.

"Your judgment," Liris said, and now she did, in a blatant disregard of etiquette, reach over to pour herself a cup of tea. She poured one for Vhannor, too, and then called, "Chancellor, would you like a cup as well? I'm quite shocked by the ambassador's manners in not offering hospitality to Serenthuar's closest ally."

Chancellor Ariurn smirked, but waved her off. "No, no, do not concern yourself. I find myself in such good spirits, regardless of the manners on display."

Now Ambassador Shaisse looked narrowly at her as Liris took a sip of her tea.

"In your judgment," Liris said, "Serenthuar is some untouchable entity that can do no wrong. Do you deny that? So Serenthuar—that ineffable third party—has made deals with demon servants -– no no, don't bother, consider your protestation of Serenthuar's innocence heard and summarily disregarded. You surely cannot convince me it did not happen, as I reported when Elder Omaqil called me to personally wait upon the demon servant Jadrhun and commanded I assist in his endeavors. Perhaps you even recommended me for the honor. What a neat way to deal with the problem of my existence, indeed! No, don't answer that either—it hardly matters now.

"What matters is that you will stand here defending Serenthuar's right to make such decisions until your last breath, no matter what demons will mean for people—Serenthuar's people—whose opinions on the matter you will neither solicit nor hear. And this, you will say to me, is evidence of your judgment. Do I have that quite right, Ambassador?"

Ambassador Shaisse's look was cold. "If you are asking me to affirm that I will honor my sacred oaths to serve Serenthuar, in whatever capacity it demands of me, then certainly, Former Candidate. That you failed endlessly to understand this as a fundamental act of love is precisely why, despite all your learning and accomplishments, you could never truly be inside Serenthuar's heart."

"That," Vhannor finally spoke again, "is a very strange definition of love and even service, and I am impossibly glad Liris succeeded in not learning it. Or in throwing it off, despite your best efforts."

Liris appreciated the sentiment, not least because his words gave her a moment to notice what Shaisse had let slip there, put other pieces together.

"Indeed," she said. "Ambassador Shaisse knows well what I'm capable of, don't you? I'm sure she wouldn't be surprised at how successfully I've taken, with the Lord of Embhullor's personal instruction, to the study of spellcraft. Would you, Ambassador?"

Ambassador Shaisse's gaze on her turned cooler, disinterested: from her, practically an admission.

She didn't want Liris knowing she cared what Liris said and wanted her to feel inadequate besides, so she'd leave it alone, rather than goading her into revealing the truth. Too late.

Softly Liris said, "I'm the only ambassadorial candidate who wasn't taught spellcraft. Aren't I?"

How thoroughly she, personally, had been kept from any spellcraft. Elder Omaqil's suspicion as she enticed Jadrhun with the value of her spell language. Candidates trained to identify patterns and expected to bring back new knowledge.

Ambassador Shaisse looked down at her. "Don't be ridiculous. Serenthuar ambassadors cannot be casters."

It was all extremely obvious, in retrospect. Not that she'd never suspected, of course, but a conspiracy that deep and thorough? Unlikely, in the abstract. For Serenthuar, though, and what Liris had come to understand of its own character and biases: eminently possible.

"Ah, but that's only a problem if anyone knows, isn't it? And Serenthuar ambassadors certainly are trained in discretion. Chancellor Ariurn, I do hope your people are continually screening these rooms for spellcraft."

"Oh, we certainly will be now," he drawled. Got him. "Quite a violation of every treaty Serenthuar has made, don't you think, Ambassador?"

Ambassador Shaisse rose to her feet. "You are a traitor," she said to Liris. "To make Serenthuar's work harder by suggesting such things. My greatest error in judgment was allowing you the opportunity to serve at all."

"Ambassador, I would bid you desist," Vhannor said, and cut her off quietly before she could continue. "I am the top field caster in the Sundered Realms, and as you can never practice openly, I promise you will not be faster than me."

Thank everything for Vhannor, who could pay attention to such things for Liris while she was wholly occupied.

"And I," Liris said, "am not yet finished."

Nowhere near.

Ambassador Shaisse opened her mouth and this time was shut down by Chancellor Ariurn who said, "I for one cannot wait to hear what you have to say next."

How does it feel to be prevented from speaking in defense of your people by those you thought allies, Liris thought viciously.

And Ambassador Shaisse did, on some level, know her, because she paled and said, "Don't."

Liris did.

That was her life in a nutshell, really.

Everyone telling her no, and doing it anyway.

"The Serenthuar ambassadors cannot all be held equally responsible for not renouncing Serenthuar in this case, when the consequences for divulging the true situation there are so dire. Of course Ambassador Shaisse has no desire to assist us, because if she were honest about the scale of the threat, you might feel compelled to finally marshal Ormbtai's forces against Serenthuar. If you lead your army to Serenthuar, you will take it, and nothing and no one will stop you, because the Coalition of Tethered Realms is not yet enacted and Serenthuar did not support it. Conquest from Ormbtai is, above all else, the one aim Serenthuar ambassadors are trained to never allow to come to pass."

Ambassador Shaisse's expression had gone entirely blank, taking in the currents, watching, waiting for the correct moment, the correct move.

Chancellor Ariurn's eyes narrowed. "And we return to this. None of what has been revealed has changed my position."

Of course not. Despite everything, even Ambassador Shaisse didn't believe he would be provoked into this, which was why her choice was to wait. She knew that short of a horde of demons to provide him with an immediate, undeniable self-interest in survival, nothing would bestir Ormbtai into risking itself for others.

"No? Think it through, Chancellor. How many Serenthuar have you met? Consider: every one of them was a caster. And now consider: those are the ones trusted to perform in secrecy, to specialize in stealth and bring the fruits of their knowledge back for others to use openly. Because it does not at all mean that Serenthuar has no other casters. Imagine Vhannor and I take care of your demon problem, Chancellor. Then imagine a whole realm of brilliant, desperate casters with nothing left to lose. Do you still think you won't wish for the Coalition then?"

Chancellor Ariurn frowned at her and said nothing.

Ambassador Shaisse finally did. "You really hate us so much."

Nothing that simple. There was nothing she could say to make someone like Shaisse understand that using people callously was wrong, and she would not waste her time justifying herself to this woman a single moment longer. She stood and made her way for the door, then paused at the last, unable to leave it at that for her own sake.

"Serenthuar's problem," Liris said, "has always been that you believe it is possible to have change that matters without actually altering the status quo. The existing order is not the core of Serenthuar's strength, and your inability to understand Serenthuar's true heart is your failing."

Then she left as she willed, and the ambassador remained.