Felix patted the fire mage on the back. "Atar is modest. He is quite accomplished on his own as well, in research and the battlefield."
"Truly?" Fiammetta asked. "I saw you all fight against those undead. The Temple often sends its Knights and Disciples into the lowlands for training, but we've never faced so many before." She shuddered. "A nightmare in the flesh."
"I imagine your heat magic would do well against them," Atar said.
"Perhaps." She tilted her head, as if considering the mage for the first time. "You are much nicer now, you know."
"And you aren't half as annoying anymore," he shot back. Then in a kinder tone, said, "And authority looks good on you."
Fiammetta didn't say anything to that, but her freckled nose blushed. On a hunch, he flared his Affinity. Aside from the incessant, piercing hum of the various Mana crystals, he could sense threads tightening between Atar and their guide. He had remained suspicious of the woman's intentions and allegiances, if only because he had to be, but the link between her and his friend was encouraging. I can't argue against an another ally, he thought. We need all we can get.
Zara still hadn't returned, but Felix tried not to let that bother him. He was more than capable of operating without a babysitter. Yet they were walking into the den of several Master Tier individuals. Felix couldn't deny the comfort of having a Master Tier on their side. He didn't expect this meeting to go bad, but he'd been wrong before.
When they reached the Council building, it defied the standard set by all the others. It was a domed rotunda, relatively squat and fitted with many thin pillars around its exterior. The copper dome gleamed in the setting sun, while the grounds around it and the stone-lined pathway leading to its doors was drenched in wall-cast shadows, deep and purple. Sconces of crystals were set into the sides of the path and again by the huge, double doors, though there the crystals were half again as large and thrumming with power.
Felix suppressed a wince as they drew closer. It was like standing too close to a speaker at a concert. Fiammetta began talking, but part of him only heard the ceaseless waves of sound.
"We shall enter the Council chambers together, Representative Veil," she said. Felix closed off his Affinity and focused on her words. "My men will wait out here. If you would follow me?"
"Lead on," he said.
The door opened slowly and ominously, admitting them all into a half-moon shaped antechamber that contained two curving staircases on either side and a somewhat smaller door going further inward.
"What's up there?" Evie asked.
"Balcony seating," Atar said. "Council gatherings can draw a crowd sometimes."
Felix frowned at the movement he sensed up those stairs, but Fiammetta marched them onward through the next set of doors and into a vast, vaulted chamber. It reminded him of a small stadium, with tiered seating all around them leading down to a lowered area at the center. There the ground was open for a sizable portion of polished stone, while beyond that were a series of five raised benches made of dark, pitted stone. Chairs made of glowing Mana crystal were mounted behind them, and contained three men and two women, all Human, that were conversing animatedly among one another.
They walked down the carpeted steps slowly. Felix spotted a dome of sigiladry covered the councillors' benches and central area. It appeared complex but after a moment Felix had its measure: it was a muffling array, which explained why he could hear anything from the seated Masters. He nodded at it.
"Why does it feel like we're on trial?" Felix asked. "Will the Masters not meet us face to face?"
Fiammetta frowned, but not at him. "The Council has spent much of today considering proposals from the patricians and merchants, I have been told. This is the soonest we could fit you in to see them."
"I had wondered why we'd been kept waiting," Atar said. "Not meeting in an audience is...not ideal, but this should serve our purposes."
They breached the line of sigaldry, and active Mana crawled across Felix's body like stepping through a thin sheet of water. Something about it snagged at Felix for a seconda brief heatbut it faded quickly as he shrugged it off. Humming filled the inscribed bubble, which Felix attributed to the opulent crystal chairs, but otherwise their approach was as silent as the grave. Fiammetta led them onto the wide, open area and motioned them to half.
"Who comes before us?" a woman with silver hair and unlined face demanded. It had the sound of ritual to it.
The Faun took a single step and raised her chin. "Disciple Fiametta of the Temple of All Burning Flame."
"Why do you seek the Council of Masters?" asked another, a portly man with a spade-like beard and a bored expression.
"I bring before you those that seek wisdom and guidance," Fiammetta intoned. "Representative Silas Veil, of the newly established Territory of Nagast."
Two of the Masters exchanged a short glance, but otherwise they all simply stared. Felix tried to feel at their Spirits, but each one was a brick wall to his senses. Not to mention that the entire building was awash in vibrations. The Mana crystals, the sigils, even the wards woven into the benches and floor that Felix could only barely perceive. Protective measures, no doubt. All of it was a lot to parse, even for Felix's impressive senses.
"Good evening, Councillors. Masters," Felix said, reciting the greeting Vess had made him memorize. "We are here as a representative arm of Nagast to the north. I had assumed we would be meeting in a more informal setting, but we are nevertheless here to establish relations between our Territories."
One of the Masters, another man with reddish-brown skin perked up. "Do you speak of trade, Mr. Veil?"
"Trade is one of our goals, yes. In fact" Felix tried to go on, but Atar of all people pushed forward.
"Paladins seek to destroy Ahkestria!" he said. Atar's eyes widened, and he looked at the others in shocked dread.
Atar? What the hell dude?
Silence followed Atar's outburst. A man at the center watched them over steepled fingers, and the force of his regard was a physical weight. He had an entirely bald head, skin the color of basalt, and sharp-lined tattoos covering the little flesh exposed by his off-white robes. The Grandmaster, Felix knew. He could feel it as the mage leaned forward on his crystalline throne.
"Explain."