|
Bones of Magic, wearing a yellow flowing sundress with white daisies on it, flowed through the Athenaeum approaching the Hierophant's office. Twice in a month was almost a record for official visits. Normally, these visits were much more colleagues discussing a paper feel than as of late.
They arrived fifteen minutes before the scheduled time and waited.
The door remains closed until one minute before the scheduled time. The block before this one is marked merely 'Consilium.' No sound leaks from the Hierophant's office, and at one minute before the appointed time, the catch on the door clicks and it opens of its own accord with a flare of Matter magic.
"Sentinel Bones of Magic," comes the Hierophant's raspy voice from within the office. Cambyses sits at her desk in a beautiful peacock-green sari set, and she closes a folder and sets it aside on a stack of folders on her desk.
Bones flows into the office and bows their head slightly, "As summoned, Hierophant Cambyses. "
The Hierophant sits back in her chair and fixes them with a long, silent stare. It probably isn't surprising that the Stone Scribe has the patience of a thousand graves, but she does. "I struggle, Sentinel Bones of Magic, Hearthmaster of the Children of Veritas, with understanding the messages you have sent to me. Perhaps you could assist me, as I am now in a most unenviable position." Her contralto voice rumbles like a slow-moving, shallow river tumbling over gravel.
They run a hand through their short poofy hair, and sighs, "I do not wish to work directly with Izumi, known as Kaminari, on an official capacity.
"To be honest, it starts with her and I going on a date, and being intimate. Things looked to be going well, but then they decided to use Time magic to undo ... something. I'm not 100% sure what, but only from C4's training was I able to notice the difference by being anchored into the timeline. She says it was minor, and yet... if it was for a personal use? How can I trust her on a personal level?
A shake of the head again, "Further, it's not the distance between her home and my Deputy that was the issue. It was that it was a waste of a trip and time and the like, in that she could have simply said 'I reported all there is to report.' But it felt like to my deputy that her time was wasted, but she's used to that as an investigator.
"It was the fact that she thought that she could tell me not to follow not only my instincts, but the desire of the Council of the Wise to have Klaire as a deputy, because she had her feelings hurt that made me realize she wasn't going to be able to work with me or my deputies in an efficient way. If she doesn't trust my deputy, or my decision to keep them, then how can I trust them professionally?
"Psyche has... had her hiccups, especially in the last two months. However, I will not let someone else that is not in my Hierarchy tell me what to do or not to do."
It was obvious they were emotional about the entire subject, they weren't trying to hide the situation by any means, and yet they were doing their best to be as honest as they could from their perspective.
Her facial expression is solid as stone at first, but the Hierophant's lips twist sharply when Bones starts speaking. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."
Cambyses leans back in her chair and taps one of her neatly-manicured fingertips on the solid top of her rosewood desk. "I knew it. Ecgbert said you couldn't have been so stupid, but I knew it." Her jaw sets solid and she looks off across the room, her eyes landing on the spines of books; she reads their spines over and over again, a reflexive action. "You fucked her, and then you cut her off, publicly, from an investigation." Her gaze snaps back to Bones, then, and her smile becomes too sweet by half. "I would love to witness the interaction which your Deputy had with Master Kaminari, and I will be certain to request it from Master Izumi, since your recollection of it, from your own admission, comes from an illegal violation of her home."
"I would love to ask you what you were thinking, but I am afraid that the answer would be even more evidence that you cannot separate the personal from the professional." She taps her fingertip on the table again. "Even in the things you have turned over to me, your interpretation of them seems -- off, at best. 'I think you might want to consider' is by no means telling you what to do. I can't tell you whether or not she was right to offer you this advice, because I cannot -- again -- ask you for your recollection of that interaction, nor do I feel comfortable asking the Sleepwalker Psyche, because by your own admission the two of you conspired to what may not, if you are extremely lucky, turn out to be a violation of the Gold Laws." (edited)
"Her personal timeline, and I did not know it was a recognized sanctum," they said softly, "and yet, I understand. I can turn over all the research I have to her, if you wish."
Tears were there, were flowing, and she didn't call attention to them or try to stop them. Emotion was a form of truth, and they would not lie or obfuscate to the Hierophant.
"Did you check?" Cambyses asks, her voice thin and strained. "The difference between a 'recognized Sanctum' and a Mage's home, and whether or not you were actively observing during the meeting, is, in fact, the very slim margin which may save you from a public trial."
"It has nothing to do with whatever I may wish," she continues. "Anything you have regarding the Abyssal Mark IIs must be turned over to Sentinel Kaminari, by order of the Hierarch. She is now the Sentinel in charge of that investigation." A shake of her head, and she taps her fingernails on the desk again. "It would be in your best interests to write down a clear accounting of your professional interactions with Sentinel Kaminari, and your concerns regarding her usage of Time magic if you are concerned that she may have violated the Lex Magica. Factotum Constantine will most assuredly request such an accounting in the course of his investigation. She has filed a complaint against the both of you."
"If and when you are in a position of leadership again, Master Bones of Magic, it would be in your best interests to consider subsidiary facts when deciding if you have been wronged or disrespected. We know, for a fact, that the Mark IIs have access to cameras all across the city. The visions seen and the entities experienced lead us to believe that the Panopticon is at play in Philadelphia, and you feel disrespected by being asked for an in-person meeting as opposed to a phone call, a text message? To me, this is a sensible course of action if one cannot ensure the safety of one's communications."
"I put my name on your appointment," she says, shaking her head. "You made me look like an idiot."
"Yes, Hierophant."
"Prepare a report on your work thus far and remit it to First Sentinel Esther." Cambyses says flatly. "It is not my decision whether or not you retain your brevet position." But, the words unspoken fill the long silence that follows, she wouldn't count on it staying in place.
Her eyes stay fixed on Bones. "You are dismissed."
"Yes, Hierophant," and they turned and exited without another word.
They fucked up, and brought their friends, both Cambyses in a way, and Psyche down with them.
And there was still more ahead with the Sage and Esther.
|