3. Kings' Moot

Whale King

…And you will be pleased to know that the dolphin Therèse, formerly of the Court of the Splintered Teeth, has completed her apprenticeship with us and chosen to stay.

Whale King

[ The king of the Court of the Whale Road addresses the assembled fey serenely, their coat pouring from their shoulders in waves of layered blue silk. ] She has accepted our mark on her back, and is resting, so she asked me to send her love to her cold-water cousins in her stead.

Terra

[ There is a splash of warm applause, especially from the Court of the Splintered Teeth. As heads turn to their ranks, she holds quite still, save for the performative tap of her fingers to her palm. ]

Terra

[ The first kings' moot she has attended in four years is being held in an abandoned military base on the Caspian Sea. The onsite overground rift is on the Court of the Diaphanous Cloud's route; even if it hadn't been, she would know them to be their hosts from the gulls, geese, and terns roosted in the rusted iron beams. Most of the other fey are in human form, sat on colourful blankets spread over the concrete and rubble, decorative ribbons wound down their arms to accentuate their most significant tattoos. The shapeshifters have magically shortened their sleeves. Her iridescent purple trench coat is knotted around her waist. ]

Terra

[ Every court, save the usual one, is here. The Lissome Light boasted of their hunts. The kings of the Star Chasers and the Splintered Teeth brought the assembly to a deadlock for ten minutes over increasingly complex poems regarding the name of a new overground constellation. Changes to the fey paths were noted and shared. And there were countless introductions to be made—new seconds, new apprentices, new epithets, new members. Only one left for the Whale King to get through, by her reckoning. She forces herself to unclench her jaw. ]

Whale King

So while we have lost our rift in Crete, and the DSC and their ilk make trouble wherever they can, the Court of the Whale Road is thriving. And we will continue to thrive as we always have, from the time we were born into the overground's primordial waters, to the day we all return to it.

Parakeet heckler

[ Piping up with a hidden chortle. ] I don't mean to interrupt your summation, Whale King, but aren't you forgetting someone? [ She nods at Terra. ] There seems to be a new face among your representatives.

Robber King wasp

[ “Subaudibly.” ] Or a familiar one…

Terra

[ Gritting her teeth again. Look, the Court of the Robber King can feel as betrayed as they’d like. But can’t the rest of them go one day without gossip-mongering? ]

Terra

[ She fixes her steely gaze on the parakeet, ignoring the ripple of whispers from the ranks of the Robber King. ]

Fern

[ At the front of said ranks, a muscular woman addresses the titters with a hissed command. ] Alright, calm down. [ Like everyone else, she’s shortened the sleeves of her shiny green coat, so that her scars and tattoos are on full display, especially the raven in flight inked on her left shoulder. The proud mark of the Robber King’s second. ]

Whale King

[ The nudibranch king doesn’t rise to the parakeet’s baiting. ] Not at all. We are happy to welcome our beloved truthseeker back into our ranks.

Whale King

But she can speak for herself. [ Gesturing to Terra, silken robes rippling. ] Terra?

Terra

[ Sweat beads on the back of her neck. Testifying on her own behalf? That’s got to be a first. ]

Terra

[ Don't think about it like that. She gets to her leather-strapped feet. The decision's already been made. You're just telling them how it is. ]

Terra

[ The shop floor quiets to an expectant silence. She clears her throat. ] Cousins. It took some time, but I'm glad to be amongst you again. [ Civility doesn’t count as lying. ]

Terra

You might've heard the rumours. [ Impossible not to have done, in their crowd. She presses on bluntly. ] I'm here to confirm that they’re true. I’ve left the Court of the Robber King and returned to my birth court, the Whale Road.

Assembled fey

[ Some scattered murmurs and rustles of coats as many among the crowd crane their necks to get a look at Terra's tattoos. ]

Terra

[ Her skin itches as the whole assembly has a cheeky look. Yeah, she’s still got the Robber King’s ravens, no, they haven’t all been overwritten by shells and tentacles. You’d think a pack of shapeshifters wouldn’t be so ruffled by some feathers. ]

Star Chasers enchanter

[ They cluck their tongue, leaning towards the boy sitting on the blanket next to them. ] Dear me, at her age? She's acting like an apprentice.

Vic

[ He’s not as big a fan of rubbernecking. ] …

Terra

[ Clipped: ] That's all, thank you.

Terra

[ She offers the gathered courts a stiff bow, and settles back down, tucked behind a turtle shapeshifter. What an absolute mare. At least it’s over now. ]

Whale King

[ The last of the chatter quiets. ] That is all of the Whale Road's business. We surrender the floor to the Court of the Robber King. [ They also bow, and return to their blanket. ]

Robber King

[ The Robber King gets to her feet, buttons tinkling. ] Thank you, Whale King.

Terra

[ In spite of herself, she peers round at Asha, the new king of her old court. She’d heard something about the court translator wrestling Andrei for the position. Now that would’ve been a sight to see. ]

Asha

People of the overground. [ Though her build is slight, her voice carries with confidence. Like the other kings, she has draped her coat—white, with a silhouetted cityscape wandering the waist—over her shoulders like a cape. Unlike the other kings, her neck, ears, wrists, and fingers are weighed down with scavenged metal turned to jewelry—twisted spoons, coils and wires, rows of flattened coins. She clinks with each lithe footstep. The unshifting can afford to be a little less choosy with ornaments. ]

Asha

Beloved cousins. Today, I come to you with a petition for aid—and a story.

Fern

[ Behind Asha, she leans languidly back on her palm, an elbow draped over her knee, relaxed on the surface. But while her head is perfectly still, her hazel eyes scan the room. ]

Asha

One month ago, I and three other members of my court travelled to a region of the overground that borders London in the land below.

Fallen Scales mantis

[ Blinking through enormous bottle lenses. ] That's a little off the beaten path for you, bear-tamer. What were you doing there?

Asha

[ She gestures to the mantis, open-palmed. ] It is no secret that we used to do business there.

Fallen Scales mantis

I can't imagine you have any business in London now. [ Perhaps cattily. ] Not after that nastiness a few years ago...

Terra

[ She rests her cheek on her knuckles sourly. Forget a day. If fey go five minutes without poking their nose in, they’ll literally die. ]

Splintered King

A most lamentable occasion. [ The seal king's sorrowful blink is a little put on. ] We all felt the loss. But one could, perhaps, point out that it was long coming, and take it as a sign that we are best left to do business in the many corners of the earth untouched by the DSC…

Terra

[ Murmurs of agreement ripple through the crowd, including her own shell-studded court. ]

Whale Road jellyfish

[ But some meet with defensive bristling. ] So we're just supposed to take it lying down? A calculated act of war?

Lissome Light cheetah

You know that isn't what he meant! We have the overground, while they're trapped by human laws in human cities—

Diaphanous Cloud egret

Are we no less trapped? The DSC was the first, but it isn't the only one of its kind. The rest of the human world is quickly following suit!

Kjetil

[ An orca lounging against the crumbling wall behind the Splintered Teeth delegation raises his voice in cheerful disdain. ] And I fear for our poor king's failing memory. How else could he have forgotten the loss of our Iceland home over a decade ago?

Splintered King

[ Red blotches across his cheeks at this open insubordination, an enormous embarrassment for a moot. His second puffs her chest and glares daggers at the orca. ]

Terra

[ Not loving the subject, but it’s a relief to see someone else in the hot seat. Is that a coup she smells? Her brother would eat this up. ]

Asha

[ She waits patiently for the hubbub to subside. The last few murmurs die out in the face of the king's expectant silence. ]

Asha

[ When she can make her voice heard without needing to raise it: ] Obviously, the DSC is something of a controversial subject, with us. [ Dryly humorous. ] Nobody is in stronger agreement than the Court of the Robber King.

Asha

But the DSC is not why I have come before you today. [ The silver glow of magic in her eyes is deathly serious. ] In our preliminary expeditions to the overground surrounding London, we were stymied not by the DSC, but by an overground phenomenon of the most unexpected kind.

Asha

[ She exchanges an unreadable look with her second. ] A warehouse.

Lissome King

[ The lounging tiger king perks up. ] A warehouse?

Parakeet heckler

[ Sarcastic. ] Did it have five walls?

Golden Hive honey bee

[ Carrying the ribbing. ] No, no, infinite walls, each carved from a different precious stone...

Terra

[ Bit surprising that Asha found anything newsworthy around DSC town, whether it's got four walls or a hundred. She frowns. ]

Asha

[ Calmly. ] Actually, no. It was a perfectly normal warehouse in every respect. A single-story brick edifice covered in graffiti, with a corrugated roof.

Asha

It was as if someone had plucked it whole from the land below, and dropped it in the overground.

Terra

[ She sets her chin in her palm. That's quite literal of the overground, innit? Most places in the world of magic aren't translated so precisely from their real-world counterparts. She tries to picture this, a severely cut, too-tangible eyesore of human-made rock pasted over delicate fractals and oily rivers and mounds of mossy cobblestone that move about when you're not looking... She blinks to clear the vibrant images before her mind runs off. ]

Fallen Scales mantis

But that's absurd! [ Now unable to temper curiosity. ] Did you go inside?

Asha

We did. I took my scout and wayfinder with me, while my second stood guard outside. But the interior of the warehouse was quite unlike its shell. The walls were not walls, but a thousand windows and doors pressed against each other, a labyrinth of portals.

Splintered King

[ Skeptical. ] The overground itself is a labyrinth, is it not? And only the greenest of apprentices fall prey to its ever-changing paths.

Whale Road turtle

[ Calling out impatiently: ] Let her speak, Toothless King!

Asha

[ Continuing, her slender hands folded primly. ] We found ourselves separated, led through twisting corridors that were keen to steer us back through the exit. One spat my scout out the other end, without her ever seeing the centre, while the wayfinder and I met with black smoke so thick and foul we had no choice but to turn back. All the while, we were surrounded by the impression of music—a breathy sound, like a flute echoing from another room.

Asha

We rested, and tried again, but nothing changed. We could not crack the warehouse's secrets. It was a maze with the power to hoodwink even a fey's unshakable compass.

Terra

[ Asha’s making it out to be sinister, what with the smoke and the hallways and the strangeness of it all, but she can’t help thinking, enviously: What an amazing find. A place like that would have kept her engaged for days. Of all the evocative details, the music intrigues her the most. What did the flute sound like? Was it ambient, or did it carry a tune? In her mind, it’s a soulful, earthy whistle, and the first lonely half of a call and response. Wishful thinking. ]

Terra

[ You wouldn’t catch her that close to London again. But maybe she can pick the brains of whoever does go help the Robber King out. ]

Diaphanous King

I simply don't understand. [ The crane king runs her fingers through her flyaway coat feathers. ] The overground is our home! It reveals the paths to us alone. A fey getting lost inside... it's unthinkable. Are you sure this place was in the overground?

Asha

Quite sure. And we have a partial explanation for the discrepancy. Mingled with the graffiti on the walls, we found wards.

Terra

[ Well, yeah. A place like that, with the endless corridors designed to keep people out? The writing was on the wall. Literally. But you’d need an incredibly complicated ward and an awful lot of magic to pull it off… ]

Terra

[ Her hand tenses on her chin. ]

Lissome King

Wards? [ Baffled. ] Whose wards? Not human wards?

Terra

[ Lost in thought, she doesn't hear the king's questions. A warded building, a warehouse from the human world, so obviously an alien artefact that made its way in from the outside. How did Asha put it? "As if someone had plucked it whole from the land below, and dropped it in the overground." Mad idea: what if someone did? What if someone warded an ordinary warehouse so tightly that it was actually physically hidden in the overground? ]

Terra

[ Is that possible? You’d have to have a very strong desire to hide, and the magical weight class to pull it off. Without destroying the building, this time. ]

Terra

[ The number of people who could possibly fit that description… she can count them on one finger. ]

Terra

[ The shop floor has fallen away. She sits straight and still, inclined infinitesimally forward, perched on the edge of a cliff. ]

Asha

[ To the tiger king. ] Instead of answering that question, O king of the bramble-matted fur, I will tell you about another extraordinary feature of the landscape. One I believe you will find illuminating.

Asha

Although the building sat in the magic-thin vicinity of the DSC’s base, the area beyond it was riddled with partially-closed rifts. [ She sweeps a meaningful look across the room. ] Some of them still fresh.

Terra

[ She knew it. ]

Diaphanous King

[ The silence is punctured by a squawk. ] You can't mean... the mageling?

Assembled fey

[ The shop floor erupts into a clamour. ]

Lissome King

[ Upright and alert. ] He's returned? I thought he was dead!

Fallen Scales butterfly

No, I heard the Waking Dream took him in, officially, he apprenticed and everything, that's why they don't show their faces around here anymore—

Verdant Canopy lemur

— Or because he disappeared. [ Wide-eyed and fearful. ] To wherever Manticore's hiding.

Fern

[ A shudder spreads through the gathered courts. She hisses a laugh through pointed teeth, puckering the scar running from ear to lip. ]

Star Chasers owl

[ A sharp protest. ] That can't be right! Because my old mentor saw him on a fey path to Colombia a few years ago—

Bounteous Loam mole

If he is alive, he's not really a mageling anymore, is he—

Golden Hive honey bee

And he's not our problem! [ Snapping her hand out waspishly. ] We don't deal with higher powers. It has nothing to do with us. Let the DSC clean up their damned mess!

Kjetil

[ Shoving off the wall in a violent motion. ] It has everything to do with us! He killed one of our own, and blew a fucking hole in the overground while he was at it!

Fallen Scales mantis

[ Drawing their glasses down their nose to give Terra a piercing look. ] Has our truthseeker heard anything of this?

Terra

[ If there’s a camel in the room, their back has broken by now. Eyes flashing, she makes to rise. ] If I had, I’d be there, wouldn’t I, not faffing about with—

Diaphanous King

[ Raising her voice over the hubbub. ] That's enough!

Diaphanous King

[ Bowing low to Asha. ] Robber King, as your host, I can only apologize on behalf of the Diaphanous Cloud for these heated tempers. [ A death glare to the assembly, voice pitching. ] And I will see this moot brought back on track!

Terra

[ She lowers herself, but barely. Her whole body is poised to take flight. ]

Asha

Thank you. [ The youngest king faces the crowd, steely-eyed. ] Whether this is the mageling's doing or other forces unknown, this is clearly a powerful secret with the potential to affect us all.

Asha

To that end, I am arranging a clandestine mission to investigate the provenance of this warehouse. It goes without saying that we will be treading on the DSC's toes. So I am looking for two volunteers from different courts to accompany my second on this operation in enemy territory.

Asha

[ She spreads her arms. ] Cousins, I give you the floor. Are there any brave and cunning enough to assist us with this task?

Terra

[ Her heart bats against her chest. It doesn’t matter if her relationship with the Court of the Robber King is irreparable. She has to go. Nothing in the last eighteen years has mattered more than this moment. She inhales sharply and opens her mouth. ]

Vic

[ But before anyone else has a chance to move, a stocky teenager leaps to his feet. ] The Star Chasers stand with the Robber King.

Terra

[ Her bid dies in her throat. She fumbles back in unpleasant surprise, knuckles pressed to her mouth. Shit. ]

Terra

[ The young man’s unflinching gaze is bolder than she remembers. She didn’t know he’d be here. Or, rather, she thought he might be here, but the conversation she’d imagined included a few more apologies than an assembly-wide debate might allow. ]

Terra

[ He’s got to be, what… eighteen, nineteen, now? Old enough to volunteer to go to the heart of DSC town and track down the world’s most wanted psychic. Not that she’s got any right to worry about him. Or about how quickly he threw his hat in. Like he was expecting it. ]

Terra

[ On a suspicion, her eyes flash to Fern. ]

Fern

[ Nah, mate. In front of this crowd? Her poker face is impeccable. ]

Asha

[ She holds out a magnanimous palm, face staying purely diplomatic. ] Star Chasers, you would offer your youngest wayfinder?

Terra

[ Wayfinder? Since when? She subtly cranes her neck at the serious young man's bicep tattoo from her spot on the floor, running her fingers over the north star on her own. ]

Star King

[ Quickly covering for surprise at the announcement, the bat king lifts a thin arm. ] He goes with my blessing. Perhaps in this, our young wayfinder will at last find himself an epithet.

Assembled fey

[ Scattered chuckles throughout the floor. ]

Vic

[ Instead of rising to the bait, he bows. ] Thank you, sir. [ Not that he needed the blessing. He’s going either way. ]

Asha

Cousins who approve the nomination of Victor Ragasa of the Star Chasers, please raise your hands, wings, or other appendages.

Terra

[ Across the shop floor, hands go up (like the Robber King’s sly second, she notes). Her own stays clenched at her mouth as her conflicting responsibilities wage war. This is her chance for closure, to find Soren, to finally come to terms with what happened eighteen years ago. There may never be another one. On the other hand… how much does she want, in front of all these people, to contest Vic’s claim, and deny him another milestone of adulthood? ]

Asha

[ Her finger jumps between the dozens of heads as she starts to tally the votes. ]

Terra

[ At the last second, she throws her hand in the air. ]

Asha

A majority are in favour. [ Nodding at Vic. ] I approve your appointment on behalf of us all, Victor Ragasa.

Vic

[ A trick-of-the-light look at the final vote. Then he bows again, and sits, totally self-assured. ]

Asha

[ To the floor. ] And who will join him as the second volunteer?

Vic

[ Instead of watching Asha, his eyes bore into Terra. ]

Terra

[ He isn’t the only one. Dozens of pairs of eyes alight on the obvious candidate. She meets Vic’s glare, mouth set. Whatever he’s thinking—whether this was an impulsive bid, or a staged operation—there’s only one way forward now. ]

Kjetil

[ Loudly. ] The Splintered Teeth stand with the Robber King.

Terra

[ Oh, for—that is so not happening. ]

Terra

[ She jumps up so quickly her curls bounce. ] Whale Road contests.

Vic

[ Huh, that was faster than he expected. ]

Fern

[ Her lips twist in a smile. There's the old spark. ]

Assembled fey

[ Around the shop floor, fey who had been nodding off now brush up their fur, prick up their ears. It’s not just the orca who can smell blood in the water. ]

Asha

[ She, on the other hand, proceeds as if there’s nothing at all unusual happening. ] Kings of the Splintered Teeth and Whale Road, would you approve the nomination of your respective court members?

Splintered King

[ You can almost see the gears slowly turn under the vein standing out on his forehead. ] I approve the nomination. Of course.

Whale King

[ They silently turn to assess Terra. ]

Terra

[ Can’t read her king’s expression. She holds her breath. ]

Whale King

[ They nod slowly, coming to a conclusion. ] …Yes. As ever, we support our truthseeker.

Asha

In that case, we’ll have to put it to the floor. [ She clasps her hands, bracelets jangling. ] Candidates, make your case to the assembly. Why should you be chosen?

Kjetil

[ He moves first, puffing out his broad chest. ] They do not call me “The Indomitable” for nothing. You will not regret choosing me, or my teeth.

Terra

[ Perfect, in the event they want to tear a chunk out of the warehouse. She rubs the bridge of her nose and summons a closing argument. ]

Terra

[ Her fellow fey don't want her credentials. They want a show—a duel, a kenning battle, a power play for their approval and delight. Nerve sways them more than deference (or common sense). Fine, then. The omnipresent spotlight sears her eyes, but she can show them a bit of nerve. ]

Terra

[ She fans her fingers. ] I won't bore you with the details of what I'm capable of. You know me. [ They've made that clear. ]

Terra

What I will tell you is that I know the person we're after. I'm the only one of us who does.

Kjetil

[ Inspecting his black and white fingernails. ] No one can deny it. So perhaps we should speak on your neatly divided loyalties in this task, cousin.

Terra

[ Coming from the orca who's been eyeing his king's throat? She smiles, close-lipped and insincere. ] We should, now that you mention it. [ Really, she's had it up to here with divided loyalties. ]

Terra

[ The smile drops. She faces the public gallery, chin upturned. ] Here's how it is, cousins. [ Her eyes find her court, her king, Asha, Fern. Vic. Whatever her shortcomings, none of them get a say in this one. ] If Soren is in London, I'm going there.

Terra

What you get to decide is if I go there for you.

Asha

[ A smile plays around her eyes. ] I think that tells us all we need to know.

Asha

Very well. Cousins who wish Kjetil the Indomitable to join our delegation, please raise your hands, wings, or other appendages.

Assembled fey

[ A fair number of votes for the orca, including, unsurprisingly, almost all of the Court of the Splintered Teeth, and several members of Asha's own court. ]

Asha

And all those who wish Terra the Truthseeker of the Court of the Whale Road to join our delegation, please raise your hands, wings, or other appendages.

Terra

[ She stays outwardly cool, but waits on tenterhooks. Expeditions into enemy territory are a bit easier when you’ve got a patron to back you. ]

Assembled fey

[ A slower start than for her opponent, but gradually, hands, wings, and paws begin to rise. ]

Fern

[ Hand up. Part of the plan, and all. ]

Vic

[ His surly demeanor doesn't change. But he raises his hand. ]

Terra

[ For all her bravado, she didn’t know what to expect from her cousins. And yet the votes come, and keep coming—the bulk of the Whale Road, other scattered fey, and even a surprising handful from the Robber King. It defies belief. Her eyes flash between Vic, and Fern, and the Robber King herself. Really defies belief. ]

Assembled fey

[ Perhaps it's due to the Whale Road's relative size, but the tally narrowly totters past Kjetil's. ]

Kjetil

[ He retreats back to the wall, sulking. ]

Asha

Thank you all. Our delegation shall consist of my second and I acting for the Court of the Robber King, Victor Ragasa acting for the Court of the Star Chasers, and Terra Harlow acting for the Court of the Whale Road. [ In her opinion… the ideal outcome. ]

Asha

And to my volunteers… [ Gaze lingering on Terra and Vic. ] I look forward to what we’ll discover together.

Terra

[ So does she. ]