Broken Lands

Chapter 401 – Party Composition

“What makes you think the Gateway will open without Sophia’s permission?”

Sophia paused with the door to the house half-open. That was Arryn’s voice, but who was he talking to and what was he talking about?

“They’re always open as long as you pay the aurichalc,” a breathy voice answered. Was that the Registry Master? “I confirmed that with the crystal mind, Tiwaz.”

Sophia liked the name crystal mind for Tiwaz and his fellow facility-minds. That wasn’t enough to distract her from the fact that the Registry Master was here, apparently to talk to Arryn, about using the Gateway without her permission. It was certainly true that the house belonged to Arryn; it was also true that Sophia didn’t intend to restrict access to the Gateways. Neither of those facts explained why Master ko’Orthlinn was here talking to Arryn or why Arryn seemed to think the Registry Master was making an end run around Sophia.

Assuming that was even what this meant. A single sentence could be deceiving and Arryn was apparently part of the Registry Council, a loose organization that ruled the registry. That could be why the current Registry Master was visiting; it could be completely innocent.

“Keep quiet, I want to hear what they’re saying,” Sophia sent across the mindlink to the rest of her team before she pulled the door the rest of the way open and slipped inside. They’d likely follow her, but as long as they were quiet it should be fine. Arryn would probably notice; this was his house and he was used to the sounds it made. The Registry Master didn’t have that advantage.

“The Gateways always used to be open,” Arryn countered. “That doesn’t mean they are now. Why are you so opposed to asking for Sophia’s help?”

The Registry Master snorted. “You’ve heard her plan. She plans to be the first one through. She’s not going to help us if we stop her the way we should and she’s not going to be here to help us if we don’t.”

Sophia opened her mouth to say they could ask; she wasn’t unreasonable. The emphasis on the statement that they should stop her made her pause.

“You know I’m not going to approve that,” Arryn said firmly. He almost sounded amused. “I’d say good luck trying but I don’t wish you good luck either. You know as well as I do why the Registry exists.”

“The Kestii Empire is dead.” The Registry Master stated.

“Is it?” Arryn didn’t sound nearly as certain as the other man. “There is still an Emperor and we’re following the old succession rules. Doesn’t sound dead to me.”

“Sophistry,” Master ko’Orthlinn brushed away the point. “She doesn’t rule anyone. Are you going to join the Gateway team or not? You’re the only person I know who can step across a shard, so you’re the only one who can return here without the Gateway if something goes wrong.”

“If I take my wagon with me,” Arryn pointed out, “Which I can’t, so there’s no point in me going for that and you know it. What exactly is your plan?”

The Registry Master sighed as if that was one point too many. “You’re a merchant. We need that; we need the trade. You know that as well as I do. If I send a full team of Called, they’ll treat it like it’s a zone, something to deal with temporarily then leave and damn the consequences. You know that as well as I do. If I sent them in with instructions to guard you, they’ll listen, especially after you prove that you can stand up to them. I’m trying to avoid sending someone to represent each of the Four, and the only way I can do that is by saying it’s too dangerous; whoever they send needs to have a third upgrade Calling.”

“I usually don’t admit that,” Arryn noted. “Sweetfire knows, but Master Rayne and the Shade probably don’t. Still, fine, I can deal with that. You’re right that we need someone there who can see what’s worth trading and what isn’t if we want to trade. Do we? More importantly, can we? We can’t take a whole expedition through the Maze for every trip, especially not when none of your groups can even find the thing.”

“That’s why Sophia can’t go,” the Registry Master answered. “She’s the only one that can bring the Gateway to the near part of the Maze, so she has to stay here.”

“You’re not going to convince her of that,” Arryn said bluntly, then raised his voice. “Is he?”

Even Sophia could catch that obvious cue. She wondered just how much of that conversation was for her benefit, but she stepped forward anyway. “No. You’re not going to keep us here. The entire point of building the Gateway is to find a way home for Dav; we’re not going to do that if we stay here.”

“We can have the people who go through the Gateway look for you,” Master ko’Orthlinn recovered smoothly.

Sophia shook her head. She wasn’t going to mention the Wanderer, even though the Patron was one of the places she hoped to get information from. “The Archons built the interlinks, the conduits that connect the crystal minds. I suspect they also built the Windows. That means some of them know something, but what you’ll be able to ask for isn’t enough. Maybe you can get someone knowledgeable to come through to talk to me, but frankly? I don’t trust you that much. If you don’t want me to leave now, you won’t want me to leave then.”

Arryn smiled and nodded encouragingly.

“The Gateway should have been last, not second,” Sophia added. “I know that. It’s almost useless until the Maze is gone. That’s why you want to keep me here. Well, you wouldn’t have the Gateway without me. So you’re going to have to put up with not having it until then anyway. Cliff knows what to do; once the first Gateway is done, he’s going to work on opening up more stable Challenges then starting the process to heal the Broken Lands. That’s going to take a long time, but really it’s more important than the Gateways anyway. I don’t have to be here for that. If you really want, we can escort a group through the Gateway when we go, but I won’t escort them back. Make sure they’re strong enough to get out of the Maze on their own or wealthy enough to get the Archons’ help to build a way back. I don’t care; it’s not my problem. You just made it not my problem.”

Sophia glared at the Registry Master. She might be overreacting a little but she didn’t really care. The Gateway wasn’t there for them; it was there for her and Dav. Asking her and Dav to wait would have been one thing; trying to plan to force them to stay behind was just too much. 

“That’s plenty.” Arryn spoke over the Registry Master. “We’ll make sure we have a team ready to go with you. On that note, Jax, I could use you on that team, but you’ve been a member of the Flying Stars for a while now. It’s your choice on which team you want to accompany, but I need to know in the next day or two if you’re going to stick with Sophia so that I can find a replacement.”

“I, ah, Xin’ri? What do you think?” 

Sophia turned back towards where Jax stood in the entryway and found his attention fixed on the fox-eared woman. The only reason she could think of that Jax would specifically ask Xin’ri was if they were dating, but Sophia didn’t think they were. Sure, they spent a lot of time together, but that was usually either meals at the Registry or planning equipment Xin’ri was going to build for Jax.

Now that she thought about it, there really hadn’t been much new gear lately and Jax was still spending a lot of time with Xin’ri. Sophia grumbled internally about needing signs when people started dating. At least Ci’an and Marcie made it obvious!

“We can’t take Mo’ra,” Xin’ri answered immediately. “But she can stay behind for a while safely; Sweetfire’s started giving her some small tasks. It’s not quite a proper apprenticeship but it’s going well and he’ll take care of her until we get back or she’s finally recovered. I planned to go through the Gateway and see what needs to happen from there. I … hadn’t thought about going through with a different team, I just assumed we’d be with Sophia and Dav.”

The mention of Mo’ra not coming immediately made Sophia think of Marcie again and Sophia’s gaze shifted to Ci’an. She didn’t have a problem leaving the mousekin behind when they went into the Maze or even when they left Izel, but that was before Marcie followed her to Mazehold. 

Ci’an didn’t look concerned as she leaned against the wall and watched Xin’ri and Jax. She had a pleased grin plastered across her face. Sophia didn’t quite dare to ask if she’d known Xin’ri and Jax were dating or not.

“Well, you have a couple of days to decide,” Arryn reminded Jax. “If it helps, I’m certain we’ll be there for quite a while either way and may well work with the Flying Stars early on. Since there won’t be many trips there until we can reliably get to the Gateway, we might as well take the time we need.”

Arryn paused, then tilted his head towards the Registry Master. “It is possible that I’ll be able to travel back and forth if we’re there long enough. It would require making a new wagon and the requirements for that are not easy, but It is theoretically possible if I can get my hands on the right things and the assistance of a skilled craftsman. They are not available here, at least not easily; third upgrade wood isn’t removed from the Maze very often. We had to get it ourselves for my current wagon.”

“I knew it was possible!” Master ko’Orthlinn exclaimed in triumph.

Arryn shook his head. “The wagon took three years to build. Another might not take that long, but it certainly won’t be fast enough to count on. It might not be possible anyway; my storeroom is paneled in wood from the same trees and that’s part of the spatial linkage. It’s only possible at all if I can hijack the existing link; doing it properly would require carrying multiple trees’ worth of timber through the Gateway one way or another. That’s not going to happen.”

“Oh.” The Registry Master sounded slightly horrified.

“Now, who else were you thinking of for the team?” Arryn changed the subject. “It needs to be a strong enough team to make it through the Maze but also small enough that we can afford the aurichalc the Gateway is going to cost both ways; I understand it’s not cheap.”

“Let’s head to the kitchen,” Dav whispered to Sophia. “I want dinner and I think they’re going to be at this for a while.”

Two days later, they did have a plan for who was going to go through the Gateway when it opened. Sophia, Dav, Xin’ri, and Ci’an would be the Flying Stars team; Jax accepted Arryn’s offer but Xin’ri decided she wanted to stick with Sophia, at least for now. Sophia suspected that Xin’ri might well change her mind if they separated too far, but it could go either way.

Taika was going to stay behind with Cliff; he wasn’t certain he could travel far from the Kestii Tower since it was now where he was bound. Sophia was pretty sure that was just an excuse. Taika kept disappearing inside the Maze to visit the Tower and play with the people exploring it. They were apparently much, much more fun than Sophia and her team. 

The second team was Arryn, Jax, Arak Shade, Meadow, and Rockfist. Peaches was also being left behind, but he had a job while they were gone: Peaches was going to bring Arryn’s wagon back to Mazehold. 

Construction of the Gateway finished a couple of hours after noon three days after the teams were decided.