Here’s chapter 90 and the end of this book. The next will be Conference Of Deception, where the Global Economics Forum comes to Chatsrey for high level discussions and some low debauchery. Coming soon.
Chapter 90.
The Community
The new gods were scattered around the pavilion that they had occupied when the center court suddenly got very hot and there was an intense light in the twilight. They went to the center court to see a white glowing mass of intense heat with lava like streams pouring off. The gardens in the court had already started to catch fire and small trees and small pavilion were burning. With a hiss, things shot off into the air, striking parts of the pavilion and catching them on fire. The growing conflagration forced the new gods out of the pavilion and it burned as the thing in center hissed and banged with small explosions. Arafiel turned to the others and said, “Have any of you done anything that would cause something like this?”
“I may have conducted an assault on the Umevan wedding,” Jastira said.
“Apparently it was a failure.”
“Yes.”
“Did you not know what could happen?”
“Apparently not.”
The Hall of the Justiciars
Kelvahn looked at Mhaenal and the gathered adjuncts and said, “In case you don’t already know, you did a good job yesterday. You stopped the suicide bombs and barely made a ripple in the wedding celebrations.”
“The fact that Jorge and Shael up and flew away disrupted them more than a bit,” Mhaenal said. “I’m glad that the princess put that prank together.”
“You all were on top of the suicide bombers very fast. The problem is what to do with them.”
Mhaenal sighed. “That isn’t going to be easy. I’ve been talking to them. None of them know where they came from or where they are. They barely know that the Empire existed at all.”
“Even worse than the Illuminates from the Community?”
“Very much so. Especially since they have little education and the oldest is eighteen. The good news is that I think that they are all Silverin. The bad news is that the law says that they have to be collared and put up for auction, since they committed an act against the Imperial House.”
“They are victims,” Naexi said. She looked at the various people in the room and added, “They don’t deserve to be placed into bondage.”
“There is no way we can send them home, they probably don’t have any useful skills or a way to support themselves,” Mhaenal said. “It grates on me as well, but there is little we can do.”
“I would not be too concerned,” Kelvahn said. “After all, we have friends who can take our lost folk when the time comes. We can keep them in the larger family while making then more or less disappear. What happened to the bombs?”
“We had the Portal Service deal with them,” Mhaenal said with a rather vicious grin. “They sent them where they came from with some additions.”
The Arts Mechanical 