The Grove(63)
“True. Will you need any tables?” she asked next. “I was thinking I should get some for my own use, and something for us to sit on, and perhaps a mirror stand—which reminds me, the call I received, it was a sort of group-scrying of several Guardians. One of them wished to say hello to you.”
One brow lifting in surprise, Aradin blinked at her. Swallowing, he set down the glass and shrugged. “I can’t think of who it could be.”
“He was introduced to me as Witch Shon Tastra,” Saleria explained.
Both brows raised at that. “Ah. Yes, I know who that is. He’s one of our highest-ranked members, in fact. I hadn’t realized your communication ability reached all the way to Darkhana. Teral says he met with Tastra shortly before returning to us.”
“Teral says . . . ?” Nannan asked, looking mystified.
Saleria didn’t bother to explain to the older woman. Nannan would learn as they went along. “I had no connection for that far away, but Guardian Kerric of the Tower does. He was the one to call the meeting. At the end of it, Guardian Shon Tastra wished to confirm the original reason why you came here, and to offer his thanks for my willingness to comply. He also recommended I pack a bag.”
“Pack a bag?” This time, the question came from Daranen.
“Yes, for the Convocation,” Saleria reminded him. Her scribe nodded at the realization.
“Of course, of course,” Daranen muttered, following along since he had been privy to the earlier meeting.
“Pack a bag?” Nannan repeated, still mystified and frowning. “But you’re the Keeper! Until you are replaced, you cannot leave the Grove unattended.”
“I already have a potential replacement, Nannan,” Saleria told her. She picked up her fork and scooped up a few sauce-drizzled leaves, but did not eat them immediately. Her housekeeper had that look in her eyes again. “Before you panic, it will only be a temporary journey. A visit to the location where the Convocation of Gods and Man will be reconvened. After it is over, I will return to my post. As for my going, I am the Keeper of the Grove; I am more than qualified to represent the concerns of our people, and that is all that matters—this subject is not open for debate. Nor are you to gossip about it.”
“Hmphf.” From the frown still creasing the older woman’s brow, it looked like Nannan was considering being extra cheerful and extra early in waking up her employer in the morning. The housekeeper had her ways of getting even.
Saleria didn’t care for the attitude. That nightmare and Kerric’s subsequent warnings had shaken her out of her complacencies with a vengeance today. “Don’t even think it, Nannan. Your job is to run this household smoothly . . . which you do quite well, under normal circumstances,” she allowed politely. “But all decisions regarding the Grove and its Keeping are mine and mine alone.
“Now, back to the topic. I think, if nothing else, we can take and enchant a piece of canvas for cover. It could also make a good projection wall for the scryings Guardian Kerric passed on to me,” she stated. “I’d like you to observe and give your opinions along with my own. The more minds we have working on the problems at hand, the better off we’ll be.”
“What problems?” Daranen asked, looking between the Keeper and their Witch guest.
Saleria gave up trying to eat the rest of her greens. She loved the sauce Nannan made, but it worked best on fresh greens; once they started to go limp and soggy, she lost interest. Focusing on the conversation at hand, she explained. “This goes no further than this room, Nannan, Daranen . . . but one of my counterparts up in Shattered Aiar managed to capture a . . . a Seer-like scrying from some distance into the future. Depending upon the shifting, fickle ways of fate, we may or may not have a problem with Netherhell demons within the next year.”
Nannan dropped her fork. Blue eyes wide, she stared at Saleria in shock. “N-Netherhell demons?”
“If we cannot figure out how to prevent their emergence. The important thing is that there are a good eighteen of the strongest and smartest mages around the world already working on the problem, myself included. If a solution can be found, we will find it. Which is why you shall not panic,” she ordered.
Hmphfing again, her face tight with hints of outrage and fear, Nannan rose and reached for the various food bowls. Daranen quickly snagged one of the last bread rolls before the basket was plucked out of reach.
Aradin waited until the housekeeper had taken herself and her burdens off to the kitchen down the hall. “. . . Was it necessary to tell her? Teral says she strikes him as the sort inclined to gossip.”