In Which Lucien and the Others Are Told to Think

April 20, 1180

There were thirteen at the table, but barring Vera's informing her sister and stepmother of her decision to buy a new horse and talk of whatever "shapely tavern maid" Lonriad kept muttering about to a half-listening Isidro, the concept of chatter was lost among the room's inhabitants. Lucien wasn't sure if he preferred it that way. The silence was a reminder, not a distraction--he half-believed Vera was only keeping up her conversation for his sake--but if he expected them all to burst out in gossip and anecdotes, he supposed that made him a hypocrite. He didn't have anything to say either.

"Thank you all for coming."

Lord Severin shut the double doors behind him and strode to the empty seat at the head of the table, between Lady Leonora and Jadin. He sat down at stared along both sides, his eyes coming to a rest when they reached Lorn a second time. "Each of you were summoned here today for various reasons. Many of you are among the people I love most, and you are all among the people I trust most. There are also those among you who have been directly impacted by the situation at hand."

Lucien glanced around the the table, from Vera all the way to Lettie on his other side. He wasn't sure he'd quite worked his way into the first group, but that must not have been the prime qualification; Searle and Riona were both notably absent, as were Falidor and Asalaye. He might have been part of the second--at least, he didn't think he'd given Lord Severin any reason not to trust him--but if this concerned Remiel, as it almost certainly did...

Last group. He had to be part of the last group.

"I thought long and hard over the configuration of this council. The most important factor in my decision process was the need for Remiel's victims' voices to be heard, directly or indirectly. It stood to reason that presence of my fellow lords would also be needed, with their wisdom and leadership experience. As for the rest of you--well, some of you are logical, methodical people. Some of you are more instinctual and outwardly passionate. Some of you are, in fact, both.

"With the other criteria satisfied, I wanted to fill the remaining seats with the combination of individuals that offer a firm balance of heart and head, as I believe both will be needed to tie up the loose ends that Remiel left behind."

If even that could do it. Remiel had taken most of his secrets to the grave, and the only other person who might have known them had died that same day. Perhaps Laveria's murder had been a desperate attempt to cover his tracks, and Lucien suspected that Lord Severin had considered this. Then again, maybe he hadn't. It had only been three days since he'd done Remiel in, had his body cremated and handed the ashes to a courier with the given destination of "as far away as humanly possible". It had only been three days ago that his mother had died, and only yesterday he'd buried her. He was still processing. Who was Lucien to guess his thoughts?

"Now that Remiel himself is gone, I believe the most pressing issue is that of the remaining essence we found during numerous searches of his quarters. Unfortunately--certain unsavory uses aside--nothing in Remiel's notes says much about any practical purposes." Of course they didn't. Lucien swallowed; Lord Severin looked over at Lady Leonora before continuing. "Based on the little we do know, however, it seems reasonable to assume that it has at least a few potential applications. I've thought of a few, but I'm curious to see what ideas the rest of you might have."

Several looks were exchanged among the thirteen; if anyone had an idea, they didn't care to share it. Near the end of the table, the duchess sighed. Lord Severin shot her a glance of concern. "Celina?"

She shook her head as Lorn leaned forward to answer on her behalf. "Well... we'd wondered earlier if maybe it could do something for my brother. But that's probably a long shot, and even if it could, there's not much of it, is there?"

"Enough to make a new body? Not that I can be sure how far each drop goes, but probably not." Lord Severin's eyes left the duke and flickered instead toward Lucien. He tried to make contact out of politeness, but on some level, he supposed that required wanting to be here. "Lucien, would you happen to know if it's even possible?"

"It's not, my lord." It was only then that he remembered he wasn't supposed to call him that, but of course Vera's father had too much tact to correct him in front of all these people. Not that Lucien would have minded much, given that he'd been the one to kill Remiel. "Remiel tried it a few times, but it never worked. Sorry, your grace."

The duchess tried to smile. She didn't succeed, but it was nice that she was trying--especially when there was so much worse he could have and probably should have told her. "It's all right. We figured it was unwise to get our hopes up."

"But what about medicinal purposes in general?" Xeta piped up--trying to steer the discussion for her mother's sake, perhaps. "Vera healed Lucien's eyes with it, remember?"

"That's true," Isidro agreed. "Though that does cross a little too far into miracle territory. If we only have a limited supply, it wouldn't be wise to build up a reputation."

On Xeta's other side, Jadin squinted. "What about agriculture, then? We use a little to fertilize the fields and see if there's any difference to the crops."

"But we've only seen its effects on humans," Lady Leonora pointed out. "It might impact plants negatively. There may also be some long-term environmental effects; it might wipe the nutrients out of a field, or it might harm the local wildlife if it gets into the food chain. There's too much we don't know."

"Then we ought to study it, don't you think?" Lettie raised her elbows to the table and propped her chin on her fist. "Test its effects on various things, make note of any positives and negatives and weigh them."

The baron bit his lip. "That would be the logical first step, and I'd be willing to fund a proposed project; that said, though, it wouldn't be practical to throw money at an experiment without a clear-cut goal in mind."

"There's also no guarantee that the study would leave any essence for whatever use it confirmed," Raia pointed out. "It fades over time, doesn't it?"

Lucien nodded. "Yes. Well, at least..." He cast a weary look toward the duchess; unfortunately for him, she caught it.

Across from him, Lonriad frowned. "At least what?"

The duchess too stared at him with inquiring eyes. He hadn't wanted her to find out this way--or any way, really--but he supposed it was preferable to her waking one day and finding that Farilon just wasn't there any more. "At least... when not bound to a biological host."

The duchess's lip quivered, though she chose to say nothing. Her husband reached across the gap between them and steadied her shaking hand, though he himself lacked little in grim. It was Vera who took it upon herself to break the quiet. "Then I take it any kind of military application would only be temporary."

"If you mean attaching it to a sword, yes."

"So what's the rundown, then?" Raia turned away from her sister to instead face their father and stepmother. "We only know that it can be safely used on humans, but we can't attempt anything too drastic, and anything else would require earlier research that we might not have the resources to pursue?"

Her father grimaced. "That seems to sum it up."

Lucien looked over at the duchess again. She wore a brave face, but the twitch of her lashes must have been fighting back a tear. Would it be prudent to suggest donating all the leftover essence to keeping Farilon in that suit of armor as long as possible? Or was it cruel? Steel would not retain the essence. It would, eventually, run out. Giving it to Farilon might have just been postponing the inevitable.

Never mind that none of them could be quite sure how to actually apply it...

"Well... I take it no one else has any suggestions." Lord Severin swept over the table once again before pushing back his chair and rising to his feet. "Go home to your families, all of you, and think long and hard on this. We'll meet again at this time tomorrow once we've all had a little more time to consider the options. Or if we have any options at all."

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