The doors closed behind them.
Orren Vale continued forward without looking back, the end of his cane striking the stone floor with a quiet click as the seven Guardians followed. For a while, no one spoke, and there was little need to when their footsteps did enough to fill the silence.
Eight sets of steps traveled through the enormous hall, each one echoing between the pillars before returning a moment later, quieter than before. Vorga's heavier steps landed with dull thuds against the stone, while the metallic weight of Oria's body produced a sharper sound among them. Between it all came the steady rhythm of Orren's cane.
Click.
Step.
Step.
Click.
The sounds followed them deeper into the Concord.
The passage ahead could hardly be called a hallway. It was closer to the interior of some enormous cathedral, wide enough for dozens of people to walk beside one another and tall enough that the ceiling seemed impossibly distant.
Great stone pillars rose on either side of them, each one wider than several men standing shoulder to shoulder. They climbed past balconies and upper walkways before disappearing into arches far above, where paintings stretched across the vaulted ceiling and the Seven watched from above.
Elyndra stood beneath a perfect golden circle, one hand extended over kneeling figures while balanced scales hung from the other. Beside her, Aenvara rose among enormous trees and flowering vines, surrounded by beasts that had long since disappeared from much of the world, while Draveth stood before ranks of warriors with a weapon raised toward a burning sky. Vaerith sat beneath a field of stars with countless pages and memories spiraling around her, Narethos emerged from painted darkness with portions of his form disappearing into shadow, and Thalenor stood among flame and broken stone as something new rose from the destruction. At the end waited Kharoth beneath a pale evening sky, surrounded not by corpses, but by those who had finally been allowed to rest.
Despite their differences, no God had been placed above another. Their paintings were the same size, their pillars rose to the same height, and each occupied an equal place within the Concord.
Light poured through enormous stained-glass windows set between the pillars, filling the pale stone with shifting colors as the afternoon sun passed through them. Gold crossed the floor first, followed by green and then deep crimson, which washed briefly over Vorga's enormous form before slipping behind him. Blue came next, traveling across Oria's metallic shell and reflecting from its surface in thin streaks of light. Near the center of the hall, the colors overlapped until no single one remained distinct.
Orren walked through them without slowing, and the Guardians followed.
Even people accustomed to fortresses, palaces, temples, battlefields, and the courts of rulers tended to grow quieter within the Concord. It had never been built for the purpose of making someone feel small, yet surrounded by centuries of stone and history, that was often the result.
Some sections had been repaired so many times that newer blocks sat beside ones worn smooth by generations of hands. Old carvings remained beneath newer inscriptions, while statues occupied alcoves along the walls, some depicting former Blessed and others people whose names had disappeared long enough ago that only the Concord still remembered them. One statue had stood there for so long that most of its face had been worn away, but none of the Guardians stopped to examine it as they continued deeper inside.
The enormous central hall gradually narrowed, though even the smaller passages of the Concord remained larger than the interiors of most temples. The towering stained-glass windows became thinner here, appearing between increasingly frequent pillars, while old banners hung motionless from the walls.
Orren turned beneath one of them. Seven symbols had been embroidered into its fabric, each surrounding the symbol of the Concord at its center.
Two Templars waited beneath the next archway and bowed as Orren approached.
"Senior Keeper."
Orren answered with a small nod, and neither questioned the seven heavily armed figures following him as the group passed beneath the arch.
Vaelor's pale gray eyes drifted toward one of the carvings running along the stone as he passed, his attention remaining there for a moment before moving toward another farther ahead. Oria noticed it as well, but neither said anything.
They passed beneath another archway, and then another. By the fourth, several of the Guardians were paying less attention to the paintings than they were to the walls beneath them.
Orren continued ahead, never once turning around to make certain they were following.
Eventually, the passage opened into another chamber.
It was considerably smaller than the halls they had crossed, though calling it small would have been misleading. Tall windows lined one side with several benches resting beneath them, while paintings of former Keepers and Templars covered the opposite wall. At the far end stood a pair of dark wooden doors bearing the symbol of the Concord.
A young Keeper was already waiting beside them.
He approached Orren, leaned close enough to whisper something into his ear, then bowed before disappearing through a narrow doorway nearby.
Orren watched him leave before turning toward the Guardians.
"My apologies. It appears the Council is running slightly behind schedule. They should be ready to receive us shortly."
Vorga grunted.
"There are seats if any of you wish to rest," Orren continued. "I apologize for the delay."
Vaelor was the first to take him up on the offer. The Dragonkin crossed to one of the benches and sat heavily, stretching his legs out in front of him before leaning back against the wall. His broken horn nearly touched the stone behind him as his pale gray eyes wandered toward the painted ceiling.
Tanila took neither of the offered seats. She moved toward the windows instead, stopping where both the Council doors and the passage they had entered remained within her view.
The others remained standing, and for a short while the silence returned.
Unlike the seven they had left behind, however, the Guardians had little need for introductions. Most of them had met before, some only once or twice during gatherings between Dominions or occasions important enough to drag people of their standing into the same place. Others had crossed paths often enough that names and reputations had long since become unnecessary.
They weren't friends, but neither were they strangers. There was only one person among them who truly stood outside that familiarity.
Vorga's attention settled on Korin.
The young man stood several paces away in immaculate white and gold armor, his sword resting at his side and his posture almost irritatingly perfect. Vorga looked at him for several seconds before Korin noticed and returned the stare.
Neither said anything at first.
Then Vorga broke the silence.
"How old are you?"
Korin turned fully toward him.
"Twenty."
Vorga's brow lowered.
"You're young."
Korin glanced briefly toward the human woman standing nearby.
"Guardian Veska is twenty-five."
Veska's mechanical eye shifted toward him at the mention of her name, but Vorga barely looked in her direction.
"She's proved herself."
Korin was silent for a moment.
"Then I'll have to do the same."
Vorga grunted, and that seemed to be the end of it.
Veska's mechanical eye remained on Korin for another moment.
"For future reference, don't use me to win an argument."
Korin turned toward her.
"My apologies, Guardian Veska."
"Accepted."
Sair Vex watched the exchange from where he leaned against one of the pillars, his tail moving lazily behind him as his eyes passed from Korin to Vorga and then briefly toward Veska.
Korin looked around the chamber. There was a familiarity in the way the others stood around one another that had been absent whenever they addressed him. It wasn't friendship, but something older and less comfortable than that: recognition. These were people who had encountered one another before, whether they had wanted to or not.
Sair's attention eventually shifted toward Tanila.
The older elf remained near the windows, both hands resting over the top of her staff. Faded blond hair streaked with silver fell around the scarred side of her face, while the damaged remains of her left ear were partly visible beneath it. An old scar ran across her left eye as well.
Sair studied it for a moment.
"You kept the eye."
Tanila's gaze moved toward him.
"What?"
"The left one."
The room became slightly quieter.
Tanila's expression hardened.
"Yes."
"The healers wanted to remove it after the infection spread."
Her fingers tightened slightly around her staff.
"Who told you that?"
Sair's ears shifted.
"You had forty-three soldiers remaining under your command. Removing it would've kept you away from them for nearly a month."
Tanila stared at him while Sair continued to smile.
"That was never in the report."
"No," Sair said. "It wasn't."
The answer seemed to sharpen something in Tanila's expression.
"Where did you hear it?"
Sair tilted his head.
"I hear many things."
"That isn't an answer."
"It usually works as one."
"Not with me."
Sair's tail flicked once behind him.
Tanila stepped away from the window. She didn't move threateningly, nor did her voice rise, but the room seemed slightly quieter when she spoke again.
"You've always had a habit of collecting things that don't belong to you."
"Information doesn't belong to anyone."
"That's exactly the kind of answer I expected from you."
Sair placed a hand over his chest.
"Then I'm glad I haven't disappointed you."
"You frequently do."
Veska gave a quiet snort.
Sair looked toward her.
"You see? She does remember me."
"I was trying not to."
"Unsuccessfully."
Nearby, Vaelor remained seated with his head resting against the wall, apparently far more interested in the ceiling than any of them. Oria had said nothing either, although the blue light behind her visor moved from one speaker to the next.
Vorga folded his arms.
"You always know this much about people?"
Sair looked toward him.
"No."
He paused.
"Usually more."
Vorga grunted.
Korin's eyes narrowed slightly, and Sair noticed.
"You don't like that."
"I don't know you well enough to like or dislike anything about you."
"Very diplomatic."
"It's the truth."
"Those aren't mutually exclusive."
Korin said nothing.
Sair pushed himself away from the pillar.
"Where did you train?"
"Valmyr."
"I assumed that."
"Then why ask?"
"Where in Valmyr?"
Korin hesitated.
"Several places."
"Military?"
"Yes."
"Temple?"
"Yes."
"Private instruction?"
"For a time."
Sair nodded slowly.
"Under who?"
Korin's eyes remained fixed on him.
"Why?"
"No reason."
"There is always a reason."
"Commander Halven, for part of it," Oria said.
Both of them turned toward her.
The blue light behind her visor remained steady as she looked at Korin.
"Unless Valmyr's records were incorrect."
Korin studied her for a moment.
"They weren't."
Sair looked toward Oria.
"You're ruining my fun."
"You were taking too long."
Sair stared at her, and Oria stared back.
Oria said nothing.
Sair returned his attention to Korin.
"How long were you with the military?"
Korin looked back at him, but Tanila spoke before he could answer.
"You're fishing."
Sair's head turned toward her.
"Am I?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation, Tanila's eyes remaining sharp as she watched him.
"You've been doing it since Vorga started speaking to him."
Sair considered that.
"And here I thought I was being subtle."
"You weren't."
"That's disappointing."
Tanila said nothing more.
Sair looked back toward Korin, but before he could continue, something seemed to catch his attention. His ears moved as his eyes left the young Guardian and traveled toward the dark wooden doors at the end of the chamber, then across the walls and ceiling before moving toward the narrow passage through which the young Keeper had disappeared.
Finally, they settled on Orren.
The old man had not moved far from the Council doors. He had been standing there the entire time, both hands resting over the head of his cane, silently listening.
Sair's tail stopped moving.
"Interesting."
Tanila's expression sharpened.
"What?"
Sair didn't answer immediately. His eyes returned to the Council doors for a moment before moving back toward Orren, and a small smile slowly returned to his face.
"I've been sitting here trying to see what everyone knows."
Nobody interrupted him.
His gaze moved around the chamber one more time.
"And you've been letting me."
Orren remained silent.
Sair gave a quiet laugh and straightened.
"Well. They brought us here on purpose."
Vorga's brow lowered.
Sair gestured toward the chamber around them.
"Seven Guardians from seven different Dominions are brought into the same room, told the Council is running late, and given enough time to start talking among ourselves. No interruptions, no attendants wandering through, and nobody asking us to keep our voices down."
His ears tilted slightly toward the walls before his gaze returned to Orren.
"They're listening to us right now to see what we know."
Sair smiled.
"Right, Sir Vale?"
Silence followed, but not surprise.
Sair's ears shifted as he looked around.
Vorga hadn't moved, while Tanila's expression remained exactly as it had been, both hands still resting over her staff. Veska seemed more interested in Sair's reaction than in his accusation, and Oria's blue visor remained fixed on him. Even Vaelor only lowered his gaze from the ceiling.
Sair looked between them, and his smile slowly widened.
"Oh."
Vorga looked toward him.
"What?"
"You all knew."
"Obviously," Veska said.
Sair turned toward her.
"And nobody thought that was worth mentioning?"
"You seemed entertained," Tanila answered.
Sair stared at her for a moment before laughing and turning his attention toward Vorga.
"And you were perfectly happy letting them listen?"
"I wanted to talk to him."
Vorga nodded toward Korin.
"They wanted to listen."
He shrugged.
"Worked for both of us."
Sair's eyes moved toward Korin, but the young Guardian hadn't reacted either.
"You too?"
Korin hesitated.
"There are three observation arrays in this chamber."
Sair blinked.
Korin glanced toward the upper wall.
"Four if the one behind you is still active."
Sair slowly looked over his shoulder.
Veska smiled.
"I was wondering when someone would mention that one."
Sair looked back at Korin, and for once he didn't immediately have something to say.
Vorga's attention returned to the young Guardian as well, his eyes remaining there for a moment before moving away.
Sair eventually looked toward the others again.
"So all of you noticed."
"We're Guardians," Tanila said.
Sair considered that.
"Fair."
His attention returned to Orren. The amusement remained in his expression, but there was something more attentive behind it now.
"Still, leaving us together was deliberate."
Orren said nothing.
"You wanted us talking."
Sair's smile returned.
"Right, Sir Vale?"
Orren regarded him quietly for a moment before giving the slightest inclination of his head.
"I would expect no less from the Guardian of Narethos's Blessed."
Sair's ears lifted.
"That's not a denial."
"It wasn't intended to be."
The smile remained on Sair's face.
Behind Orren, something heavy shifted as locks began to move within the Council doors, one after another.
The waiting was over.