Tales of Midbar: Secret Priest

We walked into the front garden and Breeze went to the big living room window.

“So you’re like actually the magis now?” asked Miandri.

“Who’s your superior?” I asked Miandri.

“Well obviously you’re totally superior to me,” said Miandri, holding her hands out with the palms up. “Is she the new Vineyard Magis? We totally thought she was.”

“I meant who gives you orders in Benai Nibeyim?”

“Well normally Mum but while I’m here and she isn’t, it’s your mother.”

“Thou must hath an emergency contact in case there art a problem with her!”

“Yeah, totally. Oh you want to know who it is. It’s Narblo.”

“And if there art a problem with him?” asked Dwendra. “Or dost thou knoweth where he art?”

“Well there’s the meetings at the temple. You know those Sorority meetings Anden keeps going to? They’re really Benai Nibeyim meetings, you know like the investment convention that’s going to be in Minris is really for magi who think there’s a big disaster coming soon. There’s going to be a meeting tonight but it’s not for a couple of hours.”

“Who told you to have Dwendra raped?” I asked.

“That was Master Kiard because Narblo’s left town to be tried for fornicating me or something which totally isn’t fare as he can’t remember.”

“How does this spell work?” asked Breeze.

“Oh, it’s basically just vapor with residual information.”

“How do you get rid of it?” asked Breeze.

“You can’t detect Old Magic can you?”

“Just tell us how to save these people.”

“They totally don’t need saving! They’ll regain consciousness in about an hour but will have lost the last few hours of their memories, which in a couple of cases is totally a good thing.”

“Just a minute,” I said, noticing a car parked across the road.

I walked across the road and used psychokinesis to open the door of the parked car. I’d found learning to control teleportation helped with my other powers. I'd suspected the detective Dad had following Dwendra would still be on the job.

“Um, what are you doing?” asked Lacril, narrowing his eyes.

I vaguely knew him, he was a private detective who my Dad often hired.

“Sorry,” I said, “but I think you’ve seen too much.”

With that I hit him with a date rape spell. It was still blue day so he may have seen quite a bit.

“I totally don’t see why this is such a big issue,” said Miandri as I returned to the front garden.

“Because rape ist disgusting!” said Dwendra waving her arms.

“It’s also a violation the treaty,” said Breeze.

“How?” asked Miandri.

“Firstly what you did in Minris was because ...” Breeze started saying, wagging a finger at Minadri.

“That was a totally long time ago and I was just a kid!” said Miandri with an odd lack of emotion.

“Me and Eleprin were even younger kids!” said Breeze. “You deliberately harmed a Bat Haprihagfen!”

“Canst we concerneth ourselves with more recent things?” asked Dwendra.

“Having people try to rape Dwendra was a treaty violation!” said Breeze, bouncing a bit on her feet and waving her arms.

“She’s not Haprihagfen!” said Miandri.

“You shouldn’t hurt unaffiliated anavim,” said Breeze, clearly getting a bit exasperated, “of either sex, without consulting Haprihagfen!”

“She’s Benai Nibeyim,” said Miandri.

“So thou doth acknowledgeth that,” said Dwendra, smiling. “Then thou hath broken Benai Nibeyim law and I demandeth the right of judgment!”

“Oh then perhaps you aren’t Benai Nibeyim,” said Miandri.

“Then it’s a violation of the treaty,” said Breeze, “and I demand to lodge a complaint with your superior!”

“She’s unconscious and I’m not sure she’ll remember,” said Miandri.

“Then I’ll complain to whoever’s at the meeting,” said Breeze.

“But isn’t she Benai Nibeyim?” asked Miandri.

“Doth the present Benai Nibeyim recognizeth me as such?”

“I don’t know!” said Miandri, shrugging.

“Anavim of uncertain status are also covered by the treaty,” said Breeze.

“I’m sure there’s a way to sort this out so we don’t have the hassle of complaints and judgments and things?” said Miandri, smiling.

Miandri led us through the tunnels under the temple. I’d been there many times so I got a very strong suspicion as to where we were going. The likely destination was a room I could tell from visioning was occupied by about ten people, all but one psychic.

“The Kindras room?” I asked.

“I think that’s what they call it,” said Miandri. “They’ll totally freak out and won’t let you in.

We waited for them to settle down before going to the room ourselves.

There was an old nibey sitting by the door, holding a rusty sword. He looked as if he was nearly asleep but looked up as we approached and then was clearly shocked.

“Sorry,” said Miandri, who’d got another gas ball and was sucking on it, “but they totally insisted.”

“You know only our people are allowed into the meetings,” he said, looking in horror at me and Dwendra and he didn’t seem too happy about Breeze either.

“I art Benai Nibeyim!” said Dwendra.

“We haven’t decided if we recognize you as such yet,” said the old man, who must have been warned about a glildac anavah. He was breathing heavily and shaking.

“Then I wish to report a treaty violation,” said Breeze.

“That’s nothing to do with me,” said the old man.

“Then I’ll speak to those inside!” said Breeze, stepping towards the door.

The old man stepped in front of the door, raising his sword and gritting his teeth. I’d looked at him with a magic detector and he wasn’t a mage and didn’t have artifacts except the sword, which wasn’t very powerful.

“I’m the trainee Vineyard Magis, what do you think you can do to me?” asked Breeze. “And violence is forbidden on Holy Sites.”

The man, with a look of horror in his eyes, backed through the door, which he pushed open, with his sword raised.

“... are we going ...” a man was saying inside. He stopped as soon as he saw there was trouble.

The rest of us followed Breeze. It was a fairly normal chamber that was used for various meetings. It had a pattern of alternating black and white tiles in diagonal rows on the floor. The walls were paneled in alternating sheets of black, white, red and purple material. There were tables forming three sides of a rectangle with the open end towards the door.