I agreed to help right away, and within minutes Lady Liu’s staff had fetched the coffin-like construct into the room. I understood now why she had wanted us to meet here; even though the vessel was sized to contain a hob, it was still far too big for an ordinary coffee table like was in the only other study I had seen.
The whole thing was shaped somewhat like a blunt wedge. One end was perhaps a yard long, and it tapered down to approximately eighteen inches across, then sharply to a point. It was made of some sort of blue-green metal that I knew instinctively was not a natural substance, but purely thought constructed. I poked it. It was warm to the touch, as if it had been stored in a heated room.
The top of it had an indentation about the size of my hand shaped like a jagged-edged three-pointed star. A half-sphere impression at the center of the indentation had several pocks in it that seemed deliberate. The whole thing seemed designed to turn. This would be where the key fitted, then. There were no hinges on the sides, nor latch or any other mechanism other than the single strange indentation.
The triangular panel near the narrow end was shaded a lighter color than the rest of the vessel, and it had words marked out on it in a harsh-edged black. “Lady Liu, This vessel contains a friend. Only our House can open it. We will be in touch.”
“Were they?” I asked, looking up at Lady Liu.
It wasn’t the Lady herself, but Aunt Betty, who answered. “Yes,” she said. “Though we didn’t make the connection until your first visit. This arrived, unannounced, outside our front gate. That same day I was instructed to carry an offer to Lady Liu from Master Carver. Sealed envelope.”
Lady Liu looked sad, and for once her age seemed to be getting the better of her. She was leaning on the table for support. “It said that Master Carver was arranging a new treaty. As allies, he wanted my House included in it. I agreed, of course; Community and Inheritance have worked together for a long time. There were…suggestions that the agreement would give Master Carver more leverage against those Houses who we frequently butt heads with. I was also instructed to give his courier,” she met my eyes, “Every consideration and aid, should the need arise.
“It was while you were asleep that I realized, Mister Corners. Those suggestions were a subtle threat. I went back and read the offer that day before you awoke. The words had shifted on the page, though they seemed the same. ‘Do what I say and your friend will be released.’, they said now. It was…too late to take back my agreement to the offer by that point. There are rules, formalities. One of them is that once the delivery is under way, any agreements in place at its departure remain so.”
“That’s how he got the authority to include you,” Boddy observed. “Sleight of hand and trickery. Probably did the same for the other seven.”
“So it would seem.”
I ran my fingertips over the edges of the star and squinted down into the pocks at the bottom of the dome-like insert. “But now that’s changed. Since I didn’t complete the delivery, your side of the agreement is in flux. If I refuse, and return it to Community--”
“We can revoke our participation in it before the next courier is hired.” Lady Liu straightened her back, though she kept one hand on the table still. “And so can every other House that serpent-tongue tricked into signing itself away.”
I projected inward to my mindscape and twinned my perceptions. Inner me got to work on a key. I designed it to be shapeless, like the firewall Gary Westlake had helped me build. Outer me carried on the conversation. “Why would Archivist of House Community be important enough to you to act as leverage, even in such a sideways fashion?”
“We didn’t know it was her, at first.” Lady Liu responded. Aunt Betty’s mouth snapped closed over a reply, and she somehow managed to blush through the russet-orange coloration of her fur. Lady Liu continued, “My House, you may have noticed, is arranged more like a family with me as matriarch, rather than a more typical employer/employee relationship. With exceptions,” she added, glancing at Steward. “As a result, we are simultaneously more and less formal with our friendships outside the House. If one of the House forms a friendship, they all do, and that implied acceptance is reinforced by the nature of this place and of our House.
“So this could have been anyone. We have ambassadors other than Aunt Betty here, who routinely interact with members of other Houses. Even you, Daniel, and you, Mister Bodyguard, count as friends in a very real sense because of your interactions with a few individual family members. My personal involvement need not occur.”
I remembered the gifts I had offered, both to Lady Liu and to LittleCousin. I remembered how delighted Little Cousin had been to help me procure my offerings, and how enthusiastic Youngest Grandson had been about his new video game. Boddy was looking over at Aunt Betty with an expression that reflected my own. He had formed a friendship there, as well.
Meanwhile, inner me had completed construction of the physical key, such as it were since it had no defined shape. But I was unable to empower it properly to open the vessel. I could sense the requisite authority layered over the lock, but my mindscape utterly lacked the correct matching signature to put into the key.
“Maps,” Outer me said, suddenly. Everyone looked at me in confusion, and I realized they weren’t privy to the thoughts I had between my projection and my body. “I need Maps. I’m just a courier, and Boddy has been working against the Head of House these past two days,” Boddy winced, “Sorry, Boddy. Maps is still working directly for Mister Carver. More to the point, he used to be Porter. Unless there’s a separate position for Master of Keys in House Community?” Boddy shook his head, understanding widening his eyes. “He’ll have the authority the key needs to work, somewhere in his being. I need to see him.”
“Daniel,” Boddy said, his tone dropping to a half growl. “How do you plan to get the authority from him?”
“With his cooperation, if possible. If not, it won’t cause him any lasting harm.” I realized as I spoke that I was speaking with certainty. As soon as I realized that, I knew that I was certain. Odd, but reassuring. “He simply won’t be able to resume his position as Porter again unless I return it.”
“So the House will have nobody to watch the doors?”
“Not sure on that part,” I admitted. The confident voice that could intuit how my powers worked didn’t apply to that, apparently. “At the very worst, I’ll be able to assign the authority to anyone I wish. Or, if I die, it should dissipate and reform naturally. Don’t tell Maps about that last part, though, if you don’t mind.”
Lady Liu nodded curtly to Steward, who left the room. Inner me worked on another construction while we waited. Boddy and Aunt Betty held a whispered conversation off to one side. Lady Liu and I said nothing, merely sat back down in our respective chairs.
Maps was tied up with what appeared to be ordinary rope, his arms held behind him but some very old-fashioned shackles; the kind that you needed a forge to close or open. He actually sneered at me as he was carried in, the little traitor. “Courier. Traitor.” The second was directed at Boddy, naturally. Oh, the irony. Maps turned to the vessel in the center of the table. “What have you found here?”
“You mean you don’t know?” I asked, honestly surprised. “Would have thought Mister Carver kept you apprised of all his various schemes. If for no other reason than that he would need to take them past you every time.”
“Mister Carver didn’t need my permission or help to come and go as he pleased. This is one of his bargains, then?” Maps craned upward to read the inscription. “Oh, that’s a bit farther than I thought he’d have to go. I would have advised against this, just so you know.”
“I’m sure you would.” I tried to make my tone as dry as possible. “But he settled his agreement this way. With Archie’s life likely in the balance. Can you live with that price for what he has done?”
“Our House used to be strong. Tighter than any glue, with a seat at the top and every seat below another. Yes, Daniel. To return to those days, to make Community mean something again, even that.”
“Well you suck, then.” I said. Inner me had finished creating the second construct--it was so much faster when I used my own motif than someone else’s--and I manifested it into my right hand. I hadn’t expected Maps to cooperate, though I had hoped. The construction reflected that. When it manifested, it took on a shape according to its purpose, like Gary had explained it would. That was a nifty trick. It looked something like an injection gun, with a toy suction cup on the end instead of a needle. I wondered, briefly, if the overt cartoonishness of it was from my mind or from the irrealis all around me. It didn’t matter for my purposes, though. I stepped forward and rolled up Maps’s sleeve.
“What’s that, then, Daniel? You’re finally learning how to thought construct? Bravo. Subversive warned us that you were a natural, but even he didn’t think you’d pick up manifestation so fast. And that, I’m guessing you made that just for me. Only took you a few minutes? Very good.”
I didn’t answer. I pressed the suction cup to Maps’s bicep, like I was giving him a shot. He tensed suddenly, and started to voice another question. All he got out was “Wait,” before I pulled the trigger.
There was a loud humming noise. Maps sat up rigidly for a couple seconds, then his pupils dilated suddenly, and his eyelids drooped. The rest of his body followed suit, tensing then relaxing. The vial behind the suction cup glowed slightly, a faint white light trapped inside. Maps’s eyes refocused. He turned to look at me, anger tying his eyebrows together.
“What did you just do to me?”
“I borrowed your authority as keeper of the locks and doors of House Community,” I answered, matter-of-factly. I reintegrated the extracting construct, complete with its new payload. Inner me began to add the components of that authority to the key construct as I stared Maps in the eye.
I’ve never been very good at staredowns, but after the last couple of days, I had a lot of adrenaline and a surprising amount of anger stored up. Maps broke first, saying nothing but looking away.
I didn’t talk for the rest of the hour it took me to construct the key. Lady Liu followed suit, saying nothing. Maps was returned to wherever House Inheritance kept their prisoners, making vague and toothless threats to me and ignoring everyone else. Boddy, Steward, and Aunt Betty sat at the far end of the conference table and held a quiet conversation. It didn’t seem important. Steward even chuckled at one point, though with his predator’s grin it gave a different impression.
Finally, the key was ready. I manifested it, and it took the shape of a silvery jewel, all one piece. The same white light was trapped inside, now reflected and refracted so it seemed bright and clear rather than faintly glowing. As I lowered the jewel into the lock, it reshaped itself, fitting every jagged edge on the star. I felt the orb underneath growing spurs that fitted exactly into every pocked hole.
I looked at Boddy. He nodded. He trusted me. I met Lady Liu’s eyes. She tilted her head slightly, a more severe version of a nod.
I turned the key. The lid melted away, revealing a hob woman, small even for her kin. The vessel’s interior was shaped such that she scarcely had room to wiggle her toes. She was wearing a baggy blouse with three rows of pockets and a long skirt. Slowly, she opened her eyes. Boddy burst into one of his toothy grins at the sight of her, and leaned over to help her climb out of the coffin.
