Page 47 of Suffer No Fools
He caught himself daydreaming and tried to focus. They sat at the conference table, the room once more shaped into a private chamber with one table instead of a vast banquet hall. The merchant shipSooty Splinehad arrived from Hearthstonecarrying some precious cargo. The children from the academy were now milling around the island or looking for rooms in the sentinel oak above them.
Fanidra sat across the table from Vadim, her back stiff as she shared the details of their trip. She was all sharp angles and edges beneath the white stubble across her scalp. The black leather clinging to her body was the softest thing about her. She looked every bit like an instrument of death.
"We left the earth weavers with Jermain in Glamiere."
"Thank you." Vadim nodded. "They were mean to Trin."
"They were ... unpleasant children, yes." Fanidra's expression said it all. She didn't think any children were pleasant, but those children had especially offended her from the scowl on her face.
"They were scared," Stan said. "They knew they wouldn't survive Stony Eel Island."
"Scared." Fanidra snorted. "They were the most arrogant weavers I've ever met, and I've met my share." She raised her eyebrows at Tovey, as though he fit that description. He'd never seen her before in his life. Only Stan's hand on his thigh kept him from launching across the table to strangle her. Tovey had a decent respect for death weavers, but she got under his skin in a way Vadim never had.
"Thank you for bringing the rest here," Hugo said. "We'll train them. Once the air weavers are ready to sail, we'll send them to Glamiere to power the new ships Jermain is building."
"Excellent." She bowed her head. "There is one more thing, a word of warning for your seeker." She turned her attention toward Klaus. "Coryn is furious about your ability to destroy her army. She's found a way to turn the seeking ability into an enchantment."
"Like your suppression necklaces?" Vadim asked.
"Perhaps, but they were made using the same suppressor's power. The seeker charms ..." She pursed her lips again.
"She's murdering them to take their ability." Klaus had been quiet until now, only a flash of auburn hair at Vadim's side before he sat down, and Vadim blocked him from Tovey's view. Still, he sounded as appalled as Tovey felt.
Fanidra nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"Who's making the seeking enchantments, then?"
"Coryn's spectral weaver isn't just a weaver," Fanidra said. "She can also make enchantments. She made the metal disks you removed from the emperor. She also made the seeking enchantments Coryn's officers used to followWildfire.Don't blame Lou."
"I'll damn well blame him for drugging me and trying to steal some water weaves," Nola said. "What did he want with them, anyway?"
"Wait," Klaus said. "Coryn has a spectral weaver that's more than a weaver? What else can she do? Seek? Suppress?"
"She has most of your power," Fanidra said. "I doubt she can kill the undead, but she does the rest. She finds seekers, suppressors, and enchanters like a grand seeker. Right now, Coryn's using her to find every seeker in the land and turn them into these new enchantments."
"Thank you for spreading the word," Klaus said. "I don't know many of Coryn's other seekers, but they don't deserve to die so that Coryn can make new paperweights."
"How can one person have all that magic? Spectral weaves, enchantments, and seeking powers?" Stan asked.
"Balanced weavers have been known to make enchantments," Efren said.
Tovey had often wondered if Hannah had some enchantment abilities, but he'd never asked.
"Stony Eel Island," Hugo said. "Coryn sent her to Stony Eel Island. That damn stone almost burned her out. Afterward, she was ... different."
The table went quiet after that. Too quiet. Finally, Vadim spoke up. "How many other seekers are there?"
"Ten in Coryn's navy," Fanidra said. "They've been working on her ships. Chances are some will defect when word gets out."
"Brigham?" Klaus asked.
"Disappeared," Fanidra said. "He was stationed on Stony Eel Island after the shipwreck, but he was long gone by the time Coryn returned."
"How do you know she returned to the island?" Vadim sounded even more suspicious than usual. He and Yvette had studied with Fanidra, after all. If he had reason to be suspicious, Tovey was doubly wary. It was his job to protect Hugo from all threats.
"I made a quick stop in Brinstock on the way here. That's why we were later than expected. We had to go around that giant block of ice you put in our way."
"Why?" Nola's voice was as flat as a slap.
