Deus Ex Machina

The sound of her steps rang out a great din within the cavernous room, no one dared attempt to stop whoever she was either with words or actions, she moved unhampered and unafraid. When she came to a halt, she was beside Yuji on the opposite side of Mirk. The movements of her clothing in his periphery made it so he couldn’t help but look up at the woman. Her face and skin were so perfect it seemed carved from white marble, an opalescent shine radiating from it. She had lashes of cool silver gray that matched her mass of wavey hair and eyes as icy and luminous as moonstones. In her small hands she took up a swath of her great velvety gown of pale blue silk causing the silver threads and crystals woven throughout to glitter vibrantly. With care she knelt beside him her eyes on the margrave.

“Rise Centauri Seren you mustn’t kneel before me.” The margrave colored, obviously taken aback, his hand outlifted to her as if to aid her in doing so.

“How can I rise my lord when it is I, not Lord Till, who has committed a grave crime against my lord and his house.”

The crowd became uproarious, the waves of their talk so loud and sudden it hurt the ears. Yuji glanced at Mirk who was peeking passed his master’s body at the girl.

“Surely you do not suggest that you the Centauri Seren are responsible for Lord Till’s actions?” There was disbelieve in Lord Halius’ tone.

Face now uplifted Yuji took in Till’s eldest brother Lord Halius. He was handsome in his own way, with black hair and dark stormy gray eyes like their father’s, only his nose was that little bit crooked and face that tiny bit too full, and his form rather too much suggestive of his enjoyment of the finer things in life. Yuji couldn’t help feeling Halius had the same air as the character Governor Ratcliffe he had seen in a popular cartoon as a child. The DNA Till and Halius shared had played out quite differently.

“I suggest the very thing my lord. I have evidence to prove so.”

A servant entered bringing her a tray from which she retrieved a small ornament of pale white jade. She extended it out for the court to see. She presented it to Yuji last.

“Do you recognize this my lord?”

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Last year when his elder brother Haruto went to visit their sister in Japan he brought back a netsuke as a memento for him. Yuji had thought it was just a little tourist trap trinket, nothing more. Just a piece of molded plastic or some cheap gemstone made to look like yellow jade carved with the symbol of the sun in much the same way as this one had an image of the moon. They seemed an unfortunately separated pair.

A sudden recollection of the day of the hike. He had seen the netsuke as he was getting ready to leave and, on a whim, had tied it to a belt loop on his jeans. He had been wearing it when he died.

“I do.” He couldn’t hide his own shock.

“My lord, this was found on the bank not far from where Lord Till was discovered. I had given it to him as a gift and had asked him to wear it as a favor to me. I had been told it was a totem and that I should keep it near me, but considering its value as well as all that my lord’s son had done for me I asked Lord Till to carry it with him, to protect him as he sorted my path to the capital. I was told there was no magic on the object at the time. I had the court mages assurance that no harm would come to those who wore it and that it was a simple talisman, worn for mere peace of mind then utility. I ask that it be reexamined by the court mages to confirm whether or not this has been a catalyst for some hidden magic, or if it is a simple embellishment and nothing more. Until I know that this was not the cause I will not stand.”

The girl looked like a child kneeling there with her arms outstretched, the small vessel in her tiny hands. In his wildest dreams, Yuji couldn’t imagine her being older then eighteen, though even that felt a bit of a stretch. But the determination she was expressing seemed a contrived child’s game and yet everyone, especially the margrave, took it in earnest.

“Send for Tartus at once.”

A servant ran to do as the margrave ordered. People began to talk, quietly, their hushed voices reverberating in the large room as if they were dry leaves clattering against each other in a stiff breeze. The girl remained perfectly still eyes poised ahead. Her arms had lowered, they were before her, the netsuke held near her heart.

The margrave and Halius were visibly disturbed by the events in two different, uninterpretable ways. The margravine had her eyes on Yuji with a gaze indicative of Lady Dagney’s. She cut a vicious figure, fine cut wasp silhouette not at all obscured by the folds of her gown. Beside her stood a youngish, handsome man, who in appearance was aristocratic but similar enough in appearance to define how he was connected to Halius and Till. Yuji wondered if he was Dain or some other horror yet to be named. In expression and presentation, he was every bit a threat and had his hand on power enough to stand beside it. Catlike eyes, a trusting way of holding a smile. He was the kind of person who would offer you a helping hand just to get you in a better place before he pushed you off a cliff. When he noticed Yuji was looking at him his smile shifted into something subtly provoking.

The voices softened as someone entered the hall. Noticing she remained eyes forward Yuji didn’t move waiting for the person to present themselves. It was an older man who came to the front, dressed in a gray wool clerical style gown. He bowed before the margrave, his shaggy black hair fluttering around his gaunt features.

“You sent for me my lord?”

“Tartus, examine the object in the Centauri Seren’s custody.”

“As you wish my lord.”

The man presented open palms to the girl. With care she placed the object in them retracting her fingers as if she feared they might touch him, he moved in a mirrored fashion. From the folds in his vestments Tartus produced a loupe which he nested in his left eye. The netsuke was brought close to the lens and for five painstaking minutes it was examined. The tension in the room was unbearable.

Yuji could feel his heart beating in his ears, sweat was percolating from his pores, over strained muscles overheating from the effort and beginning to swell. As a child he had made a bet with his friends for a pool of forty dollars that he could hold a match to his skin until it burned out. He had managed to win, but the second degree burn he sustained in the process had hurt, itched, and scarred. This strain felt somehow uncannily similar.

“Tartus,” the margrave at last spoke, his deep bass eerie in the stillness, “Is there magic residue on the object.”

Tartus tilted his head and flipped over the piece, running his pinky in a floating circle over the relief of the moon. Looking up from the piece, face sallow, removing the loupe from his eye.

“There is.”

“Can you tell what the purpose of the magic may have been?”

“I am afraid not my lord. Whoever cast such magic was very skilled, the spell itself has fractured beyond recognition suggesting it was very old. There are only partials left.”

There was murmuring once again. The man beside the margravine smiled corrosively. Halius shifted with distaste beside their father.

“Centauri Seren, how did this item come to be in your possession?” The margraves hid conflicting emotions behind an austere expression.

“When the house of Wark visited my lord, it was a part of the gifts that were presented to me. I was told it was symbolic. That it had belonged to their family for ages and that they wished to present it to me as an ornament for me to wear at my waist. It was said to contain no real magic but was thought that its design might bring me good luck and safe travel to Nocturn. As I have already stated, understanding the importance of my position, I had the court mages look over the item before daring to touch it and I was assured by them that it contained no enchantments.”

“Did one of your men fail to notice the enchantment Tartus?”

“No magic was found by the mages on any of the gifts presented to the Centauri Seren by the Wark family, nor has any gift presented to the Centauri Seren to date.” Tartus voice was tremulous. “I can assure you my lord that if the ornament was allowed to go into the possession of the Centauri Seren it contained no perceivable enchantments, at least at the time of its examination.”

“Explain to me how is that possible that the mages kept in my service could make such a blunder? How could you not have detected it?” The pound of the margrave’s hand upon the great armrest of his chair sent Tartus to his knees.

“It is possible my lord that conditions needed to be met to activate and reveal the magic, if so then it may have sat dormant and undetectable for a eons without any mage or magician being able to perceive it. This magic I believe is very old, possibly it is from so far in the past it has been lost in the annals thus making its detection, even if potentially perceivable before activation, difficult or impossible to find for those not trained in ancient or forbidden magic.”

“Tartus,” it was the girl who now spoke, “is it at all possible to rule out the fact that this ornament might have forced its bearer to do things they would otherwise not?”

The mages’ eyes trembled as he looked at her, “without a magic historian it is impossible to rule out such a thing and even if there was one on hand, the magic is degrading so quickly, they may still be unable to definitively say.”

“So then how can you punish Lord Till, my lord, if this unknown spell was activated and forced him to do something beyond his own will. That would be an injustice beyond reproach.” Her words seemed to stab at the margrave. “It being in his possession and not in mine might very well have saved my life. And in that case, I beg you my lord, to spare Lord Till, to show him mercy. If you cannot save your anger then punish me in his stead, for the fault would lie not with Lord Till, but with myself for having given him the object that led to his misconduct.”

“The Centauri Seren poses a valid point my lord, I must second her in her protestations and beg mercy on all counts.” The man beside the margravine inserted himself with the keen look of an opponent who had to say good game after a loss while treasuring the fact that it merely meant another, more interesting one, would shortly follow.

The margrave hesitated. “It seems it was not within your power to resist. Such being the case, you will be provided mercy and will receive indemnity for your actions. You will also be permitted a period of three months to recover as a reward for protecting the Centauri Seren.”

Yuji glanced at the girl, the Centauri Seren.

So, the god from the machine isn’t just a plot device after all.