Flux Wanderrift's Arc

Chapter 12 of 18

The room was empty of fleas. Flux sat by the sleeping jester and stared at the bare rug. The letter was loose across a thousand walled dimensions. But loose was not the same as landed. Flux had no way to know if a single flea reached a single reader before Aldric's morning vote. "I sent them wide," Flux said. "I can't hear back. If they scattered into empty dust, the vote wins." Celestine sat on her bed, posture straight, hands folded. "Then you wait like everyone else." "Waiting isn't a plan." Flux stood. "I need proof one arrived." A seam opened near the desk. Perrin stepped through, coat dusted grey, a leather folder under his arm. He worked for Aldric, tracked people who did not want to be found. Once he had found Flux. Now he crossed into their space uninvited, breathing hard. "You didn't send them wide enough," Perrin said. Flux went still. "Explain." Perrin dropped the folder on the cluttered desk. Glowing letters slid across the wood. He pulled one free, a plain envelope stamped with a seal Flux did not know. "This came to Aldric's door an hour ago. From the Vorreth dimension. A trader found your letter nailed to their council board." He tapped the envelope. "They're demanding answers before dawn." Celestine leaned forward. "Vorreth," she said. She had lunched with the head of their Trade Commission once. "They don't demand. They act." "So it landed," Flux said. Their chest loosened. "Someone read it." "More than someone." Perrin's voice stayed flat. "Three dimensions wrote to Aldric tonight. He can't vote quiet now. The whole board saw the letter before he sat down." Flux almost smiled. Then Perrin lifted a second page. "There's a cost." He said it plainly, no softening. "Your name is on it. Every copy. Whoever read the crime read who sent it. The council knows you broke their wall." The room changed. Celestine rose from her bed. The jester's three eyes cracked open. "They'll seal the fold," Perrin said. "They'll come here. Aldric can't shield you. He barely shields me." Flux looked at the bare rug, the spent jester, the glowing desk. The plan had worked. The letter landed. Aldric's quiet vote was dead. But the price was a target painted on Flux's own name across every dimension at once. "Why warn me?" Flux asked. Perrin gathered his folder. "Aldric didn't send me." He met Flux's eyes, then broke it. "I came on my own." He stepped toward the seam. "You have until dawn. Then they hunt." He was gone. The seam closed. Celestine looked at Flux. "You proved it landed," she said. "Now they know exactly where to find you." Flux knelt and rolled the rug tight. The map to the council's fold still hid in its threads. "Then I go to them first," they said. "Before dawn."