Flux Wanderrift's Arc

Chapter 9 of 18

The handshake was done, but the fleas were failing. Flux felt Celestine's borrowed cheek pull tight, then loosen. A single flea dropped and hit the stone floor. The disguise had held through the pact with Aldric. Now it strained, and a guard stood at every door. If the face slipped here, the guards would seize them all. Flux pressed a hand to their jaw, holding the swarm in place by touch. It bought seconds, not more. Perrin watched the effort and said nothing. The chamber's cold lights made the crawling face harder to hide. A robust woman in red and gold robes crossed the floor toward them. She moved like she owned the room she had not been let into. This was Mirabel Cordwin, a counsel master who sold advice to the powerful. A past client had used her words, then thrown her out. Now she wanted a seat here, and no one had given her one. Her eyes went straight to Flux's twitching cheek. "Your face is leaving you," Mirabel said. "Don't argue. I count things. Fleas, mostly, just now." Flux went still. Aldric stepped in front of them, shielding the sight from the nearest guard. "She's with me," he told Mirabel, low. "Then she needs a wall," Mirabel said. She turned and raised her voice for the whole ring. "Councilors. A matter for the floor. Bain Pembroke sells his votes." The room turned toward her, away from Flux. A gray-haired man near the great heap of golden grain went stiff. Bain Pembroke. He sold his votes and knew the smell of desperation on others. Now every eye in the chamber found him instead. "Prove it," Pembroke said, flat. He did not deny it. He never wasted words. Perrin stepped forward and held up a folded letter, its wax seal cracked. "I tracked the buyer. He wrote this. Your name is in it." He passed it to Aldric, who read it and grew still with cold anger. Under the noise, Flux worked. They pulled the swarm from their face and let it fall to their palm. The fleas broke apart. Celestine's borrowed features dissolved. For one breath Flux stood bare-faced in the council chamber, no longer anyone. But every guard watched Pembroke now. No one looked at Flux. The disguise was gone, and it no longer mattered. The threat had moved to the man beside the grain. Mirabel found Flux in the crowd. "You owe me," she said. "I don't forget debts. My last client did." "Come with us, then," Flux said. "I'm bringing this whole ring down." She studied the empty spot where the face had been. "Good. Faster than a seat." Pembroke's buyer was named. Aldric had the letter. The false face was ash on the floor. Flux stood exposed and safe at once, with a fourth ally and a councilor cornered before the vote.