"What is this ill news you have to share?" Caspian asked. He kept his voice steady, even as inside a knot of anxiety burned at him. He thought the only things going wrong were happening at home, and that Ceto's new allies would be able to help somehow.
But if they had their own problems, aid seemed less likely by far, and perhaps Ceto would be further endangered by whatever was going wrong here.
"Not all ill, but some," A Councilman in military garb replied. The General, Caspian remembered.
"Then what good news?" Caspian focused on that for the moment. Whatever was ill could wait until after he'd spent more than two minutes in the Council's presence.
"The traitor woman, Brenna, has been captured." The man looked uneasy. "Or rather, she turned herself into the care of soldiers and demanded to be brought to Klain. She requested asylum from the justice she felt both Rhone and Ceto would want from her."
"On what grounds?" Duncan's interruption reflected the anger that Caspian felt.
"She claims," The General apparently felt no need to take up the position and argue it himself, "that the Void is trying to pressure her into its service. She asks for protection from it, and shelter inside the city."
"A ruse, surely," King Duncan frowned. "After the tales of what she did in Ceto…"
"She offered her explanations, such as they were, which she indicated she has already given to the Cetoans," The General continued. "I have relayed them to this Council."
"And then she ran away when it was decided that she would be sent here," Caspian related. "Then… came here of her own accord?"
It didn't make sense to him, and the faces at the table told him that he wasn't the only one perplexed by the developments.
"Her story is that after she escaped, the Void began to whisper to her in dreams, cajoling and trying to convince her to follow it once again. She says she's scared that it will turn to torture as she continues to refuse."
Caspian and Duncan looked at each other, both thinking of the sleepy little girl who had come with them to the city.
"General," The King spoke quietly, "We brought with us to the city that little girl who unwittingly befriended a halfling and followed the Void as it took the form of a young friend. Apparently when she began to refuse to follow it, things did not go well. The child suffers from extreme nightmares now and avoids sleep."
The Council reacted with varying expressions ranging from concerned to skeptical.
"How are we to know," A man on the far side of the table asked, "that this is not a scheme by the Void? Torture a little girl with dreams so that it lines up with the story of her spy. That way Brenna gets her way into the city to wreak who knows what evil?"
"I agree," King Duncan responded. "Brenna has enchanted a man with a dangerous magic, and attempted to do so before. Although she would paint herself as sympathetic, I am wary of her."
The face of the man in military garb darkened considerably.
"If we believe that she is a follower of the Void," He said solemnly, "She must die. Those who cannot be turned away from following it must be killed to protect our world. As you are asserting we cannot trust her to be truthful about whether she follows the Void, there is only one choice left."
"That seems… premature." The man in the middle's face expressed concern. "We must bring her before this Council before deciding so cavalierly to end a life."
"What if that is the plan?" Caspian interjected. "She bewitched my brother. If she is allowed in a room with the King of Rhone and the entire Council of Klain, what harm might she do? Would allowing such an audience not benefit the Void?"
"So you advocate for her execution, then." The center man's expression was unreadable.
"I didn't say that," Caspian didn't want his first advice to Klain to be pressuring for someone's death, even if it might possibly be a way to break the hold the woman had on his brother. "I advocate caution."
Surely that couldn't be frowned upon.
"Caution can be an excuse for hesitation, which could bring disaster on us all," The man on the far side squinted at Caspian. "But I agree we should not end a life hastily. If being inside the city is her goal, let her be kept in custody just outside it instead. We can decide on whether to execute her at a later time."
The rest of the Council, along with King Duncan, murmured their agreement with the proposal. Caspian remained silent, feeling that he had already spoken enough on the topic for a diplomatic guest.
The fact that he was included in the discussion at all was something of a courtesy, since Haf had intended to leave the decision entirely with them.
"If that was not the ill news, then what is?" Caspian asked, the curiosity finally burning through his desire for blissful ignorance.
"We believe we have confirmed the presence of the Void in this world," A studious-looking Councilman spoke for the first time.
"What? How?" King Duncan questioned.
"I have been, as you know, heading up the project of cleaning out the collapsed tunnels and inventorying all the long-forgotten items down below the city," The man pushed a pair of spectacles up higher onto his nose.
Caspian didn't quite understand, but he listened intently.
"It seems we have not been the only ones working hard down below. Although many of the tunnels are cut out of stone, there are places where the ground is dirt, in which case the tunnels are doubly reinforced with wooden beams–" The man blinked, as if realizing that most of his audience would already be aware of this fact. He focused on Caspian.
"I don't know if you heard, sir, of the wolves controlled by the Rhone under the Void's tutelage. We are encountering a similar problem underground now, except, instead of wolves, there are moles." He paused.
"Moles? The weird little blind creatures that damage crops?" Caspian asked.
"Yes. They are digging into the tunnels and attacking the workers responsible for clearing out the debris. Inventory indicates that small items have gone missing. It seemed crazy at first, but it seems the moles are stealing them." The studious man's mouth pinched together.
"But why?" The Commodore's son was perplexed by the thought of the thieving rodents.
"The Void was determined to get into the city, particularly under it," Duncan explained to Caspian. "We have wondered for two years what was hidden underneath us that it might want. Now, it seems that it has some new pets."
"How do you stop it?" Caspian asked, and was met with silence for several moments. "I see."
"It's not that we aren't trying," The studious man put in. "We are. It is just difficult because they can come out of any wall, floor, or ceiling down there that isn't solid stone. Our best hope is to figure out what they want and keep it safe from them."
"Which reminds me, gentlemen. I believe I'll pay a visit to our unofficial ambassador to the Fae. It would be cruel to call her to a Council meeting, given her business at home and the fact that we have deprived her of her husband, but perhaps she will have some insight nonetheless." The General smiled. "King Duncan, I imagine you would like to visit your daughter-in-law, and Caspian, I believe you are staying at that residence during your time in Klain, are you not?"
Caspian blinked at the reference to the woman he had yet to meet: Roland's wife. "I believe so, sir."
"Is the meeting adjourned?" The General paused for the man in the center, who was indeed the Judge, nodded.
"We will reconvene tomorrow to see if there is anything to be learned. Caspian, please do us the honor of returning then and we can discuss the situation further with regards to Ceto." The Judge said with some deference to the diplomatic envoy.
Caspian nodded, glad to be requested rather than ordered to do so. He wasn't entirely clear on whose authority he was under during his time here. He was not their subject, but he had no power to speak of in Ceto… unless the worst should happen to his father and Roland.
The thought brought a slight frown to his face.
He gave a slight bow and followed the General and King Duncan from the room.
"Are the meetings always like that?" He asked, unsure of whether the rather heated discussion was typical.
"That's the calmest one in a long time," Duncan commented idly, causing Caspian to furrow his brow.
"That seems inefficient," Was the mildest thing he could think to say. He hoped it wasn't too offensive.
Both Duncan and The General burst out laughing, and the former clapped Caspian on the shoulder in his mirth.
"You have no idea."