Free Four Roads Cross by Max Gladstone Page B

and rebuild him to save themselves. Skyspires encroaching on Coulumbite airspace, dragons in the heavens, demons creeping out of downtown shadows. They have to save the world, you see.”
    She let the silence stretch. They sat in the center of the God’s power, in a great and prosperous city, and she had to make them feel uncertain. She thought she’d succeeded.
    Hooray.
    â€œBut all this,” Abelard said, “happens only if Kos has undisclosed liabilities. Which he doesn’t.”
    Bede’s chair creaked.
    â€œNot by your standards,” Tara replied. “But Seril complicates things.”
    â€œComplicates doesn’t sound good. I don’t like complicates.”
    â€œEven though they don’t share explicit contractual bonds, Kos and Seril are linked by, let’s call it sentiment. Kos died last year because he tried to support Seril in her exile. To a Craftsman, that looks like an under-the-table guarantee that Kos will bail Seril out if she’s in trouble. And this is a goddess who makes trouble for herself—remember, she ran off to the Wars and left Him.”
    Aev growled. “She fell in combat; She stood alone against murderous hordes.”
    â€œWhich sounds great in a poem,” Tara said, “but to a banker the important word is ‘fell.’ Seril takes big risks, and they don’t always work out. Let’s say an Alphan Securities banker wants to analyze Kos. She learns that Kos protects Seril—who tends to find Herself in sticky, fatal situations. Seril lacks assets or income. Her power’s tied up in the gargoyles and in Justice, neither of which is liquid. To our banker, Seril looks like a massive undisclosed liability—Kos has given tacit backing to a volatile, costly entity. Now that people know the gargoyles are back, they’re already wondering if Seril’s come, too. When she’s found, and she will be, we’ll see our first test of the tacit guarantee. Someone will try to kill you and your people.” She nodded to Aev. “If Kos defends you, an attack on him will follow soon after, through the courts.”
    â€œWe do not need Kos to defend us,” Aev said.
    â€œYou might. This isn’t a battlefield. Your enemies won’t announce themselves. They don’t want a fight. They want you to die.”
    Nestor leaned forward in his chair. “Why are we just hearing this now?”
    â€œYou,” Cardinal Bede said, “are hearing it because the time has come for you to share the uncertainty Ms. Abernathy, Aev, and I have shared for the last year.”
    The gargoyle nodded. “Why do you think we have kept such a low profile?”
    â€œThis is your idea of a low profile?” Nestor asked.
    Aev’s growl caused the easel to rattle against the stone floor.
    â€œWe don’t have time for recrimination,” Tara said. “We need to work together.”
    The Technical Cardinal frowned. “What options do we have?”
    She remembered that burned paper, but she said, “At Cardinal Bede’s direction, your priests have spent the last year preaching groundwork for Seril’s return, which gives Her more faith to draw upon. That’s good. And Aev and her people have built themselves a solid mystery cult from scant resources, based on dreams and aid in dark alleys. Much as I wish they’d taken fewer risks, they’ve built the foundation for a Serilite movement in Alt Coulumb. It would have worked if we had more time.”
    Stone wings twitched in the dark room.
    â€œIn addition to encyclical support, I have diversified our Lord,” Bede said, “using commodities investment to reduce his exposure to a sudden collapse in our creditworthiness. That protects us in the short term, ensuring Lord Kos will not walk weaponless to battle, if it comes to that. Meanwhile, Ms. Abernathy has pursued options for protecting Seril Herself.”
    Tara recognized her