Free City in the Sky by Glynn Stewart

it is… complicated.”
    Arien looked at him. “I think I may want that story – indeed, I believe I will want all your stories, grandson – but for now, it's good that you have the blade. Only the septon s and wing-lancers can bear a sky steel sword into the King's presence. Carrying it will drive home your status to those who doubt.”
    “How many will doubt?” he had to ask.
    She shrugged. “There will be some. Most won't object, but those who do will object strongly.” Arien paused and glanced at the crystal clock on the wall. “But instructing you in the intricacies of our politics, and why some will hate you and some won't must wait. The kep will be here now.”
     
     
     
    His grandmother led Erik to the main house and into a large meeting hall off the main corridor. Clearly, the house staff had spent at least the morning clearing the room, as it gleamed. The wood of the furniture and the stone of the pillars and walls had been polished until they shone, and the cushions of the furniture had been cleaned and dusted.
    Scattered on the chairs throughout the room were about thirty or so older men. Erik noted that they practically ignored him, their eyes solely for Arien. Despite her small stature, even for an Aeradi, and advanced age, it was clear who the power here was.
    Only one man noticed Erik. Harmon hept Ikeras sat next to a man who had to be his older brother. He met Erik's eyes and winked. Somehow, the gesture made him feel better.
    Arien directed him to a seat by the dark wooden podium at the head of the room, and then stepped to the podium herself.
    “Gentlemen,” she said softly, and Erik noted that the tracery of crystal he could see on the top of the podium appeared to function as a projector. Arien didn't speak loudly, and her voice didn't sound loud, but it did fill every corner of the room.
    “You're wondering why you're here,” she continued. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. She had likely known every man in here since they were born. “You are here because it is my solemn duty to inform you that what we believed is true: my son, Karn sept Tarverro, the man who should have been your septon , is dead.”
    A rustle surged through the room, but Arien silenced it with a gesture. “However, along with this discovery, I have learned something else. Something that means that I will no longer be your septol .”
    She let the moment of quiet that answered that hang for a moment, as the heads of the kep families of the sept Tarverro considered what she meant, and then gestured Erik forward.
    “ Kep of Tarverro, Karn had a son,” she said flatly. “I present to you Erik septi Tarverro, son of Karn and grandson of Emil. He is my grandson and your septon by right of blood.”
    Erik stood and stepped forward to join her at the podium. Dead silence reigned in the room as the kep took him in. He made an intimidating figure standing there. The formal tunic and doublet of Vidran style was tight enough to make clear the heavy muscles of the smith he'd been to make his living and the swordsman he'd been as a hobby. If the muscles weren't enough, he overtopped the next tallest man in the room by a good three inches. While he'd been short for a human, he was toweringly tall for an Aeradi.
    Erik saw Harmon nudge his brother, who then stood, quietly, and met his eyes. “The hept Ikeras, kep Tarverro accepts this man as the septon Tarverro,” he said formally.
    A moment later, another man stood. “The Adera family, kep Tarverro, accepts this man as septon Tarverro,” he also stated.
    Another man stood, and another, until every one of thirty men in the room had stood and proclaimed their new allegiance to Erik septon Tarverro, now in law and fact their lord and liege.
     
     
     
    The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind, as the new septon Tarverro gained a great deal of respect for his grandmother's organizational abilities. She took him to the tailor she'd mentioned, got him sized and fitted for