Free Stained Glass Monsters by Andrea Höst Page A

Lady Weston showed a
hint of frustration. "That may not be the wisest course," she
said.
    "But it is the one I will take."
    "Having demonstrated how capable you are
of hiding yourself," said Captain Faille.
    This made Rennyn smile. "A fair point.
Still, it makes more sense for Seb and I not to be handily in the
same place."
    "You don't trust us." The third of the
Sentene captains, Lamprey, was a human man with dark skin. Outrage
had broken through the professional mask. "You're not concerned
about our ability to protect you, but our opportunity to attack
you."
    She hadn't realised she'd shown that,
and said carefully: "I'm tolerably certain that I wouldn't have
survived the night if I'd come close to anyone who wanted to kill
me. In this, it is simply as I said: staying here makes me too easy
to find. It's almost a moot point, since I'll be spending so much
time roaming about the countryside. And on that subject – the next
incursion is in three days, and not far from Asentyr, but there is
a stage of the attunement I must perform immediately after that.
The vessel for the focus needs to be constructed, and to do that I
must also visit the places Queen Solace summoned her younger
focuses. These– " She frowned. "These should not be incursion
points. No breach was recorded in the previous iteration, but like
the first expression, they are known places that I must visit."
    "A place to expect attacks? Where are
they?"
    "The first is her home. Surclere Manor,
or what little remains of it. The second is the palace's Hall of
Summoning, which at least is conveniently close." Rennyn stood up.
"I presume you want to establish at the next incursion site well
beforehand. I'll return the day after tomorrow, near midday."
    They let her go. She had wondered if
they'd consider stopping her, but though they didn't like it there
were no further protests. An escort took her back down to check on
Seb, and then showed her the way out of the palace. Rennyn wasted a
few minutes losing the person set to follow her, and removing the
subtle little traces which had been 'chanted into her clothes, then
spent the remainder of the day ensuring there was nothing in the
apartment which would reveal too much. If they were persistent,
they would find the place eventually.
    Then she took the old lady's advice and
slept.

Chapter Eight
    "This is becoming intolerable."
    As soon as she heard the deliberately
raised voice of Lydia Norandar, Kendall snapped her book shut and
sat up, straightening her stupid student smock. Just in time. The
door was jerked open and three girls clattered in, all braids and
exaggerated drama.
    "Two hours," fumed Lydia to her
companions, thrusting her books back on their shelf. Tall and
golden, she'd be pretty but for a nose permanently elevated. "Two
hours they keep us sitting around, and then sent back without a
word of apology. My father will hear of this."
    "Does he rank your education above the
defence of the realm?" asked Helena Renton, a droopy blonde
following the three into the dormitory they shared. "Surely it must
have occurred to you that every competent mage in Tyrland has
better things to do right now than prepare you for your
Summoning."
    Since Helena topped Lydia on the social
scale that was Lydia's be-all and end-all, the girl only tossed her
head, then glared at the last student to enter the room.
    "If they're so keen on defence, they're
being very lax," she said, with deep meaning. "If they're really
hunting for supporters of the Black Queen, why are they ignoring
the obvious?"
    The obvious was the last of the students
who shared the room, a tall girl with fine but colourless hair and
daggers for nails. She didn't react to the pointed comment,
returning her books to their shelf and leaving the room without so
much as glancing at the other occupants.
    "Truly, she makes my blood run cold,"
said plump Elsa, Lydia's chief crony. "Why are we forced to keep
company with a creature like that, particularly when the