...

The sun is not shining here. The birds are not singing here. There are soldiers posted at the door and the floor is carpeted with sleeping civilians. There's smoke in the air and the pounding sound of rain on the roof. The rain doesn't indicate much on its own, but with everything else it's a giveaway.

The Duchess of Chelam is standing tensely at a shrine, not praying, and when she sees him she rushes over. “Count. I’m sorry, I’d have alerted you in advance, but no one in Westcrown has a Sending left for anything short of Geb. …there were riots last night. Much worse than anyone expected. The best guess is that a few hundred people are dead. And at least half a dozen delegates, so - no convention this morning.”

“Hundreds? What - how did they start, why didn’t the archmages stop them - are there still injured anywhere, I have my channels -”

“They’ve been advised to gather at the Church of Abadar, once the Iomedaens ran through their channels.” Carlota will start walking in that direction with him. It’s raining hard enough she puts up two air bubbles as they step outside. “Someone published an exaggerated account of Select Wain’s speech and the proceedings of her committee. It was very, very inflammatory, and only moderately ill-informed, I have a copy." Oh, right, he's a paladin, and those make a point of - "...technically I believe I’m forbidden to share it with you. I don’t believe that to be the Queen’s intent and that was good enough for me but -”

He shakes his head. “Don’t break the law on my behalf. I am sure I can get a copy from official sources if the details matter… Have you spoken to delegate Wain since?”

“I understand the Archduke of Sirmium to have made the decision late last night to take her into protective custody. Feliu’s with her.”

“A good call. I’ll go there after. Artigas?”

“Dead in the mob.” Which, in a way, probably makes things better. It lets the Queen say in her royal decree that the church took its losses fighting on the right side.

“Oh. Which other delegates? Or notable non-delegates?”

“Archduke Blanxart, the strix. The minor nobles who were staying on Gloria in the Rego Pena - Aspramunt, Castelblanc, Pedrafina, Solpont. Probably some more, it was much easier to determine who was killed among the nobles than among the other delegates, and the work of counting the dead and finding the missing isn’t finished. None of the non-delegate names I've heard were notable to me, though I don't know Westcrown's political scene all that well. Some slavers, some bankers...”

Temple of Abadar. They can in fact round up a full room for a channel if one’s on offer; a lot of people are limping in now that it’s light. Carlota drops some money - gold, not paper - in the clerk’s face when he starts making noises about charging the incoming patients - “for your facilities, as the healing’s not yours” - and they let everyone in. 

People are confused and scared and some of them are attempting to conceal injuries that were certainly got in the course of violence. They’re also all soaking wet, and some of them are worried about loved ones at home too injured to make it through the storm for a channel. 

Alex channels for the people here. "Perhaps I ought to go to the palace first, instead of talking to Valia right away, and see if they’ll let up on the weather at all."

“If you’re asking my advice I think you should go before the Queen and figure out with Her Majesty - an account of events that lets people expect to be safe if the rain lets up, and a way to get the word out about it, and then the two of you ought to call in everyone important and tell us what it is so we aren’t working at cross-purposes to it. …and probably keep the rain up at night, if the wizards have such finesse with it.

Though if you are planning to ask Her Majesty for mercy for Valia it might be worth talking to her first to make sure she isn't going to make that wildly messy somehow."

"...A good idea. Xavier's residence, or do you know if he took her somewhere else?"

"I think he took her to the palace." 

"Convenient. I'll head to the palace then, are you coming with, or should I find you after I've spoken to the queen?"

"With your leave I'll walk with you most of the way there, as my residence is nearby, and you can find me there afterwards." He's obviously not going to refuse to let her follow him to the palace in the rain but she does not want him to feel inconvenienced; the point is in fact to be the opposite of that. "Or perhaps I should come find you at the palace afterwards; my residence is packed to the point where I had to consult a more experienced wizard about whether Mansions have a population limit and I wouldn't guarantee the privacy of any conversation had there."

"Can you conjure horses?"

"I can conjure a horse." She didn't actually plan that but she's rather pleased with it, as an outcome.

Well, they can share.

Then they'll make it to the palace fairly promptly! 

The guards recognize ser Cansellarion. "What is your business here, sir?"

"I'd like to speak with Valia Wain."

He is on the list of people who get to speak with Valia Wain if they want to. It's not a very long list.

"Of course, sir. Just stand there -" in the antimagic field.

He still looks like himself in the antimagic field.