Rook

Now she stood up and shot a look of absolute loathing toward the porcupine man. “Don’t fucking move,” she said, bringing her massive pistol up and pointing at him. “That
really
hurt. I thought you said you had him,” she said tightly to Myfanwy.
    “I thought I did.”
    “Well, can you do it again?”
    “Maybe.” Myfanwy reached out with her senses and carefully probed at Goblet, who was slavering in the middle of the room.
How on earth did he get out of my grasp? I disrupted his spine here
and
here, so he couldn’t have just—oh. Well, this is fascinating.
Myfanwy reeled herself back in and looked to Shantay. “No good; he’s got, like, seven supplementary spines, all woven together in a lattice. I can’t get control of all of them at once—the impulses are strobing between them.” The guy had been swinging his head back and forth, following the conversation, but now he again focused on her.
    “Rook Thomas, I would never have guessed that
you
would venture out of your little office and get your hands dirty,” he said with massive contempt. His fingernails stretched into horny barbed talons and he moved toward her.
    “Oh,
please,
” said Shantay, and she shot Goblet in the back. He reeled for a moment and then got a grip on himself, swung around, and backhanded her against a wall. His spikes cut the Bishop in the face, and she cracked her head against the fungus.
    “I had no idea that we’d sunk so low. Enlisting Americans in theBarghests? But then, this is the same Court that appointed you as a Rook,” he spat out in disgust. “A useless little girl who weeps in corners and fiddles about with the account books.”
    “No doubt they should have selected some treasonous git who grows spikes out of his arse instead,” Myfanwy remarked as she fumbled for the pistol at her side and nearly dropped it in the process.
    “Treasonous?” he exclaimed. “This endeavor is for the good of the Checquy, and by extension, the good of the nation!”
    “Is that why you didn’t feel the need to inform the Court of your activities, Goblet?” she asked.
    “Pah! The Court isn’t ready for this! At least, not yet.” He took a step closer to Myfanwy and she backed up against the door, which had closed silently behind her. Around them, the chanters continued chanting obliviously.
    “So, you felt it was your responsibility to set this up?” she asked even as she sidled around a cultist, keeping obstacles between her and Goblet. She surreptitiously fiddled with the gun and tried to figure out how to take the safety catch off. No doubt this was something Thomas had learned in her first days at the Estate, but unfortunately the knowledge did not appear to have stuck. It didn’t help that she couldn’t take her eyes off Goblet for fear of his gouging them out.
    “Ah, Rook Thomas. Such an amateur in fieldwork! You’re angling for some information about the plan.” Goblet smirked, baring a set of saw-edged teeth. “Shall I give you all the details, like a Bond villain, right before your wristwatch turns out to be some sort of buzz saw?”
    “I’m not wearing a wristwatch,” pointed out Myfanwy.
    “Even better,” said Goblet. “I won’t have to tear your arms off at the beginning of our little session. I always like to leave them till the end.” Myfanwy faltered a little at this prospect, and Goblet noticed. “Oh, yes, Rook Thomas, we’re going to have all sorts of fun. But you’re going to die without ever finding out what the hell is going on here.”
    “Goblet, I will find out everything. In fact, you will tell me.”
    “Indeed?” said Goblet, raising an eyebrow and several quills. “And how do you expect—” He broke off, his eyes crossed, and heslumped to the ground, revealing Shantay, who was wearing shiny metal gauntlets. No, not gauntlets. Her fists appeared to be covered in a highly polished, flawless silvery metal. Flawless except for the flecks of blood and fragments of quills that adhered after she’d bashed the back of Goblet’s head in.
    “What a prick,” the American Bishop remarked. She flicked some pieces of quill off her knuckles with a metallic scrape, and the silver melted back into her skin, except for a few patches that resolved themselves into rings and bracelets.
    “That’s very convenient,” said Myfanwy admiringly. “I wish I could grow my own accessories.”
    “Yeah? Well, I wish I could get men to shut the hell up,” said Shantay. “You want to trade