102
“She’ll be here any minute,” Padrick Paddstone said. Despite everything, he felt nervous.
Vesna Farringham was no small fry.
Her family was as rich, if not richer, than his own. Their business was selling cores, and that business had kept them rolling in gold for generations.
It was a tricky situation.
He couldn’t bully or threaten her. But he wanted her on his side.
His bodyguard, Fulsario, nodded. “Coach is at the end of the street now.”
“Good.” Padrick took a look around the room. It had been set up especially for this meeting.
They were in one of the Paddstone safe houses close to the Academy.
Close enough she’d feel safe coming here. But far enough that she needed a coach. Give and take. It was a message both sides understood.
An expensive rug covered the floor.
The fireplace was lit, its warm glow competing with bright mage lights.
Paintings on the wall were modern, yet exclusive. Nothing old.
The furniture was also the latest trend, swooping designs covered in lush soft leather.
The room was elegant, but not bursting with riches.
Padrick wanted Vesna to see him as part of the new generation. Not a product of old money.
Someone meticulous and careful.
Yes, this was a room which told that kind of story.
When she arrived, Fulsario left the room with her bodyguard. The two stood by the doors as they closed. Professional and calm. But violence simmered under their implacable surfaces.
Padrick ignored them, choosing to stand by a simple decanter and glasses set up on a small bar in the corner. It was a room for entertaining private guests.
A room for business.
A room for pleasure, if one were tempted.
“Would you like a drink?”
She glanced at the glasses and shrugged. “A small one, please.”
Not quite a rejection, he thought. But also not an offer.
A compromise.
Keeping the smile on his face, he poured two glasses and handed her one before taking the sofa opposite her, slightly to her right.
An offer of safety.
He lifted the glass. “To mutual benefit,” he proposed.
She gave him a nod and sipped. “It’s not bad.”
“Tanjellian gin,” he said. “They use only local botanicals, so it has a unique flavor.”
“It’s very fragrant,” she said, taking another sip. “Tanjellian?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have to get some.”
“I can refer you to a merchant if you like.”
“That’s kind of you,” she said.
He shrugged. “It’s nothing special.”
She took a third sip before setting the glass on the low table between them.
“I’m not sure why you want to talk to me,” she said. “Our families aren’t exactly close. And I’m not in a position to make any agreements.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything so formal,” he said. “I saw you took Jeggo as your second for the dungeon. Did it go well?”
“It did,” she said.
“Rank five, right? Geomancer?”
“That’s right.”
“You could do better,” he said. “Have you thought about asking Framber?”
“Not particularly,” she admitted. “He’s a rank six, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s a friend of mine, too. I could introduce you.”
Vesna leaned back in her chair, smoothing her robe. She’d come wearing her Academy uniform. Padrick himself had chosen to wear a more civilian garb, but one which lacked his family’s crest.
The messages were mostly simple.
Vesna was saying she came here as a student, and not as a Farringham.
He was telling her he considered himself to be aligned with himself. Not his family. But neither did he consider himself a student.
With the tension of the Paddstones against the Mage Court, his meaning was clear to her.
“What do you want, Padrick?”
“To work with you.”
“Work?” She raised her eyebrow. “Are you thinking of opening a shop? I’d want a very large portion of the profits if you wanted my expertise. And I’m not sure I have time for it, to be honest.”
“Milo Mooney.”
She gave him nothing.
Not a flinch. Not a flutter of her eyelashes.
Nothing.
“What about him?” Vesna asked.
“My family wants to talk to him.”
“I believe he can be found in the Common Room,” she said, smiling. “Or the Mess. Or his room. And the library. Don’t forget the library.”
“We don’t want to have a chat with him,” Padrick said. “We want to talk to him.”
“I’m not sure that has anything to do with me,” she said. “Are you here to talk family business? If so, I remind you again, I am in no position to make agreements.”
Padrick set his own glass down.
He’d only taken a sip. He didn’t much like gin. He only drank it because he knew she did.
He’d hoped she understood what that meant. She was supposed to be clever. He hadn’t expected she’d also be stubborn. She was giving him nothing to work with.
He smiled at her again to hide his frustration.
“You want something from him, though. I know that.” He made himself look unconcerned. Casual. “I’d hate to ruin your own plans for him. Maybe we can work together?”
“Oh,” she gave him a surprised look. “So, you’re not opening a shop?”
“No. I’m not. Can we not play games? I’m trying to meet on some middle ground here.”
“Why?”
“Courtesy?”
“Interesting idea,” she said, then nodded. “You want to kidnap him.”
“I wouldn’t put it so crudely.”
“Do you have any rank tens with you?”
“No.”
“What’s the highest?”
“My man, Fulsario. He’s a rank eight,” Padrick said it in an offhand way. Rank eights were very impressive to most people. Even a Farringham should be impressed to hear he had such a man working in so menial a job.
“Eight?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll need a few more of him, then.”
That made him blink. “What?”
“I had a rank ten,” Vesna said. “You’ll notice the past tense on that. Had.”
“What happened?”
“He died. In an alley.”
“How?”
“It’s very strange,” she said. “But it looks like someone cut him right up the middle.”
“A rank ten?” Padrick felt a small chill in his spine. “You think Milo did that? A normie defeated a rank ten?”
“I don’t know what to think,” she admitted. “But it makes me feel very cautious when it comes to Mister Mooney. If I were you, I’d reconsider my plans.”
Maybe she was lying. He’d send Fulsario to find the truth of it.
There was no way Milo could have killed a rank ten, though. It just wasn’t possible. Maybe her man had been involved with people he shouldn’t have.
Gambling?
Did he have any other vices?
That’s if there really was a rank ten mage in her employ. Padrick doubted it. Such beasts didn’t grow on trees.
Fulsario would find out.
“I have no concerns,” he said slowly. “But I’ll take your words into consideration. Maybe that’s a good reason for us to help each other?”
“Help?” Vesna repeated the word like it was some alien tongue. “I’m not sure we want the same thing, Padrick.”
“We both want Milo.”
“Yes, but you want him in pieces,” she said. “I’m a little less enthusiastic about that part.”
“You want to fight over him?” Padrick gave her his own surprised look. “Our families are the two biggest families in the Republic. We should work together. Especially in these… troubled times. It’d be smart of you to think about what would happen if the Mage Court lost its power.”
“That’s not very likely though, is it?”
“Who can say?” He gave her a smug smile which suggested otherwise. “Your family might want to think about it, too.”
“They probably are,” she assured him. “But I don’t get told about such things. I’m a student of the Academy now. I even have the robes, see?”
“They’re not the standard robes, though. You had them tailored.”
“I did!” She looked pleased that he noticed. “The horrible linen they were using was very scratchy against my skin. Is that why you’re not wearing yours? Because it’s scratchy?”
“I’m getting a new set made,” he admitted.
“You should have done it before, Padrick,” she said, her eyes glittering. “It’s always best to be absolutely prepared for anything. Especially if you want to kidnap a man who might be responsible for the murders of mages well above his station.”
“I’m always prepared for that sort of thing,” he told her. “You might be right, though. Maybe I could reconsider my target. Do you think he’d submit if we targeted his team?”
“My people say they are very close,” Vesna said. “Did you know they even delight in feeding him like a baby?”
Padrick did know that.
Which is why he couldn’t see how such a weak person could have dealt with Fergus. His brother wasn’t exactly the most powerful of mages, but he was capable.
And then to possibly kill a rank ten?
That was frightening, if true.
“I’ve heard lots of nonsense about him,” Padrick said. “It’s hard to tell what is true and what is rubbish.”
“I’d say the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle.” She reached out and picked up the glass, unable to resist tasting the gin again. “His team aren’t so weak, either. Out of duty to our families, I will say you might like to reconsider your strategy, Padrick. I say this formally.”
He grimaced at that.
She was telling him she’d let her family know and they would send a message to someone in his to advise what she’d told him.
It’d be done quickly, too.
That way if anything went wrong, she wouldn’t be blamed for giving him any false information.
It was smart on her part.
Humiliating for him.
But he still had one more trick to show her. He pulled a small stone from his pocket and set it on the table.
Her eyes widened.
“A nullstone,” she breathed. “How do you have one of those?”
“Changes everything, doesn’t it?”
“I should think so,” she gulped, flinching away from it. She drained her gin and held it out. “I’ll have another, thank you.”
Padrick smiled.
“Of course, Vesna,” he purred. “Anything you want.”