Chapter 16
Aquick consultation of my serapha charm told me that Iannis was back in the Palace, so I followed the tug in my chest, hoping I might find him alone for once. Unfortunately, said tug led me back into the Mages Guild, and Dira flagged me down as soon as I stepped into the lobby.
“The Chief Mage is a holding meeting, and it’s starting right now,” she told me. “He requires your presence in the conference room immediately.”
I couldn’t find it in me to be annoyed that I wasn’t getting my private audience – I was curious what this conference was about, and why I was being summoned to it. Thanking the receptionist, I made my way to the conference room, which was next door to Director Chen’s office.
“Miss Baine,” Iannis greeted me with a nod as I walked in.
“Please, come join us.” I caught just the briefest flash of pleasure in his eyes before he retreated behind his stoic mask, and I had to bite back a smile.
He was at the head of the conference table…
right between Director Chen and Fenris, who was attending in human form for once.
The urge to smile quickly disappeared as I noticed just how close Chen leaned in toward Iannis – they were practically rubbing elbows.
I glanced dubiously at the only seat available –to the left of the very bottom of the table, furthest from the Chief Mage.
Iannis opened his mouth to speak again, but I cut him off.
“This will do great,” I said cheerfully, pulling out the chair and giving Secretary Bosal, who was occupying the foot of the table, a wide smile.
“It’s nice to see you again, Secretary.”
“And you as well,” Bosal said, inclining his head courteously.
I’d helped rescue him from the Resistance camp along with the other delegates not long ago, and as a result, he was friendlier to me than most of the other mages.
The Finance Secretary was sitting on this end too, and though he and I weren’t exactly friends, I was reasonably sure we were in the same camp.
The discussion was pretty interesting at first, as the senior mages reported how the conflict against the Resistance was developing.
A few key Resistance members had been captured, and were being kept apart from the looters and other riff-raff in a special cell on Prison Isle with extra security.
Privacy Guard was still on strike, and they all agreed to boycott the company in future.
I mentioned that I was investigating the company’s ownership, and that there might be ties to the Benefactor through something called the Bellington Trust in Dara.
Iannis seemed pleased to hear it, and readily agreed to authorize Janta’s further investigations into the matter.
As the discussion turned back to the prisoners, I wondered if my cousin Rylan was amongst them, and added that to the increasing list of topics to discuss with Iannis in private.
I didn’t like the thought of Rylan stuck on Prison Isle, but at least it would mean he wasn’t causing any more trouble, or in major danger for the moment.
Since most adult mages had volunteered to help with the defense and counterattacks, there was a severe manpower shortage in the Mages Quarter.
Mages were having trouble coping with the menial chores that were usually delegated to human servants.
Some of the apprentice mages were helping out with cooking and cleaning and bitterly grumbling about it, but the better-trained ones had been drafted to set wards and taking care of other tasks related to defense.
Everyone agreed that this could not go on for much longer.
“We have been lucky with our food supplies thus far in the Mages Quarter,” the Finance Secretary said, “but I fear we’ve only enough for a few more days until we run out.”
“That should be sufficient,” Iannis assured him.
“The situation will be resolved by then. The Resistance is beginning to lose ground now that we’ve captured some of their higher-ranking officers.
The loss of leadership is affecting their morale, as well as the fact that they have not been able to get the entire population on their side, as they apparently hoped for.
The enforcers returning to their jobs are also making a difference, and as mentioned earlier, Miss Baine and Fenris have made some strides in the investigation of the Benefactor’s identity.
” He inclined his head at me, and I kept my face blank, determined not to light up like a silly schoolgirl at his acknowledgement.
But I did nod back – it would be rude not to respond to the praise.
The discussion moved on, and though the mages were still deeply unsettled by the unexpected emergency, they seemed to be happy with Iannis’s leadership, and confident they would triumph now that he was back.
An aide sidled in and whispered in Iannis’s ear. Despite the distance, my sharp ears caught the words “Minister” and “emergency.”
“Please excuse me,” Iannis said, “I have an urgent matter to attend to. Director Chen will continue to chair the meeting in my stead.” His eyes met mine for the briefest of moments before he swept from the room, and I fought against a smile as I caught just a hint of warmth in them.
“Let’s resume,” Director Chen said in her clear, smooth voice as the door shut in Iannis’s wake. “Are there any other suggestions for dealing with the Resistance, or pertinent information that has not been voiced yet?”
“To further demoralize the enemy, we should take a few of the captured officers and set an example with public executions,” one of the mages declared. “It will make the citizens think twice about defecting to the other side.”
“That would be a terrible mistake,” I protested, and all eyes turned toward me.
Director Chen pressed her lips together, and the mage who had spoken reddened, but I ignored their reactions.
“Haven’t you guys learned from your mistakes yet?
The council’s heavy-handed measures are what got us into this mess in the first place. More violence isn’t the answer.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?” the mage snapped.
“Sit back and let the Resistance take the city? They are not shy about using violence against us – surely you, of all people, can’t be suggesting that we show weakness and leniency to them?
Or are your loyalties divided, since so many of the Resistance are shifters? ”
“That was out of line, Secretary Corwin,” Fenris said. “The Chief Mage has complete confidence in Miss Baine.”
“His apprentice may be loyal, but hardly objective, when she has one foot in either camp,” another mage objected.
“How could she be? Anyway, I support Corwin’s proposal about public executions.
These renegades understand no other language.
Not to punish them with utmost severity would send the wrong message. ”
“It is certainly an interesting proposal,” Director Chen said to the last speaker. “I have concerns about the timing, however.”
By Magorah. Was she fucking serious? I couldn’t believe Director Chen was going along with this bullshit.
“No,” I said firmly, drawing all eyes toward my end of the table.
“Obviously, we have to fight back – I’m not an idiot.
But if you execute the prisoners while emotions are running so high, you’ll make them martyrs, and that will only rally their successors and bring even more people to their side out of sympathy.
Sentence them to labor in the mines – it’s a better deterrent anyway – and find a different way to discourage the citizens from joining the Resistance.
Maybe you could even start by convincing them why they should side with you in the first place,” I added with a sneer.
“Why would they show the slightest loyalty to mages, the way you have been treating them all this time?”
“Preposterous!” the execution-happy mage roared, and the other mages at the table began to add their arguments as well.
The words ‘ignorant’, ‘na?ve’, and ‘ungrateful’ were thrown around, and to my frustration, Director Chen did nothing to stop them.
In fact, she was listening attentively to their asinine arguments.
I tried to subdue the anger bubbling in my chest, but it was hopeless.
It was obvious the mages didn’t understand why they needed to care about the views of stupid humans and shifters.
In their eyes, the shorter-lived races were unable to understand their own best interests, and it would be a waste of time and sign of weakness for the Mages Guild to explain itself.
“This arrogant attitude toward humans and shifters is exactly the reason why we are in this current mess!” I shouted at them, but that only led to further argument. When the hell was Iannis coming back?
“Why don’t you say something?” I challenged Fenris with mindspeak.
“It would be useless – I’m a shifter in their eyes. And I half agree with them,” he responded, to my frustration. “Leave it to Iannis to deal with this.”
“Enough,” Director Chen said at last, raising her voice so she could be heard above the others.
“This is a conference room, not a public house!” She turned her dark gaze in my direction, and I stiffened as I realized she blamed the controversy on me.
“We’ll have a civilized discussion, or no discussion at all. ”
“It’s obvious to me that it’s impossible to have a civilized discussion with you lot,” I snarled, shoving up from my chair. “Enjoy trying to solve the city’s problems with your heads up your asses. It’s not like I know anything about what the people actually want and what they might respond to.”
I shoved away from the table, then spun on my heel and stormed from the room.
I was a fool to come to this meeting, to think they might be prepared to hear reason from the one person present who understood the other side’s grievances.
Iannis might have wanted me there, but the rest of the mages were unwilling to listen to any outsider.
It was becoming more and more obvious to me that there was no place for me in the Chief Mage’s life – that I would never be able to see eye to eye with these arrogant jerks who called themselves mages.