Chapter 10 #2
Iannis and I were ushered into a large office decorated in red, white, and gold—the Northia Federation’s colors.
It was a grand space, with a well-appointed sitting area on one side of the room, and a large desk, shelving, and chairs on the other.
At the desk sat the Minister, who looked to have been in the middle of reading a report.
Behind him, a trio of large glass windows provided a gorgeous view of the glittering city.
“Good evening, Minister,” Iannis said, bowing.
I did the same, though I stayed silent and studied the Minister through my lowered lashes.
His long, yellow hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, leaving his austere features unframed.
He was dressed in red-and-gold robes that I knew would help him cut a fine figure standing.
It was those robes, and his commanding presence, that made others sit up and take notice—his facial features themselves were rather ordinary, nothing in comparison to Iannis’s masculine beauty.
“Good evening, Lord Iannis, Miss Baine.” The Minister gestured to the glossy, hand-carved visitors’ chairs that perched on the red-and-gold rug in front of his desk. “Have a seat, please. There is much to discuss.”
As Iannis and I obeyed, the Minister gave me a good, long look, eyes traveling up and down my body. I tensed slightly—it wasn’t a sexual gaze, but a clinical one, as though he was measuring my worth based on his ocular examination.
“I appreciate you coming on short notice,” he told Iannis, flicking his chocolate-brown gaze away from me.
“Of course. You said the matter was urgent.”
“It is indeed.” The Minister paused, his gaze turning back to me. “I have not yet had the chance to congratulate you on your engagement, Miss Baine.”
I blinked, surprised he wasn’t launching into the mission details immediately. “Thank you, Minister.”
“You realize, of course, that a union between a man of Lord Iannis’s status and yourself is a highly unusual affair, if not outright taboo,” the Minister continued, his voice growing stern.
I lifted my chin a little. “A number of mages have already informed me of that.”
“I imagine they would have.” A faint smile crossed the Minister’s face.
“I have decided not to oppose the union, because shifter-mage relations are strained right now. Coming between the two of you would only make things worse.” The Minister leaned forward now, his eyes narrowing dangerously on me.
“But make no mistake, Miss Baine, if you fail to publicly conduct yourself in a manner befitting your new station, and embarrass the mage community in any way, I will have you exiled from this country.”
“Would you? I would leave with my fiancée, in that case,” Iannis said, his voice as cold as I’d ever heard it. “We came here to fight against the Resistance, not to listen to pointless threats.” His eyes bored into the Minister’s, who averted his own gaze after a moment.
I kept my back ramrod stiff in my chair, my hands splayed comfortably in my lap.
I wouldn’t give the Minister the satisfaction of shouting at him, or clenching the fabric of my skirts.
After all, he was just waiting for any sign that I was an uncouth shifter girl, slave to my animalistic instincts and unfit to sit at the table with the important mages.
Well, fuck him. I would show them all that I was good enough to sit at the table with the big kids, despite the fact that I was half-shifter. Hell, I would show them I was more than good enough because of my heritage as a half-shifter.
You are not merely the sum of your parts, Sunaya Baine, Resinah had said to me once. Whole, you have the potential to be stronger than both your shifter and mage ancestors.
“Are you ready to tell us why you needed our assistance?” Iannis asked. His expression was calm, but I could sense the fury thrumming under his rigid control.
“Yes, it might be best to move on,” the Minister said with a slightly nervous glance at Iannis.
He initialed the report he’d been reading and tucked it away before giving us his full attention.
“As you know, I have recently expended a great deal of time and effort to thoroughly purge my office of anyone untrustworthy.”
“Yes, I remember.” The anger in Iannis’s eyes died away, replaced by intensity as he focused on the subject that had brought us three thousand miles away from home. “Have you discovered something useful during said purging?”
“Indeed I have.” The Minister scowled. “I managed to identify the human staff member who administered the drug which made me so ill—according to her confession, it was put into the milk I use with my coffee. I have taken to drinking it black now. Thank the Creator that you were able to cure me. It seems the conspirators were confident that no mage would be able to do so.”
“Healing is one of my stronger talents,” Iannis said drily. “It was not easy, even for me, especially as we caught it so late.”
“Just so. After lengthy questioning, the staff member, who worked in the Capitol kitchens as an assistant cook, confessed that the substance she put in my milk came from a Doctor Elan Mitas. He’s a physician with a successful practice right here in Dara.
” The Minister’s lips twisted into a grim smile.
“For some reason, the idiot human had chosen not to flee, so it was easy enough to apprehend him.”
“That is excellent news!” Iannis leaned forward a little, like a bloodhound that had suddenly latched onto a promising scent. “What have you learned from him?”
“Not nearly enough.” The Minister frowned, looking quite irritated now.
“He has a remarkably strong mind and is resistant to truth spells, which is likely why the Benefactor recruited him in the first place. But we had his house and practice searched, and postal receipts in his house lead us to suspect that the substance might have been forwarded from somewhere in the Northwest. We did find one smallish parcel dispatched from Wacoma. However, there is no proof, and it might have contained something else entirely. Dr. Mitas refuses to say.”
Iannis looked grave. “That is not much to go on, but better than nothing. You want us to follow up on the origins of this deadly substance?”
“Of course.” The Minister’s face tightened.
“We must assume that this substance was not produced for single use only. Thorgana and her henchmen may be manufacturing more of these lethal diseases to target specific people or races. Perhaps even on a large scale. I would not have thought mere humans capable of such feats, without magic and with those short lives of theirs, but clearly we have been underestimating their cunning.”
By Magorah. Icy horror spread through my chest. Those must be the secret weapons the humans had been whispering about.
Some powder or liquid dropped in a jug of milk, or perhaps mixed into a city’s water supply by the human maintenance crew, could not easily be defended against. I already knew the humans pulling the strings behind the Resistance were planning to kill off entire populations, but I thought that was just talk. Would they actually succeed?
“I need you to locate this manufacturing lab or plant and destroy it before the Resistance can deploy their newfangled weapons,” the Minister commanded.
“It would be a disaster, should they actually use them to massacre unsuspecting citizens. Not to mention embarrassing, since we’ve assured the country they are safe, now that we’ve caught the mastermind of this evil plot. ”
“Agreed,” Iannis said, his eyes narrowed. “It is a pity Thorgana is not here yet, as I imagine she would know the exact location.”
“That’s true, but we can still question the doctor, right?
” I asked. The men turned to look at me, the Minister blinking, as though surprised to hear me speak up.
“Shifters are very good at telling truth from lies, and as an enforcer, I’m an experienced interrogator. You should let me question the doctor.”
“That was my plan, actually,” the Minister said wryly. “But thank you for volunteering.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, my cheeks heating in embarrassment. So, apparently, the Minister considered me a useful tool, and not just a liability. At least that was something.
“Is there anyone else we can interrogate?” I asked. “What about Lord Cedris, or his Legal Secretary, Coman ar’Daghir?”
“They have already been questioned thoroughly. It was found they had no direct knowledge of Thorgana or their operations,” the Minister said firmly.
“Both have been released, upon condition that Cedris resign from public office, which he has done. He is spending more time with his family these days, and I hear he’s thinking of writing a memoir. ”
“I see,” I murmured, burying my disgust and incredulity.
I would have thought the Minister would punish Cedris harshly for his not inconsiderable role in the plot to kill him and take his position.
Why was he being so lenient? Did Cedris have some sort of hold over him, just as Thorgana had been blackmailing Cedris and a number of other mages in order to control them?
Fucking politics, I thought. I hated all the layers involved, and wished I didn’t have to have anything to do with it. But that was impossible if I was going to be married to Iannis, and if I wanted to effect change within our unfair system.
“Well, I see no need to waste time.” The Minister clapped his hands together, then rose from his seat. “Mr. ar’Mengis will take you to the doctor now, and Miss Baine can prove her worth by getting some answers out of him.”
Great. No pressure.