Chapter 12 Kasira #2
“A pleasure to meet you.” Ambric bowed gracefully, a kind smile on his aged face that was vastly at odds with his brother’s sour disposition. “I trust you’ve been adjusting well to your new position?”
She met Allaster’s warning stare over his brother’s shoulder and offered him a smile. “Oh, quite well. I’ve learned so much already.”
Allaster rolled his eyes, but his expression became the image of innocence when Ambric turned to him. “See, brother? You worried over nothing.”
“Yes. My new Assistant is not at all what I expected,” Allaster said in a monotone.
Ambric either didn’t hear the second meaning behind his brother’s words, or he ignored it. He gave Kasira a sly wink. “He can be so fussy at times. It’s a wonder you’ve put up with him as long as you have already.”
Kasira gave him the laugh he expected as the crossed swords of the Kalish door came aglow.
Allaster drew a weary breath before opening it.
Vera entered with two guards at her back, wearing the same military-esque uniform in royal blue and grim expression as the day Kasira met her.
To Vera’s credit, she didn’t so much as glance at Kasira, who was mapping escape routes if this went wrong.
May had briefly mentioned the doors on their tour, but how did they work?
“Ambassador Vera.” Ambric greeted her with a small bow. Allaster only glowered.
“High Mage St. Archer,” Vera returned. “Thank you for arranging this meeting. Lord Allaster is a difficult person to connect with.”
“A consequence of the profession of incessantly saving lives,” Allaster replied, earning a stern look from his brother that quieted him with an ease that shocked Kasira. If only she could shut the Librarian up so easily.
A tight smile split Vera’s face. “Yes, I’m sure the people you help are quite grateful.”
“I meant the beasts.”
Her smile turned acidic. “Of course.”
Allaster spun a ring about one finger with a look of disinterest. “Perhaps someone could tell me what it is we’re all doing here? I have places to be.”
Vera regarded Allaster impassively. “His Majesty would like a formal explanation for why you have denied our latest mage’s application to join the Library.”
“Because he was ill-mannered, poorly trained, and generally offensive. Is that formal enough?”
“What my brother meant to say,” Ambric cut in wearily, “is that the Library holds to very strict standards, and he strives to cultivate only the best within its walls. Please tell the King that Allaster would be happy to consider an alternative candidate—”
“I most certainly would not.”
“—whenever one is ready.”
“The Library hasn’t accepted a Kalish mage in years,” Vera countered.
Allaster scoffed. “You haven’t sent a Kalish mage in years. A brute trained to kill beasts and dressed in a robe does not a mage make.”
“Allaster,” Ambric warned.
“You are discriminating against Kalish interests,” Vera said evenly. “Nearly thirty-five percent of the mages currently at Amorlin are Miravi, and we have not a single Kalish mage besides the new Assistant. You are showing favoritism, Librarian.”
“Miravi candidates spend their entire lives studying at the Arcadamium for even the chance to become a mage, and most of them were chosen by Mora.” Allaster’s mask of indifference at last began to crack with lines of annoyance.
“When Kalthos sends me someone of quality, I’ll consider them.
Until then, stop using my brother to facilitate meetings to pressure me into compliance, or the next time you come through that door, it won’t be me waiting for you. ”
Vera’s lips thinned. “Is that a threat?”
“It is a guarantee,” Allaster said at the same time his brother protested, “The Library of Amorlin would never stoop to threats.” They exchanged looks, Allaster’s jaw setting, but it was Ambric who pressed on.
“While we may differ on many things, we all benefit from the Library’s great work, and my brother is nothing if not loyal to its cause.
Every effort will be made to abide by Amorlin’s established procedures, and that includes considering applications of new mages. ”
Only days ago, this conversation would have been lost on Kasira.
But she understood now that Allaster was toeing a very thin line with his flagrant disregard of Kalish interests.
Between the Library’s magic, its vast knowledge, and its access to the six countries, it was an immense source of power.
To prevent it from abusing that power, Amorlin abided by a set of laws dictated by the early leaders of the realms. Rules such as the Librarian can’t discriminate against a single nation’s interests or use Library resources to interfere with internal country affairs.
For Allaster to bear such an obvious grudge against one nation to the point of barring the entrance of Kalish mages—well, it was exactly the sort of behavior Vera wanted Kasira to stoke to bring about the Conclave.
Kasira had no doubt Allaster’s assessment of those people was accurate, but neither did she put it past Kalthos to intentionally send poor candidates in an attempt to create the illusion the Library was refusing the Kalish at a disproportionate rate.
This was a game that had been going on between them long before Kasira was brought in to play.
Vera let out a measured breath. “I would like to speak to Lady Eirlana alone.”
“Absolutely not,” Allaster replied.
“She is a Kalish citizen—”
“She is the Assistant Librarian, which puts her firmly outside your jurisdiction.” Allaster waved a hand at the Kalish door, and it flew open, revealing an overcast stone courtyard on the other side. “Now, I believe this conversation is at an end. Good day, Ambassador.”
Vera looked to Ambric, who spread his hands in a gesture of apology, before she cast Allaster a final, venomous look. “You will regret this, Librarian,” she said and stepped through the portal, her guards following. Allaster slammed the door after them with a resounding bang.
“That was childish of you,” Ambric chastised. “How can you be the age you are and still be such a thorn in my side?”
“Years of practice.”
Ambric folded his gnarled hands atop his cane. “All you had to do was hear her out. Pacify her a little. Maybe even let her talk to the girl.”
“So they can collude against me?” Allaster scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
Ambric made an exasperated sound. “You aren’t taking this seriously enough, Allaster. Tensions are mounting in Kalthos. Their new Paratal is rousing the ranks.”
“That’s true,” Kasira cut in, having edged toward the exit. “People burn effigies of you at sermons.”
Allaster waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, I’ve heard the songs. Terrible rhyme schemes, very little wit.” He rounded on Ambric. “And come to think of it, exactly whose side are you on? Because it certainly didn’t look like mine.”
Ambric looked ready to throttle him. “For Saints’ sake, Allaster, I’m trying to prevent a war here. The skirmishes between our border patrols are getting out of control.”
Kasira paused before the doorway, torn between returning to Benlo and what her gut told her was important information. “War? Is it that bad?”
Allaster continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Oh, is that why the Kalish sent you a shipment of vylor weapons in exchange for advocating their interests to me?”
Color flushed Ambric’s cheeks, and Allaster pressed, “You didn’t think I knew, did you?”
Ambric straightened with all the imperiousness a century’s worth of age could hone.
“The moment I stop facilitating this conversation is the moment they go from shipping weapons to using them. What I’ve struck is a very delicate balance, but you wouldn’t understand.
You never did. Why do you think they’re even attacking Miraval?
To pressure you! But as ever, you’re too wrapped up in your own world to see what’s going on around you. ”
“Oh, not this again. Mother and Father were perfectly aware of your accomplishments—”
“Damn you, brother. One day your ego is going to get you killed.” Ambric went to thrust open the Miravi door, but it didn’t budge, and his broad shoulders grew tighter still.
Without a word, Allaster reached across him, giving the door a light shove, and Ambric shouldered past into a sun-bathed atrium.
Allaster waved it shut after him, bringing in a solid, uncomfortable silence.
He collapsed into a chair pressed against the far wall and dropped his head into his hand.
He maintained his elegance even sprawled in his seat, looking less the ageless sorcerer and more like a sullen prince.
Which, in a way, Kasira supposed he was, given his brother’s position.
The Miravi High Mage was elected from an assortment of retired Library mages, but once chosen, served until death, and was treated much like a king.
A king who seemed very certain his country was on the brink of war. She’d heard of the occasional battle with the Miravi from soldiers in her battalion who had siblings in the royal army. Instigating battles was an extreme move just to pressure Allaster into admitting a few Kalish mages, unless—oh.
Vera was formulating a backup plan. If Kasira failed to take control of the Library by unseating Allaster, Vera wanted a military force on the inside.
If she couldn’t take Amorlin peacefully, the Ambassador would take it by force.
It was just another reminder that Vera was playing a much larger game. Kasira was only a single card; Vera had the full deck.
“Why did Vera want to speak with you?” Allaster peered between two fingers at her with one silver-blue eye.
Kasira stiffened, cursing herself for not taking her opportunity to leave. “I assume to ask me questions about the Library.”
His brows arched, and Kasira let her very real frustration bubble to the surface as she came to stand before him.
“Don’t give me that look. She thinks she has power over me because of the deal she made with my family, but they all but gave me up for dead.
They abandoned me here, and if she thinks I’m going to be her puppet to protect them, she’s not half as clever as she thinks she is. ”
First, she had made Allaster question his assumptions about her, had shown curiosity where he expected outright disgust. Then, she had given him an alternative explanation for all those things he found suspicious: not a soldier sent to spy, but an outcast tossed aside.
Now, she showed him something else entirely: a woman hurting, whose family had turned her into a pawn in exchange for coin and who had no intention of being used. She had shown him a potential ally.
Allaster’s silence was almost as cutting as his words and far more difficult to read.
She fought the urge to squirm beneath his ethereal gaze.
The rest of him was distinctly human: the slope of his aquiline nose, the downward tilt of his bow-shaped lips.
It was his eyes that betrayed the truth of what he was. Something ancient lived inside them.
When he finally spoke, his voice barely crested a murmur. “In truth, I fear she might actually be twice as clever.”
Kasira didn’t have time to analyze his response, because at that moment, a beast screamed.