The Magic Council (The Herezoth Trilogy) (28 page)

“Forgive me if I’m less than
sympathetic.”

“Well, you should be feeling in this
instance. You need Dorane to have some reason to feel content. With nothing to
lose he’d give the king quite a headache, not to mention your precious Portegs.
A much greater headache than what he just caused.”

“We’re done here.”

Vane ignored Arbora’s protests. He marched
to the door, removing the sound barrier as he went, and pushed it outward with
all the force that Zacry had used before. Zacry sent in two guards to remove
Arbora,
and soon he and Vane were
alone in the dark and dreary conference room. Even with the uneven lighting,
Vane noticed the red splotches on his mentor’s face. Zacry demanded, “What in
the Giver’s name just happened?”

“Dorane turned the tables on us, that’s
what.”

“I could kill the bastard.”

“I think part of him wanted you to.”

Zacry punched the stone wall hard enough
that Vane heard bones crack. Though the older sorcerer did not cry out, he
winced to such a degree his eyes shut, and Vane had to heal him with a spell.
“Get a hold of yourself,” said the younger man, and magicked the closest chair
over. Zacry sank onto it with a graceless thud and a “Damn it!”

“What’ll
you do, Zac?”

“What
choice do I have? I’ll stay in Traigland. I can’t let him rip Kora’s life to
shreds, can I? Damn it!”

“You
were thinking of moving back here?”

“I’d
all but decided to, pending Joslyn’s reaction.”

“At
least you hadn’t spoken to her yet, gotten her hopes up. She’s kind of restless
in Traigland herself.”

“We
all are. At least you can get away. That’s something.”

“Yeah,
well, I’d trade places with you in a heartbeat. This council, it….”

“You
were hoping a council might not be necessary?”

“I
was more deluding myself. Oh God, this…. Zacry, I can’t do this. Not without
you in Herezoth to have my back.”

“You
can and you will.”

“Will
you join the council? If the king should ask?”

“If
he should ask. But I’ll ask him to pass me over if he can. It would look awful,
Vane, me living in Traigland and openly advising Herezoth’s king. I’d look the
worst kind of hypocrite.”

Vane
knew Zacry was right. His insecurities took over, though, and he argued,
“That’s what Dorane wants. He wants you to pass the council over.”

“I
couldn’t care less what Dorane wants. He wins this one. I remove myself from
the landscape or ruin my reputation. Either way, he wins. I’d rather just not
get involved.”

“I’d
do the same thing in your place. I just…. Zacry, I don’t want to get involved
either.”

“You
don’t have to, Vane.”

“Who
else can do it? Who else does Rexson have? He’ll need local support, from
someone with magic, strong magic. You can’t be here. Dorane’s made sure of
that, so it’s got to fall to me. I can’t just abandon the king.”

“Rexson
wasn’t lying when he said he’d never ask you to take part in this. He wasn’t
expecting you to offer help, and if you decide you can’t, he wouldn’t grudge
your change of heart. One thing I will say: if you’re going to back out, back
out now. If you declare yourself in, you need to stay in. For the long haul.”

“Then
I’m in. Where else can he turn?”

“He’d
find people.”

“Look,
he’s dreading this as much as I am, probably more. He didn’t invite this
fiasco, and I want to help him. It’s the right thing to do. My parents would
help him if they could.”

Zacry
said, “Your parents always helped Rexson. They wound up dead because of it, and
you could too.”

“That’s
why I’m terrified.”

“I
don’t know what to tell you. You can’t let fears and hypotheticals dictate your
life. On the other hand, prudence is a virtue, and prudence would recommend you
not stick your neck out this way. Maybe you could get involved behind the
scenes?”

“That
wouldn’t make sense. Zac, I want to claim my title. I don’t want anyone, ever,
to be able to argue I’m ashamed of my parents or the lives they led. Beyond
that, I’d never take my father’s wealth while shirking the duties that come
with noble birth. That’s wrong, flat-out wrong. Once I’m at court as Duke of
Ingleton, well, everyone will know I’m a sorcerer. If I’m not on the council at
that point, it implies the king doesn’t trust me.”

“Or,
it implies one or the other of you deemed it prudent, considering Herezoth’s
history, that other magicked families take initiative on this.”

“You
know people would spread rumors, would assume there’s a lack of trust. Soon
they’d assume I’ve given signs of following my uncle’s footsteps. Some might
even strike preemptively. I’d be safer as an active member of the council.”

“In
that case, they’ll assume you’re ingratiating yourself and biding your time.
Same level of danger for you. But then, if you’re on the council, there’s no
doubting you’d use magic to defend yourself against attackers. That should
inhibit plotting. You’re right, Vane. Perhaps it is
best to join the council, if you accept your title.”

“I’m
accepting it, and I won’t bind my powers, so….” Vane sighed. “I’m on the
council, if Rexson will have me. You and I both know he’ll have me. It really
is an honor in its way, a great mark of his confidence. I should try to think
of it like that. But I don’t mean to make this about me, not after Dorane
just…. Zacry, what’ll you tell Joslyn?”

“The
truth.”

“And
your sister?”

“Hell
if I know.”

“Your
research, Zac. Your essays, weren’t they…?”

“My
livelihood? Yes. Yes they were. All my plans for the rest of my life just went
up in smoke.”

“Rexson
won’t let your family starve. Listen, he can convene this council as often as
he’d like. You can make a career of it, a livable salary.”

“I
won’t be a hypocrite, Vane. And I won’t take a salary from taxes people pay
here without living here to feed that money back into Herezoth. Before I
started writing, I considered being a schoolteacher. I could do that still, or
tutor. I could tutor, if it would bring in enough.”

“You
help Parker all the time. Couldn’t you join him at the smithy?”

“All
that would do is cut his income in half.”

“You’re
right.” Vane ran a hand down his face. “Zacry, there should be an opening or
two at a schoolhouse in Triflag. If not there, they can’t hire people fast
enough in Traigland City. You could work in the capital. You wouldn’t even have
to move. You could transport, couldn’t you?”

“People
aren’t as judgmental about magic in Traigland, but transporting every day would
be pushing limits. I’d have to move. Uproot Joslyn and Viola, to a place none
of us has any interest in being, and for what? For
what?
”

He
made to punch the wall again, from his seat, but Vane grabbed his arm as he
pulled it back. “You’ll regret that. Your hand’s black and blue as it is.”

Zacry
shook Vane off. “I stopped Rexson beating this joker to death, and this is the
thanks I get? Where does he get off…?”

“I
don’t know,” said Vane. “I don’t. But you should go home, that I do know. Home
to Joslyn, before things get even more out of hand. We’ll go back to Podrar to
meet with Rexson, because he needs to know what’s going on, and then you should
just go home. The king and I, and Gratton, we’ll handle things from here on
out. The deal won’t be what we expected, but Rexson will accept it, and so will
the Fist. Let’s get out of here, come on. This place makes my skin crawl.”

* * *

Zacry
made it home after midnight. To his surprise, he found Joslyn pacing in front
of the house as he came up the walk. For a moment he thought Viola must be
having trouble sleeping, but he could hear no crying infant, and soon realized
his wife held nothing in her arms. She stopped short when she recognized his step.

“You’re
back. You’re home!”

She
wrapped her arms around him, and he gave her a kiss, running his hand through
her hair. His fingers were bruised from punching the wall, so it hurt like hell
to press them against Joslyn’s head, but he ignored the pain. His hand might be
battered, but his heart felt whole. He had his family, if nothing else. He
asked his wife, “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I
couldn’t sleep. I needed air.”

“Joss,
are you all right?”

He
saw her smile by the moonlight. “I am now. I’ve never been better, I’d say. The
children, they’re all asleep inside. Have been for hours.”

“Viola’s
sleeping through the night?”

“She
has the last two days.”

“Vane’s
coming for Rexson’s kids tomorrow.”

Joslyn’s
face fell. She grabbed her husband’s upper arm. “Why did you come now? Why
didn’t you wait for a reasonable hour? Zacry, what’s gone wrong?”

He
mentioned the deal with the Enchanted Fist. He spelled out Dorane’s conditions.
When anger made his voice shake, his wife hushed him with a finger placed
against his lips.

“We’ll get through this, Love. We’ll do
what we have to do. We can ask your mother to watch Viola during the day if you
can’t find work and I need to do more sewing.”

“I’ll find work of some kind in Traigland
City, if nowhere else. We’ll manage just fine. It’s the principle of the thing.
To think this jackass can demand….”

“That jackass will rot behind prison
doors, and Love, you know we’ll get on. You just said so, so don’t let this eat
at you. That’s petty, and you’ve never been petty. Zac, I can’t imagine how out
of control of your own life you feel, with this man holding Kora’s welfare over
your head. And your writings: you’re passionate about your research. I may be
the only one who knows how much it means to you.”

“He robbed me of that, Joss. Robbed me
blind.”

“He can’t steal what you’ve already
written, and all you’ve published makes clear where you stand on issues of
magic politics. You laid the groundwork to make a Magic Council a viable option
for the king and kingdom, you did that. Dorane can’t take that from you, no
matter how insane his jealousy, because that’s why he’s done this. It was in a
jealous fit. Even I can see you’ve done more for the cause of sorcery from here
than he ever did in Herezoth. As for staying in Traigland, I can only speak for
myself on that. I’ve lived here all my life and, well, I’d say things have
turned out all right so far.”

She
smiled at him, out of genuine joy at his return, numbing the intensity of her
dream to emigrate.

“Joss, you’ve wanted to see other places
since the day I met you.”

“I still can,” she said. “And I will.
Dorane stipulated you’re not to live
in
Herezoth. He said nothing of taking your family there for daytrips.”

“You’ve never brought that up before.”

“Before now I assumed we’d be living
there one day. Your sister, I would have felt I was rubbing salt in her wounds
to have you take me for a visit, but we can say we’re going to the capital
here, or the coast, anywhere really. No one needs to know we went to Yangerton,
or Podrar, or even Hogarane.”

“I wouldn’t recognize the place.”

“Then you can rediscover it. We’ll
discover it together, and of course we’ll visit Vane from time to time. Don’t
you feel you’ve destroyed my dreams, Love, because you haven’t destroyed a
thing. I’ll see Herezoth.” Joslyn paused. “Our children will see Herezoth.”

“Children?” said Zacry. “Are you…?”

“I’ve been suspecting, so I saw a midwife
the day the king’s letter came. I didn’t want to burden you before you left.
You didn’t need distractions, but now that you’re home….”

“So you
are…
?”

She nodded, and Zacry’s green-gray eyes
glowed with excitement. She had to stop talking because he kissed her; he
kissed her and placed his dominant hand, the bruised one, on her abdomen. She
laid hers on top, but he didn’t wince. He felt nothing but stunned gratitude
that Joslyn had waited to tell him her news.

“These past days…. You must have been
miserable.”

She did not deny the charge, but she
assured him, “I’m fine now. You’re safe, that’s all that really matters. Where
we live, how you make your living, that’s secondary, all secondary. You’re back
home, those monsters are in jail where they belong, and we’re giving Viola a
brother. I’ve had an inclination from the start this one’s a boy, even had a
dream.”

“I’ll bet you’re right,” said Zacry. He
smiled at her. “Well, that settles it. I’ll start looking for a teaching post
tomorrow. There are one or two at the schoolhouse here in Triflag, and…. We’ll
need a name, Joss. For the baby. It just occurred to me my sister stole our
father’s name for her kid.”

Joslyn smirked. “Don’t you hold that
against Walten. He’s an absolute dear. What about Foden, Zac, if it’s a boy
like I expect? After Sedder Foden, if your sister doesn’t mind? You speak of
him all the time.”