The Magic Council (The Herezoth Trilogy) (50 page)

The
door to the parlor budged without resistance when Gilbert pushed it open. He
nodded his farewell and left August and Vane staring open-mouthed at one
another.

Thad
gave Vane a warm handshake when he walked into the candle-laden,
crimson-curtained dining hall. He said with simple tact, “It’s nice to have you
back here.”

“Nice
to see you too. I’m sorry I missed your wedding.”

“No
apology necessary,” Thad insisted.

“I
appreciate you testifying.”

“That
was a civic duty, no?”

“Well,
congratulations to you,” Vane told him.

“And
to you. Is this your wife?”

“No,
some random expectant woman I found all dolled up on the way here.”

“It’s
lovely to meet you,” said Thad, and kissed August’s hand.

“We
just met with Gilbert,” Vane said.

“Ah,
yes, Gilbert and Tanya. So warm, that woman! And Rayla, I assume?” August
nodded, and Thad said, “I apologize straight off for whatever unmeaningly
offensive things she said.”

August
could not help but smile. “No apology necessary.”

Thad
laughed. “Your husband should have brought you around sooner.” He turned to
Vane. “Why didn’t you bring her around sooner? It wasn’t because of Carlina’s
comments about Hayden Grissner’s wife? Because of what I said about marrying
outside nobility?”

“That
was a part of it,” Vane admitted.

“Well,
it seems I’d better clear things up this instant.” And Thad stroked his chin.
“When exactly did we say those things? I believe it was….”

Vane
crossed his arms. “The day the council was announced. Why?”

“And
when did you two marry?”

August
said, “The night after the king announced the council.”

“And
you would claim, Ingleton, that our snide remarks played no role at all in your
decision to rebel by eloping? You see, my dear,” Thad told August, “You both
have Carlina and I to thank for your union. So, if you two overlook those
moments of crassness my wife and I inflicted, I in turn shall graciously
forgive Valkin’s rudeness in not telling me he fell enamored of the princess’s
nurse.”

August
turned to Vane with a grin. “It seems a fair bargain.”

“I
don’t know about that,” said Thad. “I get the better end, I’m afraid. One only
has to look at you to understand your husband’s silence.” He lowered his voice.
“You’re far too lovely for the likes of him. He was frightened I’d steal you
away. That’s the reason, eh Ingleton? Now, alas….” He indicated his wedding
band with an exaggerated sigh, speaking louder when he noticed Carlina approach
and jabbing a thumb at her. “I’m stuck for life with this hag.”

“As
though an ogre like you could do better,” his wife retorted.

Thad
told Vane and August, “We’ve decided to buck the trend of conventional terms of
address. Take a lesson, Ingleton: you don’t have to run off with a nanny to be
original. As for you, my dear duchess, some advice for when the baby comes and
you’re looking to contract a nurse: hire old. As old as you possibly can.”

August
broke into peals of laughter so strong she had to cover her mouth with both
hands. When she finally gained control of herself, Carlina told her, “It’s an
honor to meet you. Sincerely. Anyone brave enough to go through all you have
and still come face the likes of us….”

The
foursome sat at dinner with Hayden, Carlina’s mother, and Thad’s father. Mason
Greller did not speak much, but he stuck close to Vane and August throughout
the evening, knowing his presence near the duchess would keep eyes at bay and
tongues tame in a way even her sorcerer-husband’s could not. The Chief
Adviser’s protective air sent an unmistakable message as to where royal favor
at court lay.

If
meeting Amison’s family had been worse than August feared, Gilbert’s support
aside, the banquet proved hardly taxing. Not everyone she met gave welcomes
that seemed genuine, but at moments, laughing with Thad and Carlina while Mason
looked on, she felt genuinely content. She ended the evening in a manner she
never would have expected, inviting Thad and his wife to dine at Oakdowns and
receiving a grandfatherly kiss on the cheek from the Duke of Podrar. When she
and Vane returned home that evening, she said, “Bless the Grellers. Bless every
last one of them.”

Vane
said, “I can’t believe Thad’s magicked. I can’t blame him for not telling me,
not with the secrets I’ve kept from him, but….”

“You
really had no idea?”

“Not
the slightest suspicion.”

“It
was nice to joke again, wasn’t it? It’s been so long since we’ve joked. I have
a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of Thad. And Carlina…. Val, she wasn’t a
thing like you’ve described her all this time.”

“She
was different,” he said. “Like she’s learned somehow the world’s bigger than
herself and her ridiculous wedding. I guess following the trial, seeing Tanya
suffer, reading those reports about the manor and those mobs who tried to torch
the place….”

“You
know what I think? I think Thad was scared out of his mind for you all the time
we were gone, and even more unnerved to testify. I think he turned to Carlina
in some moments of weakness, and seeing she’d no other choice, she matured to
give him the help he needed. That’s what people do when they care for someone.
That’s just a guess, but…. Whatever happened, she was lovely. She made
everything much less awkward than it would have been, introducing me to her
sisters and cousins and all the women who came up to us or wouldn’t stop
staring until we went to them.”

“Do
you think you’ll go back?”

“I
just might, on occasion.”

Vane
kissed her. “I’m glad you came tonight, at any rate.”

“You
took a dagger for me, Val. The least I could do for you was handle a few
whispers and forced pleasantries.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

To
Swear on a Chicken

The Magic Council met for the second time
in September, to finish business from before their interruption back in June.
Vane purposely arrived a few minutes late, so he could speak with his fellow
councilors all at once instead of one by one as they trickled in.

“I’m sorry about last time,” he said as
he took his seat in their meeting room, the same parlor where he and August had
spoken with Amison’s sisters.
 
He dropped
a bag of papers at his feet. “And I apologize profusely for the mess that was
that trial.” He caught Francie’s eye as he went on. “I’m grateful for your
testimony, all of you.”

“Just told it like it happened,” said
Johann Clee.

“You saw the crowds out front the Palace
that day,” said Hart Quin. “Could have been any one of us they went for. You
got there in time, Ingleton. That’s what matters.”

Vane noted, “That said, I’d prefer not to
mention it again and just move on with business.”

“That’s probably best,” said Zacry.

“Of course,” said Casandra Quin. “What
were we even discussing before…?”

“A school,” offered Francie.
                                                                       

“Speaking of which….” said Vane, reaching
for his bag, “I may have cut the meeting short, but I’ve been working on
something since then. My wife’s sister left her a nice-sized building down
south, near Carphead.”

He shuffled through his papers for a
floor plan, while Hart asked, “A good enough size to house a boarding school,
I’m guessing?”

Vane had two blueprints with him, the
current one and one depicting his suggested changes: two large dormitories on
the top floor, which could sleep forty students each if beds were bunked; six
classrooms on the second floor, with a wing of bedrooms for teachers and other
staff; the bottom floor could house an expanded kitchen, dining hall, and
recreation room. There was space on the grounds to build offices. If they had
the money, they might even expand the existing stables and keep seven or eight
horses for the children. That was August’s suggestion, thinking of Hune and his
love for animals.

“We don’t have a budget for these kinds
of renovations,” said Francie.

Vane replied, “I work cheap.”

“You…? Of course, your magic.”

“I’ll admit, I haven’t consulted any
architects or engineers. It’s possible we’d have to change this around, if the
building itself can’t support the design. I suspect the two large dormitories
won’t work, for one. We might need more walls up there, for the roof. But I’m
sure I could track down the spells I’d need to make the changes, once we’ve a
design in place.” He already had, in fact. Zacry owned a book of architectural
and housing spells.

“And security?” asked Casandra. “Have you
thought about security? We can’t put children at risk for the sake of politics.
I won’t have any part of that.”

“If these past months did anything good,
they proved the protections I put around Oakdowns are strong. I’ve made them
stronger since, and I’d do the same around the school. And we’d have evacuation
plans, Casandra, sorcerers ready to move anyone and everyone out. The school
will be secure. I’m more worried that parents won’t understand how safe it
really is and refuse to let their children come.”

Johann said, “We could arrange a
demonstration once everything’s ready. Let the parents and whoever else,
hundreds of people, go at the place. When they can’t break through, they’ll be
reassured.”

Francie warned, “Some of those parents
might be sorcerers themselves. They could undo your spells, couldn’t they?”

Vane said, “It would take them hours.
That’s more than sufficient time to clear the building of its hundred
occupants, and anyway, apart from testing the security, sorcerer parents would
be more interested in adding to the defenses than breaking them down.”

They spent four hours altering,
perfecting, and approving Vane’s proposal. As everyone was leaving Francie
stumbled over Vane’s bag, spilling his papers and creating an excuse to stay
behind with him. They collected his things, and she said, “That’s some plan you
and Zacry put together. Too bad he couldn’t take credit for his contributions.”

“I was sure you knew where I’d gone. When
I read your testimony….”

Francie looked at the floor, and her
cheeks grew hot; that latter happened more often than the average when she was
around Vane. “It was nothing, a small fudging of the truth. Zacry had to lie
more extensively, didn’t he? Acting like he didn’t know you’d transported to
his house…. His or his sister’s?”

“I didn’t transport anywhere,” said Vane.
Francie glanced up from the bag where she was about to store a writing board,
and Vane told her, “I was unconscious. Amison stabbed me. I nearly bled out.”

“Good God,” she said. The writing board
hit the floor.

“Zac saved my life and got me out of there,
but we couldn’t admit that, because people would have started thinking. Would
have made the connections you did about me and Traigland.”

“Good God,” she repeated, clutching at
his shoulders. “Are you…?”

“I’m fine, Francie, really.”

“And your wife’s all right? He didn’t
hurt her too? She didn’t lose the baby?”

“The babies are fine,” he assured her.
“Kicking all over the place these days.”

Francie let out a heavy breath, then
registered his plural. “Babies?”

“Twins. We’re sure there’s twins. They
like to kick August together on both her bottom ribs.”

“Doesn’t that sound pleasant?” said
Francie. Then, “Listen, congratulations. Congratulations to you.”

“Thanks. I shouldn’t be surprised it’s
twins, all things considered. They run in August’s family too. Her grandmother
was one.”

“Vane, you…. You just make sure yours
don’t lose their father, understand? When I said this council was bigger than
us both, I didn’t mean….”

“I’m careful, Francie. Going through all
that once was enough, believe me.”

She asked, “How’s Gratton getting on?”
Vane said he was. “I haven’t seen him since that day. He took a new assignment,
and well, I owe him a lot, him and his men. He saved my aunt’s store.”

“Rexson told me about that. No one else
has tried anything?”

“Not with your debacle. All the crazies
were by Oakdowns, weren’t they? And the king’s had twice as many men guarding
me and my family since they tried to burn us out. We’re more or less
untouchable.”

Vane threw a last few scraps of paper in
his bag, and Francie tossed in the writing board, at which point he told her,
“I should probably go.” He grabbed the doorknob before she called his name,
which made him turn his head.

“To use that mansion for the school,” she
said, “it’s a brilliant idea.”

“Well, I can’t take credit for it.”

“It’s your wife’s property, you said? And
she just offered it to us?”

“She isn’t fond of the place, to put it
mildly. And I doubt we’d use it as a second home even if she were. Oakdowns
alone is far too big for us.”

We
might have saved Bennie. If the place were smaller, the grounds not so
sprawling, we might have….

Francie admitted, “When I used to wonder
what you’d do with your life, I never pictured a manor like that. I walked past
Oakdowns for years and years before you moved back in, you know…. I saw you on
a boat for some reason, even when we were little. A large one, some kind of
ship, like I expected you’d be a merchant sailor or something.”

“You’re weren’t completely off target,”
he said. “I did take a ship to Traigland that first time. It took a good
month.”

“That’s right, you would have sailed to….
Well, it was a stroke of genius to put the school in that mansion, that’s all I
wanted to say. This school might start to change things, it really might, so
would you thank August, for all of us? She could easily just sell the place,
turn a profit.”

“We’re not hurting for income, Francie.”

“For God’s sake, just thank the woman,
would you?”

Vane said he would, and stared at his old
friend for a good five seconds with apology in his eyes. With suspicion that
she felt more for him....

“Don’t you have a meeting with the king?”
Francie prompted. Her childhood companion shut the door, remaining inside. He
was not one to shy from something uncomfortable when it needed to be said, and
so he asked:

“Are you sure we can work on this council
together?”

“I am. Vane, I need the council. The
thought of this school, of being part of something so meaningful, so
desperately needed.... It’s more than I’ve ever dreamed of. Listen, I’ve grown
to resent my power. I resent it horribly because it.... This stays between us,
all right?”

“Of course.”

“We’re speaking as old friends.”

“I understand, Francie.”

They took seats across from one another,
and Francie said, “My power, it chases men away. It’s frightened off everyone
I’ve tried to grow close to. My knack for picking up emotions, it makes men
feel vulnerable. They can’t deal with something like that. I’ve done nothing
but grudge my power, for years, and now.... Now I actually see it can be
positive. It’s what qualifies me for the council, allows me to do this work
that I.... Vane, I feel so blessed to be a part....”

And he knew she did feel blessed to
contribute to the council. Whatever feelings she might or might not have for
him, the spark of passion in her eyes just then was not romantic. Vane knew
Francie would coexist on the council with him, coexist without conflict or
inappropriate advances interfering. He told her:

“The king didn’t appoint you for your
magic. You’re qualified because of the studies you’ve done. Because you’re here
for the proper reasons. Francie, you care about the council’s mission. That’s
why you deserve this post.”

“Thanks, Vane.”

“If you want me to, I can bind your
power. Erase it completely.”

Francie’s back tensed up, almost like a
cat. “You can do that?”

“Would you like me to?”

“You know a spell to do that? I’d have to
leave the council, no?”

“The king would insist,” said Vane. “He
can’t change his rules of eligibility.”

Francie let out a long, noisy breath. “A
week ago,” she said, “I would have been tempted. I would have let you cast that
spell without a second thought, but now.... The meeting we just had, the
proposal you have for His Majesty.... I’m meant to do this work, Vane. I have
to do this work, for me.”

Vane tried to be as delicate as possible.
“As long as the work’s for you, Francie.”

Her cheeks reddened, but she insisted,
“It’s entirely for me. I swear to that.”

Vane smiled. “You swear on Teena’s
chickens?” They had always sworn important things on Teena’s chickens as
children. Francie was the only one fast enough to run after the fowl when they
escaped the barn.

Francie confirmed, “On Teena’s chickens.”
With that solemn word they shook hands, and Vane left the room reassured.

That evening Vane presented the school
idea to Rexson, who listened in silence with an unreadable expression on his
face. When Vane had finished, all the king could say was, “You and Zacry kept
busy in Traigland, didn’t you?”

“But what do you think?”

“It stays within the council budget if
you add tuition payments and some minor fundraising?”

“Fundraising won’t be a problem. The
Enchanted Fist….”

“They’d support this, if the Quins asked
them. They’d prefer enrollment be limited to the magicked, but they’d
compromise. You budgeted salaries for instructors, and groundskeepers and
cooks? Livable salaries?”

“We included all those costs. We’d be
hoping to hire most of the staff from Carphead, as there’s no room to house the
workers in the mansion, not with the students there. Carphead’s a poor village,
Your Majesty. This school would vastly improve its standard of living. Some of
those we hire would earn double what they do now.”

“It works,” the king conceded. “I think it
works. I agree with Casandra: security’s the main concern, and not just the
perception of adequate defense. You cannot play with children’s lives,
Ingleton.”

“We’ve no intention to. Zacry’s taking
the blueprints to an architect in Traigland, and I’ll fix up the mansion before
word about the school gets out. We’re talking a year before people even hear
about it, and double that to hire staff and a director, furnish the rooms, find
academics to prepare a program of studies. That’s three years before students
set foot inside the place. If at that time it’s just too risky, we’ll scrap the
entire project before we jeopardize a single child, you have my word.”