Marked

13

‘What I want to know,’ Sal Sarque said, ‘is how the fuck this was allowed to happen.’

‘We have just spent an hour and a half on a detailed review of precisely that,’ Bahamus said.

Sal Sarque jabbed a finger at Bahamus. ‘Don’t play games. I didn’t say how this happened, I said how this was allowed to happen. This was your plan.’

‘One that you voted for.’

There were thirteen people besides me in the Star Chamber: the secretary, plus the seven senior and remaining five junior members of the Light Council. Everyone had shown up this time. The Junior Council, including me, were gathered at the lower half of the table, or as I thought of it, the kiddy table. For obvious reasons, I didn’t say that (or anything else) out loud. The Senior Council were in an extremely bad mood and no one wanted to draw attention.

The meeting had started as a debrief of last night’s events and had quickly devolved into Sal Sarque blaming Bahamus and Bahamus defending himself. No one had tried to blame me just yet, but I knew that was just a matter of time. Bahamus was getting priority because he was more important and because he’d been the one to first propose the plan. I was next.

‘Let’s all calm down, shall we?’ Druss said. ‘End of the day, we lost three security and no mages. Could have been a lot higher.’

‘I’m sorry, Druss, but the numbers are irrelevant,’ Alma said. ‘We could have lost every security man we sent and it would have been an acceptable trade. Our objective was Drakh, and now not only has he escaped, everyone knows he’s escaped. He’s made the Council into a laughing stock.’

‘Better to have them laughing than our people dead,’ Druss said.

‘No,’ Alma said. ‘Drakh has just demonstrated that it is possible to flout Council law without consequence. If we don’t make an example of him, and soon, we’ll lose far more than that.’

‘Oh?’ Sal Sarque said, turning on Alma. ‘And how exactly are you going to do that? You couldn’t even find him before!’

‘While that is an important question,’ Levistus cut in, ‘before we move on to the question of what steps to take, I think there are still some unanswered questions about last night. In particular, I’d be interested in hearing Verus’s explanation for his presence.’

Seven pairs of eyes fixed on me as the whole Senior Council turned to face me at once. ‘I wanted to keep an eye on things,’ I said.

‘You weren’t authorised to be there!’ Sal Sarque snapped. ‘You were specifically ordered to stay away!’

‘You mean that second-hand message I got passed? Yes, I was, and I was also told to be close enough that I’d be available to reach the site on short notice. I don’t know how you were expecting me to do both.’

Sal Sarque looked about to explode, but before he could speak, Druss raised a hand. ‘I think we’re getting off topic. Why were you there?’

‘You might remember at our last meeting that Spire asked me whether I thought the operation would work.’ I nodded at Spire, who was watching quietly with his fingers steepled. ‘I told him that I thought the odds were against it, because there was too great a chance of the plans being leaked. I think events have borne me out on that front.’

‘A leak?’ Sal Sarque was turning a purplish colour. ‘You were the leak! How else did they know?’

‘How about from one of the literally hundreds of people that you and your staff decided to inform? Between your personal staff and the aides and clerks of everyone else on the Senior Council, the Keeper team, the security contingent supporting the Keeper team and every other bureaucrat and administrator that’s been involved in this operation by now, it’d have been a bloody miracle if Drakh didn’t find out.’

‘Your presence could have contributed to their preparations,’ Alma began.

‘Yes, I’m sure they had time to bury a demolition charge in solid concrete and set up a free-standing gate focus in the ten minutes I was in the building,’ I said. I was getting pissed off now. ‘Oh, and you might want to bear in mind that while I was there I also shut off the enchantment effect that they were using to manipulate the crowd. If I hadn’t, that Keeper team would have been rushed by a mob.’

‘You want credit for that?’ Sal Sarque said contemptuously. ‘You think those adepts of yours would have stood a chance against our forces?’

‘Have you seriously not figured out what was going on last night?’ I said. ‘Richard wanted you to mow down those adepts. The more you killed, the better! If it had turned out into a full-scale combat, you’d have killed hundreds, and you’d have turned every single adept in Britain against you. Why do you think Richard stuck around? He stayed because he was trying to bait you into orchestrating a civilian massacre right in the middle of London, and he came pretty close to succeeding.’

Sal Sarque stood up, his fists clenched. ‘We are not going to go soft on those Dark mages just because they use human shields!’

‘They don’t need to use human shields. From what I’ve seen, you seem more than happy to commit atrocities without any help on his part.’

‘All right!’ Druss raised his hands. ‘Let’s all calm down, shall we?’

Sal Sarque sat down, but from his expression I could see he was still furious. ‘What’s done is done,’ Druss said. ‘As far as Drakh goes, we might have lost face, but we’re not really any worse off than we were yesterday. He was out there then and he’s out there now.’

‘As far as Drakh goes?’ Sal Sarque said. ‘What about the other thing that happened last night?’

‘Sarque,’ Alma said warningly.

Sal Sarque opened his mouth, shot a glance down the table at me and the rest of the Junior Council and closed it again. There was a moment’s silence.

‘Is there something we should know?’ I asked. The pause was stretching out and no one else seemed keen to speak.

‘No,’ Sal Sarque said curtly.

‘Oh come on,’ Druss said wearily. ‘Not like we can exactly keep this one a secret.’

‘The information is still sensitive,’ Alma said.

‘I think it’s a matter of closing the stable door after the horse is gone,’ Bahamus said.

‘Long gone,’ Druss said, then turned to address me and the others. ‘There was a raid on our Southampton facility last night. Was timed to coincide with the Tiger’s Palace attack.’

The Southampton facility is one of the Council’s secondary storage depots. It’s not as well defended as the War Rooms or the Vault, but it still has some fairly important stuff. ‘So that there wouldn’t be a quick response force,’ I said.

Druss nodded. ‘Didn’t go as well for them as the raid on the Vault. They managed to break into the areas near the loading dock, but they couldn’t breach the bubble and they had to withdraw. Was bloody, though. They killed all the staff in the areas they got control of.’

‘Was it Onyx?’ I asked.

‘What makes you think that?’ Bahamus asked.

‘A violent operation with a high body count that isn’t all that successful at getting to the objective,’ I said. ‘Plus he’d have known when to time it.’

‘Well, you’re right,’ Druss said. ‘They used shrouds and shot out all the visible cameras, but they missed the hidden ones. We’ve got footage of Onyx from three angles, along with that fire mage he’s taken up with.’

‘This is a matter for the Senior Council,’ Levistus said.

‘I agree,’ Alma said with a nod. ‘We’ll determine how much to release later. Until then, all details are considered sealed to the Star Chamber until further notice.’

There was a rustle of movement as several people sat back. ‘Now,’ Alma said. ‘It’s clear that Drakh’s cabal had advance warning of our operation. The question is how.’

‘I’m afraid it’s as Verus said,’ Druss said. ‘With all the eyes we brought in on it, it could have been any of a hundred people or more.’

‘Regardless, we should conduct an investigation,’ Bahamus said.

Undaaris nodded. ‘I agree. This sort of a leak is concerning.’

‘You considered maybe the leak’s coming from that guy right there?’ Sal Sarque asked.

‘Oh, give it a rest, Sarque,’ Druss said wearily. ‘You hate Verus, we get it. Do it on your own time.’

‘I agree,’ Bahamus said with a frown. ‘This is growing unseemly. Regardless of your personal disagreements with Councillor Verus, it is clear from the reports of last night that without his actions, the outcome of the raid would have been considerably worse.’

‘Didn’t sound like it to me,’ Sal Sarque said, then as Druss started to respond, threw up his hands. ‘Fine! If that’s how you want to play it. How about the important question? What are we going to do now?’

There was a silence. I kept my mouth shut, and so did the rest of the Junior Council, but it didn’t seem as though any of the Senior Council seemed eager to talk either. Looking around, I realised why. The last plan had gone badly. No one wanted to be responsible for the next one.

Then Levistus spoke. ‘We need to make a public response.’

‘I agree,’ Alma said. ‘A swift one.’

‘Onyx,’ Bahamus said.

‘You really think he was the one behind this?’ Druss said.

‘Who cares?’ Sal Sarque said.

‘On this matter, Sal Sarque has the right of it,’ Bahamus said. ‘It doesn’t matter whether Onyx was the leak. What does matter is that he double-crossed us, and if every Dark mage in Britain doesn’t know that already, they soon will. He should be taught a lesson.’

‘No,’ Druss said.

Bahamus looked at Druss. ‘Excuse me?’

‘We’re not going off half-cocked after Onyx,’ Druss said. ‘Did you read the reports this morning? We had thirty-six Keepers at the Tiger’s Palace last night. Out of those, twenty-four were on the club floor and actively engaged against Drakh’s cabal. Yes, some of them were busy dealing with the adepts and the small fry, but for the most part, they were trading punches with Drakh and his crew.’

‘We’re aware,’ Alma said. ‘What’s your point?’

‘The point is that according to the Keepers on the scene, Drakh had maybe ten to twelve mages up on that balcony. Two to one in our favour. We had three Keepers seriously injured last night. You know how many Drakh lost?’

‘The reports didn’t say,’ Bahamus said.

‘Zero. Twice their numbers, and we took three casualties to their none.’ Druss looked at Sal Sarque. ‘Nimbus made a big noise about how those adepts shouldn’t have been allowed to escape, but it sounds to me like our boys were losing. If Drakh hadn’t pulled out, it would have been a total fucking disaster.’

‘How were that number of Dark mages able to defeat a full Keeper force?’ Alma asked.

‘Was it Drakh?’ Undaaris asked.

Druss shook his head. ‘From all accounts, Drakh just played to the crowd.’

‘Then how?’ Alma asked. ‘For two years we’ve been pouring resources into the Keepers as a whole and your Order of the Shield in particular. The idea was to be able to defeat Dark mages in open conflict, not hold them to a stalemate. And from what you’re saying, it sounds as though you barely managed even that.’

‘Because they were punching above their weight,’ Druss said. ‘I’d lay bets that every one of those Dark mages was weighed down with imbued items. I’ve been warning you for months that most of the really combat-effective imbued items from the raid on the Vault haven’t been showing up. I think we just learned what Drakh was saving them for.’

‘It wasn’t most of those Dark mages that were the problem,’ Sal Sarque said. ‘Just one.’

‘Yes, I was just coming to that,’ Alma said. ‘A mage cloaked in a black shroud strongly suspected to be Vihaela. According to these reports she not only singlehandedly disabled Nimbus and Ares and held off all attempts at a counterattack, but also managed to intercept the flanking team intended to prevent Drakh’s escape.’ Alma laid down the reports and looked from Druss to Bahamus. ‘You describe this as Drakh’s cabal “punching above their weight”, but frankly, it seems as though you barely engaged the cabal. You couldn’t even get past this one mage.’

‘We were already aware that Vihaela was one of the most dangerous members of Drakh’s cabal,’ Bahamus said. ‘It seems that whatever she’s acquired from the Vault, it’s given her a significant power boost.’

‘She wasn’t using it when Verus’s team ran into her later,’ Druss said. ‘Could be it’s got limitations on how long it can be used.’

Alma shook her head. ‘I’m not interested in tactics, Druss. I want to know why you’re unwilling to move against Onyx.’

‘This is about tactics,’ Druss said. ‘Because if we go charging off against Onyx the way we did last night, and Drakh and Vihaela do a repeat performance, there’s a really good chance we’re going to lose.’

‘We’ll be ready for them next time,’ Sal Sarque said.

‘How?’ Druss said. ‘We don’t even know what they were using.’

The argument went on for some minutes. Bahamus and Sal Sarque wanted to go after Onyx; Druss and Undaaris were against. I was pretty sure that for Bahamus, it was personal: Onyx had double-crossed him and he wanted to teach him a lesson. Sal Sarque just seemed to want to take revenge and Onyx was an obvious target. Undaaris didn’t care about the principles of the thing but was obviously nervous about another confrontation. With neither side willing to compromise, the debate dragged on.

‘Enough,’ Levistus said at last. ‘This is pointless.’

‘You were the one arguing for a response,’ Bahamus said.

‘Which is why this is pointless,’ Levistus said. ‘Disposing of Onyx will accomplish nothing.’

‘He attacked the Council,’ Bahamus said.

‘And in due course, he will be dealt with,’ Levistus said. ‘But as regards our larger position, it will accomplish nothing at all. Onyx is not even part of Drakh’s cabal. Focusing our strength against him would send the message that we are afraid to move against Drakh directly.’

‘He’s got a point,’ Druss said. ‘If we go after Onyx and Drakh steps in, we’re in trouble. If he doesn’t, it’ll just look like we’re chasing the easy target.’

‘Then what do you suggest?’ Alma asked Levistus.

‘If we are going to make an example of someone in Drakh’s cabal, it should be someone significant,’ Levistus said. ‘Ideally, we should move against Drakh or Vihaela. Given the circumstances, neither appears to be a practical target. This leaves one obvious candidate.’

Oh, I thought. Right. I’d been expecting Levistus to try to pin the blame on me. He’d considered it – I’d seen futures in which he’d tried exactly that – but in the end he’d held back. Probably because he’d decided that this was a more inviting target.

‘You’re talking about Morden?’ Undaaris said questioningly.

‘Who pointed us towards Onyx?’ Levistus asked.

‘You’re suggesting he planned this from the start,’ Alma said.

‘I doubt we’ll be able to prove it,’ Levistus said. ‘Morden will have covered his tracks. But I don’t see how anyone could look at the facts and seriously consider any alternative.’

‘Morden hasn’t gained anything from this,’ Druss said. ‘In fact, he’s worse off than he was at the start.’

‘I disagree,’ Levistus said. ‘Morden is a member of Drakh’s cabal. What helps Drakh, helps him.’

‘And you seriously think he’s done all this as part of some elaborate plan to sacrifice himself?’

‘Who can predict the actions of a Dark mage?’ Levistus said. ‘I doubt we’ll ever know one way or the other. However, one fact is clear. Morden was to deliver Drakh to us. He has failed quite comprehensively. I see no reason to prolong his stay of execution.’

Druss started to argue, but I only listened with half an ear. I’d been scanning the faces of the other Senior Council members, and I could see which way the wind was blowing. Alma’s expression was neutral, but Bahamus’s face was hard and he was nodding at Levistus’s words. Druss might still vote against the proposal that Levistus was building up to, but if he did, he’d be the only one. Morden’s membership on the Light Council was about to be removed, and mine with it.

* * *

‘So what happens now?’ Luna asked.

It was later that day, and Luna and I were on the second floor of the Arcana Emporium. The room we were in had been my bedroom once, though it was arguable whether you could really call it the same room: the fire had gutted it so thoroughly that it had been rebuilt pretty much from the ground up. Luna had chosen to restore it to something fairly similar to its original design, though she had left out the dividing wall, turning the room into something more like a studio flat. A bed sat by the window, a sofa in the middle of the floor, and there were French windows leading out onto a small balcony. It had been painted white and green and was quite clean and pleasant-looking, but an observant viewer might have noticed that the place had a slightly unused feeling, more like a spare room. The truth was that while there was a bed here, Luna never used it. By the time the Arcana Emporium passed into her hands, Luna had been given several sharp lessons in the things that can happen when you have enemies who know where you sleep, and her solution had been to set up a dummy bedroom above the shop. So far it hadn’t proved necessary, but as I’ve had occasion to learn, the time to set up these kinds of things is before you need them.

‘Well, they didn’t pass an execution order,’ I said. ‘But they came pretty close. The resolution they finally hashed out is basically an emergency powers bill. It lets the Council suspend a bunch of legal restrictions “for the duration of the current crisis”. And since I doubt Richard’s going away any time soon, that’s going to be a pretty long time.’

‘Does that mean they can just pass another death sentence for you?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I think that was what Levistus was angling for, but Bahamus wouldn’t go along with it so he backed down. I still have the protections from being on the Council.’

‘Um,’ Luna said. ‘If they kill Morden, doesn’t that mean you stop being on the Council?’

‘Yeah, you’ve kind of put your finger on the problem.’

I was sitting on the sofa while Luna was cross-legged in an armchair. Normally a Saturday afternoon like this one would be prime season for the shop, but after yesterday’s excitement Luna had decided to take the day off. ‘So what are they going to do?’ Luna asked. ‘Just go over to that prison and cut his head off?’

‘From what I could gather, they’re going to try to see what they can squeeze out of him first,’ I said. ‘I know Undaaris and Levistus still want to get their hands on all those files Morden inherited from White Rose. But once he doesn’t turn them over, or even if he does, then yeah. Head-choppy time.’

‘So then what?’

‘Then I’ll stay on as interim Junior Council member while new ones get nominated and the Senior Council decides who’s getting the seat.’

‘Hm,’ Luna said. ‘Could they just have you stay?’

‘It’s possible.’

‘How possible?’

‘A few months ago, I would have said no chance,’ I said. ‘But a few things have changed since then. For one thing, I’ve got more influence than I used to. For another, the Council are right about to get into a war. Some of them have realised that, even if not all of them have. There’s a chance that they won’t want to deal with the internal disruption of throwing me out on top of everything else.’

‘Or Levistus could take the opportunity to get rid of you while everyone’s scared enough to listen to him,’ Luna pointed out.

‘That too,’ I admitted. ‘Still, I don’t think he’d be able to get a death sentence passed any more.’

A large-to-medium-sized fox trotted in through the door and approached the sofa. ‘Hi, Hermes,’ I said, and offered a hand for him to sniff. ‘There’s more. So when Onyx did that raid last night? Turns out one of the things he stole from the Southampton facility was a certain statue that used to be on display at the British Museum.’

‘At the— Wait. That one? The one we used to reach the fateweaver?’

‘Yup.’

‘You think that was what he was after?’

‘I doubt it,’ I said. ‘It was originally in the Vault; they only moved it there a month or so ago as part of the Vault upgrade. More likely he saw the thing after smashing his way in, recognised it, and decided to grab it while he had the chance.’

‘You don’t think he’s figured out some way to get inside, do you?’ Luna said. ‘I mean, Onyx is pretty dangerous already. If he got hold of that fateweaver …’

‘The Council spent a ton of effort trying to get into that thing and failed,’ I said. ‘Onyx doesn’t have anywhere near the resources that they do. If it had been Richard who’d stolen it, I’d be worrying. I’m not so concerned about Onyx.’

‘But they did figure out a way in,’ Luna said. ‘The cube.’

‘Which is why I’m bringing it up,’ I said. ‘I figure that Onyx is going to spend a while trying and failing to brute-force a way in, then when that doesn’t work he’ll go looking for the thing that worked last time. Let’s make sure that we have that cube really well hidden by then.’

‘Okay.’

‘I figure that somewhere overseas should work. A stasis field would probably be best – that’d mess up any kind of sympathetic tracking spells he might try using the gate focus as a link.’

‘Okay.’

‘Anyway, it’s not something we have to do right this minute. The Hollow’s wards ought to hold against any basic spell. But there’s no point taking chances.’

‘Okay.’

I cocked my head. ‘What’s wrong?’

Hermes padded over to Luna’s chair, looking up at her expectantly. Luna reached down to scratch the fox’s head, the silver mist of her curse pulling back from her fingers as she did. ‘What were you doing with Deleo?’

‘You mean last night?’

‘Yeah. I know you were buying time. But that wasn’t all of it.’

‘No,’ I admitted.

‘Because whatever it was, I don’t think it worked,’ Luna said. ‘Usually when I see you get into these kinds of sparring matches, you give as good as you get. This time you were weirdly … defensive, I guess?’

‘Remember how I told you that I went to see the dragon beneath Arachne’s lair? It told me that if I wanted to get results with Rachel, I should listen to her.’

‘It didn’t sound as though you were listening,’ Luna said. ‘More like you were arguing and losing.’

‘Thanks.’

‘So what did you learn?’

I grimaced. ‘Nothing good. I suppose now I’ve got a better idea of why Rachel hates me so much. I’ve just got no freaking idea how it’s supposed to help.’

‘Why would you expect it to?’ Luna said. ‘Okay, so there’s a reason I’m bringing this up. Vari and I were having an argument a couple of weeks ago. Landis and Vari were on a job and ran into someone, there was trouble, the other guy attacked them and they fought back. I was saying it might not have been the other guy’s fault, he could have had reasons to be suspicious of a couple of Keepers. Vari’s answer was that everyone has a reason. And when I thought about it, he was right. It’s not like anyone just wakes up one morning and thinks, “Hey, you know what, I feel like being a bad guy today.” Everyone’s got some way to justify what they do. They’ll say that the other guy’s an arsehole, or they don’t have any choice, or it’s not like it matters, or it’s just the way the world works, whatever. The point is, knowing why someone’s after you doesn’t really help. I mean, look at Deleo. She wears a freaking domino mask and acts like two different people depending on whether it’s on or off and she’s got a disembodied piece of the best friend she murdered riding around in her head carrying on conversations with her. She is literally insane. What are you expecting to get out of talking to her?’

‘Shireen told me that I needed to help Rachel and redeem her,’ I said. ‘That was years ago and I’m getting the feeling I’m running out of time. I’m at the point where I’m willing to try most things.’

‘Is giving up one of those things?’ Luna said. ‘Look, I haven’t said anything until now, because I know you still feel bad about what happened to Shireen and you want to help her. But maybe it’s time to admit that it’s not going to happen. I mean, you remember what else happened around then, right? First Deleo tried to kill you, then you found out her secret and she tried to kill you even harder, then you found out that she’d been spending the last decade tracking down everyone who showed up at Richard’s mansion and killing them. How big a murder spree does she have to rack up before you start considering that this “redemption” thing isn’t all that likely?’

‘I don’t exactly have a choice,’ I said. ‘If I don’t turn Rachel, I’ve had it.’

‘How do you know?’

‘It’s a dragon prophecy. They don’t get things wrong.’

‘Did Arachne’s dragon tell you the same thing?’ Luna said. ‘As in, did you ask what would happen if redeeming Rachel didn’t work?’

‘Not exactly, no.’

‘Then how do you know it is a dragon prophecy?’

‘Because Shireen told me,’ I said. I could see where Luna was going with this.

‘And how do you know she’s telling the truth?’

‘I suppose I don’t,’ I said reluctantly. ‘But she’s been honest with me in the past.’

‘From how I understand it, she’s been trapped inside Rachel’s head for years,’ Luna said. ‘If I were stuck in a position like that then I’d probably be willing to stretch the truth a bit too.’

‘There’s no proof of that,’ I said. ‘Besides, is this really about you not trusting her, or is it that you just think Rachel’s a lost cause?’

‘A bit of both. And don’t you think it’s time to stop calling her that?’

‘What?’

‘Rachel,’ Luna said. ‘When you’re talking to other mages, you call her Deleo. When you’re talking to her, you call her Deleo. But when you’re talking to us, you call her Rachel. It’s because that’s how you still think of her, isn’t it?’

‘It was what I called her when we were apprentices.’

‘Yeah, well, she’s not an apprentice now,’ Luna said. ‘I thought about this when I picked my mage name. I decided that I’d use my mage name for formal stuff, but not for anything personal. So if I’m entering a duelling competition or doing something with the Council, then I’m Vesta, but to you and Anne and Vari and to anyone else I’m friends with, I’m just Luna. A lot of mages don’t do that – once they pass their tests, they switch over to using their mage name for everything. But Deleo kills people for calling her her old name. What message do you think that sends?’

‘What are you getting at?’

‘You and Shireen still call her Rachel,’ Luna said. ‘It’s like you think she’s still the same person. What if she’s not? What if Rachel’s dead and Deleo’s what’s left?’

‘Then I’ll just have to work with what I’ve got,’ I said. ‘Look, I see what you’re getting at, but when I asked the dragon how I could split Rachel away from Richard, it gave me an answer. It wasn’t a very comprehensible answer, but it made it clear that it was possible.’

‘How?’

‘It told me that Rachel saw me more clearly than I saw myself,’ I said. ‘And that until I recognised the ways in which we were alike, I wasn’t going to get anywhere.’

Luna frowned. ‘What ways?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘But thinking about it, there was one thing I did learn from that conversation last night. Up until now, I’ve been trying to get Rachel to turn against Richard by … well, manipulating her, I guess. But it’s really obvious now that that’s not going to work, because Rachel knew exactly what I was doing. She always seems to be able to do that. I can’t trick her the way I can other people.’

Luna frowned. ‘You think she knows you that well?’

‘The dragon said so, didn’t it?’

‘Then what about everything else Deleo said?’ Luna asked. ‘Do you think that was true?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said with a sigh. ‘Some of it hit a bit close to home. You remember back during your journeyman test, when I had that split-up with Caldera? Well, we were talking as well as fighting, and a lot of what she was saying was really close to what I heard last night from Rachel. About how I’m so arrogant, don’t think the rules apply to me. It was different rules she was talking about, but apart from that they used practically the same words. If people as far apart as those two tell you the same thing …’ I trailed off, thinking. ‘It never really occurred to me, but I guess they’re alike in a way. Because in their different ways, they both did follow the rules. Rachel as a Dark apprentice, Caldera as a Light Keeper. They did as they were told, changed themselves to fit in. Then after spending years and years working without any kind of reward, I show up, break all the rules, don’t do as I’m told and get promoted over their heads. I guess it’s not surprising that they’re pissed.’

‘That sounds like their problem.’

‘But that wasn’t really the part that bothered me,’ I said. ‘I’m okay with being bad at following other people’s rules. What bothered me was her telling me that I wanted the same things as her.’

‘That’s not really true.’

‘It kind of is,’ I said. ‘I didn’t join up with Richard for no reason. Yes, he’s really good at being persuasive, but he didn’t have to try very hard. The truth was, I loved the idea of being powerful and feared. If I hadn’t, I never would have agreed to go with him in the first place.’

‘Okay, so maybe you did want that back then,’ Luna said. ‘But that was then. You’re different now.’

‘Am I?’ I said. ‘The feared part, maybe. The powerful part? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have spent so long studying and training otherwise.’

‘None of that makes the other things she was saying true,’ Luna said. ‘You’re not selfish. You worked really hard to help me, and Vari and Anne as well. All three of us know that. That’s why we trust you.’

I smiled at Luna. ‘Have I ever told you I really appreciate how loyal you are?’

Luna shrugged. ‘Most people don’t have to think about this kind of stuff. They pick friends based on whether they’re fun to hang out with. When you’ve dealt with the kinds of things we have, it teaches you to pay a lot of attention to whether someone’s going to be there when things go wrong.’

‘I know the feeling. But maybe you and Rachel are both right.’

‘How?’

‘You’ve seen me help you and your friends, so you see me as unselfish and trustworthy,’ I said. ‘Rachel’s seen me turn against Richard and build up my own strength, so she sees me as power-hungry and manipulative. Maybe you’re both seeing me clearly, just from different sides.’

‘If you say so. How’s this supposed to help?’

‘The dragon told me I needed to understand the ways in which Rachel and I are the same.’

‘You both talk a lot?’

‘We both want to be powerful,’ I said. ‘Anne doesn’t. She’s got more power than she needs and more than she’s really comfortable with. She’d be a lot happier if she could just live quietly. You and Vari are both in a good place. You’re both okay with the level of power you can wield. I’m the only one out of our group of four who has less power than he wants. Or needs.’

‘Again, how’s this supposed to help?’

I sighed. ‘No idea. Let me know if you have any sudden revelations.’

A few days passed.

‘I’m still not seeing why you need me along,’ I said into the focus.

‘We already went through this,’ Lyle said.

‘I’m not the one negotiating.’

‘The legal formalities require that a Council member be present.’

‘So get your boss to go,’ I said. ‘Or someone from the Junior Council. It’s not like I’m the only choice.’

‘But you are Morden’s aide.’

‘Make up your frigging mind,’ I said in annoyance. ‘Either I’m there in my capacity as Junior Council, which means I’m a Council member, or I’m there in my capacity as Morden’s aide, which means I’m not a Council member. You can’t have both.’

It was afternoon on the following Wednesday, and I was in my office in the War Rooms. Anne was sitting curled up in her usual spot on the sofa, reading a letter and listening with half an ear. I was arguing with Lyle and currently losing.

I’d known for a couple of days that I was going to be forced to be involved in the (supposedly) final negotiations with Morden. I hadn’t been keen, since I had a nasty feeling Levistus had yet another trick up his sleeve to screw me over. I’d become even less keen once I found out that both Levistus and Sal Sarque’s aides were going to be there too.

‘Look, Alex, you know how this is going to go,’ Lyle said. ‘Why are you giving me a hard time about this?’

‘I’m giving you a hard time?’ I said. ‘You’re trying to get me to spend the afternoon with two people who’ve repeatedly tried to kill me. If you were in my position, you’d be putting up much more of a fuss.’

‘Barrayar is tasked with the actual negotiation,’ Lyle said. ‘You’ll be there in a purely ceremonial capacity. You won’t even have to enter Morden’s cell.’

‘Oh, that sounds great. I can hang out with that lovely girl that Sal Sarque’s taken up with instead. How do you think that conversation’s going to go? “Hi there, lovely weather we’re having, planted any bombs in my house recently?”’

Lyle sighed. ‘Do you really want me to go to the Council on this?’

I was silent. Lyle had already brought this request to me via Anne twice, and both times I’d dodged it. This time he’d called me directly in my office. The truth was that if Lyle did go to the Council, they’d almost certainly make it a direct order. Lyle would lose face, but I’d lose a lot more. ‘Fine.’

‘You’ll go?’

I didn’t answer.

‘Alex?’

‘Yes, I’ll go. Stop pestering me.’

‘Excellent,’ Lyle said. ‘You know the gate location?’

‘Yes.’

‘And the time.’

‘Yes.’

‘You’ll be sure to be punctual? It’s very important—’

‘Thank you, Lyle,’ I said. I cut the connection before he could respond.

Anne looked up. ‘Didn’t go well?’

I sat back with a sigh. ‘I’m really not in the mood for this.’

‘Why do they want you there anyway?’

‘Wish I knew,’ I said. People think that being a diviner makes this kind of thing easy, but it really doesn’t. Being able to look into short-term futures doesn’t help much when it comes to revealing long-term plans, and when it comes to politics, pretty much everything is long-term plans. ‘Best guess is that Levistus is hoping to use Morden’s fall to involve me, but I don’t know exactly how.’

Anne stretched, put down the papers and stood up. ‘Sounds as though I should come along for this one.’

‘It’s probably nothing.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Anne said. ‘Are you going to try to keep me away from everything? Richard isn’t there this time.’

‘I guess you’re right,’ I said. Morden had had some interest in Anne as well, but that was a long time ago. Besides, I could use someone to watch my back.

‘Why did Lyle make such a big deal about you being on time?’

‘It’s just how he is,’ I said. ‘You know how big Light mages are on protocol. If you’re late for anything, they take it as a deliberate insult.’

‘Okay.’ Anne paused. ‘Wasn’t it supposed to be at two-thirty?’

I picked up the report I’d been looking over. ‘You don’t want to rush these things.’