The whole Tanner, royal family, and split among the mages had turned into a standoff of sorts. He supposed that was good news in a way, even if mostly bad, it seemed Tanner didn’t want to see the mages destroy themselves either, and to lose so many of them.
The compromise idea might be effective there, but not for Tanner or Sun, they were dead men if they lost or even surrendered, which would make things even more difficult. Tanner was guilty of treason and fomenting rebellion, and Sun was guilty of regicide. He didn’t see the princess letting either of those things go, under any circumstances.
He was able to think clearer that morning about it. One good thing, it wouldn’t be up to him at all, the master tower mages and the princess would have to work out any accommodation. He also realized his idea was just a starting point for negotiation, now that he reviewed the past conversation with Talia with a clear mind.
He felt responsible, but only because his plan saved the princess and led to the current stand-off of sorts. There was also the matter of his plan to give mages freedom, without really changing much at all in reality, just the way it was thought of and couched in freedom. He really wasn’t responsible though, he was just a brand-new mage that had done his duty, and who’d followed his oaths and morality.
Thinking anything else was pure hubris, no matter what he was, he was still just eighteen and barely experienced in life.
After drying off, he put on his new bracers and used a spell to dry himself, and then cleaned his leathers and robes before pulling them on. Lastly, he strapped his sword and dagger belt around his waist. He’d woken early, since they’d gone to sleep so early last night, but his bath had burned away that free time, so he headed down for breakfast.
Something felt off as he approached the dining room, and he realized what it was when he walked in and Talia was there alone. He cast detect magic, and felt Lia up in the tower, but not in her room. He gave Talia a sheepish smile, and he turned around and headed back up the stairs.
It was hard to approach that open door, but he walked into Cassandra’s office while fighting off that lump in his throat, which he supposed was Talia’s now. He could practically feel Cassandra in the room, and he vividly remembered their first meeting just eight months ago, but his eyes and mind were mostly on Lia, who was studying the room as if lost. He walked over, and took her hand, but otherwise didn’t say a thing, just waited, and existed with her in that moment of grief.
It was so palpable it took focus and effort to be strong for her, and not break down himself. He wondered if he’d ever see the playful teasing young woman that he’d fallen so hard for, again. He knew he would, life went on even through tragedy, but it would take time.
Lia whispered, “When I was younger, I used to follow her around all the time, and she put up with it gracefully. I wanted to be like her when I grew up, and that hasn’t really changed. She was always strong, yet kind, almost effortlessly. Something that’s always been beyond me, I’m too volatile. Her equanimity wasn’t an act, or a struggle for her, it was who she was. Now I’m scared I’m going to lose my mother too, in this mess before it’s worked out.
“And you, the whole council will know what you are by now, my mother will have seen to that, as is her duty. That terrifies me.”
He said, “None of us know how long we have, but I know I’ll love you and be there for you for my lifetime.” However long that turns out to be, was the ending that he left off, but it was clearly implied.
She smirked, “I love you, Olin. I’ll be alright, it’s just a shock. I still can’t believe she’s gone. She truly was the best of us. In all the towers, not just this one. Her ambition was never to rule, it was to make all of us the best we could be, to arm us with experience for a dangerous world. Honestly, I’d be more worried about you if not for this split. I don’t believe my mother, Aubrey, Elisha, or Jace will panic and do anything precipitous, they’re good people too. Not without Tanner involved in the decision and egging on their fears.”
He nodded, “I’m not sure it will even be an issue, until the bigger one is worked out.”
She shook her head, “It will come up today, it’s too big to be swept under the rug. Even for rebellion and the rest of the mess. Thanks for coming for me, let’s get breakfast.”
That was a comforting thought, not. He was too big an issue to be swept under the rug during a rebellious siege of sorts?
“I’ll always come for you.”
She smiled, but it was wan, and barely reached her eyes.
They headed down to breakfast together, and Talia gave him a grateful look before welcoming her daughter to breakfast. It was clear to him Talia loved her daughter very much, but that she also wasn’t entirely sure how to handle that. He suspected it was because she and Garen had been away so much on missions.
Lia asked, “So, what’s the plan?”
Talia said, “Eat first. Worry later. Grief steals the appetite, but you both need to eat heartily, it’s going to be a hard-enough day as it is.”
Lia rolled her eyes, but she didn’t argue as she put food on her plate.
He followed suite.
Talia asked, “So, you were a blacksmith, and your magic was discovered because you’d made an advanced mage spell as your maker’s mark?”
He nodded, “That about sums it up, yes. It almost killed me. Besides barely having enough magic to power five runes the first time I used magic, there was also a feedback issue because I was focused on the whole mark, rather than just the starburst in the center.”
Talia winced.
He chuckled, “I was out cold for over a day, and would’ve died if a life mage hadn’t been passing through town with a new recruit of their own. It hurt at the time, and wasn’t a laughing matter, but in hindsight I can see how damned lucky I was.”
Talia asked, “How did you come up with the mark.”
He swallowed down the lump again, that was a question and conversation he’d been wanting to have with Cassandra since he’d arrived.
“Sturdy and sharp, fast and strong. Those were the ideals I focused on when making my mark. I wanted the mark to look as deadly as the sword. So I suppose being what I am, the runes just came to me because of that desire. Besides casting those four spells, it’s what the runes mean in that language.”
Talia asked, “So, you can read the language?”
He nodded, “Doesn’t help much. Except I do know that our bedrooms, and the office, used to be workrooms, like on the second floor. That’s what the runes say, anyway.”
Talia smirked, “Yes, when we blocked off most of the tower, we knew we didn’t need two floors of workrooms, no more than we’d needed a dozen floors of bedrooms. That was before my time. I trust you won’t be making any new spells?”
He frowned, “That’s the plan. But doing just that saved the princess, and then saved Lia and I the next day. I’m not sure under the threat of death, if something similar was needed, that I wouldn’t act. No, that’s an evasion. I’ll create spells all day long, if Lia’s life or my sense of duty depends on it. I won’t do so for personal gain.
“One of the things I’d always wanted to talk to Cassandra about, was a rune I thought up my first week here. One that would find mages, all mages, whether they’ve ever channeled their magic or not. I suspect there’s a lot of rune mages out there, not to mention the others. Forgotten lines.”
She questioned, “And you’d like to gather them up?”
He shook his head, “I’d like to give that option to the council. I doubt there’s a whole lot, and it’d be a lot of effort. The reach of the spell is no greater than detect magic, so the searcher would have to wander every street in towns, cities, and farms, they could even miss mages as people wander about the cities and won’t stand still within a search grid.”
Talia sighed, “A better way would be to set up in the city square, and then ask the population to come by to be tested. And if the council demands you never make another spell?”
He
shrugged, “Then I will be punished the next time I’m forced to save a life in such a way. I can even forego making new spells if it means failing my current mission, as long as deaths aren’t the result. That isn’t likely to come up very often. I won’t be doing it for selfish reasons, or even lazy reasons, to make something easier to accomplish. Only if a death is on the line. To do otherwise is immoral, it would be trading my life for another’s, and I won’t let someone die that I can save, simply to salve someone’s fear.”
Lia looked both proud and worried at his words.
What Lia didn’t seem to see, and he did, was that Talia was impressed by his answers, or maybe that was just wishful thinking. Whatever happened, his life and the power structure of Reton was a mess at the moment.
Talia asked, “So you believe you’re above the rules.”
He froze, then said, “I believe rules have a purpose for being. The rules against experimentation with new spells are there to safeguard lives, and to prevent young, ambitious, but stupid mages from killing themselves. That doesn’t apply to a mystic. I won’t be making new spells at all, unless they’re grounded in currently understood magical theory. If you note, both spells I made were variations of well-known spells grounded in accepted theory. I don’t believe I’m better than anyone else, but I do believe I have a talent no one else has.”
Lia looked angry.
He said calmly, “It’s alright, Lia. She’s just coaching me for the questioning that’s coming up in council later. Although she is testing me at the same time, but that’s more about us personally, than what I am.”
Talia sighed, “You are eighteen, aren’t you? You’re awfully perceptive for a young man.”
He laughed, “Yes, but you’re very much like your daughter, and I know her very well. Or I suppose it’s the other way around, she’s very much like you.”
Lia looked horrified by that suggestion, which made him laugh again, drawing Lia’s ire to him.
He smirked.
Lia sighed in disgust, “It’s stupid. You’re a good man, what you are shouldn’t matter. The fear has no basis, and is about mystics in the past, which you aren’t. We should be focused on the real problem.”
That’s what he’d always believed too, that it was fear of the unknown and a past that was painted in infamy, but he questioned that belief a moment later based on Talia’s facial reaction to her daughter’s rant. He came to the conclusion that wasn’t entirely true, even if not entirely false either. There was apparently a very real and logical reason to fear what he was, in this place and time.
That worried him, and he didn’t think Talia would answer his question, and tell him what that fear was, if he’d asked it. Secrets, history, rules, he was surrounded by it, and he didn’t fully understand it all. He suspected the truth of the mystics of the past was partially a secret, one that Talia seemed to know.
Chapter Thirteen
The council chambers, where all the tower masters and mistresses met, was in the spoke corridor between the rune tower and the large central arena. He walked with Talia, apparently he didn’t have a choice, but Lia accompanied them and was a comfort at his side, because she chose to come despite Talia’s effort to have her stay behind.
He got why Talia had tried, Lia could be emotional at times, and she let her outrage speak out at times. She was protective of him, as he was of her. Still, he’d rather have her there, and if she told off the council that was a price they were willing to pay.
The large room itself had a seven-sided table. All the sides were wide enough to accommodate at least five chairs comfortably, so it was no effort to fit the three of them. There was also additional seating around the room, presumably for silent witnesses should they choose to show up to a guild council meeting.
He smiled, and nodded in greeting to Caley, who for some reason was attending and sitting right next to Aubrey, the life tower mistress. The earth tower mistress Elisha, and water tower master Jace also had guests, Carolynn for the former and Karina for the latter. It didn’t take long for him to realize how those three were connected. Perhaps those three were there as character witnesses of sorts? Of all the other mages in the other towers, he imagined those three knew him best. Carolynn and Karina knew who he was now, and Caley knew him eight months ago. His and Caley’s friendship had run its course, but not of their own choice, and they still at least exchanged formal greetings in sword practice.
He felt like he was on trial as he sat down, and in a very real sense he was on trial. Perhaps not for his life, he didn’t believe they would kill him out of hand, but his service and his magic could be ended. He hoped whatever that real threat was, that he posed, somehow, wouldn’t override their thinking. People often let fear guide them, even leaders.
Aubrey nodded, “First, let’s discuss the proposal brought to us last night by our newest member. I’m inclined to try it. There are a number of failure points I’ve identified. The largest of which is Vida could simply order us to attack and take him down, and we’d be honor bound to do so. There’s not much we can do about that one, except be persuasive. Hopefully, she will at least listen and consider our advice and proposal.
“The second issue is any talks about our rights with the princess will be in this room among the four of us and her. How do we communicate those things out to the enemy mages we hope to draw onto our side, when they’re all in the castle? Assuming we do come to an accommodation.
“The third and last issue I thought of, is of time. It could take days, perhaps even weeks, to come up with a solid core policy and then go over all the rules, decide which ones were only in support of the old regime and if they should be modified or thrown out entirely. Tanner won’t sit idle in this standoff forever, and there’s no doubt once we get her here, he’ll find out about her presence in the towers.”
Elisha said, “All good points. I have a slight change after considering the proposal, at least for a starting point of negotiation to the plan submitted last night. The points were well made, but in the beginning the fact is we’d still be required to give oaths and serve for ten years. Having one choice only to retain our magic and become apprentices is not freedom, even if it’s limited to ten years. I suggest that be one of the options. The other option would be for a new apprentice to pay for their schooling and food. Although that would be a harder road, and one most wouldn’t pick, it would truly mean we were free from step one. Of course, the third option would still exist, the second option as it is now, they’d have the choice of having their magic burned out if they didn’t want to be a mage.”
Talia said, “I agree, we should start from that position.”
Aubrey said, “Agreed.”
Jace said, “I also agree, now let’s address Aubrey’s concerns. The first there isn’t much we can do about it, if the princess rejects it out of hand, we must follow our oaths. Which means we need a backup plan in place and must prepare for war. My hope is she’ll listen. Anyway, the second issue is easily solved. We have fire, death, and air mages on our side, residing in their towers. They can communicate our decision out to the others, and tell them that they fight for no reason, and are on the side of ambition and foolishness. Something like that.”
Talia interjected, “We could defer three. Come up with a core plan for freedom, that should be enough to convince some if not most of the three towers to defect to our side. That they’ll have their freedom. The rules can be hammered out after, once the crisis is passed and we have a full council again, with a new master or mistress of the fire, air, and death towers.”
Aubrey smiled, “Good. That should work, although even just the core rights and responsibilities of mage kind will take a while to determine. I propose we deal with the other issue, then contact the princess immediately. I suspect that Tanner has mages going out to search for her, so the sooner we get her here to relative safety, and start the negotiations if she’s open to it, the better.”
Elisha nodded, “I also agree with Talia’s and Jace
’s observations and ideas, and that we should move on.”
Then the three of them looked at Olin.
He smiled nervously, and then sat up a little straighter. He was undeniably nervous, but he also wouldn’t break down, or even back down on his sticking points. He wouldn’t allow others to die, for someone else’s fear, not even those of the ruling guild council.
Aubrey started, “We’ve all read the progress file Cassandra maintained on him. Nowhere in there did it state he was a mystic. I’m not sure why Cassandra chose to hide that information, and I won’t speculate as to why. Outside of saving the princess’s life, and his own along with his partner, he hasn’t broken the rules once during his apprenticeship or on his first mission as a mage.
“Olin is hardworking, bright, and has a lot of promise as a mage. I also spoke with Caley here at length last night, who spoke highly of him and agreed to be here and be questioned on her observations.
“This is a serious thing. We haven’t had a mystic among us in close to twenty generations. There is a risk, but I believe it’s manageable, and he hasn’t done anything to make me worry.”
Jace frowned, “He did break the rules. By his own judgement. He also concealed the fact he was doing so, to hide his true nature. I see the same thing when I read his file, and from what I can gather he isn’t politically ambitious, but he is still very young and idealistic. Naïve. That won’t always be so.”
Elisha grimaced, “You can’t know that. You also can’t know that if he did become politically ambitious that he would… break the rules.”
Yes, definitely a secret, and he was highly curious about that. It was also frustrating, it was more than obvious whatever the secret was, it would be a large part in their decision on what to do with him or about him. Frustrating, because he had no way of weighing that.
Talia interjected, and took a few minutes to brief them on her questioning him that morning over. She even proved out his own thoughts, when she defended his stance on the rules, only creating new spells if a life was at risk. She thought it spoke highly to his integrity, honesty, and who he was, that he didn’t lie about that to get out of trouble.
Rune Mage: The Rune Mystic: Book Two Page 10
