“I don’t understand,” Valera said.
Dakkor turned to Gavin. “Show them, or they will never believe.”
“Are you sure?” Gavin asked.
Dakkor nodded.
Gavin took a deep breath, cleared his mind of everything but his intent, and invoked a Word, “Klaepos.” Every nerve in Gavin’s body burned as the power surged through him, and the resonance of his power slammed into the wizards present like heavy stones.
A spherical section of space a few feet above Gavin’s head began to shimmer and ripple. Within a few moments, that space became an overhead view of Tel Mivar, including the Outskirts, with the edges of the image frayed like a torn tapestry. Black dots littered the image, blotting out the view of a building in some cases while many others moved like ants. There were three black dots on top of the representation of the College.
Almost all of the Chamber’s occupants stared at the image in silence. Valera alone gaped at the image, her eyes wide as she sucked in a breath.
“That’s a scrying sphere!” Valera said, her voice full of wonder.
“Yes, it is,” Dakkor said. “Gavin, tell us what those black dots represent.”
“Those black dots represent every member of the Guild of Shadows in Tel Mivar, both the old city and the Outskirts.”
Dakkor directed his attention back to Valera. “Madam, you are acknowledged by the Society of the Arcane as the greatest living authority on Divination. Can you duplicate this effect?”
Valera shook her head, as she spoke, “No. There might be one or two spells capable of showing me a random Shadow, but no spell I know is capable of this. No one’s seen a scrying sphere in…oh…at least a thousand years. Not since the last wizards trained by wizards.”
“The Compact was never intended to protect arcanists from the Guild,” Dakkor said, his gaze resting on the three Shadows present. “It was my price, not Kirloth’s. I wanted to protect the Guild from arcanists, and back then, the only arcanists were wizards.”
Dakkor directed his attention back to Tauron. “Why should I bother negotiating with an organization that’s no threat to my interests? I chose to negotiate here for two reasons: one, the situation quickly escalated to a point I felt my direct intervention was required, and two, I wanted to be sure none of you interfered and caused the death of my Guild.”
Dakkor turned to Gavin, asking, “Are you willing to negotiate?”
“I’m prepared for the state of affairs to return to what they were prior to this incident,” Gavin said, “but I’ll tell you right now the next time I see someone stabbing anyone in front of a child, I will kill whoever’s doing the stabbing. I don’t care if the stabbing was contracted.”
Dakkor nodded, saying, “Yes. When I ran the Guild, there was discretion in our operations. It looks like the training has slipped over time.”
“They seem to be hung up on the man in jail, who may still be paralyzed.”
“He is,” Dakkor said.
Gavin winced, saying, “Ouch. I didn’t think the paralysis would last this long. Okay, here’s my offer. The state of affairs between the Society and the Guild will return to what it was before this incident. I will see to it the captured Shadow is no threat to the Guild, and you will sort out your people. Is this acceptable?”
“It is indeed,” Dakkor said, nodding.
Gavin extended his right hand. Dakkor grasped Gavin’s right hand with his, and they gave each other a firm, respectful handshake.
When he ended the handshake, Gavin looked up to the gallery once more, saying, “The order is rescinded.”
Dakkor turned and approached the kneeling Shadows. He said, “You will stand. We have work to do.”
The three representatives stood. Dakkor led them into a shadow that had not been there before, and they disappeared.
Gavin turned to face the Council and found them all looking at him. Valera and Kantar’s expressions conveyed respect. The Magisters of Interation, Transmutation, and Conjuration, and Thaumaturgy looked at Gavin with undisguised envy dominating their expressions. The Magisters of Illusion and Enchantment eyed Gavin with fear. Tauron-as always-looked at Gavin with ill-disguised hatred. Gavin invoked a composite effect, blending two Words into one invocation, “Zyrhaek-Othys.” He grimaced as the pain savaged him, and the background noise from the galleries vanished.
“I have created a barrier of blurring silence between us and the galleries,” Gavin said, “for what I have to say now is for your ears alone. We stand at a precipice. I am quite happy to summon a copy of the Arcanists’ Code for you to review and verify my statements, but I think you know my interpretation of Article 31 is correct.
“I have more than sufficient grounds to call for a Conclave of the Great Houses and demand a vote on removing the Council, and from some of the expressions I see around this table, everyone here knows how that vote would end. The fact is, calling a Conclave is the path I do not want to take. I do not believe the Council is beyond saving. You simply followed one man in his blind headlong charge to use this latest incident to further a personal vendetta against me. The sad part of that situation is I don’t even know why he hates me…but I’m past caring.
“It is my hope that eight of you will realize how close we have come to a situation that would spiral out of control and drive us all down a dark path none of us want to travel. It is also my hope that this will be a cautionary tale for future consideration. Now, I am going to drop the barrier of silence, make one last remark, and yield the floor. This session will then be adjourned.”
Gavin stepped back out from inside the horseshoe and invoked another Word, “Klyphos.” A miniscule trickle of blood seeped out of his right nostril and ran down his upper lip, and the barrier of blurring silence vanished.
“I want it to be a matter of record,” Gavin said, “that I do not hold the Council to blame for one man’s stupidity and lack of judgment. I therefore waive the Conclave’s right to Article 31 proceedings regarding this event, and I yield the floor.”
Gavin turned and walked back to his seat in the gallery. As he walked, Gavin withdrew a handkerchief from the pocket of his robe and wiped away the blood on his lip.
Valera rapped her knuckles on the table, saying, “I move that this session be adjourned. Are there any opposed?”
The table was silent.
“Very well,” Valera said. “By general acclamation, I hereby declare this session of the Council to be adjourned.”
Valera tapped the square beside her left hand again, unsealing the chamber.
Gavin was not even sitting yet as the people began leaving the galleries. A few started to approach him, but Gavin shook his head and moved into the crowd’s general motion toward the gallery door.
Chapter 42
Two days later, Gavin and Declan arrived on the third floor and found they were not alone. Lillian, Wynn, Braden, and Mariana stood at the door to Gavin’s suite, and from the way they focused on Gavin, it was obvious they were waiting for him.
“Is there some way I can be of assistance?” Gavin asked when none of them seemed inclined to speak.
They glanced at one another, and Lillian stepped forward, saying, “If you don’t mind, we would like to speak with you…uhm…I’m sorry. Should we address you as Gavin or Kirloth?”
Gavin smiled. “Lillian, my name is Gavin…always has been, always will be. ‘Kirloth’ is just something I trot out when the occasion calls for it. Please, follow me to my suite. We can talk there.”