Just then, eight men carried strongboxes into the outer office. Sera looked at the strongboxes and blanched. She almost jumped up from her seat, just managing to catch the chair before it tipped over backward, and took the few steps necessary to bring her to Valera’s door. She knocked twice and stepped inside.
A few moments later, she returned, saying, “The Magisters will see you now.”
Gavin led his people into Valera’s office and saw Kantar sitting in one of the two armchairs set aside for guests.
“What’s going on, Gavin?” Valera said.
“Mariana discovered something at Vischaene Vineyard when she was acting as my agent of process in claiming all the property owned by Rolf Sivas,” Gavin said and nodded greetings to Kantar before turning to the outer office. “Bring it in, please.”
Gavin directed the eight men in placing the strongboxes on a table in the corner of Valera’s office and accepted the keys for each one. Once they had finished, Gavin said, “I want these two rooms secured, both this office and the outer office. If anyone walks through this door, the lot of you had better be dead.”
Eight heads nodded at once and left Valera’s office, Gavin closing the door behind them. Gavin then went over and unlocked the strongboxes, taking the effort to rest the lids against the tabletop with as much care as possible. Then, he turned to the Magisters who sat waiting for his explanation.
“Iosen Sivas is spearheading a plot to overthrow the Council and give control of the Society to the King of Tel. If this evidence is accurate and real, I think it’s a pawn-sacrifice maneuver with Iosen as the cut-out, so it doesn’t wash back on the King. Everything Mariana found is here. Look through it yourselves.”
A short time later, Kantar and Valera sat staring at the table that was now littered with evidence of Iosen Sivas’s plot. Their expressions were vacant as they seemed to stare at something only they could see. After several moments, they turned to face each other.
“I would never have believed he would try it,” Valera said.
“Who, the king?” Kantar asked. “Valera, my people have a very different opinion of the man who nominally rules Tel. There are factions within my people arguing for a more hardline stance against his many offenses. But that is not important to the matter at hand. We have no other option; we must call an emergency session of the Council.”
“Yes, Kantar, that much we must do,” Valera said and shifted her gaze to Gavin. “I need Sera, Gavin, but I don’t want her killed for trying to answer my summons.”
Gavin allowed his lips to quirk toward a grin for a brief moment before walking to the door and opening it a crack, saying, “Sera, the Magister needs your assistance.”
Gavin opened the door for the assistant, and Sera stopped just inside the door.
“Sera,” Valera said, “I need to call an emergency meeting of the Council. Will you please see to that? Use my seal, dear.”
Sera’s eyes widened just enough to notice, but she replied in the affirmative before departing to carry out her task. Gavin watched her go and closed the door, before turning to find Valera and Kantar examining him. Gavin raised an eyebrow in silent question.
“What are your intentions, Gavin?” Valera asked.
Gavin’s raised eyebrow lifted higher. “I’m not sure I understand your question, Valera.”
“There’s an excellent chance the royal palace would be a pool of molten rock right now,” Valera said, “if your mentor had discovered this instead of you. I want to know what you intend.”
Gavin sighed and took a half-step back to lean against the wall. After several moments, he said, “Valera, I intend to present this evidence to the Council and give the Council the opportunity to do its job. When the Council fails to do that, the Conclave of the Great Houses will step up and determine what needs to be done.”
“You seem very sure of the outcome of this emergency session,” Kantar said.
“My mentor never openly discussed his opinions of the Council, but by the end, I like to think I knew him pretty well. I had the impression he considered the Council utterly ineffective and a waste of time in general…if not a waste of life in some cases. Since I started reading his journals, I fear I may have overestimated his opinion, and it is unfortunate that all of my dealings with the Council have only lent weight to my mentor’s view.”
After several moments of silence, Kantar said, “You do not seem to mince words much.”
“We all have too much to do to waste time, Kantar, even elves who live for centuries. I’ve already informed Torval and the others-with Lyssa fully ready to go rogue to do what needed to be done-but that’s not how things are supposed to work. The Constitution of Tel charges the Council of Magisters with policing the Society of the Arcane. If I fail to give the Council the chance to discharge their duties, I am just as guilty of treason as Iosen Sivas and his people.”
“If this session goes as you have predicted,” Kantar asked, “what will you do then?”
“You should already know the answer to that, sir,” Gavin said. “I am Kirloth; I will do what I must.”
Chapter 45
Later that day, Gavin once again sat in the aisle seat of the lowest row of the lower gallery in the Chamber of the Council; as he had before, Gavin chose the aisle in a direct line across the room from the doors the Council would enter soon. In a line to his left sat Torval, Lillian, Lyssa, Mariana, Sypara, Braden, Carth, and Wynn. The eight men minding the strongboxes occupied the aisle across the steps from Gavin.
The doors to the Chamber soon opened as the Council arrived. The Magisters of Interation, Transmutation, and Conjuration surrounded Tauron. The Magisters of Illusion and Enchantment walked side-by-side, but they were husband and wife. Valera and Kantar, the Magisters of Divination and Tutation respectively, chatted amiably about something as they led the procession. Drannos Muldannin, the Magister of Thaumaturgy, was noticeable in his absence.
Gavin scanned the group and saw the moment Tauron noticed him. Tauron’s fists clenched, and even across the distance, Gavin could see the tension in the man’s jaw. Tauron’s reaction was immediate-almost instinctual-and Gavin shook his head and sighed.
In short order, the Council seated themselves, and Valera touched the stone inset into the table beside her left hand. Red points of light appeared at the top corners of every door into the chamber, and the acoustics carried Valera’s words to all occupants.
“I hereby call this emergency session of the Council of Magisters to order.”
Tauron had not taken his eyes off Gavin since he sat and gestured for permission to speak. Valera nodded.
“It is most unlike you to be a scare monger, Valera,” Tauron said. “I for one am very interested in learning why you’ve called this emergency session. I am also curious why these proceedings have spectators today.”
“The Arcanists’ Code grants magisters the authority to call a session for any reason, Tauron, and the Code further mandates that all meetings of the Council be open to the public,” Kantar said. “Besides, I was present at the time Valera decided to call for this session, and I support her decision. I would like for Kirloth to make his presentation.”
“What?” Tauron asked, his voice almost a hiss.
Before Tauron could object or recover, Valera spoke, “The Council calls Kirloth to the floor.”
Gavin stood and walked the short distance to stand between the Archmagister’s dais and the Council’s table. He took a moment to clear his throat and began.