My communicator chimed. I straightened, opened my eyes, and activated the disc. “Talisid,” I said.
“Mage Verus,” Talisid said.
You can tell a lot from how someone opens a conversation. Talisid had called on time, and his voice had a subtle but definite note of caution. So far so good. “I assume you’ve been briefed on yesterday’s developments.”
“I believe so,” Talisid said carefully.
“That’s fine. I think you understand the important parts. I’d like to carry on where we left off. You remember our last conversation?”
“As I recall, you were requesting a ceasefire.”
No scare quotes around ceasefire: also good. “So let’s try this again,” I said. “Is the Council willing to reconsider?”
“Why would you expect them to be?”
“Because if they don’t, I’ll blow them up,” I said. “Metaphorically, not literally. Though I think they’d rather deal with a literal explosion than the political fallout from this. I’m pretty sure I can bring down . . . oh, three or four of the current Senior Council? Not really the best timing, is it, with you being in the middle of a war? Especially not with Richard Drakh still carrying out successful strikes like yesterday’s. I imagine it really wouldn’t help to have your leadership paralysed with a political crisis.”
“The Council does not respond well to threats.”
“Funny, they spend enough time threatening everyone else. I know you’ve got them on the line. Go get your orders.”
Silence. I stood there and watched the swirl of futures. Nothing useful.
“What exactly are you proposing?” Talisid asked eventually.
“A ceasefire, like I said. Amusing as it would be to watch, I don’t actually have any particular interest in causing a political catastrophe for you guys. You halt your operations against me and my associates, and you don’t carry out any further ones. In exchange, I’ll keep my recent information windfall to myself.”
“That hardly seems like an even trade.”
“How is that not an even trade? Stopping your attacks on me costs you nothing. In fact, it costs you less than nothing, because you’ll be able to take the resources you’ve been deploying against me and use them against Richard’s cabal instead. You remove a threat and free up personnel, all without lifting a finger.”
“The problem is security,” Talisid said. “Once you have what you want, there’ll be nothing to stop you from taking the information you have and distributing it anyway.”
“And there’ll be nothing to stop you from going right back to hunting me.”
“We have considerably more to lose than you do,” Talisid said. “I’m sorry, but we’re not willing to accept any arrangement with you holding a sword over our heads.”
“Funny, I’ve been living with that for years,” I said. “But fine. You don’t like the deal, come up with a better one.”
“Hold, please.”
More silence. I tried to imagine how the argument between the Council members must be going. I had the feeling that Levistus was very unpopular right now.
The pause dragged out. Five minutes passed, then ten. At last Talisid’s voice came from the focus. “Mage Verus?”
“I’m still here.”
“The Council has come to an agreement,” Talisid said. “We are . . . conditionally . . . willing to grant your request. If you agree to our terms, you will be granted a full amnesty and pardon for your actions connected to the incident at San Vittore, as well as to any actions taken during your period as a fugitive.”
“What kind of terms?”
“I am given to understand that your ‘information windfall’ is in fact a self-aware storage system and imbued item that you took possession of yesterday,” Talisid said. “The Council wants it returned.”
I didn’t answer.
“Mage Verus?”
“I heard,” I said. “I’m just trying to think what possible reason I could have for saying yes.”
“As I said, we are willing to grant your request. This is what we require in exchange.”
“Why?” I said.
“Consider it a show of commitment.”
“I can see how it’s a show of commitment for me. Not seeing how it’s much of one for you.”
“You are asking the Council to accept multiple, repeated, and flagrant breaches of the Concord,” Talisid said. “Your actions have—by your own admission—earned you a capital sentence many times over. If we are to set this aside, we require something in exchange.”
Again I didn’t answer.
“Mage Verus?”
“Hold, please.”
I closed my eyes and path-walked, looking through short-term conversations and long-term ones, searching for common elements. Shadowy proposals and counter-proposals flickered in and out of existence, but I didn’t catch a single glimpse of any future in which Talisid gave way. This was the only deal they were offering. It was take it or leave it.
There was one thing more I needed to know. “How are we going to make the trade?” I asked.
“At a neutral location,” Talisid said. “I suggest Concordia.”
The old, famous bubble realm where the Concord had been negotiated. “No,” I said. “We’re doing this face-to-face, I’m picking the location.”
“As long as it is a neutral location, we will consider it,” Talisid said. “I would also suggest that both sides bring no more than five delegates.”
“Three,” I said. “And you have to be one of them.”
“Providing that you likewise attend, that is acceptable.”
He’d agreed to that quickly. Time for the big question. “All right,” I said. “One last condition. I want that amnesty you offered to restore the status quo. That means I keep my seat on the Junior Council.”
Talisid paused. “That does not seem in keeping with your previous demands.”
“If you’re changing the deal, so am I. Well?”
“I will have to consult with the Council.”
Silence. I studied the futures. They were still swirling, but there was a pattern to them. The decision had already been made.
It took less time than I’d expected for Talisid to speak again. “Mage Verus? The Council is provisionally willing to restore your seat. However, you will not be guaranteed it in perpetuity. Normal procedures of elevation and removal will apply.”
“I see.”
“Do we have an agreement?”
I stood silent for a moment. “Yes,” I said at last, my voice steady. “We have an agreement. Oh, and just so you know, those two people I’ll be bringing to the meeting? One of them will be Mage Anne Walker.”
Talisid paused before answering. “I hope that isn’t intended as a threat.”
“Just something for you to keep in mind,” I said. “I’ll contact you tomorrow with a time and place.”
“Understood,” Talisid said. “Thank you for your time.”
“You as well.”
The light on the communicator focus went dark and the connection broke. The sun had set and the light was fading from the sky, leaving the woods dark and cold. “Shit,” I said to the empty clearing. I stood there for a long time, my figure one more shadow in the gloom.
—
I returned to the Hollow, fell asleep, and travelled to Elsewhere. I had people to meet.
“So that’s the plan,” I told Dark Anne. “You in?”
“Hmm,” Anne said. She put her chin in one hand and studied me.
We were on the border between my Elsewhere and Anne’s. Behind me was an ancient city of yellow-brown stone; behind Anne, a wild forest of ancient trees. Anne’s dream-self was wearing a wine-coloured dress that left her arms bare but fell all the way to the ground: it trailed behind her as she walked. She had one arm folded under her breasts, her reddish eyes staring at me. The sky behind her was grey-black and stormy, and the leaves on the trees whipped in a distant wind.