She couldn't very well bring Okko, since as before, he and Mereth were to spy on the meeting, but some guards would have been a good idea.
Well, she wouldn't worry about it. She had put Tikri in charge of arranging seating and keeping an eye on the warlocks, so he wouldn't be available in any case.
When she reached the council chamber there were guards posted outside the door-Tikri's work, of course. One stood on either side of the gilded archway; each was a big man, in his best uniform of mustard yellow tunic and bright red kilt, and each carried a gold-shod spear with a very nasty, practical-looking barbed head. At the sight of Lady Sarai they snapped to attention and thumped their heavy spears on the stone floor.
They did not, however, open the door; Sarai hesitated.
As she did, a small door in the side of the passage opened, and a servant in the overlord's livery stepped out.
"Lady Sarai," he said, bowing low. "Just a moment, and we'll have your way prepared."
Sarai blinked. Tikri had apparently been more thorough than she had expected. "Is everyone here?" she asked.
The servant said, "We have twenty people here who have identified themselves as the Council of Warlocks. That's all I know, my lady."
"Thank you," Sarai said. "What needs to be prepared, then?"
"You'll have to ask Captain Tikri, my lady." Before she could ask another question she heard footsteps and turned to find a party approaching. Captain Tikri was in the lead, with half a dozen soldiers in gleaming breastplates marching at his heels, while two minor palace officials hurried alongside.
It appeared that even if she hadn't thought of providing an entourage, Tikri had. "Are you ready, my lady?" Tikri asked. Sarai, smiling, nodded. Two soldiers stepped forward and flung open the doors; one of the officials stepped in and proclaimed loudly, "Stand and obey! Behold the Lady Sarai, Minister of Investigation and Acting Minister of Justice to Ederd the Fourth, Overlord of Ethshar of the Sands, Triumvir of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars, Commander of the Holy Armies and Defender of the Gods! Bow to the overlord's chosen representative!"
He stepped aside, and two other soldiers marched in and up to the low dais at the far end. Lady Sarai, picking up her cue, followed them; behind her came the other official, Tikri, and the two remaining guards.
The two who had opened the doors now closed them, from the inside, and took up positions as guards, while the official who had announced her hurried around the side of the room.
Sarai walked slowly up the aisle, keeping her eyes straight ahead, but she still got a good look at her audience.
All of them wore the monochromatic robes and peculiar hats that had somehow become the accepted occupational garb for magicians of every sort; for most of them, the single color was black, but she saw one in red velvet, one in dark green, and two in shades of blue. There were old men and youths, ancient crones and handsome young women. She saw a few familiar faces, but mostly strange ones.
And all of them bowed, as ordered. Lord Tollern had been right; they were cowed.
At least, for the moment.
She reached the dais and made her way to the center; there she turned and faced the crowd, waiting while her entourage took up positions around her.
The official who had announced her had now made his way around the room to one of the front corners; he bellowed, "By courtesy of the Lady Sarai, you may be seated!"
It wasn't really very different from presiding over her father's court, once she got started-right down to listening to feeble excuses.
"I swear, my lady, we had every intention of meeting with you," the chairman insisted-Vengar the Warlock, he called himself, and Sarai did not recall ever meeting him or hearing his name before this. "It was simply a matter of logistics; there are twenty of us, after all, each with his or her own schedule, each with his or her own concerns, and coordinating such a meeting…"He didn't finish the sentence; instead, he said, "We had not realized the importance you attached to it. We have nothing to tell you as a group that we have not told your agents separately; none of us are involved in these killings; and at any rate, the deaths have stopped, have they not?" He glanced uneasily at the door guards, and asked, "Or have there been others we were not informed of?"
"There have been none of these killings reported for three sixnights," Sarai confirmed. "However, there could be more at any time, and the overlord's government cannot tolerate such things."
"Of course," Vengar agreed. "But what has this to do with us? We are no part of Lord Ederd's government."
"No," Sarai agreed, "but at least one of your people, a warlock, is involved in the killings."
"Who says so?" a younger warlock demanded-Sirinita of somewhere, Sarai thought her name was.
"Kelder of Quarter Street," Sarai replied. "A first-rate witch who was aiding me in my investigations. He assured me that both wizardry and warlockry were involved."
"Why doesn't he speak for himself?" Sirinita called angrily.
"Because he's dead," Sarai answered, just as angrily. "He was the last victim-that we know of."
"How convenient!" Sirinita replied, her voice dripping sarcasm.
This disrespect was too much for some of the other warlocks, provoking a shocked murmur from several of them. "My apologies, Lady Sarai," Vengar said, throwing a furious glance at Sirinita. "You are sure of this? A warlock was involved in the killings?"
"Quite sure," Sarai replied.
Vengar frowned. "I regret to say," he said, "that we are still unable to help you. Ours is purely a physical magic; we have no way to read the thoughts or memories of other warlocks, and we do not spy on each other. It may well be that one or more warlocks participated in these crimes; it may even be that those participants were among the warlocks of Ethshar of the Sands, and as such nominally subject to this council. Still, we have no knowledge of them, nor any means of obtaining such knowledge."
"You're certain of that?" Sarai asked.
"I swear it," Vengar answered.
"You all say so? You all swear it?"
There was a general mutter of agreement, but Sarai was not satisfied; she went through the entire score, one by one. All gave their oaths that they knew nothing about the murders that Sarai did not.
Finally, the vows complete, Sarai announced, "I accept your word. Still, you claim to represent the warlocks of this city, and that means that you are partially responsible for them, as well. I therefore charge you all to tell me at once if you learn anything more, and further, I hereby require, in the overlord's name, that if at any point in this investigation I call upon the services of the Council of Warlocks, that those services will be forthcoming. It doesn't have to be any of you who does what I ask-send your journeymen, your apprentices, whoever you please, but when I call, I expect cooperation." This speech was composed on the spur of the moment; she was up against a magically gifted multiple murderer, who might reasonably be expected to be very dangerous. Knowing that she could call on several powerful warlocks would be reassuring. "Is that clear?" she asked.
Sirinita spoke up again. "Who are you," she demanded, "to give orders to the Council of Warlocks?"