“Given the conduct of Tel’s royal family in recent centuries, I should say so,” Chieftain agreed. “They did not act as if they had Tel’s best interests at heart.” Chieftain fell silent for a few moments. “I approve of the Archmagister’s goal in restoring the old alliance, and I agree it would serve our people well. I invite Tel to send a formal ambassador to Pretty Rock and re-establish the long disused embassy it once had here.”
“We will carry your invitation to the Archmagister,” Lillian replied, her embarrassment past. “He would welcome an ambassador from the giants, as well. Before we set out on our journey, he mentioned his intention to re-purpose the royal palace, converting it to become the place where the embassies reside in Tel Mivar.”
“Perhaps, one day, I will be able to see it,” Chieftain remarked.
Lillian and Mariana both nodded, and Lillian said, “You would be welcome to visit anytime, Chieftain.”
“I believe we have discussed diplomacy as much as we can,” Chieftain said. “If I may, I would like to ask you about your apprenticeships. What was it like to learn from the man trained by Kirloth himself?”
Lillian and Mariana looked to one another, and both shrugged. Mariana was the first to answer. “I’m sure it was nothing like apprenticeships of ancient times, Chieftain. Gavin was already a friend when his apprenticeship abruptly ended with Kirloth’s death, so he became a Magus within the Society and Head of House Kirloth in one fell swoop. Matter of fact, he probably wouldn’t have been a Magus were it not for his elevation to Head of House Kirloth. Shortly after that, we pretty much begged him to teach us what he knew.”
“Interesting,” Chieftain said. “Was there any difficulty in a friend becoming an instructor?”
Both shook their heads, and Lillian said, “Even though the statutes surrounding apprenticeships did give Gavin that kind of authority, he never used it. As far as I knew, we were all friends first.”
Chieftain smiled. “When you return to Tel Mivar, would you speak with your friend and ask if we could arrange a meeting? From what little I know of him now, I would value such a conversation greatly.”
* * *
“We have it,” Reyna said as she entered Gavin’s study.
Gavin looked up from the documents strewn across his desk and frowned. “What do we have?”
“While Alanna Veldin was a student here, and about a week before the boy’s father and his friends were reprimanded, an initiate of the College was brought into the sick rooms of the Temple. She was…it was bad, Gavin. Very bad. I won’t go into specifics unless you ask, but it was beyond apparent that the initiate survived one of the most brutal gang rapes I’ve ever heard of. The sick room orderly who admitted her wrote in the file notes that he was amazed she lived long enough to arrive in the sick rooms.”
“The initiate was Veldin?” Gavin asked.
Reyna shrugged. “The initiate never gave her name to the sick room staff, but the timing fits. At the same time, Veldin left the College for a family emergency, maintaining her studies from home as best she could. She returned the following term and immediately tested into the next Tier.”
“Were any complaints ever filed within the Society?”
“I checked the Inquisitor records and found nothing,” Reyna answered. “Valera had been the Collegiate Justice for about two years at that point, so I asked her. She remembers Veldin writing out a full statement that named names.”
“What happened to that statement?” Gavin asked.
Reyna sighed. “She told me that, as per protocol, she turned it over to the Inquisitors.”
“And the Inquisitors have no record of it,” Gavin remarked, his voice almost a growl. “I have a feeling I already know the answer to my next question, but I have to ask. Who was in charge of the Inquisitors at that time?”
Reyna looked at the floor and said, “Tauron. He was named Chief Inquisitor just the year before and refused to relinquish the title or position when he was named Magister of Evocation several years later.”
“The people named in the statement…are they from prominent families?”
“Well, they’re nowhere near the Great Houses of Tel, but yes, they’re fairly prominent within the Society.”
When Gavin said nothing more, Reyna risked a glance and almost gaped. Gavin was staring at the top of his desk, his expression one of barely contained fury. Then, she felt it. A crackling heat washed over her exposed skin, like a mixture of lightning and fire. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight out. The magical sconces lighting the room began to pulse, and for the first time since meeting Gavin, she was terrified right down to the very core of her being. She was a mage, not a wizard, and his seething fury was destabilizing the ambient magic to the point that she felt it. That wasn’t supposed to be possible. Mages didn’t feel magic.
“How many people, Reyna?” Gavin said, and Reyna felt the blood drain from her face at the tone of his voice. “How many people has he denied their rightful justice? If he has profited from this, I swear by all the Gods that I will deliver a fate people will speak of in terrified whispers for a thousand years.”
Gavin fell silent as he closed his eyes, and his expression softened. The sconces stopped sputtering and pulsing. After several heartbeats, Gavin regained his composure, and he was once again the pleasant and welcoming individual Reyna had greeted when she first arrived. But for the rest of her life, Reyna would never forget what she witnessed.
While she waited for Gavin to decide the next course of action, she offered a silent prayer to Bellos that Gavin Cross never went renegade, because if he did…Reyna wasn’t sure the entire corps of Inquisitors could stop him. Then again, it was doubtful the Inquisitors could’ve stopped his mentor, either.
“Very well,” Gavin said at last, his voice once again what Reyna expected. “I don’t like that we have to re-open old wounds, but the time has come to hear Veldin’s story. I think I know what sparked her attack on the student, and if I’m right, I will see her exonerated.”
Reyna frowned as she fell into step at Gavin’s side. “What do you think happened?”
Gavin just shook his head. “Once we hear Veldin’s story, I’ll tell you whether or not I’m correct.”
When they arrived at Veldin’s quarters. Reyna stepped forward and knocked. Moments later, Veldin opened the door.
“We would like to ask you some questions,” Reyna said, “and I’m afraid they won’t be pleasant.”
Veldin’s expression filled with even more sorrow. “So, you know.”
“We suspect,” Reyna replied.
“Please, come in.” Veldin stepped back, opening the door wide enough to allow Gavin and Reyna to enter.
As she stepped through the doorway, Reyna asked her, “Has the dining hall staff been delivering meals?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Good. I informed them the Archmagister had pulled the Inquisitors from your door and asked them to send you a tray at each meal.”
Veldin nodded as she led her guests to the sitting area. “They’ve been taking very good care of me.”
“Alanna,” Gavin said, “I would not ask this if there were any other way, but I’m afraid I need to know. Tell me about the attack.”
And she did. She spoke in choppy phrases at first, but soon, it all seemed to cascade. She spoke without stopping until she’d recounted the entire event, even her recuperation at home and her commitment to returning to the College the next term against her family’s wishes. She named names and sobbed that nothing ever came of her statement.
“And what of the boy?” Gavin asked.
Alanna’s lips pulled back in an almost feral snarl. “That little shit—h-he said that I needed to correct my mistake in grading his exam, or he would have to take me in hand like his father did. I just snapped. The next thing I knew, people were pulling me off him, my hands were covered in blood, and he was unconscious. I regret that I snapped, and I am sorry for that. I’m afraid I can’t admit to fee
ling sorry I beat him to a bloody pulp.”
“Would you consent to a Divination of Truth?” Gavin asked.
“Consent?” Alanna scoffed. “I welcome it.”
Gavin nodded. “Very well. I shall take you up on that when the time is right. At this point, I would ask you to remain in your quarters for your own safety. I cannot imagine those responsible for this state of affairs are aware of where we stand, but I would not see you harmed. If you would like to leave the College for whatever reason, I will arrange protection. Alanna, I apologize that this injustice has gone unanswered for so long, but I promise you it will not go on for much longer. All that remains is to get everything ready.”
Alanna nodded for a moment and then slowly brought her eyes up to meet Gavin’s. “May I ask what you’re going to do?”
“Something disruptive,” Gavin replied with a chuckle that held no mirth.
Chapter 30
It was a cool, crisp morning when Lillian and Mariana bid Pretty Rock goodbye. Thin, wispy clouds traced jagged tracks across an otherwise-cloudless sky, and even as they passed through the northern gate, the music and ruckus of the festival serenaded them on the continuation of their journey. The din of the city soon faded, leaving only the sounds of nature and the mountainous countryside.
“Next step, Stonehearth,” Lillian remarked as their mounts clip-clopped their way along the road that connected the giant and dwarven capitals. “Has there even been a human expedition to the dwarven lands lately?”
Mariana didn’t quite scoff. “Define ‘lately.’”
“That bad?”
Mariana shrugged. “I didn’t look at the records too closely, but most of the groups passing through Cothos Province have been trading missions coming into Tel. I know the trader in Tel Mivar that Gavin likes routinely receives trade caravans from the dwarven lands; not everything in his shop comes from Tel.”
“Oh, you mean Hakamri?”
Mariana snapped her fingers and pointed at Lillian. “That’s the one. For some reason, I was drawing a blank on his name.”
“Well, you are getting on in years, Mari,” Lillian jabbed, snickering.
“Five years, Lillian. I’m just five years older than you are. That’s not so different.”
Lillian grinned. “What did Gavin say that one time? ‘Me thinks she doth protest too much?’”
“Just wait, Lillian,” Mariana said. “One day, there will be someone needling you on your age, and I sincerely hope I’m there to see it.”
“How long do you think it will take us to reach Stonehearth?” Lillian asked, both out of curiosity and thinking that a change in topic might be wise.
Mariana shrugged as she swayed with her mount’s motion. “The innkeeper said the dwarven trade caravans take about two weeks to reach Pretty Rock, but there’s no guarantee they use the same type of mounts we do or move at the same pace.”
“So, back to using the teleport beacon?” Lillian asked, grinning.
“I see no reason not to.”
* * *
Gavin looked up when he felt the subtle change in the ambient magic through his skathos. He was just in time to see the column of fire vanish, leaving Nathrac in its wake.
“You called for me?” Nathrac asked.
“I did, and thank you for coming,” Gavin replied, nodding. “I have a problem. Based on evidence I have gathered, I no longer trust the Inquisitors, and I feel it is time to institute a complete review of their entire roster. Yes, I could indeed send out a summons for all Inquisitors to report back to the College, but I feel that might permit those with open violations of the Code to run. I want to see justice done. Can the Guardians round up the Inquisitors and return them to the College?”
Nathrac nodded once and spoke in that voice that resonated against Gavin’s bones, “You need only give the order, Milord.”
“Before that, can the Guardians retrieve a group of arcanists if I provide their names?”
“To ensure we retrieve the correct arcanists, we would need something personal to them,” Nathrac answered, “but yes, it can be done.”
Gavin handed him the list of names Alanna Veldin had provided. “I want those people collected. As soon as you have them all, inform me, and I shall call a meeting of the Council of Magisters.”
Nathrac regarded the list for several moments before he said, “It shall be done.”
Two days passed before Nathrac reported that the Guardians had retrieved every person on the list. Then, it was a fairly simple matter to ask Valera to convene the Council in the matter of Alanna Veldin, and when the Council was ready, Gavin asked Reyna to escort Veldin to the Chamber of the Council.
Gavin led Reyna and Veldin into the Chamber and forced himself not to smile at seeing the full Council and the student Veldin had attacked waiting for them. It was good that the cleric from the Temple had been able to heal the boy; Gavin didn’t want him to miss his sentencing. The moment Gavin entered, the Council members stood. Once he arrived at their horseshoe-shaped table, Gavin gestured for them to return to their seats.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Gavin began, “I asked Valera to convene the Council to discuss the matter of Alanna Veldin. As I’m sure most of you are aware, Instructor Veldin attacked this student after class one day. Upon learning of the case and listening to Inquisitor Reyna’s summary, I decided to take this matter up myself and, as such, will be delivering my verdict in the matter. However, I feel it is appropriate to learn the full scope of why Alanna Veldin attacked a student, and I call her to give testimony under Divination of Truth. Reyna, please conduct the student to the gallery; we’ll need him shortly.”
Reyna led the young man to the gallery as Veldin moved to stand front and center before the Council.
Gavin smiled. “Valera, would you prefer to do the honors, or shall I?”
Valera stood, reciting the words for Divination of Truth in the language of magic. A gray aura appeared around Alanna Veldin, and Gavin nodded his thanks.
“State your name and title, please,” Gavin said.
“Alanna Veldin, General Instructor at the College of the Arcane,” Veldin answered.
The gray aura shifted to a pure, bright white.
Gavin nodded. “Lie to me, Miss Veldin.”
“Uhm, I hate apples,” Veldin responded, the white aura immediately shifting to a vibrant, malevolent red.
“Very well,” Gavin remarked. “Now that we have confirmed the spell is working as intended, please explain the circumstances surrounding your attack on the student.”
Veldin nodded and took a breath. “That day, I had just returned the most recent exam, and after class the student came to me and said that I needed to correct my mistake in grading his exam, or he would have to take me in hand like his father did. And…well, I just snapped. I don’t remember attacking him. I don’t remember anything, really, between what he said and the people pulling me off him.”
The spell’s aura shifted back to bright white the moment Alanna began speaking, and it remained so.
“And how do you feel about the attack?” Gavin asked.
Veldin sighed. “I regret attacking a student. I should have had better control of myself. However, for that particular student and what he said, I do not regret beating him bloody at all.”
The aura remained white.
“And why is that, Instructor Veldin?” Gavin asked.
Veldin took a deep breath and released it before answering. “Because his father and seven of his friends beat me and gang-raped me while I was a student here. They left me lying in an alley, bleeding into the gutter and unable to walk. The dwarf merchant, Hakamri, found me and helped me to the sick rooms of the Temple of Valthon, or I probably would not be alive today.”
The spell’s aura was still bright white.
“Forgive me for asking you to relive that,” Gavin said, “but as it directly relates to this matter, please tell us what happened. Be sure to name names.”
Veldin proceeded to tell
the story of how she was attacked. She went into gruesome, excruciating detail and named names. Throughout her entire recitation, the aura created by Divination of Truth remained a steady, bright white. Nothing she said was a lie.
“Did you file a complaint of the incident?” Gavin asked, when she finished.
“I did. I sat with Magister Valera and wrote out my statement and specified that I wished to file charges.”
Gavin turned to the Magisters. “Magister Valera, do you remember the written statement that Instructor Veldin mentioned?”
“I do, Milord,” Valera answered.
“Once it was completed,” Gavin asked, “what did you do with it?”
“As is standard for all statements involving criminal acts committed by arcanists or students of the College, I turned the statement over to the Inquisitors. In this instance, specifically to Chief Inquisitor Tauron.”
Gavin shifted his attention to the Magister of Evocation who still held the title of Chief Inquisitor. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had an instance of missing statements, Tauron. What happened to Alanna Veldin’s statement and its associated filings?”
Tauron glared at Gavin. “Do you seriously expect me to remember something like that? It happened over ten years ago!”
“Valera seems to remember the incident rather well, Tauron,” Gavin countered. “Are you saying she’s lying?”
Before Tauron could speak, Gavin invoked a Word of Divination, “Klaepos.”
A gray aura appeared around Tauron. The magister lifted his arms and regarded the aura before returning his glare to Gavin.
“You dare cast Divination of Truth without my consent? I challenge you to a Wizards’ Duel!”
Gavin made a dismissive wave. “And I refuse. You’d be committing suicide by Kirloth. Now, answer my questions.”
“You think you’ll get me to say something that will allow you to dismiss me?” Tauron spat, not quite shouting. “Everything I have done has been for the betterment of the Society! How dare you question me!”
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