by Jasmine Walt
“Since early this morning. As I’m sure you understand, it is impossible to tell when he’ll be back. He’ll return as soon as possible, since he has urgent Palace and Federal business to attend to, but dealing with the Resistance is of primary importance.”
“Obviously,” I muttered, trying not to sound too irritated. Truthfully, it was admirable that Iannis was out in the trenches – he could easily claim that as the Chief Mage, he was better suited behind the lines, but instead, he was making use of his formidable powers and directing the mages in person. It was also a shrewd political strategy – by choosing to be on the front lines instead of cowering behind the warded walls of the Palace, he was rallying the mages and showing the citizens that he cared enough about the city of Solantha to defend it with his own two hands.
Still, I wished he would sit back and do a little more delegating. How the hell was I going to get him to implement any of my plans, if he was always out fighting in the streets?
“The Chief Mage asked for me to tell you to remain here when you returned,” Dira said, breaking my train of thought. “He was concerned when he couldn’t locate you in the Palace this morning, and he wants to speak with you.” Dira’s face was expressionless as she delivered the message, but I wasn’t entirely sure she approved. Not that her approval meant shit to me.
“Is that right?” I asked casually, as if my heart wasn’t doing a little happy dance in my chest. Maybe Iannis really did miss me as much as I missed him. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I need to speak to him. Tell him I’m right here in the Guild when he comes back.”
Not that she actually needs to, I thought to myself as I headed down the hallway leading to the Guild offices. Iannis would be able to locate me any time with his serapha charm. But that was not for Dira to know.
I entered Iannis’s office, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled out a note with the salient details of what I’d learned at the Ur-God sermon this morning, as well as my meeting with Lakin. I sealed my report in an envelope and left it on his blotter, then headed down to the kitchens to refuel.
The scents of cheese, pasta, and sausage had my stomach rumbling in anticipation long before I trotted down the steps to the kitchen. My mouth instantly started watering as I caught sight of a huge pot of crumbled sausage and tomato sauce bubbling away, and my stomach let out the loudest growl the kitchen staff had probably ever heard.
Mrs. Tandry, the head chef, turned in the direction of the sound, propping her hands on her hips and giving me a friendly scowl. “Don’t you come nosing around these pots!” she warned, wagging a wooden spoon at me. “You go sit down right there, and I’ll serve you.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said sheepishly, but as she turned away, a horrible thought popped into my mind. Mrs. Tandry was human, as was all the kitchen staff. Most humans believed in the Ur-God to some degree, and I couldn’t imagine this stout, middle-aged woman as an atheist. Did that mean she believed the same things as the humans I’d met at the temple? That shifters and mages needed to be wiped from the face of Recca, and only humans had the right to exist? In light of that, was it really wise to have any human servants in the Palace at all? It was already obvious that somebody within the Palace walls was feeding intelligence to the Resistance…who was to say it wasn’t Mrs. Tandry or one of her staff? Could any of the humans be trusted?
Stop that, I told myself sternly as I took a seat. This was exactly what the Resistance wanted…for the races to mistrust and hate each other so it would be easy to tear society apart and take what was left for themselves. I couldn’t allow fear to cloud my judgment, and everything I’d seen from Mrs. Tandry so far indicated that her loyalty was to the Palace.
Still, when she bustled over with a plate piled high with ravioli and tomato-sausage sauce, I couldn’t help but ask if she’d ever heard of Father Calmias, and what she thought of his sermons.
“Oh, I don’t listen to that madman,” she insisted, waving her hand away. “He’s a very good speaker, and clearly devout, but anyone with a brain can hear that his hatred of mages is excessive and has warped his message.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, but he was speaking at the Ur-God temple in Maintown, and the crowds there were just eating up his words. I was there in disguise,” I added when she gave me a surprised look.
“Well, that may be so, but it doesn’t mean that all of us, or even most of us, buy into Father Calmias’s teachings,” Mrs. Tandry said with a sniff. “That temple is the largest and best funded in Maintown, but it only became so in the last couple of years. There are other smaller temples, both in Maintown and Rowanville, that represent different denominations. The one I used to go to every Sunday, before the wards went up, teaches that the Ur-God promotes acceptance across all races, and that his plan was to move us toward a society where we could all work in harmony.”
I frowned a little. “You’ve been working at the Palace for years, haven’t you?” I asked, and she nodded. “Hasn’t that ideal been shaken even just a little bit by the fact the mages don’t seem inclined to agree with your interpretation of the Ur-God’s plan?”
Mrs. Tandry smiled. “I’ve been here for thirty years,” she said, “and in that time, the Mages Guild has slowly moved toward the Ur-God’s ideals without being fully aware of it. The change sped up when Lord Iannis took control, and even more so when you came into our lives.” Her expression turned serious. “I didn’t trust you in the beginning, Miss Baine, but now I understand that the Ur-God sent you to us. You’re crucial to making His plan a success, and if there is anything I can do to help, you have but to ask.”
I stared at her, stunned. The way she was talking, it was almost as if she viewed me as a savior or something! If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I wanted no part of the Ur-God’s plans, benign or otherwise. But before I could protest, she gave me a serene smile, then returned to her work. I turned back to my cooling food and tried to enjoy my meal, but the weight of responsibility on my shoulders suddenly seemed very heavy. How many other humans in the Palace had similar thoughts about me? Was this what my human neighbor had thought when he’d helped me escape from the apartment building? He’d said I was a hero, and that I needed to be free to do my hero thing. That sounded awesome, in theory, but I didn’t want to be looked up at as a hero. Heroes were objects of admiration, but they were also targets.
Maybe that’s why you’re being targeted by the Resistance, a snide voice in my head suggested. And why you attract trouble wherever you go.
Scowling, I shoved that voice into a box, locked it, and threw away the key. I didn’t need my own sense of sarcasm turning against me, thank you very much. Tired now, I finished my meal and made tracks toward Iannis’s office. I might as well wait for him there, I reasoned, maybe take a nap on his couch.
But my feet took me straight past the Mages Guild, and the next thing I knew, I was outside the library again. Right, I thought as I pushed open the door. I meant to check in with Janta anyway, to see if she had any new information for me.
“Miss Baine!” Janta’s eyes lit up behind her spectacles, and she rose. Today, she was dressed in a peach-colored robe with tiny daisies sewn along the collar and sleeve hems. “I was hoping you would come by soon. I was able to gain access to a long-distance line, and I’ve had word from my colleague in Dara.”
“Oh yeah?” The fog of exhaustion lifted from my brain as excitement filled my veins. “What did they say? Did you find out who owns the Bellington Trust?”
“Indeed I have.” Janta picked up a piece of paper from her desk and handed it to me. I read the name on it, and felt the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place.
The beneficiaries of the trust were Curian Vanderheim and his wife, Thorgana Mills.
“By Magorah,” I muttered, re-reading the names once, twice, then three times to make sure I hadn’t made a mistake. “The Vanderheims! I just saw them at the ball in Dara, only days ago.”
“Everyone knows them, or know
s of them,” Janta said. “Mrs. Mills is in the social news all the time. But I confess, I am surprised. Are you sure it is not just a coincidence? Ownership is not proof of wrongdoing, in itself.”
“No, it’s definitely not a coincidence.” The more I considered the matter, the more certain I felt that we were on the right track. “Thorgana inherited Mills Media and Entertainment, which the Herald is a subsidiary of. The very same Herald we just had to shut down, and where that serial killer Yantz was the chief editor.”
Energy thrummed through my veins as the pieces began to fall in place in front of my eyes, and I drummed my fingers on the desk as I thought aloud. “Her husband is one of those wealthy, but otherwise unremarkable, businessmen who you tend to overlook. The perfect disguise for a criminal. I could absolutely see him pulling the strings behind the Resistance without drawing attention to himself. Since Thorgana doesn’t give a shit about Mills Media, she wouldn’t care if her husband occasionally decided to dip his toes into it.”
“She does seem to be rather enamored with her parties and fashion clubs,” Janta said, the slightest hint of censure in her tone. “I would not be surprised at all to find out that she has her husband talk to her managers in her stead. Undoubtedly, that’s one of the reasons he married her. Who wouldn’t want access to a powerful media empire?”
“Damn. Damn!” I paced back and forth in front of Janta’s desk, agitated now that I realized the truth had been right under our noses. “I’ve been to Thorgana’s mansion here several times! I took on extra work as a bodyguard in the beginning of my enforcer career, standing by to make sure no jealous socialites tried to mess up her hair during those soirees she used to host. I never really liked her, but I never once saw anything to suggest they were supporters of the Resistance.”
“Well, I doubt they would advertise the fact,” Janta pointed out. “Besides, isn’t the mansion they own here a mere vacation home? As far as I understand, their main residence is in Dara, where the Bellington Trust is incorporated.”
“Of course,” I muttered. “The perfect location for spinning a web. Still, if I’m right, there’s a good chance we’ll find something incriminating in their house. I mean, it’s clear the Benefactor has chosen Solantha as the center stage to launch the rebellion from. I should head over there right now, see if I can search the place.”
“By yourself?” Janta asked, sounding concerned. “I’m not certain that’s wise, Miss Baine.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then sighed, remembering previous occasions when I’d gone off half-cocked and lived to regret it. “No, no, you’re right.” I forced myself to stop pacing, taking some deep breaths to push my heart rate down to a manageable level. I was getting all ramped up now, out for blood, but with a price on my head, the worst thing I could possibly do was start up a manhunt against the leader of the Resistance on my own. I needed to bring reinforcements, and most of all, I needed to talk to Iannis.
“Thanks for the information, Janta,” I told her. “I owe you big time.”
Janta shook her head. “I’m simply doing my duty to Canalo, and research is my passion,” she said firmly. “If there is any other information you need that would be helpful in thwarting the Resistance, don’t hesitate to ask. You can even come to my house if you want and wake me up in the middle of the night. Solantha is my home, and I don’t want to see it overthrown by these violent rebels. We all must do what we can to defend it.”
I thanked her again, then headed back to Iannis’s office as I’d originally planned. My blood was still buzzing when I shut the door behind me, but one look at the comfy couch in front of the fire was all it took to bring the exhaustion back. After kicking my boots off, I stretched out on the thick cushions, fully prepared to make up for the horrendous night of sleep in that beer cellar. I’d better get some rest while I could – I had a feeling that once Iannis heard my news and we decided on a plan of action, it would be a long while before I found the time to sleep again.
21
“Are you absolutely certain of this?” Iannis demanded, his fingers clutched around the note I’d scribbled almost three hours ago. He and Fenris had returned from a skirmish to find me sleeping on the couch. When Iannis had insisted on a report detailing my whereabouts and actions for the last fourteen hours, I’d simply lifted a finger and pointed to the envelope I’d left on his desk.
“Is there a reason I’d be lying about it?” I asked, leaning back in the visitor’s chair. He frowned as the two front legs came off the ground, clearly not happy with my abuse of his furniture, but loath to sidetrack the conversation.
“I’m not doubting the truthfulness of your words, Sunaya,” he said, using my name since only Fenris was around to witness it. “But this…the very idea that the humans would even dare to think they could get away with such horrific treachery…” He seemed to be struggling to find words, a truly rare moment for him. “Let us simply say that if anyone else had come to me with this information, I would have laughed them out the door. It’s utter insanity.”
“And just what do you think the Resistance represents, if not just that?” I pointed out. “They’ve already gotten it into their inflated heads that they can overthrow the mage regime with nothing but guns and brawn. Why not get rid of shifters too?”
“Indeed,” Fenris remarked dryly. He stood over Iannis’s shoulder, scanning my note again with narrowed eyes. “Grooming the human population to fall in line with their beliefs is a smart plan,” he conceded. “This ensures the Resistance has a large support base to rely on. They can’t hope to succeed if the civilian population does not support their aims.”
“There’s more,” I said before Iannis could comment on Fenris’s observation. Both men turned to me, eyebrows raised as though they couldn’t believe there could possibly be more to this outlandish picture I was painting. “I found this out after I wrote the note, so I didn’t add it in there. But I’m almost certain that Thorgana Mills’s husband, Curian Vanderheim, is the Benefactor.”
“What?” Fenris stared at me. “That mindless fool? Why would you think so?”
“It sounds unlikely indeed,” Iannis agreed with him. He was frowning. “Why him, of all people?”
I took them through the line of investigation I’d pursued with the help of Janta in the library, starting with Supplysafe and ending with the discovery that the Bellington Trust was owned by Thorgana and her husband. “Thorgana owns the largest media company in the Northia Federation,” I reminded them. “It would have been easy for her husband to convince not just the Herald, but their other news outlets throughout the Federation, to spread Resistance propaganda. Remember that not too long ago, the Herald was printing stories specifically angled to pit humans and shifters against one another.”
“Well, we always knew the Benefactor had to be immensely rich,” Fenris said, considering. “Vanderheim certainly fits the bill in that respect.”
“He also supported the faction who wanted to get rid of the Minister at the Convention,” I reminded Iannis.
Iannis was silent for a minute, thinking it over. Finally, he gave a decisive nod. “Yes, it does seem plausible – at the very least, he must be a trusted associate, if not the Benefactor himself. Well done, Sunaya. I’m impressed you’ve managed to uncover so much useful information in such a short amount of time.” His eyes shone with appreciation as he studied me, and I felt a blush creep in my cheeks as my body reacted. “We should certainly go to the Vanderheim mansion and search the property, as you suggest. I will send a scout ahead to see if anyone is home.”
It didn’t take much time to get an answer – half an hour later, a messenger rushed into the office to inform us that Thorgana Mills was in residence, along with a few staff members.
“Based on past experiences with Mrs. Mills, I doubt she will give us too much trouble,” Iannis said as we headed to the Mages Guild to mobilize a task force. “But we should bring reinforcements, even so.”
It didn’t take Iannis long to gat
her the people he needed – the Legal Secretary, to inform Thorgana of the raid and the purpose behind it, two apprentices to help us conduct the search of the house, and two large, mean-looking mages I recognized as former enforcers who had retreated to the Mages Guild after the insurrection had started. The latter were equipped with manacles to arrest Thorgana or any of the staff as accessories, depending on what we found.
Excitement and nerves buzzed in my veins as we climbed into the steamcars waiting for us outside – Iannis and I sat in the back of one, while Fenris rode in front with the driver. I knew I was right, that Thorgana’s husband had to be the one behind all this, but as we headed toward the coastal section of Maintown, where the wealthiest humans resided, a sliver of doubt crept in. What if Janta’s contact in Dara had been wrong, or worse, had deliberately misled us? It would be completely humiliating for us to show up and conduct a raid, only to find out that Thorgana and her husband had nothing to do with the Resistance. Worse, since Thorgana owned Mills Media and Entertainment, news of such a mistake would be plastered all over the country. The papers and radio would run with two stories – one, that the Mages Guild was losing its touch, going after harmless socialites, and two, that the Chief Mage of Canalo’s judgment was being severely impaired by his hybrid apprentice.
“Relax,” Iannis murmured, quietly enough so that only I, and perhaps Fenris, could hear. His hand found its way across the backseat and squeezed mine gently. “I trust you.”
A rush of warmth made my fingers tingle and my cheeks glow, and I squeezed his hand in return. It meant so much to me, those three simple words. Trust was rare and precious, and if Iannis was willing to put his reputation on the line on my say-so, perhaps we did have a future together.
Hell yes, my body seemed to say in response to that, and the heat spread through me like wildfire. My breath quickened as tingles and aches made themselves known again, and my skin suddenly felt too tight against my flesh. Iannis’s eyes darkened as he looked me up and down, his grip on my hand tightening, and I knew his body was unconsciously reacting to mine.