The Wizard Book

by Radu Aldea

  “That’s what I thought. Kara believes in the guest law. She’s not going to break it. So as long as she is a guest she can’t attack and we will be safe,” Lucian told them.

  Alexandra didn’t think she was safe when she saw Kara and the wizard, even though Kara was all smiles. The bad light from the lamps made it easy for them to hide their feelings, but the wizard looked pretty grim and uncomfortable. She supposed she would be the same if a senator controlled her. Luckily, nature or the gods worked in her favor and she was immune.

  “I didn’t know you entertained yourself with sorceresses, Lucian. What’s the matter, the fat little slut wasn’t enough? I know that you like them powerful, but she’s ugly.” Alexandra couldn’t believe the pettiness and jealousy coming from Kara. She had been wrong, that one was not any better than Lena or Lucian. Kara was simply more powerful.

  “Retract your claws, Kara. Lena was here to learn things only I can teach her. And you are hardly in the position to judge, since you brought him to my home.”

  “Michael is nothing, just a plaything to keep me amused during a difficult journey.” Alexandra couldn’t believe how dismissive Kara had been of Michael, which was apparently the wizard’s name. “And don’t flatter yourself, the things you want to teach the little slut can be taught by many other men. Where have you hidden her, anyway?”

  “I haven’t hidden her. She had to leave for a few days. How did you know she was here?”

  “A little birdie told me!”

  “That’s an incredibly well-informed little birdie. Did she also tell you they are sorceresses?”

  “No! I recognized her,” Kara pointed at Tamzin. “I assumed the other one is a sister, too. Truth be told, it saves me the trouble of going to Veneguard to talk to them.”

  Alexandra didn’t like what she was hearing. Tamzin’s may have sounded paranoid, but apparently she was right about the southerner. Kara did have something against them. And she doubted the senator had recognized the empress in this light, she didn’t have to, the wizard would tell her. It was clear the redhead had known the sorceresses were there and still came.

  “I didn’t know you to be so jealous or have anything against the Conclave.”

  “I’m not jealous and I didn’t have anything against the Conclave, but I do now.”

  Alexandra suddenly understood the reason for Kara’s hostility. Julian had told them that the rumor of sorceress involvement in the death of the two senators was not confirmed, one senator she corrected herself since Kara was in front of her very much alive, but the southerner knew who attacked her. “I’m Alexandra and I personally had nothing to do with any attempt on your life. My sisters in Veneguard had nothing to do with any attempt on your life. I’m sorry about whatever happened to you, but we are not responsible for it.”

  Kara fixed her with a cold stare. Then, seeing that Alexandra didn’t flinch, although the sorceress wanted to, she started laughing. “Do you think this is about that? Sorceresses had nothing to do with the attempt on my life.” And she continued by telling them about her victory over almost one thousand humans and finding her father dead, killed by senators who surely had broken the guest law. The first part sounded like boasting to Alexandra and she thought at first that the senator had been exaggerating the number. Then she remembered Kara had a wizard with her and had said nothing suggesting his involvement.

  “Then how did they come up with the three hundred soldiers they are looking for?” Lucian asked. Alexandra remembered Julian saying something about that and she realized most of what her acquaintance thought he knew was wrong.

  Alexandra believed she saw a flash of surprise on Kara’s face, but it could’ve been just as easily a trick of light. “I have no idea,” the young senator finally answered.

  “Then why are you here? Jealous reaction aside, it’s not because you missed me.”

  “I have missed you and now my father is dead.” Kara was silent for a few moments trying to convey something. Then she started speaking about how her clients betrayed her, no other way the soldiers could’ve gotten that close to her, and the blond hair she had found on a chair, which clearly implicated Julia in her father’s death. “And now she convinced the rest of my clients that you are somehow responsible and she wants to kill you. You do realize you’re the target of her campaign?”

  “She’ll fail. She bit off more than she can chew and she’ll soon realize that.”

  “You think so? I guess it’s good that you have Lena here, her being Circle, and Julia might not be prepared for that. But you hope in vain that Aaron and Dana will come to your aid. Julia knows them too well and she will cajole, make promises and lie to delay them until it’s too late for you. Whatever preparation you are making should consider that.”

  Alexandra wondered if Lena was close enough for Michael to sense her. She saw Lucian’s mask crack and genuine surprise was revealed. It happened when Kara casually acknowledge that Lena was Circle, which was supposed to be a secret, apparently.

  “You still haven’t told me why you are here,” Lucian spoke to Kara.

  “I need your help and you need mine,” Kara was quick to add. “You know you can’t trust the Casti. They might be allies now, but when the moment is right they will turn on you.”

  “I can’t trust you either,” Lucian said smiling charmingly.

  “One thing I learned from this experience is that you can’t trust anyone. That being said I am less ambitious than your paramour. You remember that, don’t you?”

  Alexandra wondered if the powerful senator was telling the truth and decided against it. Yes, clients might have betrayed her and Julia might’ve broken the guest law, but Kara was far from powerless. Most of her clients must’ve been loyal and she had a wizard. The sorceress couldn’t possibly understand why she needed help, especially since Lucian couldn’t be trusted either. He had proven he wanted Kara dead if he thought he could get away with it. But did the Suttland senator know that? It was a question Alexandra didn’t know how to answer. Her comment that she learned not to trust anyone implied that the southerner was suspicious.

  “What are you suggesting? Do you have a plan or a strategy?”

  “I don’t. All I could think of was getting here, which was very difficult. I couldn’t dare to hope past that. I need rest now. I’ve been traveling for a long time in miserable conditions.”

  “Yes, it must’ve been tiring evading all those people. You’ve been getting rather good at it. You even managed to get through my patrols without being noticed.”

  To Alexandra, Lucian’s words sounded like threats. Kara must’ve not thought the same because she yawned. “Necessity is the best teacher, I guess. Besides, I am more powerful than I used to be.” Kara just let those words hang without offering further explanations. Maybe she was indeed tired and let something she didn’t want people to know slip. Lucian didn’t press Kara with questions, revealing he had realized the mistake. In fact, he changed the subject.

  “There was a human count not far from here and he perished in what looks like a senatorial purge. Did you have something to do with that?”

  “No, but can’t say that I’m surprised it happened. He did send the soldiers who attacked me. I guess it was Julia’s way of incriminating you. It’s not a shock she got rid of the evidence.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

  “I was going to tell you tomorrow after I got some rest. There was no need to hurry.”

  Although Kara seemed completely honest Alexandra couldn’t quite bring herself to believe the senator. Their kind was not known for its forgiving nature and she couldn’t imagine Kara being any different. The count might’ve been under the control of a senator, maybe Julia, but the way the southerner told the story it didn’t sound like the soldiers who attacked her were. So why wasn’t Kara in any hurry to find out more and exact her revenge?

  “There were three senators killed near Orenburg? Did you do that?” Tamzin asked.

  “No!
I didn’t know three senators are dead. This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

  “Well, they were. It seems Julia ambushed them outside the city. At least that’s what I heard. Her scouts had been spotted there,” Lucian finished the story.

  Kara shrugged. Three deaths, especially those of her enemies, didn’t impress her. All senators had ice in their veins, Alexandra thought. Nothing seemed to move them. In the worst of circumstances, they could be dispassionate, even if faced with unbearable loss. The sorceress asked herself when the anger came out. Kara had been attacked and her father killed and she still wasn’t showing any emotional response to that. In fact, jealousy was the only reaction the senator had had so far. She would never understand their kind.

  “So are you going to tell me why the empress and one of the illustrious sorceress guard came to visit you?” Kara asked Lucian and that caught the sisters by surprise. They really hoped Lucian wouldn’t betray them, but they couldn’t be sure. He had his own agenda.

  “I bet you could never guess,” Lucian tempted Kara into doing something reckless.

  “I bet I can,” the senator answered and then yawned. “What do I win if I am right?”

  “Well, you will get the satisfaction of besting me once more.”

  Kara gave a huge smile. She didn’t realize what a mistake it would be to win this game. Alexandra wanted to shake the illusion out of her. The wizard was watching. She had been so focused on the senators she had forgot about him. How foolish of her to ignore someone so powerful and think of him as a weapon in the hands of a senator. Maybe he was a weapon, but he was a powerful weapon and Kara must’ve felt safe as long as she had him.

  “There are only two reasons I can think of they would send someone this important,” Kara started. “In no particular order, the first one is that they want me dead. I really hope that’s true. I would be really disappointed otherwise.”

  Alexandra froze. Tamzin had a similar reaction. It was true the empress had expressed something to that effect, but only two other people knew: Lena and Lucian. And one of them betrayed them. She didn’t think Lena would do that and Lucian didn’t have the opportunity. They had been together since they sensed Kara. Maybe somehow he managed to get word to the Suttland senator. But why would he? Lucian was as guilty as they were. The wizard reacted for the first time and what she saw on him was anger.

  “Well, you’re close. They already thought you were dead.” Lucian had the biggest smile.

  “You’re right. Then they wanted my family dead. Am I right?”

  “You’re right about the first reason. What’s the second one?”

  “I think they are looking for a young senator girl. She’s maybe fifteen.”

  Lucian actually applauded, but Alexandra felt sick to her stomach. “Ladies, I am pretty sure somebody betrayed you. You should’ve been more careful.”

  “Yes, it’s either you or Lena. You were the only ones who knew about everything.”

  “I can assure you I haven’t said anything and neither has Lena.”

  “Maybe I’m just a really good guesser.” Kara was toying with them. “I’m starving. All I’ve eaten these last few weeks were berries and roots.”

  “You know something, but you don’t know it from Lucian or Lena,” Tamzin told Kara.

  “You’re right. You are smarter than your sister. I had no idea sorceresses can be so irrational and impulsive. I guess she is entertaining and that’s why you keep her around.”

  “They said the girl cheated them on some business deal,” Lucian said.

  “And they thought they can lie to you? You should know you can’t lie to senators. And Lucian is better at sniffing lies than anyone I know. Even I can’t fool him,” Kara told the sorceresses and then turned to Lucian. “I hope you didn’t agree to give up that girl.”

  “Of course not! Lena, however, seemed more open to the suggestion.”

  Kara chuckled. “She didn’t see the trap? Selling out one of our kind to the other races is anathema. It’s worse than breaking the guest law. If senators find out about something like this you are dead, regardless of your power. And you would use it against Lena and her family the moment you don’t need them anymore. That’s clever.”

  Alexandra started to understand how senatorial politics were played. The Conclave was not without fault, but there was nowhere near this level of backstabbing. When the food was brought, she had lost her appetite. Kara was a contradiction. Alexandra couldn’t decide if the senator was extremely insightful or blindingly gullible.

  Chapter thirty-eight

  Maya watched the approaching army from a high balcony at the top of Felix’s villa. Her host’s daughter, Davina was there as well. The adorable soon to be thirteen-year-old stared with her big brown eyes and adjusted a strand of her lovely strawberry-blonde hair. What she saw in the valley below must’ve been very unsettling. Davina, although a battle-senator, was still very young and presumably hostile senators and over a thousand of their soldiers was not something she was used to. Suttland had finally arrived.

  “They are not wearing their masks. That means they are not hostile,” Davina spoke.

  “I don’t think it works that way, kid!” Traditionally, Suttland senators wore the masks when they went to battle, mostly because it scared their enemies, but it wasn’t set in stone. If not wearing them was more useful they wouldn’t think twice about doing it. They were in north Riffland here and Felix had just received news that the Valerii had also invaded in the south. Their fleet sailed up the Arais and landed not far from the river mouth. This was an invasion, one Maya had been expecting. It made more strategic sense than that of the Gap. “Do you recognize any of them?” Davina had a functional knowledge of Suttland’s senators, unlike her who had only a theoretical one and had met few.

  “This far north it can only be the Arvillii. They’re right across the river and it isn’t that difficult for them to get here.” Davina took out a telescope to get a better look. “There are at least ten senators and those I know are definitely Arvillii battle-senators.”

  Maya took the telescope to see for herself. The number of soldiers suggested ten battle-senators and the kid recognized some of them. That didn’t mean there were others. Senators back in Suttland could’ve just sent the soldiers as support. The problem was they weren’t wearing any emblems that would identify them. “How did you come up with ten?”

  “They wear better armor. Nothing elaborate or that would identify them, but I can tell it’s of superior quality. Those I don’t recognize worry me. Especially the two in the middle.”

  As Maya tried to identify the two Davina indicated Felix joined them. He didn’t seem very concerned and she knew that he had close ties with the Arvillii. If they were going to attack a Riffland senator he would definitely not be the first target. “I see them.” They were both young, the man maybe younger than the woman and she couldn’t have been older than twenty. Maya understood now what Davina meant about the armor. Theirs were surely not meant for parades. At least they weren’t wearing helmets. That would’ve made things really difficult. She was pretty sure who the young man was and recognized the young woman. She had only seen Aleyna Turing once but the human had made an impression. She handed the telescope to Felix. “Do you recognize those two?”

  “I think I know who he is,” Felix answered after careful consideration, “but I’m not so sure about the young woman. I am almost certain that is Christian Antonius.”

  Maya saw the sudden apprehension in Davina’s eyes. If Christian Antonius was out there that was not good news. He was heir to the Arvillii throne, now that Kara was gone. If they sent someone like him to Riffland whatever they wanted must’ve been important.

  “So that’s Christian Antonius. Somehow I thought he’d be taller and scarier,” Maya said.

  “He’s scary enough. I heard he can control over two hundred and ninety.”

  She had heard the same thing as Davina and it was probably true. The kid was plenty
scary herself. Her father was just under the two hundred threshold, but Maya suspected the daughter was on the other side of it and by a significant margin. In fact, if she were to guess she would put Davina in the upper half of the over two hundreds power-wise.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart, they’re not here to attack us. They wouldn’t be coming like this in broad daylight if they were,” Felix tried to calm his daughter.

  “He’s right! They’re not here to attack.” Maya had no doubt this was true. Christian hadn’t brought enough soldiers to invade Riffland. She wasn’t even sure she could take this villa with what he had. Between them, Felix and Davina controlled more than three hundred soldiers and most of them were inside ready to defend their home. “Christian is here to enlist you and others to help them eliminate all opposition in the province and in effect, manage a takeover with minimal investment of troops and resources. It’s pretty smart, actually.”

  “You were right, though. The Arvillii did come and it’s obvious they were not in the Gap. And you were also right to point at the Valerii, who had been suspiciously quiet until now.”

  The fact she had been right didn’t make her feel any less uneasy. She had known something like this might happen when she had sent Maeve to Hilderfort, but she didn’t think they would send so many of the important players. And Christian wasn’t her biggest concern. That honor belonged to Aleyna. The human was unpredictable, smart, vicious and most likely didn’t play by the rules. At least not by senatorial rules, which made her less likely to obey the guest law. Maya just hoped that the person who controlled Aleyna had her on a short leash.

  It was a tense wait. When they arrived at their gates they asked to become Felix’s guests and he accepted. The villa could not accommodate all the soldiers, so most of them camped outside the walls, but all the senators had rooms and they could keep a few of their guards. Maya thought Felix had been generous and she would’ve never agreed to that. It turned out there were only nine senators, Davina had mistaken Aleyna for one, and Maya wasn’t sure all of them were battle-senators. In fact, she suspected a young woman was not.