The Wizard Book

by Radu Aldea

  “She thinks you are Circle.”

  That was unexpected. And she knew the human was quite capable of creating trouble for her and this was one of the best ways to do it. Senators turned unreasonable when dealing with someone they thought was Circle. They didn’t even need proof, suspicion was more than enough. “I’m not! But out of curiosity, how did she come to that conclusion?”

  “She has sort of a sixth sense about guessing the power of senators.”

  “Is she ever wrong?”

  “Rarely. That’s why I didn’t bring any guards with me. I figured it was safer.”

  “Believe me, you’re just as safe with me with or without guards. I can fight a little but I don’t have your skills or training.” She knew her limitations. In one-on-one combat she was no match for someone like Christian. Then she changed the subject. “Has she even considered how that would be possible? There are only a handful of senators powerful enough to father a member of the Circle.”

  “Oh, she considered it. Her theory doesn’t make a lot of sense, but she has one.”

  The human was a reservoir of interesting ideas and Maya couldn’t wait to hear what else Aleyna had come up with. She had the distinct feeling she wouldn’t like it. But if Christian considered it ridiculous the theory must’ve been based on instinct, not on logical arguments.

  “She thinks you are Rufus’s daughter because you remind her of Kara.”

  Maya laughed. No wonder Christian thought Aleyna’s idea didn’t make sense. “Then I can’t be Circle.” They both knew that all the members of the Circle of Five had at least one parent who was an over two hundred and eighty senator. Which Rufus wasn’t.

  “Aleyna doesn’t think that rule is absolute.”

  “But it is absolute.” That was the only attribute the Circle members had in common.

  “I used to think so, but now I’m not sure. There’s a problem with the numbers.”

  What numbers? Maya wished Christian wasn’t so mysterious, but she didn’t think he would elaborate. The only explanation she could find was that he was referring to the number of humans the members of the Circle of Five could control. It was believed that none of them could control many past the three hundred limit, in fact, twenty was the largest number that was given. And those people were considered overly optimistic. The reason for this was because it was thought that a lot of power was needed to break the barrier and that power had to be taken from somewhere. For senators there could be only one source.

  It was empirically known how much more powerful a child could be compared to his parent. Senators had studied this in great detail. The increase in power never exceeded thirty percent. It could be less, of course, but it was never more. Someone like Kara supposedly could control as many as three hundred and seventy humans. But because it was believed part of that potential power was used to break the barrier, the maximum number was reduced to three hundred and twenty. “Kara could control a lot more humans than people thought, couldn’t she?”

  Christian looked at her thoughtfully for a minute and then he spoke. “She was very close to the upper limit. I trust you will keep this to yourself.”

  She nodded. Maya had no desire to tell anyone else. “Whatever inner quality the parent who can control two hundred and eighty-one people possesses, which made his child a Circle member, the parent who can control two hundred and seventy-nine doesn’t. And I promise you, I’m not Rufus’s daughter. He was nowhere near my village at the time when I was conceived. In fact, Rufus was not in Cuttland at that time. Nor was David, who would be a far more likely candidate if Aleyna is right. I promise you, I’m not Julia’s sister.” You could count the men able of having a child her age who was also Circle on the fingers of one hand.

  “I know that’s true, but how do you know about this?”

  “Roger Castus is suspicious of me and had similar ideas. He investigated. He doesn’t think I know, but I do. His conclusions were what all of you, including Aleyna, should know. The men who can sire an over two hundred senator don’t lose track of their children. And that’s the truth. Here’s another truth. More than likely I am the child of a weak battle-senator who already had an heir and didn’t really care if he fathered another one. I have no illusions.”

  “That’s not the only explanation. Maybe he died, maybe there was some other reason he didn’t come from you. That doesn’t mean he didn’t want you.”

  “Thank you, but you don’t need to say that just to make me feel better.”

  “I’m not! Regardless of your power, and the way you avoid the diviners suggests that you are either less or more powerful than you claim, you are a very intelligent and beautiful young woman and your father would be insane not to be proud of you.”

  Damn, she was in trouble, even though Christian was wrong and her father was most definitely not proud of her. That being said, she had found him from the start attractive, smart and funny, but now it was really difficult to keep her hands off him. She knew people, including senators, sometimes reacted this way. She just didn’t think it could happen to her so quickly.

  “You never said if you think Aleyna was right or wrong?”

  “When Aleyna is wrong the senators are more powerful than she thinks. She has never made a mistake by thinking them less powerful than they really are. So I think she is most likely right, even though I haven’t figured out how that would be possible, and I hope I am right because you’re are going to need it.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because you are right when you said Philip pursues his every desire and I can think of nothing he desires more than you. And I got the feeling you don’t welcome his attention.”

  “I don’t, but I can handle him.”

  “I hope you are right. You know he put his slimy hands on Kara when she was younger? Of course, Kara was still Kara and at that time had a lot more guards with her.”

  “That was stupid of him. He could’ve ended up dead.”

  “Well, Kara was still very young and she didn’t want to break the guest law. Now she would kill him without hesitation. Hell, I’ll get rid of him for you if you want.”

  To hell with self-control! Maya knew this would create a lot of problems down the road. She leaned in and kissed Christian. “This is because I like you, not because I want something from you. You don’t have to get rid of Philip for me. He’s mine,” she whispered to him.

  “You have no ties to Cuttland! Why don’t you come with us?”

  “I will soon, but not right now. Shut up and kiss me!” She breathed heavily. “Your harem better be gone when I get there.”

  Chapter forty-one

  Kara didn’t like to be woken up in the middle of the night by knocks on her door, but it was exactly what happened. She was suddenly alert and noticed that was also true for Michael.

  “Come in!” This was the moment she had been waiting for. It felt oddly exhilarating. During the attack she hadn’t had the time to assess her emotions. She had been taken by surprise and just acted. Now she was ready. Something in the back of her mind registered that she should be afraid or at least worried. Kara knew she was taking a huge risk, after all, and things might not go her way. But there was no fear, just the certainty of someone who had chosen a path and was ready to follow it to the end.

  Some of Lucian’s guards entered the room. “Lord Lucian wishes to see you.”

  “Couldn’t this wait until morning?” She knew it couldn’t. “We’ll be there shortly.”

  “Lord Lucian only wants to see you. He is to stay here.”

  “That’s not going to happen. Either we both come or none of us does.”

  The soldiers agreed, they must’ve received an order from Lucian, and she didn’t bother to put on anything else other than the tunic she was wearing. She did, however, hide one of her daggers, which was quite a feat considering her garment was sleeveless and stopped above her knees. Michael looked at her and seemed to ask if this was it. She nodded.

  Lucia
n was waiting for them lounging on a couch. Kara did the same and Michael followed her lead. Servants brought cups filled with wine. She took hers and was about to drink from it when Michael shook his head. The movement was so slight that she doubted anybody else had seen it. The, message, however, was clear. The wizard didn’t want her to drink the wine. Poison! She couldn’t say she was surprised, and that was the easiest method to get rid of her, but she was a little disappointed. She had expected more from Lucian. Kara didn’t put down the cup and she wasn’t stupid enough to drink from it either. She just didn’t want Lucian to know that she had figured out his plan.

  “Why did you ask to see me in the middle of the night? Surely this could’ve waited.”

  “We are celebrating!”

  “We are celebrating what?” She knew why he decided to act now. Lucian thought she would be groggy after being pulled from sleep, less sharp, more prone to make mistakes. He was wrong. She couldn’t be more focused, more aware of her surroundings and more prepared for what was coming. If anything, she was itching for all this to be over.

  “I figured out how you can help me and eliminate Julia for both our sakes.”

  “Well, I’m definitely interested, but I still think it could’ve waited until morning.”

  “Yes, but we couldn’t have celebrated in the morning. It’s more fun this way.”

  “Do go on! I’m dying with anticipation.” Kara wondered if Lucian could hear the sarcasm. Probably! Had she acted nicer, he would’ve been very suspicious.

  “Julia is only vulnerable to an attack from your territory. You know this, she knows this and I know this. So no matter how many armies I send they won’t cross those passes. But if you return home and cross the Creuis we have her in a vise. She will be forced to remove troops from the passes and I can push through. Then we can divide Eastern Suttland between us.”

  What a load of horse manure! That wasn’t a plan, it was something Lucian said just to hear himself speak. His suggestion would’ve made tactical sense if he truly believed she actually wanted to attack Julia. He didn’t and that was the furthest thing from her mind.

  “I foresee some problems with my clients. They won’t be happy about this,” Kara played along, but they both knew she couldn’t convince her clients to attack the Metteli.

  “They are your clients. They have to obey you.”

  That was definitely not true. Her family worked more like a loose alliance that had a set of rules than an autocracy. In that it was different from any other senatorial house, including the Metteli. That was the only way to keep the very powerful senators like Reyna or Marcia. They did recognize a leader during a crisis, and the current situation easily counted as one, but otherwise they didn’t appreciate the interference. “Actually, they don’t. I’m not the head of the family, father was. Until I am accepted by all of them, they can do what they like. Even then, this would be a very difficult sell to some of my clients.”

  “You’re in this situation because you allowed some of them too much freedom.”

  If she had done what Lucian said, hers wouldn’t be the greatest senatorial family and some of its more powerful senators would be gone, either dead or establishing their own houses. The Metteli were a distant second, not only in the number of battle-senators, but their power as well. Julia and David didn’t have someone like Marcia, Christian, Reyna or Sarah, capable of taking over the reins if something happened to them. Sure, if you considered the Casti one family and not two, they could match the Arvillii in the number of battle-senators, they probably had a few more, but her family still surpassed them in brute strength. And the Casti were complicated. They didn’t act like one family, they acted like two families who had a very close alliance. Yet it wasn’t any stronger than what she and Julia had. Cut off the head of one snake and the other could not take over the decapitated body. That was a big weakness.

  “That may be true, but I still don’t know who the traitor in my family is. Until I find out who has been helping Julia any move I make could rebound on me. Besides, without solid proof that Julia is involved, which I don’t have, I will face serious opposition from within my family.”

  “Well, you got close to me, you could do the same to her and solve our problem.”

  “I was lucky. I didn’t try to avoid your scouts. It just happened. There is no guarantee I could replicate that. And if I get caught we’re both going to be in trouble. You are forgetting Julia is not our only problem. The Casti girl is a problem. Aaron and Dana are a problem.”

  “Lena, maybe. Aaron and Dana, absolutely not. They won’t make any move.”

  “I’m not so sure. Sooner or later the ugly monster that lives in all of us and craves absolute control will awaken in them and they would turn against you the moment you try to take control of anything that belongs to Julia, because they’ll be sure you are a threat to them. Suttland will descend into civil war, Essland will follow, and they will become easy pickings for the Casti. Whatever we do, we must be careful, or we'll lose our heads.”

  “Don’t worry, I can handle Lena.”

  “Why do you think I ran and withheld the knowledge of the human count from my family? Because I wanted them to attack Cuttland, not Essland. Cuttland is the leviathan. Somehow Julia convinced my family to help her attack the Gap. Whoever her spy is, he or she has the power to influence decisions like this.”

  “What do you think is Julia’s endgame with this futile offensive?”

  “To kill you, obviously. I know you think you have something on Lena, but she isn’t stupid enough to deliver that girl to the sorceresses. Most likely she would use her as a weapon against the Conclave. The marriage to Sem’Dhar may hide some pitfalls…”

  Lucian smiled. “That’s not a pitfall, that’s a deep, dark hole you can’t get out of.”

  He knew. That stupid grin made her want to punch his face. She understood what his plan was now. Lucian knew about the count in Essland and he allowed him to attack her. With her gone, the Arvillii and the Metteli were going to strike at someone and that would be the opportunity to eliminate Julia. And when that was over he would reveal the count to everyone, which would lead to the emperor and to Cuttland. From there it would be just another step to the Casti. If Lena would be stupid enough to make Sem’Dhar her consort she was done. What remained of Suttland and Essland would march against Cuttland and it was almost certain they would win. Good plan, but she put a dent into it by living and eliminating the count.

  She saw Michael grimace. It was starting. The wizard was panicking and his eyes were pleading with her to do something. Not right now, she wanted to answer, have a little more patience. A voice in her head was telling her this was the time to act.

  “You’re not touching the wine. Is it not to your liking?”

  It was time to drop the pretense. “The wine is fine, but I think I’ll pass on the poison.”

  Lucian laughed as if this was the greatest joke he had ever heard in his entire life. “You know, for a moment I actually thought those idiots managed to kill the great Kara Arvillia. And then you showed up on my door and I couldn’t believe my bad luck. I couldn’t figure out what you wanted. I didn’t think you would be stupid enough to come here with only one person and hope I would help you. I mean, Cuttland and the Casti are a leviathan, but you and your family are a bigger one. And your alliance with Julia is a threat to the rest of us.”

  “I guess I am that stupid,” Kara answered calmly. She showed no emotion and wasn’t panicking even though she understood her life was in danger.

  “No, you weren’t. It took me some time to figure your trap. I mean, there is always one. But a wizard, that was a surprise, and those two bitches said nothing.”

  “I’m sorry someone stopped your plans by killing the count. I’m not sorry, really, I’m just saying that. You know how it is.”

  “It’s only a minor setback. I have a spy in the emperor’s court who will reveal Sem’Dhar’s involvement in your death at the appropriate tim
e.”

  “You’re forgetting that I’m not dead and people know I’m here. If you do anything to me you’d be breaking the guest law and the rest of the houses will have your head.”

  “But you were not here. You died. The only persons who have seen you are those two bitches and I’m going to kill them anyway. They should’ve told me about him. There are a lot of interesting secrets in his mind. You should’ve told your family what you were doing.”

  Lucian had taken over Michael. She had hoped that would not happen. Do it now! She didn’t know why she was delaying. The longer she kept him talking the more information he would get out of him. That must be it. Kara remembered telling Michael that Lucian will want to fuck her one last time. She still thought she was right. But what if she wasn’t? Lucian could use Michael to kill her at any moment and she wouldn’t have time to react.

  “I did tell my family. If I fail someone else will come for you and she will not.”

  “Nice try, but I’ve been through his mind and I know you are lying.”

  “I met someone in Orenburg. Michael was not there with me.” It must’ve been more difficult to go through the mind of a wizard because Michael seemed to hide the truth about Cecilia and Amelia. That had been her insurance in case she failed.

  “I still think you’re lying. But even if you aren’t, the fact that you had a wizard with you is enough to justify your death. Believe me, nobody will mind.”

  “Do you know who killed my father?”

  Lucian laughed. “I honestly have no idea who made a deal with the sorceresses to kill him. I imagine it is a Cuttland senator, which absolutely works in my favor.”

  “We can still work this out and take over the Council. If you kill me now, you won’t succeed. You are going to die soon after.”

  “Begging does not become you. I’ve admired your composure until now. You know what bothers me? Why didn’t you just take over him before you entered my house? You would’ve had me and could’ve easily killed me, which is what you want. As I said, there are a lot of interesting things in his mind. I can’t believe you made such a stupid mistake just because you wanted to be noble. I understand, he saved your life, but you repaid him by getting both of you killed.”