exerts himself as little as humanly possible.”
“If I ever get at him, he’ll exert himself!” Rudhira snapped.
“And I hope to see it happen,” Faran replied, his calm facade slipping.
“Lord Faran!” Mavi gasped. “He’s the overlord! The triumvir!”
“He’s an idiot,” Faran said. “Oh, his great-great-great-great grandfather was a great man, a military genius, the founder of this city — but the blood has obviously thinned, and I think it’s time to do something about it. You know who’s really been running this city the past ten years, Hanner.” His temper was visibly wearing thin again.
“You have,” Hanner said. “But still...”
“That’s right,I have!” Faran said angrily, cutting Hanner short. “And what does it get me? Adeath sentence, because some mad wizard somewhere got careless and spilled magic everywhere!”
“I don’t think it was a wizard...”
“Fine!Whatever did it!” Faran flung his hands in the air, no longer making any pretense of composure. “And do you want to know something even more despicable, my boy? Our dear Lord Azrad won’t even take responsibility for his own actions. He intends to arrange for the Wizards’ Guild to outlaw this new magic, and letthem take the blame when the people realize how unjust this all is!”
Hanner blinked, digesting this new information, as Faran glared at him. Then he said, “That’s not so foolish. It’s actually sort of clever...”
***Four greats is correct. Azrad the Great outlived both his sons; Azrad II was his grandson.
“It’sinsane!” Faran said. “Give the Wizards’ Guild evenmore power?”
“But it won’t...” Hanner began, intending to point out that the Wizards’ Guild would be weakened when they were indeed blamed for the proposed slaughter, but Faran wasn’t listening.
“I won’t have it,” Faran said. “I have no intention of letting Azrad or his soldiers or the wizards kill me-or kill you, Rudhira, or Othisen, or Zarek, or anyone else who innocently got warlockry bestowed upon him.” He glowered at Hanner and Alris and Mavi.“You three don’t have anything to worry about-by the gods, Hanner, that fat old man might well name you my successor! Butwe” —he gestured at the three acknowledged warlocks-“are fighting for our lives!”
“I know,” Hanner said, “but what can you-”
“I could fly us away,” Rudhira said. “North, maybe, to... to Aldagmor.” She looked slightly puzzled at her own words.
Hanner felt oddly uncomfortable at that suggestion. Faran, too, reacted strangely, jerking his head slightly before replying, “No. I’m not giving up my home without a fight.”
“But, Uncle,” Alris said, “what can you do? Even if you’re a warlock, you can’t fight the entire city guard and the Wizards’ Guild!”
Rudhira shuddered. “No one can fight the Wizards’ Guild,” she said.
“Why not?” Faran said. “They’re only mortal-well, most of them, anyway.We have magic now, too! And maybe we can get the other magicians to join us-the sorcerers and theurgists and witches...”
“Why wouldthey help?” Hanner asked.
“Because they’re tired of the Wizards’ Guild ordering them around,” Faran said. “Keeping them out of government, telling them no one can learn more than one kind of magic...” “They don’t care, Uncle,” Hanner said. “They like things the way they are... or at least the way theywere, before last night.”
“I don’t believe it,” Faran said.
“But theydo,” Hanner insisted. “You’ve had me talking to them, day after day, foryears now, and they really, truly don’t care about the Wizards’ Guild.”
“Maybe, when we tell them what’s going to happen to us, their fellow magicians...” Rudhira said hesitantly.
“Right!” Faran said, pointing at her. “Exactly right! Rudhira, you understand the situation better than my nephew, and he’s spent his life in the Palace.” He smiled at Rudhira, then looked expectantly at Hanner.
Hanner knew that look. Uncle Faran expected him to yield now, to say that of course Faran was right, and everyone would do what he told them to do-but Hanner was not ready to yield. He was thinking.
Lord Faran’s expectant smile was starting to slip into a frown when Hanner said, “Uncle? You said that the overlord intends to blame the Wizards’ Guild for ordering all the warlocks executed?”
“Yes. That’s exactly-”
“He hasn’t done it yet?”
Faran blinked, startled, and Hanner realized that this was the first time in years that he had dared to interrupt his uncle.
“No,” Faran said. “He hasn’t had time yet. He’s asked the Wizards’ Guild to attend him as soon as possible, and expects to meet with them by tomorrow. So we have a few hours-”
“Uncle,” Hanner said, interrupting again. Faran’s eyes widened. “Why are you so sure the Wizards’ Guild will cooperate with the overlord? After all, warlocks are arguably their fellow magicians.”
Faran’s mouth opened, then closed.
“We should talk to them,” Othisen said. “Maybe they’re onour side!”
“Maybe some ofthem are warlocks,” Hanner suggested. “There’s no reason it couldn’t happen, is there?”
“Who knows?” Faran asked. “Maybe wizards were immune.”
“But even so, they still might be sympathetic,” Hanner said. “You didn’task to be a warlock.”
“They don’t allow magicians in the government,” Faran said.
“But most of the warlocksaren’t in the government,” Hanner pointed out. “You are, but Rudhira and Zarek and Othisen aren’t— they’re just ordinary people. They have just as much right to be magicians as any wizard’s apprentice.”
Hanner, long familiar with his uncle, could see Faran resisting the impulse to say that that didn’t helphim, that he wanted to keep both his post and his new magic. Faran never admitted to selfish motives-but Hanner knew they were always there.
“You’d have to renounce your title, of course, Uncle,” Hanner said.
“I suppose I would,” Faran said slowly. “That would still be preferable to execution, of course.”
Hanner wasn’t at all sure Uncle Faran actually believed that.
“You should talk to them, Lord Faran,” Othisen said. “Maybe they’d make an exception.”
“Theynever” —Hanner, Faran, and Alris all began in unison; they looked at one another, and Hanner finished-“make exceptions.”
“But I should talk to them,” Faran added. “You’re quite right-we really don’t know what position the Wizards’ Guild will take on all this.”
“We don’t know how long the warlockry will last,” Hanner pointed out. “Maybe if you emphasize that, that it’s probably just a temporary thing, they’ll be lenient. Wizards take the long view, and even if the people who are warlocks nowdo stay warlocks for the rest of their lives, which you probably won’t, it’s not as if anyone’s going to take apprentices and trainnew warlocks.”
“But it could happen again,” Rudhira said. “Whatever happened last night, I mean. For all we know it’ll happen again tonight or tomorrow.”
“Well, don’t tellthem that,” Alris said.
“Do you want me to go speak to Guildmaster Ithinia?” Hanner asked.
“That won’t be necessary,” Faran said.
“But-” Rudhira began.
Faran silenced her protest with an upraised hand.
“I’ll speak to Guildmaster Ithinia myself,” Faran said.
“Will you need your cloak, my lord?” Bern asked.
Faran smiled. “No,Bern,” he said. “I won’t be going out.”
“But-” Mavi began. Hanner hushed her.
“That’s what’s on the top two floors, Uncle?” he asked.
Faran threw him a glance. “Shrewd, my boy,” he said. “Unless you’ve been snooping?”
“I haven’t been up there,” Hanner said. “But what else could you have there that you’d keep so secret?
