He whistled in surprise.
“The Companions’ Council? What’d the council want with you? They only convene for lord, ladies and important Companions, not trainees, particularly not troublesome ones like you.”
The tavern girl brought his soup. As he reached up to take the offered bowl, Ciardis noted the dangling Mindas bracelet on his wrist. The one that could warp the perceptions of people who came across him. The woman thought she was serving an ordinary man, a handsome one, but not the heir to the emperor’s throne. She plunked a mug of cider down in front of Ciardis with little fanfare.
When the tavern girl left, he started to eat his soup. Looking down at the green depths, he swirled his spoon around and managed to pick what looked like a wriggling centipede out of its contents.
“I
“In what universe? Your position with me has gotten you squat.” He paused. “Except death threats.”
“Now hold on, I’m more than just
“I’m not blind.”
“Could have fooled me,” Ciardis said.
She shifted in her seat while fidgeting and continued, “Well, it’s taken care of.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’s taken care of?’”
She swallowed some cider and mumbled under breath.
“What? I didn’t catch that,” he said sharply.
“He sort of sent a man to kill me yesterday and I sort of had to take care of it.”
For a long moment the Prince Heir just contemplated the young woman hunched over the tankard in front of him. He deciphered what she said and couldn’t tell if he wanted to kill someone or kill
“And you sort of took care of that?” he asked carefully.
She bit a lip. “Yeah, with some help.”
“Someone you can trust?”
“Absolutely possibly.”
He blinked. “Right. Is the duke likely to retaliate because of what you did?”
“Nothing that I can’t handle,” she said resolutely. “I’ve got enough dirt on him that he can only rely on besmirching my character at court now. Speaking of which, have you heard all the rumors about me?”
He looked at her in amusement. “Such as?”
“That you’re leaving me, for one?” she snapped.
He chuckled. “I’ve heard of that one, yes.”
She glared.
“No truth to the matter, of course.”
“Of course,” she said smoothly. “But it’d be nice if you could do something about them.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. My father has forbidden me from declaring you as my Companion for now.”
“Seriously?” she gasped. “You couldn’t have mentioned this? For how long?”
“I’m mentioning it now. And indefinitely. But in all other concerns you are my one and only choice. Don’t worry.”
“You know what this means, right?”
He looked at her silently.
“It means I’m stuck with the shitty end of the stick.”
“Smart woman.”
She shot him a long-suffering look that bordered on anger.
He grimaced and choked down a post-bug bite of soup.
“So I take it the meeting didn’t go well?” he said, shifting his attention back to the Companions’ Council.
“They said they have received three reprimands of conduct against me from the palace protocol office.” She paused and stared pointedly at him. “I repeat:
“I have no influence over protocol. They’ve been around for hundreds of years and don’t care for my opinions,” he said.
She sighed and grumbled, “I know. I just wish you did.”
Clearing her throat, Ciardis said, “I won’t be around for about a month—the council decided it was best I have formal mage training.”
“With?”
“Maree Amber.”
“Good, she’s strict but a great mage.”
“What kind?”
“You don’t know?”
“Would I be asking if I did?” she snapped.
“She’s the head of your guild.”
“And?”
He muttered an unintelligible response.
“She’s a telekinetic companion.”
“Oh, well, that could be useful.”
“Officially.”
“Officially? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Unofficially, she’s supposed to have other talents in service of the empire.”
“Says who?”
“Says half the nobility, and my father.”
“Oh. What kind of talents?”
“No idea. Only the ruling emperor and his closest advisors are privy to that sort of knowledge.”
“Damn.” Ciardis was curious. There were many talents a person could have, but to have more than one generally qualified a person as a master mage. And “in the service of the empire” was as revealing as mud. Another mystery to solve, then.
Sebastian tapped his fingers in a pattern back and forth as he thought.
“See what she can teach you. I’ll call you into the Aether realm in a week’s time so we can convene.”
It was then that they heard a crier at the front door. “A summons has been issued to gather at the square for news of the day. Five minutes until the clock strikes the mid-afternoon.”
Ciardis cursed a blue streak. “I’m late. See you at our regular meeting?” She barely saw him nod before she scrambled up from the table and ran out the door, nearly barreling over the crier in the process.
Chapter 15
Hurrying into the street, she signaled for a fast carriage. The fact that the driver had to nearly run down an old woman carrying a basket of bread to get Ciardis where she was going was enough to earn him his tip. She took off in a flat out run before the wheels had even stopped in the courtyard. Tossing a small bag of coins at the man, she set off for Maree Amber’s tower. Panting and out of breath, she made it to the base of the tower just a few minutes past the start of the hour. Ciardis approached the single-door entryway to the council head’s chambers with some resignation.
Although it was called a tower, it was really a very large set of suites set together. She’d read that the original apartments for the council head had been in a tower. But an attack three decades ago had destroyed it. No one was quite sure if it disappeared entirely or fell into the ocean. The new set of apartments had taken on the name of the tower despite being only one and a half levels and in a fairly rectangular shape.
Loitering outside Maree Amber’s door was only making Ciardis later than she already was. Sighing, she reached for the handle of the door and squeaked in surprise when the door not only shocked her with some form
