what Burres' next move will be. He is not at all popular with them, and they believe he may already be beginning to eye their own lands with some avarice. I regret that I will not be engaging your services on this occasion, Lord Thorn.
Thorn all but exploded in his seat. For a few moments, he pounded his fists on the table, unseen by his lord and master. At last, having composed himself, he asked, Have you any reason for this, Lord Dominie?
You have done well for us in the past, conceded Horin, but I think it best if your mage, Dalquist, lies low for a time, while I resolve this situation as best I can. I will contact Prelate Zhar at Brelor House. The services of his mages Garan Soul-stealer and Targu the Flier should suffice.
In the depths of his being, well hidden from the mind of Horin, Thorn fumed. His mother would be furious at the thought of that bloated charlatan, Zhar, stealing his thunder once more.
Olaf Demonscourge is well rested after his last Quest, Lord Dominie. I am sure he would be happy to aid High Lodge once more, suggested Thorn, wheedling as best he could. He knew that to propose Xylox the Mighty once more would be taken as a sign of weakness.
Olaf was once a potent Questor, Horin shot back, but he is older than either of us. This is a young man's game, Thorn, as you well know. I could hardly expect a Shapeshifter to be much younger than sixty years of age, but a Questor? Even Xylox the Mighty is entering middle age. Where are your experienced thirty-year-old Questors; young lions, hungry for battle?
Once prominent in the Guild, Arnor House had been diminishing in reputation for two decades. Each year, fewer and fewer families sent their offspring to Arnor, and, despite the availability of many charity places, even these were poorly subscribed. Thorn was not prepared to admit that to anybody, not even his Dominie.
We have had some near misses recently, Dominie, he protested. You know how it is. One cannot predict when a new Questor will arise. I have recently enrolled the grandson of Loras Afelnor, and I have high hopes for him.
Afelnor? spat Horin's thoughts. Were you so desperate as to take in the seed of that traitor? Still, far be it for me to lay the sins of the father onto the head of his son. Thorn could not see Lord Horin, but he could envision a dismissive shrug as if the Dominie were standing before him.
I congratulate you on your adherence to the true spirit of the Guild, continued Horin. Few Prelates would be able to countenance accepting the progeny of the would-be murderer of a House Prelate into their ranks. I know the guidelines on the acceptance of charity Students give priority to the descendants of thaumaturges, but this seems to stretch those guidelines to the limits!
Thorn knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he persisted.
Think of the prospects, Lord Dominie. If the boy is a tenth as powerful as his grandfather, we could have a potent, useful Questor on our hands, so long as the blood runs true.
It is not as simple as that, Thorn, as well you know, shot back Horin. If the boy is of regulation age, it will surely be another decade before you can be sure of any Questor talent, or indeed any mage talent, within the lad.
Let us assume that, by the alignment of the factors of fortune, the boy does hold the promise of becoming a Questor. You will then need to tread that narrow path we both know so well and, should Afelnor have enough power to shame his grandfather, it might all be for nothing in the end; the ways of blood are fickle and unreliable, and the boy might not even be suitable for assessment as a Reader, let alone strong enough in mind to become a Questor. If he is tried as a Questor and he proves unsuitable, more years will pass before you find his true vocation, if any. By that time, he will have reached the age where he can leave of his own free will.
Thorn licked his lips, determined not to back down.
The boy has great inner strength and will, Lord Horin, just as Loras did; I have seen him myself. His will is strong, and I am sure that Loras Afelnor wants him to persist until mastery, if he is able. He may become no Questor, but I am certain that he has the potential to carry the Staff in some guise, should he persist.
That is good, replied Horin, at once, but my needs are somewhat more immediate. In any case, you should think yourself lucky that I have decided to recommend to the High Lodge Presidium that your actions in Shelt were a mere miscalculation on your part. If you had another young Questor to offer us, I am sure he might be considered but, on this occasion, I think your new Questor, Dalquist, is just a little-shall we say?-'too hot to handle' at the moment.
Thorn steamed, but he could not think of anything to say. All he knew was that Questor Dalquist would pay for this debacle.
Fear not, Horin continued. I am sure that Prelate Zhar will be able to assist me in the successful completion of this Quest. Thank you for your time, Lord Prelate. With that, Horin cut the mental connection between the two mages.
Thorn raged, pounding his fists again on the oak desk, and bouncing in his seat like a stotting antelope.
Damn Horin. Damn Zhar! Damn Mother! He had thought on his first accession to the position of Prelate that his post was a mere sinecure, but it had proved to be more arduous and frustrating than the most difficult Quest in which he had ever taken part.
Every High Lodge Quest that Thorn was unable to assist was another opportunity for that pathetic excuse for a mage, Zhan, to press home his own claim to pre-eminence. Brelor was a relatively new House, scarcely a century old, but it was in a far more prosperous district than Arnor, and parents were keen to send their brats there.
Arnor House, one of the most ancient in the Guild, high on its imposing mountaintop, and which predated the formation of the ruling body, was just too remote from civilisation. Thorn had spent several fortunes-although never his own, of course-in the expansion and beautification of the austere fortress, whose governance he might have inherited at the expense of Loras, but, to his regret, for little personal gain.
High Lodge is letting too many little fish into the pool, fumed Thorn. Once I have reached the ranks of Dominie, there will be a real shake-up in High bloody Lodge. I'll see and know who my real friends are, and I'll act accordingly.
Focus, he thought. Get Rufior on another Quest as soon as possible; the more hazardous the better, in order to be able to justify his advancement. Push him up the ranks with all speed. Even Horin will not deny Dalquist his status, if the boy successfully completes a sufficient number of dangerous House Quests for our common good. That should rehabilitate him in High Lodge's eyes, and then even our beloved Dominie should take notice of young Rufior. I feel sure the lad will not complain if he is sent on another Quest as soon as possible.
It's all very well for Horin to chide Thorn for Arnor House's lack of young talent, he thought, but High Lodge is sometimes just a little too eager to grab my best new mages.
In the past decade, Thorn had lost eight promising mages to High Lodge, consisting of four Manipulants, two Necromancers, one Shapeshifter and one Weatherworker.
It had never occurred to Thorn to refuse High Lodge's requests, and, Thorn suspected, Horin was only to happy to boost his own ranks as long as Thorn played along. Thorn never considered the fact that this current tricky situation was of his own making, in his eagerness to put the Lodge in his debt.
The Prelate resisted the urge to throw the scrying crystal through the closed window.
Action, Virias, not anger!
Patterning his mind for Telepathy, Thorn sent out a call for Urel, the Senior Magemaster, and got back to his paperwork.
'Ah, Urel, how are you?'
'Well, thank you, Lord Prelate. I am looking forward to getting to work on the new Students. I think I will make Kargan their Magemaster. He will work them hard, I am sure.'
'How fare your Neophytes and Adepts these days, Urel? Are there any good prospects?'
'Pollo Virida should make Necromancer within the space of two months. He is only forty-seven years old, too. It also looks as if Ujal Ribal will be ready soon to try for the Breaking Stone. Yura Shuva expects to go to the Stone within the week. The Acclamation of two new Shapeshifters is something to be proud of, Lord Prelate.'
Despite himself, Thorn was impressed. Shapeshifters were highly regarded by the Lodge. 'Indeed, Urel, you have done well. What of Erek Garan, though? Will you make a Questor of him?'
'I am confident that Garan has the power and, at fourteen years, he is the perfect age. He is intelligent and
