The next morning, as lu made luz way to the sitting room, Dana, as Rodion, reviewed the list of books that lu had compiled for Dwayne. It had taken hours to go through all the books in Sanford, but Dana couldn’t find the will to resent Dwayne as the Wesen mage, now free of his research responsibilities, had thrown himself into the investigation into the thefts. For that expense of effort, Dana had a measure of contrition, but there was no way to tell Rodion’s master that Huan was behind those thefts without revealing that Dana was part of the Circle. Lu would have to trust that Dwayne would figure things out on his own.

That said, there was a good reason to be quite happy with the current situation because after weeks of “furtive” glances and “sly” suggestions, Dwayne and Magdala were actually making progress on their relationship. The spell that Dwayne’s Na’cch would produce in response would more than make up how much his Ri progress had stalled.

When Dana entered the sitting room, Dwayne was digging through a pile of books.

“My lord,” lu handed Dwayne a list, “I’ve completed an inventory of the rare books in Sanford’s collection.”

“Thank you.” Dwayne studied the list. “What do the marks mean?”

“Those books currently go for high prices on the open market. The ones marked with an ‘x’ are particularly rare.”

“Meaning even they’re even more valuable.” Dwayne rubbed his temples. “Are these just the books on the shelves?”

“No, my lord. I also went through the boxes.” Unpacking and repacking had eaten up most of the night, but it had been worth it to see just how many valuable books that Huan was apparently ignoring to go after a minor mage like Miss Fletcher.

“Thank you for that.” Dwayne frowned. “This is a lot of books. Why are the thieves even bothering with mages like Mi - Nicole?” His eyes were still on the list so they missed how Dana’s mouth fell open at this echo of luz own thoughts. “There was no one here the night that Miss Fletcher was robbed, right?”

“No, my lord.” Dana wrestled Rodion’s face back into servile calm. “Perhaps we should hire more security.”

Which was the suggestion Dana should have made earlier, but lu had been far more concerned about protecting Dwayne’s person, than his home. Dana was paying for that error now; ever since that night, lu had been on watch, using magic and potions to stay awake.

It wasn’t clear why Huan hadn’t started with Sanford. Unlike his sister, the “former” thief cared little for Dwayne, likely even blamed the Ri mage for his current situation. Perhaps Huan was too lazy to search Sanford’s exceptional collection.

“Hire security?” Dwayne dropped the list on the table. “You know we don’t have enough to hire more security.”

“You could petition the Galluses for the money.”

“No,” Dwayne crossed his arms, “I can’t because I can’t afford to rely on them.”

Dana wasn’t sure that they could afford not to ask them. “Then perhaps we could cut the Ma siblings pay.” Half of it was going to crime anyway. “I’m sure Miss Ma would rather be paid in good food.”

Dwayne snorted. “That’s true. Although between your breakfasts and the Commissary lunches, I doubt she’s spending money on food. Or housing.” He frowned. “Especially housing.”

Perhaps the wages of both Ma siblings were funding crime. “Cutting their wages to match their expenses makes sense.”

“No.” Dwayne looked Dana in Rodion’s eyes. “I won’t do that. We made an agreement, and Mei is worth every knight.”

“But is she worth two of herself?”

“Judging from the letters of praise that she still gets from the Southern Line Garrison? Yes, she is.” Dwayne leaned back in his seat. “I won’t cut their wages.”

“Then sell those new spell vials.” Dana could contact luz handler who could buy them, siphoning cash into Sanford’s coffers and staving off the Circle’s calls to bring Dwayne in. “You’ve finally proven that they work, right?”

“I’m going to share those.” Dwayne steepled his fingers. “There’s too many secrets in the magical world, too much hoarding of valuable spells. It’s time to take the Open Canon seriously and expand it as much as possible. Also,” he sighed, “I am not going to approach the robbed families with a sales pitch.”

That was a glorious vision. and it was going to impoverish Sanford. “If you say so, my lord.”

As soon as Dwayne’s eyebrows shot up, Dana knew luz irritation had slipped out, but before lu could apologize, he said, “I should mention something. Before we heard that Lord Kalan had…” It took him a moment to continue. “Mei and I found something down in Tower basement: the Terminal Tome.”

Behind the facade of the steward, Dana’s breath caught. The Terminal Tome was legendary, the kind of thing Circle spies could only dream of ever glimpsing.

However, stewards like Rodion would not care. “I do not see the relevance of this, my lord.”

“Nicole’s brother sent over a list of the differences between editions two and three of Pennoyer’s, partially obfuscated so I couldn’t steal anything, of course.” Dwayne rolled his eyes. “As far as I could tell, most of the changes were corrections, but there were a few full redactions, one of which was a component equation that was part of a larger magic I found in the Terminal Tome.”

He sighed. “I do believe that magic should be shared, but this spell… I think it’s what the thieves want and I think they should not have it.”

Considering his background, there was only one kind of thing that the idealistic Dwayne would want to keep secret. Unfortunately, that was the exact kind of thing that the Circle would love to learn about.

Once again, Dana escaped into the persona of the steward. “You’ll track them down before that. Shall I go make tea, my lord?”

“Yes, please.” Dwayne’s attention returned his studying. “I’d also like a brief respite from the formal address please.”

Dana didn’t. It was luz last shield against getting attached. “As you wish.”

Huan strode into the room with his sister in tow. “Bring some for me and Mei too.”

“Mr. Ma.” Dana kept Huan from getting any closer to Dwayne. “You’ve arrived early. For once.”

“Dwayne sent us a message, demanding that we have a house meeting.”

“Because we need to discuss Sanford’s security arrangements.” Dwayne inserted a bookmark into the book he’d been reading. “And we do pay you.”

“Not enough to demand meetings.”

As Dwayne and Huan argued, Dana stepped close to Mei. “How are you doing this morning?” Between her and her brother, Mei was usually the more alert, but today she looked exhausted.

Mei stifled a yawn. “I am well.”

As far as Dana knew, Mei was unaware of her brother’s illicit activities, but, like with Dwayne, Dana couldn’t afford to mitigate the waste effort. “Shall bring you biscuits with your tea?”

She perked up. “Yes, please.”

“Then I shall.”

As lu made luz way to the kitchen, Dana took the opportunity to anguish over the complex situation luz had found luzself in. From Lord Kalan’s abdication to Huan’s illicit activities, from Dwayne’s access to the Terminal Tome to his oath not to cast Ri magic andhis constant efforts advance Souran magic, there was too much for one Circle spy with only a single handler to support luz to manage, not with the Royal Guard, the Exchequer’s enforcers, and the thrice-damned Sen Jerome garrison searching every shadow. Lu wanted to give up, but that meant that the Circle would have no choice but to take Dwayne in, and lu did not want to be the reason why Dwayne’s illusion of freedom was shattered.

So by the time Dana returned to the sitting room with a fully laden tray, luz had gotten luzself together enough to hand out the tea and biscuits without a trace of anguish or conflict.

“Thank you,” said Mei taking four biscuits and a cup.

“I’m already here all day as it is!” protested Huan.

Dwayne winced at the shouting. His headache must be getting worse. “With all these thefts, Sanford needs better security. Unlike Walcrest, it doesn’t have a literal garrison of soldiers between it and the rest of the city. And since I can’t stop my studies, and Rodion can’t stop renovating Sanford, that leaves you. All I want is for you to stand guard except when you need to sleep.”

By all the blessings of Phons, Dana would rather Sanford fall to ruin than allow it to be solely guarded by Huan.

“Are you okay?”

Oh, this was not a good time to be near someone as observant as Mei.

“I am fine.” When the hunter’s lips pursed, lu added hurriedly. “I just haven’t eaten much today. I’ll be better soon. More biscuits?”

Mei took a biscuit, but her attention remained split between her brother and Dana. A person who didn’t have as many secrets as Dana would have been touched.

“I don’t see why I have to do it,” said Huan. “Why not Mei?”

“She has other responsibilities,” replied Dwayne.

Huan scoffed. “What the Tower? Lock it up and make her guard this place.”

“I can’t.” Mei wiped crumbs off her fingers. “I have to find Juanelo Rincón Ybarra’s murderer.”

Huan rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that those scry-whatever’s job? Let them handle it.”

“For reasons that you obviously don’t care about, Mei has to be on that investigation because we can’t afford to leave that to the Chamber.” Dwayne closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Still, you’re right. We don’t need to keep the Tower open anymore. It’s not like anyone is going to go there for real licenses now that they have those… What are they called?”

“Provisional licenses,” said Mei.

“Cups, we’re going to have to deal with those.” Once again, Dwayne rubbed his temples to stave off his headache. “Thadden gave a good reason why they exist, but issuing mage licenses comprise basically all of the Royal Sorcerer’s authority. We can’t leave things like this.”

“Tea?” Dana shoved a cup into Dwayne’s hands.

“Thank you.”

As Dwayne sipped his tea, Dana strangled the impulse to use magic to search for the source of his headache. Lu knew it wasn’t stress - Dwayne had faced down mobs, zadoso hordes, and multiple vengehna after all - nor was it Dwayne’s diet, which Dana very carefully managed. It could be a symptom of thaumaturgical deprivation, but that usually took weeks to show up. With magic, Dana could find the true reason in moments. It was too bad that immediately after Dwayne and the Li siblings would see luz for what lu truly was.

After finishing his tea, Dwayne let out a breath. “I needed that.” He turned to the Li siblings. “Why don’t the two of you stay here?”

Mei went still. Her brother shook his head. “You already asked. We said no.”

Dwayne watched Huan for a long moment, then said, very carefully, “I’ll pay.”

Huan’s eyes flicked down to the table as he said, “One count a night.”

“Two barons, and Mei chooses her shifts.”

Huan’s eyes met Dwayne’s. “Fine, done.”

That was too easy. Two barons wasn’t a small amount of money, but Huan always made at least three offers. Why would he stop? What had he seen? The books on the table were standard Magisterium texts and as such were not special.

But the list was.

Oh no.

Dwayne stood and thrust his hand out. “Shake on it.”

Huan did so, warmly and enthusiastically. “You drive a hard bargain.”

“Right.” Dwayne’s gaze didn’t leave Huan for a moment, even as he released the thief’s hand. “One last thing.” Dwayne pulled a metal plate out of his pocket. “This is the License Key.”

Dana’s breath caught, and lu knew that Mei had caught that.

“The thing that hurt you in the Tower?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“You keep it in your pocket?”

“Where else? I can’t leave it in the Tower, and I can’t leave it here.” He sighed. “I wanted all of you know about it so that if you see it not in my possession, you know to return it to me.”

“Okay,” said Mei.

Huan rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

Dwayne looked at Dana. Dana looked at Dwayne. Then Dana remembered that Dwayne would never ignore a servant. “Understood.” There was a knock at the door. “Excuse me.”

“No, I’ll get it.” Dwayne was gone before Dana could properly protest.

“Still moving books down from the attic?” asked Huan as if he were just filling the silence.

“I’ve moved most of them.” Dana collected the list of rare book and put it in Rodion’s pocket. “It would go faster if you helped.”

“I’m sure it would,” Huan’s grin was lopsided, “but that’s not what I’m paid for.”

“We are paid though,” said Mei.

Dana didn’t have enough time to parse the true meaning of that statement before Dwayne returned with an envelope, which he opened and read its contents.

“This is from the Church. They want me to sit for the pre-Rite of Attestation exam…” He blinked. “This afternoon? I have class through lunch today. How am I going to get all the way from the Magisterium to the Cathedral in time?”

Those heretics were setting him up to fail. “Perhaps I can send a carriage,” said Dana.

“Or a horse,” said Mei.

“The Magisterium doesn’t allow carriages to loiter on the premises,” Dwayne tossed the letter onto the table, “and I can’t ride to save my life. I’ll just have to run for it and hope I’m not too late.” His hand went to the bracer hidden under his sleeve. “Or maybe-”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Whatever. Not my problem.” Huan pointed to the door. “Can I go?”

“In a hurry to report to your mysterious patron?” was the question Dana didn’t ask.

“Yeah, we’re done.” Dwayne nodded to each of them. “Mei, please lock up the Tower. Huan, guard the front door. Rodion, when you find time please send tea invitations to the other robbery victims.”

Dana bowed. “I shall make it so, my lord.”

But first lu was going to make sure a certain set of rare books didn’t end up in the cellar.

***

After spending her morning dodging Colin during practicals, Magdala arrived at the usual lunch spot, hoping to talk to Francesca, but Mei was the only person there. Magdala’s heart shrank.

The hunter gave Magdala a handwritten note. “She said sorry. The Exchequer’s Office called.”

“That was her excuse for skipping breakfast.” Magdala put down her plate of fruits and grains. “Did she give just this to you?” Could Magdala catch up to her roommate?

“No, someone else did.”

“Someone else” could be half the girls on campus. “I really need to speak to her.”

Mei snagged a piece of fruit off Magdala’s plate. “About what?”

Should she talk to Mei about it? Mei was an excellent listener. “Francesca’s angry at me.”

Mei eyed Magdala over another piece of fruit. “Why?”

“It’s not anything big.” Succinctly, Magdala went through what had happened with the experiment. “I mean I didn’t really mean what I said. I was just frustrated.”

Mei didn’t reply for a long time, letting the clank and clatter of the Commissary fill the silence between them as she chewed on purloined fruit.

Finally, she said, “You remember the dragon hunt?”

What a non sequitur. “Yes, how could I forget?”

“Quarry like dragons are always too something: too fast, too smart, too fierce. To hunt them, hunters need the same mind, the same plan, the same talk.”

Magdala frowned. “I don’t see your point.”

Mei processed this for a moment. “I say ‘same talk’ and mean ‘must talk.’ Talking is very important. Without it, fast quarry will escape us, smart quarry will trick us, and fierce quarry will hunt us back. Without it, when hunters get back to camp they’ll fight over the spoils or over the blame. A good hunt leader makes sure good talking happens before the hunt.”

Magdala’s heart beat in her ears. “Are you saying I’m a bad leader?”

“You can be good at it.” Mei sat back in her chair. “In the forest, in the desert, in Walton, you gave us good plans and we got our quarry.”

“That was because you, Dwayne, and Saundra are good at what you do.”

“We are, but without your plans, we lack understanding. Without understanding, we lack trust. Without trust, we fail.” Mei gave Magdala’s hand a single pat. “It helps that Dwayne and I know you.”

“Francesca has known me longer than any of you. We’ve known each other since we were babies.”

“She doesn’t know what happened in Walton. She doesn’t know about…” Mei made a gesture that somehow indicated both Dwayne and Momin’s secrets.

“But she can’t know. For his and her safety.”

Mei considered this. “Dwayne asked me and Huan to stay at Sanford.”

Another non-sequitur. “That’s great, but-”

“He told me and Huan the plan, we told him what we needed, he gave us what we needed.” Mei took a piece of fruit off Magdala’s plate. “He’s a good hunt leader.”

“Mei…” Magdala glared at the hunter. “It sounds like you think that this is my fault.”

Mei’s eyes met Magdala’s. “It’s not about fault. It’s about duty.”

Wasn’t it Magdala’s duty as project leader to make sure her team took responsibility for their failures? Wasn’t it their duty to follow her instructions? Unfortunately, it was pointless to ask those questions of Mei.

“Here.” Magdala pushed her plate over to Mei. “I’m not hungry.”

“Okay.”

As the hunter decimated her lunch, Magdala sat back in her seat. Trust, understanding, plans, talk, all of it sounded both obvious and vague at the same time, but nailing it down felt like pinning a breeze to paper. Maybe she should start with trust, the one that Mei said led to failure.

Did Magdala trust Francesca?

She wanted to say yes. Ever since they’d started at the Magisterium, they’d been roommates because Francesca knew everything about Magdala, from past loves to current hates.

But that wasn’t true, was it? Francesca knew about the heroic stuff - hunting the dragon, escaping Yumma’s secret underground, fighting Liraya’s Revenants - but she didn’t know that Dwayne was Ri mage or that Momin was a Tuquese spy or why Magdala sometimes woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night with visions of flames licking at her heels.

Given all that, did Magdala really trust Francesca? Or was Magdala trying to force her roommate to be the same person as she’d been before the suspension? Was Francesca that same person?

Discomfited, Magdala pushed those questions out of her mind. After all, she still needed to continue the experiment, and until her roommate came back, she could try to use the magic preparation technique to do all three castings. Surely, using multiple mages was a crutch after all. Look at Dwayne. He’d gotten so far on his own.

Which begged a question. “How is Dwayne?” asked Magdala.

Mei put down the plate she’d been licking. “Busy. And tired.” Her eyebrows drew together. “His head hurts all the time now.”

Headaches? “Is he getting enough sleep?”

“I think so, but he’s holding himself in all the time.” Mei shrugged. “Maybe he’ll feel better after his Rite exam.”

“What exam? What Rite?”

“The Rite of Atatation?” Mei frowned. “No...”

“The Rite of Attestation?” They wouldn’t.

“Yes, that.”

“There’s no exam for that.” Young children took the Rite. “You just have to be able to hear Cueller’s Voice.”

Why were they making him take the Rite anyway? He could clearly cast Qe magic. But if he did, would he hear Cueller’s Voice? Had a Ri mage ever taken the Rite before? Was the Rite the same all over Markosia?

“Mei, how does the Empire find mages?” asked Magdala.

Mei frowned. “I don’t know.”

“You said he was taking an exam? What kind?”

“No idea. He was worried that he would be late. It’s at the big church building and he has morning classes.”

“So he skipped his classes?”

“No, he said he’d run.”

There were almost seven prinwirs between the Magisterium and the Cathedral. “There’s no way he’ll make it.”

“He said he had a way.” Mei blinked. “Oh, he could use the jumpy rock spell.”

Magdala’s reply was forestalled by an excited wave of students entering the Commissary.

“Did you see the Wesen boy leave Corn’s class today?”

“Did he really just jump away? Can all Wesen do that?”

“No, I think he was using some sort of weird spell. My cousin’s sister’s friend said he shouted something before he jumped.”

Magdala seized Mei’s sleeve. “What jumpy rock spell?”

***

After limping down the corridors of Sen Wallace Cathedral’s seminary, Dwayne stopped at a plain wooden door. While using Qechireeut to propel himself had gotten him here fast, his body was now made of bruises. Turns out that there’s a reason there were no earthsong.

Unfortunately, he was still late because he’d had to find the room on his own as not a single priest would tell him where the examination room was. At least, he’d had the time to do some review. To date, Dwayne had aced every theory test that the Magisterium had thrown at him, and so as long as they didn’t ask him to actually do any of the spells, he was ready.

He pushed open the door and entered the inner arc of a long curved table, which was currently occupied by three people.

“There he is.” Baron Thadden smiled brightly at Dwayne from the far left end of the table. “Did you have to skip class to be here?”

“No, I attended every class.” Even Corn’s completely useless lecture.

The baron rubbed his chin. “Then how did-”

“Does it matter how he got here?” At the other end of the table, Dean Bruce crossed her arms. “Let’s hurry this up. Some of us have real work to do.”

“We’re still waiting for our final member, Dean.” Livia Lucchesi, Soura’s Wind Sage and Francesca’s aunt, sat to the right of the baron. “In the meantime, allow us to explain this examination, young Kalan. The Church has requested that the Magisterium examine you before your acceptance of the Rite of Attestation. After this panel completes its work, it will give its recommendation to the Church. Do you understand?”

It was interesting that no one on the panel were teaching professors. It was also interesting that Thadden, who was only a graduate of the Magisterium academy, was here with a Sage and a dean.

“Yes, I do, Sage,” said Dwayne.

“Excellent.” The Wind Sage looked him over. “We will start as soon as the final member of the panel arrives. Do you need anything? Water? A chair?”

“We’re not delaying so he can get a snack,” said Dean Bruce.

“I’m fine.” A chair would be nice, but there was no need to give someone like the dean a reason to say that Dwayne was weak. Besides, he’d landed on his butt once or twice on the way here. “I’m ready.”

The door burst open. “Sorry.” Lady Pol rushed into the last empty seat between the Wind Sage and the dean. “I lost track of time and-” She caught sight of Dwayne, and her shoulders slumped. “So, you skipped class after all.”

Which was rich, considering that she was even later than he was. “I didn’t skip class. I used magic to get here.” Dwayne squared his shoulders. “Sage, I’m ready.”

Lady Pol glanced at the rest of the panel. “Did he say he used magic to get here?”

“It’s immaterial.” Dean Bruce steepled her fingers. “We’re all here now. Finally. Let’s get started.”

Dwayne steeled himself. With the Wind Sage at best a maybe, and both Lady Pol and the dean definite no’s, his only ally on this panel was Baron Thadden. He’d have to tread carefully here.

The Wind Sage gestured to the dean. “Dean, you have the first question.”

“Thank you, Sage.” The dean leaned forward and said in an even monotone, “Young Kalan, you’ve come to the court and the Magisterium in a very unusual way. What do you plan to do here in the Queendom?”

Dwayne blinked. That question had nothing to do with magic. “I, uh, plan to find the next Royal Sorcerer and then continue my research into the nature of magic.”

Dean Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “Does the prestige of the Kalan name and title not interest you?”

“Not really.” Dwayne shifted his weight to his right foot. “I mean… They’re useful for gathering materials, I guess.”

The corners of the dean’s mouth quirked. “And for getting close to Her Majesty, yes?”

“I’m sorry? I don’t think so. She-” Dwayne should definitely not say that the Queen wanted to meet a Ri mage. “She wanted to me to report what had happened down in Walton.”

“And what did happen in Walton?”

“I’m afraid we must move on, Dean.” The Wind Sage glanced at Lady Pol, who was still getting herself situated. “Baron Thadden, you have the next question.”

“Thank you, Sage.” The baron clasped his hands and placed them on the table. “Young Kalan, I’ve reviewed your Magisterium coursework, and it shows that you have been finding, shall we say, novel ways of completing your practicals. Please explain why you haven’t been sticking to established canon.”

Another dangerous question. “I have not spent as much time learning the established canon as my classmates, and I find it easiest to do the assignments in a way that feels the most comfortable to me.” There a response that was entirely true, if one didn’t examine the words “easiest” and “comfortable” too closely.

“Surely, you’ve been taught the established canon in class?”

“I have but it’s hard to visualize some of the spells,” because Dwayne didn’t have the spell shunt for them, “and I think the professors feel that their time would be better served helping the younger students.”

“That sounded like an excuse.”

“Baron, do you have anything to add other than commentary?” asked the Wind Sage.

Thadden shook his head. “I’m done, Sage.”

The Wind Sage glanced to her left. “Luisa, are you ready?”

Lady Pol looked up from her notes. “I’m ready.”

“Then you have the next question.”

“Thank you.” Lady Pol cleared her throat. “Dwayne, what is your personal experience of Qe magic?”

That question forced out an outright lie from Dwayne. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.”

“When you cast a Qe spell, what does it feel like?”

Dwayne swayed where he stood. He had no idea how casting Qe magic felt to Qe mages, had never thought to ask either Magdala or Lord Kalan about it, and so he had nothing to base a lie off of. However, if what he felt when casting Qe didn’t match the experiences of the master Qe mages sitting on the other side of that table, then they’d know that was something was strange about his magic.

However, they were expecting him to say something though. They might as well hear the truth. “When I cast Qe magic, my magic shifts within me and then clicks into place, like a key in a lock.”

Dwayne waited for the confusion, the condemnations, the denunciations, but instead Lady Pol sat back in her chair and said, “No further questions.”

Either Dwayne’s experience matched what theirs or they were all very good at hiding their emotions.

“Dean?” The Wind Sage turned to her right. “Next question.”

Dean Bruce leaned forward. “Earlier, you mentioned that you have only two goals here in Soura: to find the next Royal Sorcerer and to change our entire understanding of magic.” Her monotone failed to hide her disdain. “These are both very noble, very selfless goals, but what about the Kalan family’s current situation? The two of you, yourself and Lord Kalan, barely constitute a viable house. Surely, you have plans to ameliorate that situation?”

Dwayne’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t. Her Majesty’s wishes and the improvement of magic are far more important than the Kalan family.”

The dean’s lips quirked. “Then why have you’ve been spending a great deal of time with the Gallus heir?”

Dwayne blinked. “We’re,” making tools to help him cast Qe spells, “just finishing up Lord Kalan’s research. She’s just a friend.”

Dean Bruce lifted an eyebrow. “Is she?”

“Yes, she is.” Dwayne rubbed the back of his head. “And my cousin now, I guess.”

“Just a friend and cousin.” She made a note. “I’m done, Sage.”

The Wind Sage nodded. “Luisa?”

Dwayne tensed but aside from a quickly hidden frown from Thadden and a shrug from the dean, there was no indication that the switch in order was a concern. By now, it was clear that this examination wasn’t a test of Dwayne’s knowledge, but possibly some sort of political game that Dwayne was forced to play.

“Young Kalan,” Lady Pol leaned forward, “in your report on the events that happened in Yumma, you stated that you and Miss Ma ‘went back in time.’ Can you elaborate on that?”

Dwayne froze. He’d only written that report to pad out Lord Kalan’s correspondence back to the Magisterium, and because he’d been bored on the ride up from Walton. “When Mei and I were caught up in the light-”

“What light?” asked Thadden.

“It’s a long story,” answered Lady Pol, “but we were under attack from a number of thaumaturgical anomalies, one of which was a crystal-like entity that both Lord and young Kalan have reported emitted a bright light.” She eyed Baron Thadden. “Do you want me to go over the whole incident? It would draw out these proceedings.”

“That’s not necessary,” cut in the Wind Sage before Thadden could say anything. “Dwayne’s report was provided to the panel before these proceedings and all here have had time to read it.”

Despite that, Thadden, Dwayne’s alleged ally, had not read it.

Shaking off this show of negligence, Dwayne continued. “When the light hit us, it pulled us into the bodies of two Yaniti living in the past. I ended up in a regular citizen, and through his eyes, witnessed the final assault on Yumma. I was even personally attacked by three mages.” He’d never forget the cold, the blood, the teeth, the death. “It was a very vivid experience.”

“Did you two actually go back in time?” asked Lady Pol.

“No, I don’t think so. Lord Kalan said we were still lying on the ground the whole time, and it didn’t feel like I was in control of. It felt more like a play.”

Lady Pol looked oddly pleased. “No further questions.”

“I have one.” The Wind Sage leaned forward. “What kind of magic was it?”

“I assume Vu magic? After all, we’d been fighting summons all night and-”

“Impossible.” Thadden thumped the table. “All of the Vu shamans were dealt with during that final assault on Yumma you claim you saw.”

“Baron?” The Wind Sage raised an eyebrow. “Would you like extend this line of questioning?”

Thadden subsided. “No, I would not, Sage.”

“Then refrain from commentary.” The Wind Sage smiled sweetly. “It’s your turn.”

Thadden coughed. “Young Kalan, do you know the established canon?”

Dwayne’s head jerked back at the sudden shift in topic. “Yes, of course.”

“Then what is the most efficient method of moving twelve stone blocks off a barge onto three horse carts?”

Finally, a knowledge question. Dwayne’s answer poured out. “If the blocks on the barge have been arranged in rows of three, then one can string together four applications of ‘uiyit,” he left the Qe off to pretend to prevent accidental casting, “and lift each row, rearrange them with ‘uiut and ‘butorkot, and then place them onto the carts with a controlled release of ‘uiyit.”

Thadden’s eyes widened as if he’d expected Dwayne to stumble over such a basic question. “And the magic sequence for that is?”

“It depends on the arrangement of the carts, but this would work.” A careful and complicated series of syllables left Dwayne’s lips. “It probably needs tweaking though. Earthhoisting is not a job I’d want.”

The dean rolled her eyes, Lady Pol hid her lips behind her fist, and Thadden stammered. “T-that was very thorough, young Kalan.”

Dwayne grinned. “Thank you!”

“Have you had much experience with loading carts?” The Wind Sage asked.

“No, but I’ve loaded donkeys before.” And desperately wished he’d had the magic spells to help. “There’s not much difference in the end.”

The corners of the Wind Sage’s mouth quirked. “The donkeys are the harder challenge, I assure you. Dean Bruce?”

“Young Kalan.” The dean leaned back in her seat. “I have to be honest here. The Church does not care about your magical knowledge or your past deeds. What the Church wants to know is whether or not you’re a traitorous Ri Kingdom spy sent here to undermine our fair queendom by seducing her nobles and compromising Her Majesty’s offices.”

Dwayne reeled. “I…what?”

“That is ridiculous nonsense.” Lady Pol glared at the dean. “Not only is Dwayne not of the Ri, he was a slave.”

“If so,” Dean Bruce pointed at Dwayne, “then why was he seen speaking with the Ri Vice-Consul right before Autumn Session?”

“Young Kalan, is this true?” asked Thadden.

“She came to me. I’d never met her before.” If they’d figured out he’d been thinking of fleeing… “I was just a little slow getting back from the Privy Council meeting.”

“You’ve never met her before?”

“No.” Thadden seemed to care about this a lot. “I’d never seen her before.”

“Not even when you were in the Ri kingdom?” asked Dean Bruce.

“I’ve never been to the Ri.” Dwayne hid clenched fists behind his back. “Before Lord Kalan bought me, I was in Adhua. Before that, a chip. Before that an island plantation. Before that…” The memories were faint. “We lived?”

“In the Ri?”

“That’s enough, Dean,” said the Wind Sage.

“No, not the Ri.” Dwayne tugged at the memories. “There was a village.” He tugged harder. “And a river.” Harder. “And a village.” The chains holding the memories back snapped. “It was about a half day’s walk from the water. We grew gi’bana tubers and raised ukuko birds for their eggs and spent all day arguing about who drank all of the mkyu. Then the Vanurians came and took me away.”

The room, the table, the chairs, the panel all returned. Dwayne wiped his eyes. “I don’t have time for this. I have to find a thief, renovate all of Sanford, and then prepare for practicals. Tell the Church whatever you want. I’m done.” Then he turned on his heel and left the room.

By the time he’d reached the cathedral courtyard, Dwayne had bounced between shame and panic three times. He’d just walked out on two nobles, a dean of the Magisterium, and the Wind Sage, and worse, shown un-Qe-mage like emotion. If this got back to the Queen, she’d have his head.

There was a rush of wind as the Wind Sage alighted in front of him. “Young Kalan, that was a big risk.”

Ignoring her would only make it worse. Dwayne bowed. “I apologize for not being prepared.”

“No, this was not your fault.” The Wind Sage sighed. “We did not think this through.”

“Are you here to tell me that I’m not going to take the Rite?”

The Wind Sage raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“The dean doesn’t like me, Lady Pol doesn’t either,” although she had defended him, which was strange, “and that makes two against one for.”

The Wind Sage gave Dwayne a look. “You think that Baron Thadden is on your side?”

“Of course he is. He’s the one who suggested this.”

“Oh, he did, did he?” She smiled. “Then I’m glad to tell you that you’re taking the Rite.”

Dwayne blinked. “I am?”

“While the panel didn’t agree on the reason why you should, they unanimously agreed that you should.” The Wind Sage smiled. “Let’s see how Qe you are, young Kalan.”