Somewhere below the Royal Palace
Cardinal Lane’s POV
“Your Majesty. Your Highnesses.” I said, bowing to the King and his three children. We were deep within the bowels of the palace in a room warded so tightly against scrying and divination magics that it actually cut off my connection with Aaron.
“Cardinal. Are you here to fill Us in on the Code Black from the other day?”
“I am.” I nodded. “Per Tomas, the priest we have there, the village was saved and the invading necromancer was destroyed.”
“How did a necromancer find the pass and is the location still secure?”
“The necromancer was chasing an escapee, and yes the location is still secure.” I said. “Your majesty, I implore you to keep what I am about to tell you under a state secret. I’ve talked to the priests and Inquisitor that were dispatched to the village, and their story is quite incredible.”
“We can agree to that.” The king nodded. “We will inform the appropriate people if need be.”
“Of course.” I agreed, knowing it was the best I was going to get. You had to be careful making demands of royalty, even with the backing of the church. “First off, the escapee was tested with a far more accurate testing stone than what the village originally had. He claims to be 13, but looks a bit younger due to malnutrition. The stone revealed a perfect death affinity and a high life affinity. There were flashes of a third affinity, but it wasn’t present enough to determine what it was or its true strength. At best it was a low affinity. He also tested at the second circlet, second gem.”
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“So a strong necromancer.”
“Not just that.” I agreed. “A strong necromancer that wants to join our kingdom. One with the relics left behind by Melnon.”
“Truly?” One of the princes asked, leaning forward in his seat. Prince Valorian had just returned from the front lines, where he had been fighting the necromancers. Of course he would be interested in gaining the most powerful relics left behind by the strongest necromancer ever, even if only to deprive them of the resources.
“Truly.” I confirmed, and sat back to let the king decide.
“Interesting.” He muttered. “This could be what We need to turn the tide and end this eternal war. We could always use a powerful mage. Does the boy have any aspirations? We could find a place for him in Our court.”
“He seems to have an affinity for runic rituals according to Vance. He has been working with the boy on that, as well as helping him gain strength. The boy shows promise, and wishes to enter Darkstone Academy.”
The king smiled at that. “Then a magical education he shall get. Do you have suggestions for a cover story? We can’t admit he is a necromancer.”
“We have thought of this.” I nodded. “We’ll introduce him as a high life affinity, but low training in healing techniques because of where he was raised. A minor death affinity wouldn’t be unexpected.”
“How are you going to keep him from getting outed in the mandatory duels?” The second prince asked.
“Simple. Have him teach a class on necromancers. Even if it is just basic information, he can be treated as faculty and exempted from the duels.”
“We like this plan. Have the boy sent here when the roads clear. We shall pay his tuition and books, and the stipend from being faculty can pay for his clothes. Give him a room in the lesser faculty house.”