Yes. James wanted to work for Theola; it was just perfect. “What… sort of job?” he asked, because accepting without a second thought would be suspicious.

“I am looking to recruit more bodyguards.”

“With respect, my lady… judging by what you just did to me… I don’t think you need bodyguards.”

She laughed. Stars, she had a beautiful laugh. Curse his lustful mind; that was the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now. “I may be strong, but I am not invulnerable. I could be taken unawares by an assassin – “

James forced his expression to remain steady, forced himself not to think about the fact he could be that assassin.

“And in battle, I will be significantly more effective if I do not have to shield myself as well as casting more offensive magic.”

That was true enough; magicians normally fought in pairs or small groups, so one could shield and the rest could attack without fear. James preferred attack to shielding, but he was still more than capable of casting an effective battle-shield when needed.

“You’ve only seen me fight once,” he said. “And that didn’t last long.” He chuckled wryly. “What makes you think I’m qualified to protect you?” No, no, that was all wrong. Jacob would have asked himself the same thing, but he would never have challenged her so openly.

“Once is enough. You are a remarkable magician, Jacob.”

Stars, was he blushing? He didn’t need this woman’s praise or validation. She was the enemy. “I – thank you, my lady, but I am really not worthy – “ he lied.

“I say you are, and I am a Mage. Is that good enough for you?”

“If – if you really think so – “ James was beginning to hate his new identity. This pathetic grovelling and self-deprecation was beneath him.

“I do. So, would you like to become my bodyguard?”

“My lady,” said James, falling to one knee beside her. The ground was cold enough he regretted it, but it was done now. “It would be my highest honour to serve you.”

With the agreement made, the rest was simple. He was given a token bearing the symbol of the Mages that he could show for entry into her residence and sent to pack his things and take them to his new room there.

Tom was gone by the time he got back, and none of his other ex-roommates had appeared; they must be on assignments or just spending their free time elsewhere. James was pleased by that: it meant he could think rather than having to make conversation.

It had been too easy. Much, much too easy. If he had been in charge of finding bodyguards for a Mage – or someone who claimed to be one – he would have recruited from the best magicians Charles’s army had to offer, careful to choose those who could do more good in that role than elsewhere. He definitely wouldn’t have taken a random new recruit who’d done something vaguely heroic and then lost a fight to him.

Could it be a trap? Was she baiting him into trying to kill or expose her so she could in turn expose him? Surely if she suspected who he really was there were less elaborate ways of proving it. But if she was really a Mage – and after fighting her he found that a lot more probable than he had before – who knew how she could gather information. Some legends said the Mages had a form of foresight. Was he just unknowingly playing a part in a great scheme of the stars that would destroy his closest friend’s chances of claiming his birthright?

He shook his head. He was being paranoid. She didn’t know who he was. And if she did, he was as good as dead anyway and there was no use dwelling on it. He absently rubbed out the chalk of his ward network and asked himself a better question: what was so special about Jacob Winter?

He was talented, clearly; James had shown off far more of his real abilities than he’d intended to. Enough to prove he was an extremely capable combat magician, if not just how capable. But this was the army of Felix Blackthorn; that alone was nothing remarkable here.

What else? Was it his supposed connection to Lord Wilde? No, not Lord Wilde, because that was his title; his father was a traitor to his rightful King and had forfeited his lordship for it, even if reality had yet to catch up with Charles’s proclamations. But his father, who was regardless one of Felix’s most powerful allies. Was his bastard son of use to Theola?

It was possible, but it didn’t quite fit. There was nothing else remarkable about Jacob Winter, except –

Except that he had joined to fight for the will of the stars and the Mages. Except that he was here to fight for Theola, not for Felix Blackthorn.

Now that was interesting. James smiled, and was fortunate that no-one was there to see his wolf-like expression. So she was recruiting bodyguards loyal to her personally. That implied that, at least in her mind, her interests and Felix’s were not entirely the same.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

And that, to James, seemed like an opportunity.

He spent longer wondering about the exact nature of that opportunity and how to exploit it than he did actually packing, removing any traces that he’d briefly stayed in the room. It was half an hour before he returned to the City streets, and by then it was beginning to grow dark. James felt a little on edge, as he always did at night. He wasn’t afraid of the dark, but it was only sensible to fear what could lie in the shadows.

But Felix’s soldiers walked openly in the streets here, and though there were a few people who clung to the shadows none of them seemed interested in James. He reached the gate to the Inner Ring without being stopped.

There were guards there, naturally, but they were almost comically eager to open the gate for him once he showed them Theola’s token. It made him wonder what other doors that token could get him through. It could be a spy’s perfect weapon. He was half-tempted to march right into the Round Palace and demand audience with the usurper.

But he had to be careful. He knew the consequences of making one more mistake, if he was unlucky. Theola was more important than anything else he could accomplish short of assassinating Felix, and that would not be happening. The usurper had his own unit of bodyguards with him at all times and was himself a far more capable magician than James.

It didn’t stop James from idly daydreaming about the perfect opportunity as he walked ever closer to the centre of the City. Fewer buildings here had been requisitioned by the army, since they mostly belonged to those powerful enough for their opinions on losing their homes to matter. There were exceptions, though, mostly the former homes of Charles’s supporters. James stared fixedly ahead each time he passed one of those, not trusting himself to hide his anger.

The streets, too, were quieter than normal. With the city under martial law it was a risky business to leave your home for anything that wasn’t essential, and so the only people he passed were soldiers, haulers of goods and the occasional official carrying a clipboard.

About ten minutes after passing through the gate, he reached his destination: the Central Ring, the heart of the City and the Kingdom. Though it wasn’t beating strongly now. It was nearly deserted and ringed with soldiers manning the ends of the four Great Roads and the entrances to the grand buildings.

Not that there was much point, for half of them. Parliament hadn’t sat since the war proper had began; they had passed a few half-hearted resolutions about resolving the matter diplomatically but that had led to nothing. And half those with a right to sit there fought for Charles and so couldn’t safely enter the City. The Central Bank had also shut its doors to the public, and was focusing all its efforts on funding Felix’s campaigns.

If James had had money there he would not have been happy about having it spent in that way, whatever their promises of repayment after the war. As it was he was instead unhappy about his parents spending his rightful inheritance on the usurper’s war effort.

The Abbey Royal was an interesting case. The Temple’s official doctrine was neutrality, had been since the war began, but any fool could see that was unsustainable. It was, James realised grimly, quite likely that the reappearance of a Mage would provide the Temple with the pretext it needed to declare support for Felix.

But for now, managing the Temple was a delicate political operation for both sides. Felix had no choice but to allow the Abbey to remain open for services and pilgrims – not that pilgrims would be allowed into the City at a time like this, but it was the principle of it that counted.

James didn't look at the Round Palace, where the usurper had taken up residence. He focused his attention instead on the fifth of the kingdom’s great buildings. It was very much the odd one out: three different buildings had stood there over the last five centuries and had served many more purposes. It was also his destination.

The first building known to have stood on that site was the Mages’ Palace, from which Ardith, Cyrus and Theola had ruled over their kingdom. Charles First-King had lived there after them, but when the original building was destroyed in a fire the Royal Family had moved next door to the Round Palace and never returned.

The new building had been gifted in turn to the Kings’ most favoured relatives and courtiers as a residence. That practice had ceased after the Civil War – the First Civil War, James corrected himself; it was no longer the only one Rasin had experienced – since the palace had been a key part of what allowed Lucius the Usurper (First Usurper, James hoped he would soon be known as) to assassinate Elizabeth the Martyr and seize power.

The palace had been torn down during the riots that marked the end of the war. Philippa the Bright had it rebuilt, and since then it had served as many things: a home for political exiles and prisoners, a place for magical research, a great library.

Most recently under James’s namesake King James the Wise it had become a school of magic. James had been one of its first students. And now, he supposed, one of the last, because the building had returned to its original purpose: a home for a Mage.

While soldiers elsewhere wore the symbols of the Kingdom itself or of the usurper, those who guarded the gate to the Mages’ Palace wore their sacred symbol, the three intersecting circles with a single point in the centre. The same as the pattern carved into his token.

They saluted and opened the palace gates when James showed them the symbol. He kept his uncharitable thoughts about operational security to himself, since their laxness benefited him, and just nodded and stalked through.

Despite the change in purpose, the building itself was much the same as he remembered, at least on the outside. Having lived there a year and a half during his studies, James supposed it made sense: there was very little that could be done to improve such a place.

The palace was set back a little from the Central Ring, unlike the other buildings that surrounded it, so he had half a minute to pace up the drive towards the entrance and gather his thoughts. No more messing around, no more risks. From here he had to get everything right.

Two guards stood at the main entrance. They were the first not to let him pass at the mere flash of his token. “Who are you?” one of them barked.

“Jacob Winter,” said James. “The Mage’s new bodyguard.” He was telling the truth, he reminded himself. Well, not about his name, but he was supposed to be here. There was no need to feel as if these men would throw him in a dungeon if he said the wrong thing.

The man grunted in acknowledgement. “New bodyguard? You’ll want to report to Captain Taylor, then. Her office is on the third floor, south corridor.”

He’d been hoping to be sent directly to Theola, since he knew her and had a rapport of some sort with her already – and definitely for no other reason. Now he’d have to prove to this Captain Taylor that he was actually a competent bodyguard, and he didn’t want to waste time proving himself.

“Thank you,” he said. Best to be polite; he didn’t want them looking for reasons to make his life difficult.

The guard grunted again and opened the door.

James stepped into the Mages’ Palace.