“Contrary to how old I look, I’m not old enough to have known your papa in his early Guardian days. But history’s told me plenty about the bastards he was up against. I’m ashamed to say the archmagus back then was one of them; and a couple of his top mages were a few more. History has an annoying tendency to repeat itself. I’m going to see what I can do to keep that from happening. The Conclave did your papa wrong. I’ll do whatever I can to make up for it.”
“Thank you.” And I meant it.
“Though the first help I might be giving you is of a legal nature.” He glanced at Mychael. “I heard from your friends the Khrynsani last night.”
I swore silently. Mychael tried not to look concerned, but I wasn’t buying it.
“Actually, I didn’t see their representatives directly,” Justinius continued. “They filed their formal complaint with the magistrate. He brought the papers to me. Your ship hadn’t docked yet.”
“What papers?” Mychael’s voice betrayed no emotion.
“The papers charging Miss Benares here with grand larceny, attempted murder, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.”
I blinked. “Of who?”
“Grand Shaman Sarad Nukpana. The Khrynsani have requested that we turn you over to them for prosecution.”
“What?”
“We won’t do that,” Mychael assured me.
“I should hope not!”
“Actually, we can’t do that,” Justinius said. “Not legally, anyway.”
“For the Khrynsani to have any legal claim, they would have to go through the elven embassy,” Mychael told me. “That would take time; no doubt they want to resolve this quickly.”
Justinius cleared his throat. “Actually, I just heard from Giles Keril this morning.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar. “Who?”
“The elven ambassador to Mid,” Justinius said.
Oh, that Giles Keril.
“Keril got an identical set of papers this morning,” Justinius continued. “The sight of goblin lawyers on his embassy doorstep probably made the little weasel crap his pants. The goblins are claiming that Miss Benares here has stolen the Saghred, which is a treasured possession of the goblin people, attempted to murder a counselor of the royal House of Mal’Salin, and has kidnapped and falsely imprisoned said royal counselor.” He winked slyly at me. “Not a bad week’s work, girl.”
I’m sure if I listened closely enough, I’d be able to hear Sarad Nukpana laughing.
“By the way, you’re listed as an accessory,” Justinius told Mychael. “They claim your actions in Mermeia were outside of your legal jurisdiction as paladin.”
At least I’d have company when I was hung out to dry. Last week Mychael had come to my home city of Mermeia to enlist my services as a seeker, but mostly as Eamaliel Anguis’s daughter, to help him and his Guardians find the Saghred before Sarad Nukpana could get his hands on it. Both Mychael and Sarad Nukpana suspected the Saghred was in Mermeia. They were both right. I found the Saghred, and the Saghred promptly attached itself to me like a psychic leech. I’d definitely gotten the raw end of that deal.
Like father, like daughter.
“I’m not hanging either one of you out to dry,” Justinius told me point-blank.
Further confirmation that the old man could read my mind.
“In terms of legal strength, you may not have any choice, sir,” Mychael told him.
“The hell I don’t.”
“The Seat of Twelve will have to be convened, and you only have two votes to their twelve. Given that enough of them vote in our favor, the situation won’t escalate any further.”
The Seat of Twelve was the name given to the twelve mages who made up the governing Conclave council. In terms of firepower, they ranked right up there with Justinius Valerian.
“And if you’re not too popular right now?” I didn’t want to ask, but I had to.
“The goblin government could begin extradition proceedings,” Mychael said. “If they prove just cause with the elven embassy, they could begin the same against you.”
I wondered just how fast Phaelan could set sail.
“They would have to prove that you had malice of intent on all counts,” Justinius told us both. “And I don’t think anyone who knows—or knew—Sarad Nukpana would call any treatment he received at your hands unprovoked.”
I couldn’t be bonded to just any old stone of cataclysmic power.
Mine had lawyers.
Chapter 3
“I want to help find that girl,” I said as soon as Mychael closed the archmagus’s office door behind us.
Mychael sighed. He looked about as tired as I felt. I wasn’t the only one whose day had gone down the crapper.
“I know you want to help,” he told me. “And under normal circumstances, I would welcome that help, but—”
“I’m dangerous,” I finished for him. “And unpredictable, and infected with the Saghred.”
Mychael’s lips curled into a weary smile. “I knew you were dangerous and unpredictable the moment I met you.”
That had been last week. Our first meeting had been mistaken identity, followed by misunderstanding, ending in me kicking Mychael in the balls. Not one of my glowing moments.
“What happened today just further proves my point,” Mychael was saying. “The Nightshades are here; so are the Khrynsani. The safest place for you is in this citadel. The Khrynsani want to get their hands on you. And the same people who hired Banan Ryce to collapse that stage could have also paid him to kidnap you.” His blue eyes were hard. “Neither is going to happen.”
I took a breath and told myself to calm down. Mychael didn’t respond to emotional tirades. He was the paladin; he demanded cooperation, and respected logic. I knew a way I could give him both and still get what I wanted.
“I don’t want Banan yanking me through a mirror, either,” I told him. “I also don’t need to leave the citadel to help find that girl. Lock me in the highest tower you’ve got, have Vegard sit on me, just get me something that belongs to her, something she’s worn recently, or used, like a hairbrush. Hairbrushes are great. I don’t need to do the footwork. Your men and the city watch know this island better than I do. Just let me point them in the right direction.”
I stopped, mainly because I’d run out of air. Mychael didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was wavering.
“You can link to a victim through objects?” he asked.
“Yes, I can link through objects. It’ll be like I’m inside the girl’s head.”
For a seeker, one of the best ways to find a missing person was to hold an object that belonged to them. The closer the person was to that object, the better. Before I’d picked up more magical mojo courtesy of the Saghred, my seeking talents were good, better than most, but still pretty basic. I could use an object to track the person who owned that object, but most of what I got were just impressions, not a direct link. I could then use those impressions—and some good old-fashioned footwork—to find the missing person. Thanks to the Saghred, what’s normal for me now is unheard of for most seekers. I can link directly to the person. Last week, I got a murder victim’s final moments in full color, sound, smell, and touch. I felt like I was being murdered right along with him. Not pleasant, but neither was being murdered. That was the first and only time I’d done it. I assumed it would work even better with a living subject. I wasn’t about to tell Mychael that I’d only done it once. Show no doubt, know no refusal.
“Can any seeker on your city watch do that?” I asked quietly.
From his silence I knew none of them could. I waited.
“I’ll get you her hairbrush.”
An hour or so later someone knocked on the door to my room. I expected a hairbrush. It was Riston.
“The paladin would like to see you in his office.”
When I got there, Mychael wasn’t alone. I took one look at his guest and I think my mouth fell open.