“Hey.”Nic stood in front of his chair, finally still for a moment, her emerald eyes filled with regret and compassion.“I apologize.That was a terrible thing to say.”
He took her hand, gazing up at her lovely, beloved face.“No, it wasn’t, love.Iamworried.More than I can say.”He released a pent-up breath, feeling his tight ribs creak with it.Deliberately, he inhaled deeply and let it out again.It really did help.“I’m just trying to keep calm—for you and for everyone—and to avoid wasting magic we might need.”
“You think my father’s going to show up.”
He patted his knee, grateful when she sat, a sensual warmth.“How can he not?”Gabriel asked, almost philosophically.“He won’t be able to let this go without a fight.Even if he isn’t already in Convocation Center or on his way here, he’ll receive a notification when we convene the council.”
“And he won’t hesitate to use might and magic to crush our chances,” Nic agreed glumly, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Yes.Our only chance with getting cooperation from House Elal is if Alise becomes Lady Elal,” he said, putting the bald fact out there.“Which means either her killing him or someone else doing the job.”Someone like him.Not that he wouldn’t enjoy removing the evil scourge of Piers Elal from the world, but he’d stopped short of killing the wizard once before for Nic’s sake.He wasn’t sure that the same conditions applied.And he couldn’t afford for the love of his life to look at him and see only her father’s murderer.
“No, it has to be Alise,” Nic murmured, then lifted her head.“Not because I would hold it against you if you did kill him—I regret that I asked you not to before, as that would have saved us so much pain and grief—but because of Convocation etiquette.”
He groaned and thumped his head against the back of the armchair.“Not Convocation etiquette.Please spare me that.”
As he’d hoped, she laughed, poking him in the chest with a pointed nail.“It’s relevant and important,” she insisted.“If someone not of House Elal, not a potential heir, killed my father, it would be viewed as a political assassination and there would be an investigation.They wouldn’t simply declare Alise Lady Elal.There would be a considerable waiting period and meanwhile House Elal would be considered an abstention from any votes.”
Gabriel took in her earnest explanation, trying to process it.“That’s absurd.You’re telling me that Alise can assassinate her own father and assume the mantel of leading House Elal, but not if her father dies by someone else’s hand.”
Nic shrugged.“Someone outside of House Elal,” she corrected.“That’s considered internal house business.Outside of the house, that’s falling into the realm of war and internecine violence.The Convocation, despite its many failings, is invested in preserving peace and—”
“The status quo,” he grumbled.
“That, too.One could argue that the history of the Convocation is the history of preventing more wars between high houses.”
He didn’t doubt it.“Nic,” he said, deciding to give voice to the conversation they hadn’t had, “I want you to try Anciela’s method.Whether it works with Seliah or not.If it doesn’t work with Seliah…” He cleared his throat, firmly focusing his mind on that outcome being because the technique was simply ineffective, not because anything had gone wrong.“I encourage you to be the next volunteer.I know you want to be.”
She gazed at him for a very long time.“Why should I be next?Han and Iliana volunteered.There’s Bria to think of and—”
“And this is your destiny,” he spoke over her.“You were always meant to be a wizard.Planned your whole life for it.”
Her deep green eyes filled with tears.“I didn’t plan on you, or Bria, and those things turned out pretty well.”
“You can still have us,” he told her gently.“As for why you?You’re immensely powerful, talented, and incredibly well trained.Everyone comments on what a stellar student you were, how exacting in learning everything you could.You’re a whisper away from being a wizard, so if anyone can make the transition, I think it’s you.Most important, I think you need to do this—and I fully support that.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, and kissed him.“I’ll think about it.”
They sat in harmonious quiet a moment.“What do you think it will do,” he asked her soberly, “if everyone can become a wizard?”
“Not just familiars but possibly even mundanes?”she asked in return.“I’ve considered that, too.We don’t know, do we.We’re setting a bonfire to the current system and we don’t know what will emerge from the ashes until we see it.We might not even live to see the final form.It could be that we’re looking at years or decades of tumult and change.But I can tell you this, Gabriel, my only love, you and I will be there in the heart of it, trying to make the best possible world for everyone.”She kissed him, her love twining down the bond between them.“I learned that from you, my determined idealist.”
“Together, you and I can move mountains,” he agreed, kissing her back warmly.“We raised an entire mansion from the swamps!”
She laughed.“It was more properly a marsh.”
“Yes.”He kissed her more deeply, considering another way to distract her from the wait.“I stand corrected, Lady Phel.”
The door flew open and Alise quickly averted her eyes.“Sorry, sorry.I was excited.”She paused dramatically, wizard-black eyes shining with excitement.“It worked.”
Gabriel felt the relief sheet through his body like expelling water from a flask.
It had worked.
~27~
Alise felt atwinge of guilt at catching Nic and Gabriel practically in the act—she really should have knocked or had a peek with a spirit spy—but she’d been bursting with the news.
“Seliah is all right?”Gabriel asked as the pair of them sprang to their feet.
