He took his time making space on the desk in front of him, pushing books and inkwells aside. I waited, still sweating, trying to control my breathing enough that he wouldn’t notice that I was terrified. His shuffling seemed to stretch on forever, and the frantic drumming of my heart faded.
He folded his hands and smiled. “Mage Isca. It is nice to finally meet you.”
“It’s my honor, Lord Chancellor.” I sat erect, outwardly fearless as I waited to hear of my fate. “Your message was rather nondescript, Lord. Why am I here?”
“We have a job for you.”
“My father suspected as much.”
The chancellor chuckled lightly. “I highly doubt your father guessed the extent of the proposal.”
“Hence the secrecy?”
He nodded once. “Do you remember being tested when you reached your age of majority?”
“Yes…”
“Apparently, you’re capable of projecting emotions onto others and concocting emotion-affecting elixirs without the need to renew the magic they hold. That’s quite the unique gift. Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t come to my attention sooner.” Then a malicious shadow seemed to pass over his face, and my heart stopped beating. When he spoke next, the pressure of his words, laced with dark magic, bore down on me. It felt like it was pressing me to the seat with a thousand pounds of force. “However, I’m afraid your magical outburst in the market proved that you might’ve lied to us about your strength.”
No, no, no.
“Based on what we have in our records about strong empaths… I’m going to drop my mental barriers, and you’re going to describe my emotions accurately. A test, of sorts.”
Denial was already on the tip of my tongue. “What? I can’t—”
“If you fail, there will be consequences. Not lethal ones, because we might be wrong. But…painful, nonetheless. For the inconvenience of bringing you here. Understood?” There was still a smile on his outwardly genial face, but now it had fangs.
“Y-Yes, Lord Chancellor.”
His walls disappeared without a sound, but the way his emotions flooded the room should’ve been heralded by a clap of thunder.
“You’re hungry and tired. Probably didn’t sleep well last night. You miss…someone.”
His intense stare made me uneasy. “Be explicit, Mage Isca.”
I gestured vaguely at the desk in front of him, cheeks burning. “Probably a woman.”
For a heartbeat, everything stilled except for the crackling braziers. Then his satisfaction coiled through the air like a hand closing around mine to see if I’d flinch.
A new smile splashed onto his face, and his walls rose again. “Good. You passed.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. Passing this test felt less like a victory and more like the cold steel of shackles coming down on my wrists.
He went on. “We want you to act as a sort of…diplomat.”
“A diplomat?” I repeated, surprised. In my experience, that word was only used for very important men with the highest levels of training. Never women, and especially not women like me.
“We require your services as an emotionally neutral…mediatorfor the princes of Darreth. They rarely agree, and one is especially…volatile.”
“Princes?” I sputtered.
He gave another nod. “The Mage Assembly is concerned about Darreth. The twin-rule arrangement the late king set up might seem noble, but it’s unraveling everything we’ve tried to hold together. A kingdom without a clear ruler breeds instability.”
I really didn’t know much about Darreth other than that it was a prosperous, ancient kingdom to the west, rich in agriculture and fish stocks. In my twenty-four years, I’d rarely left Caervorn.
“Your job,” Maeron continued, “will be to help the princes reach an accord. Help them choose who will be the sole ruler. We’ve sent others, but each…failed. Your skill at projecting emotions might be the thing we need.”
The way he saidfailed…
