May looked between Kasira and Allaster and released a small sigh. “This is the Library Council. One mage from each nation is elected by their leaders to represent them at the Library. Sans Avaria, of course, and we’ve been sharing the Kalish position. We meet to discuss the state of the continent and Library business.”
Kasira surveyed the faces at the table. She still had no idea who the Kalish spy was, but they had been well informed. If she had been looking to turn someone to her side, she would have started with this council, seeking someone with a weak point she could press. As they had been sharing the responsibilities of the Kalish position, they would all have had the opportunity to encounter Vera.
Allaster laid down his papers, tapping his fingers atop them to a beat only he could hear. “Elyae, will you begin?”
Elyae stood to address the room. “The bodies of Lord Morvir Finnodor and one of his guards were discovered an hour ago in the Crystal Palace. The remainder of his delegation are demanding answers of Queen Sarren. They’re calling it an assassination and are taking it as a sign that Ayador is siding with Amorlin against Kalthos.”
It took all of Kasira’s considerable experience not to react to Elyae’s news. She had been so exhausted and on edge that she hadn’tconsidered what would happen when the bodies were discovered, and she couldn’t help the little flutter of relief at the realization that this meant the boy had kept his word and not exposed her.
“Send a statement that the Library is not allied with Ayador and express our regret regarding the lord’s death,” Allaster replied with the swift precision of a Malik commander. “And keep me informed. Kalthos is likely to use this as an excuse for further animosity toward us, so it wouldn’t go amiss to drag your feet a bit in facilitating correspondence.”
The tension in Kasira released a little at that. Amorlin often ferried messages between countries, the portal room enabling far faster communication than travel across land, but the slower the investigation unfolded, the better for her. Aside from the boy, there shouldn’t have been anything left to incriminate her, but it reassured her nonetheless.
When Elyae didn’t sit, Allaster raised his eyebrow, and she continued, “I find it highly suspicious that this occurred right after your and the Assistant’s visit to Ayador.”
“Are you implying that myself or the Assistant were involved?”
“Not yourself, no.” Elyae didn’t look at Kasira, but everyone else did. She didn’t need to defend herself though, as Allaster’s response was immediate.
“To question the Assistant Librarian is to question me, Elyae,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. “So unless you are accusing me of being involved in Lord Morvir’s death, we’ll proceed as if you hadn’t mentioned it.”
Elyae’s golden skin flushed a light pink. “But—” She cut off at Allaster’s level look and dropped grudgingly back into her chair, frowning at Kasira as if Allaster berating her was Kasira’s doing. It had to be clear to her by now that Allaster had chosen a side, so why keep pressing the issue?
Allaster looked to the Jacari representative beside him. “Talthari?”
“It is my turn to handle Kalish duties, so I will confer with His Majesty’s aides regarding the incident, but I fear they might not be receptive.” As they stood up, Talthari removed their spectacles, which left imprints in the dark skin of their sloping nose. “I was informed this morning that Kalthos is refusing to send its tribute.”
A murmur went about the table, and even Kasira knew enough to be surprised by this. In acknowledgment of the Library’s vital role, each country sent a yearly tribute with goods specific to their economy and a small tax. Ayador shipped pouches of kyda crystals or bags of coffee beans; Jacara sent crates of cinderwood or barrels of mylak. Riviair gave them rare herbs and seeds of edible plants, while Miraval shared its latest technological advances.
Kalthos only ever sent barrels of barley.
It was a meager offering, but the Library had accepted it for decades as a sign of peace. To deny that was to upset a status quo centuries in place, but Vera would do more than ruffle a few feathers if Kasira succeeded.
Allaster pressed a hand to his temple, his frustration palpable. He seemed to summon the words that came next from some deep, unending part of himself. “Set up a meeting with Ambassador Vera. Is there anything else from Kalthos?”
“There are reports the quakes have worsened, and another vylor mine has run dry.”
Allaster’s frustration gathered in the set of his jaw. “And Jacara?”
As the meeting progressed, each mage delivering their update—the Riviairens invited them to visit the coastal palace, Ambric requested Allaster to meet him in Spenshire—Kasira began to recognize the patterns of the conversation. She had never been so embroiled in the world of politics as she was in this meeting, yet it was starkly familiar to her.
Like a con, politics relied on a delicate balance of perception, fed by façades, lies, and manipulations. Ayador was mostly indifferent to beasts and so stayed neutral in the matter of the Kalish slaughter. Therefore, if Kalthos thought Ayador was protecting the Library, Ayador would be drawn into a conflict the queendom had spent decades avoiding.
That meant the Ayadese would now be working to convince Kalthos of their lack of involvement, and the Library would have to find a means of pacifying Kalthos after the kingdom’s refusal to send tribute. In contrast, Jacara deeply respected beasts and so hadclosed trade to Kalthos after long years of negotiation attempts failed to regulate the beast killings. If the Library began entertaining Kalish interests regarding beasts, Jacara wouldn’t stay silent.
Allaster couldn’t give too much to appease Kalthos without increasing tensions with Jacara, but neither could Miraval ignore the Kalish position without risking further attack. Meanwhile, Riviair relied on trading routes through Kalthos for Ayadese goods, since Jacara taxed foreign trade through its roads to such a degree that most Ayadese merchants refused to travel through there. Automatically allying with the Library to prevent a Kalish attack would have ramifications for Riviair and Ayador.
It was a game of give and take where each party recalibrated with every minute revelation about their opponent. But with each piece of news the council gained about Kalthos, it became clearer and clearer that Allaster was losing.
EVERYONE FILED OUTof the council room at the end of the meeting save Elyae. She cornered Allaster, brandishing a slip of paper as she spoke in a furious whisper. Kasira slowed her steps, anticipation of what was to follow heightening her senses.
She had just reached the doorway when Allaster called, “Eirlana? A moment.”
There was some discomfort in his tone she hadn’t predicted. If anything, she had expected the same smugness currently framing Elyae’s expression, but he actually seemed … upset?
Kasira came back inside the room, affecting confusion. “Yes?”
“I knew you were no good.” Elyae all but thrust the paper in her face. “I told him.”
