That only made his expression grow more consternated, but he was prevented from responding by Warrin’s arrival. The two of them shared a strained look, reconfirming Kasira’s instinct that something festered between them. Perhaps she didn’t even need to interfere;Warrin’s disgruntlement would do her work for her. After all, if even his own family had grown bitter toward Allaster, the rest of the mages were more likely to follow suit.
The others trickled in until they had all taken their seats around the table, and Allaster began the meeting. Elyae informed them the Kalish delegation that had been sent to investigate the death of Lord Morvir and his associate had arrived in Ayador, and Queen Sarren had requested the Library be available to answer questions.
Then Talthari stood with a gilded letter perched between two makhet-ringed fingers. “King Carthur has extended an invitation to the Librarian and Assistant to join the celebration of his son’s engagement at the end of the week.”
Allaster grimaced and looked to Kasira, who felt much the same. It had just been revealed that she was a con artist who had taken Eirlana Corynth’s place as Assistant Librarian. This invitation could either be a sign of goodwill and forgiveness or a trap laid by the King. Either way, declining it would not only be insulting, but look as though they had something to hide.
“Accept it,” Allaster said with the air of a man who would rather do anything but. “What about the quakes?”
Talthari set down the invitation and straightened their spectacles. “They’ve gotten worse. The town of Vengar was nearly completely destroyed by the last one. We sent aid as Lady Kasira instructed, but we are stretched thin between here and Miraval.”
Allaster’s brow furrowed. “Miraval?”
“Several towns along the northern coast were hit by powerful winds and rain.” Warrin leaned over his arms to look pointedly at Allaster. “They’re still dealing with the flooding now on top of what happened in Spenshire.”
Kasira watched Allaster’s face work through the realization that these things had occurred without his notice and that she had been the one to handle them instead of him or May, that the mages clearly trusted her. His expression settled somewhere between annoyance and deep misgiving, which only grew when Kasira spoke.
“Miraval was meant to send aid to its coastal towns,” she said. “Has it arrived yet?”
“Yes, but much of it was redirected to Spenshire soon after,” Warrin answered, his hands flexing in his lap. Yet another pain she was responsible for. The hurt was beginning to feel endless, but at least she was in a position to alleviate some of it.
“Pull some of the mages from Vengar and send them to Miraval,” she instructed Talthari. “They should be well enough along by now that Vengar can spare them, but keep us updated on their progress.” Talthari and Warrin bowed their heads, and Talthari progressed to their Jacari update. Meanwhile, Kasira pretended not to notice Allaster’s stare. She wanted her delegation to seem natural, and that meant doing it without the expectation of his attention.
After the others finished their announcements, Allaster addressed the table. “As you know, we have a new Kalish candidate with us. He is highly unqualified and was let into Amorlin under troubling circumstances. I have reason to believe he means the Library harm, and as such, I’m looking for evidence to have him dismissed. I would like everyone to keep an eye on him and to keep this among ourselves.”
There was an edge to his voice, and despite her earlier warning, he did not stop playing with his ring. She didn’t know if it was that, or the self-castigating look edging its way onto his face, but in that moment, she realized: Allaster St. Archer was aterribleliar. Given his decades of embroilment in political machinations and what she admitted was, in truth, a respectably clever mind, she had just assumed that he could do it.
I have not, nor will I ever, lie to you.
She had thought he was being dramatic when he told her that, but he’d meant it. Looking back, he had avoided her, ignored her, and refused to answer questions, but he had never outright lied to her, and this was why.
He couldn’t do it to save his life.
“Is that why you haven’t granted him magic yet?” Talthari asked. They were the mage Kasira knew the least about and the most likelyto be the spy as Kalthos’s current representative, but it was also within their character to ask such a direct question.
Kasira spoke up before Allaster could bungle things further. “We accepted Thane as a sign of goodwill, but he’s underqualified. We want to be sure he’s comfortable around the Library before giving him the additional responsibility of magic.” Aside from May, the others didn’t know about the threat of the Conclave, and Allaster wanted to keep it that way, which meant they couldn’t know the truth about Thane’s arrival.
“This has to be some kind of joke,” Elyae ground out, and Kasira knew she didn’t mean Thane. It must have sounded terribly ironic to her, hearing the criminal she detested talk about an unprepared entrant to the Library who couldn’t be trusted. When Allaster only gave Elyae a look of mild exhaustion, she pushed back her chair and left.
“Meeting adjourned,” Allaster said, and the others followed suit, leaving him and Kasira alone. He was already up and staring out the window again, as if looking for an answer in the foliage below. She leaned back against the table and folded her arms, waiting.
When he finally spoke, his voice was subdued. “How long have they been coming to you for things like that?”
“Since after the first council meeting you brought me to,” she replied. “May has effectively been both First Mage and Assistant for months. I wanted to take my share of the work, and you’re always shut up in your office or buried behind a pile of books. No one felt comfortable interrupting you when May and I were available instead.”
Allaster leaned his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes. “The disasters are spreading. It used to be limited to the quakes in Kalthos, then the blizzards in Ayador. Now storms in Miraval? It’s only a matter of time before whatever’s happening becomes irreversible, and I don’t know how to stop it.”
She pushed off the table to join him at the window. “You should talk to the King at the engagement party. If he’s willing to marry his son to a Yadora, he’s likely willing to hear you out, and you’ll have better luck when he’s not surrounded by nobles with ulterior motiveswhispering in his ear. Find out what he wants, then convince him the only way he can have it is by listening to you.”
He stared at her, as if unsure whether he was disgusted by the ease with which she suggested the plan or impressed by it. Around Loraya and Thane, talking like this had been normal. She had never shared her cons with someone who didn’t play the same games, never had to stop and think about how it sounded to someone who didn’t look at every interaction as something to be crafted and controlled.
This was the first time had she ever felt self-conscious about her ability to lie so easily, and she didn’t know what to make of that. Didn’t know what to make of any of the conflicting emotions that always reared their heads around him.
You’re so close, Kas.Loraya’s voice stirred at the back of her mind, but Kasira pushed it away, as unsure of it as she was of everything else.
Allaster drooped against the window frame with a sigh, his lean body curling like a question mark. “I don’t understand. It shouldn’t be this hard. The proof is right in front of them, and yet they refuse to listen.” He rolled to the side, settling into the curve of the bay window. “This should be the only problem anyone cares about, and yet only Riviair and Jacara truly listen. None of the rest of our problems will matter if our world is in ashes all because Kalthos wants to burn its ecosystem to the ground in the name of some invisible goddess.”
She settled down beside him, their arms brushing in the narrow space. “Will it truly get that bad?”
