“You aren’t focusing, barmaid,” Telmar chided, pulling her from the reverie.
His office no longer resembled the cramped abode she’d visited days before the Unraveling to beg for help. Gone were the crates ofibezand dust plumes crowning his books. Now, the mahogany-paneled space felt homey. Despite the corpse at the center of the room.
Telmar tapped his foot on the oiled, leather mat atop which the body rested. His once-splotchy features had turned pleasantly round-cheeked after he’d given up the bottle. She initially hadn’t wanted to take private lessons with him out of fear of being perceived as elitist, but he had pointed out that having her in a class with hundreds watching her performance wasn’t conducive to learning. Despite primarily being a lightning magus and swordsman, an enthusiasm for learning had made him a font of knowledge, albeit a rather strict teacher.
“There’s no need to be gentle when he’s already dead,” he reminded her.
Kneeling beside the dead man, Sarai huffed out a breath, trying to blow away a sweaty tendril stuck to her forehead. “But I won’t be fighting a corpse. The people who want my head are the same who’ll cry about excessive retaliatory measures if I deck them.”
“Then, end them in one blow like you did Aelius.”
She gave him an unamused stare. “I was just on trial for that yesterday.”
“Use a smaller sword.”
Shaking her head, she gripped the corpse’s shoulder and analyzed his circulatory system, noting where best to slice to bring down an assailant.Beshaz, the most rudimentary rune used by healers, allowed visual and magical access to a body to heal simple ills or cause simple damage. Without Kadra holding her perpetually quivering fingers still, she could only perform the latter.
“Good,” Telmar concluded when she finished listing all the vessels she could slice as well as the ones beyondbeshaz’s reach. “Remember, cut first and think later.”
She exhaled, groggy from the amount of magic she’d used. “There has to be a better way of protecting myself than studying corpses and swordsmanship. Has no one ever permanently increased their power from Seventh-Tier to, say, Tenth-Tier?” she tried hopefully.
Telmar gave her a speaking look. “There’ve been all manner of powders and potions that’ve purported to do that since time immemorial, but there’s always been side effects. Our magic’s linked to our life force. Draw on it too heavily, and you risk death. Just like you did when Summoning Death.”
Gods, what I would give to be that powerful every day.
Spotting the slump of her shoulder, Telmar tutted. “Keep your head high. There isn’t a government alive without enemies. And you’re a savvy one, barmaid. I’m a genius to have seen your potential in Arsamea, even while drunk to the gills.”
She shot him an exasperated look and halted at the pity in his eyes.
“That Hearing must have been hard.”
“I was hoping I was subtle.”
“About the fact that you offered yourself up as a target? I’d say Edessa realizes that now.”
She suddenly cared nothing for studying anatomy. Rising, she washed her hands in the sink by his shelves and leaned against it. “I was distracted by the onslaught of cases at first,” she admitted quietly, “so I missed theshift in public opinion. Everything hit at once. First, the objections to Cassandane as Head Tetrarch. Then,Hariongets elected, Marzia’s elected and impeached, the riots in the north and, now, a hitherto-unheard-of beetle plague that Kadra’s still trying to gather more information on. Allegations of a coup were the last thing we needed.”
“You saw a chance when they focused on you.” Telmar looked thoughtful. “Distract them while Cassandane and Kadra rebuilt and steadied the government.”
That wasn’t the entire truth of it, but she nodded. “People like nice, tidy targets.”It just hurts that they chose me at all. She refused to allow the ache building behind her eyes to grow. “Little seems to change. I perform in public every day, and some asshole with no knowledge of law, economics, or human decency raves that I’m a northern bitch who got the job by spreading my legs. Then, all I’ve done gets dismissed. At this point, I’m a liability to Kadra. This morning, I was accosted bythreepeople, who all wanted something different, and all expected me to ferry word to him. I feel like I’m pulled in a thousand directions!”
Telmar opened the door to his study and indicated for the vigile outside to return the corpse to the morgue. “Well, if you want my two denarii, politics is public theater, and you’re an excellent actress. It’s one thing to wrest power from the ruling government. It’s another to maintain it. You’ve borne a lot of ill-will, but you damaged the Order’s credibility. That’s something.”
“More like I’ve made another enemy. Do you know they’d planned anexorcismif I’d lost?”
It was a testament to how horrifying one must be that Telmar flinched. Little surprised him. “Havïd, they’re more upset than I thought.”
She thought back to Silvus’s insistence that she would never be safe. “Who do you think would win in a contest of information? The Order or the Tetrarchy?”
“The Order,” Telmar said bluntly. “We’re a large nation. News takes at least a month to travel by wagon from one corner to another. Unlessyou can find a Bridger, but they’re rare here.” At her quizzical look, he explained, “Bridgers are magi of the land of Kashyal to the south, whom we conquered before the fall of our monarchy. We’ve since relinquished it, but…”
“Relations are poor?” she guessed.
He nodded. “Only a few Bridgers around here, and they cost a small fortune. The Tetrarchy uses one’s services at times, but she’s usually sent on diplomatic matters. We even have a few specific Bridging points within Edessa and outside the city walls. The rest of the capital’s warded off to prevent unwanted entry by enemies or a foreign army.”
“Do you think the Order has a Bridger? Wait, no.” She expelled a defeated breath when Telmar opened his mouth. “Of course they do. Their coffers are at least four times deeper than the Treasury.”
“I’ve heard that they’vetwoof them,” he supplied helpfully. “The Tetrarchy’s only one government. The Order’s beliefs span all thirteen lands.”
