Sovereign mage, p.19
Sovereign Mage, page 19
Even if he had not been a blood priest for a very long time, it was good to know that he still remembered how to deal with his enemies.
***
With Alpha Chester’s compound destroyed, House Hargrave ended up hosting what could credibly be described as a summit. Callum wasn’t entirely happy with it, but there weren’t too many choices. It needed to be held on Earth if the shifter and fae members were to be at all comfortable, unless Callum wanted to volunteer to hold portals open for the duration of their discussions. Which he didn’t, especially since he was completely tapped out from his work with the dragons’ own portal.
He was still keeping an eye on it, though it seemed to be stable enough, even if the mana flow wasn’t yet at the level of the original. Perhaps it never would be, considering how rough and haphazard the process had been, but it was probably good enough. It weighed on his mind enough that he was still worrying over it by the time he had to leave, and only reluctantly teleported his family over.
House Hargrave was astonishingly opulent to his sensibilities, the rooms enormous and spacious and filled with antiques. Hand-carved furniture, paintings that looked to be from the Dutch masters, and a lot of subtle enchanting for the lights, the windows, even the carpets. Though what surprised him the most was that there was an entire pack of shifters serving as guards and butlers.
“Welcome to House Hargrave, Master and Madam Wells, and of course the Young Master too,” one of the butlers said, bowing to them after they appeared in the vestibule of the House. Alex bounced happily at being called Young Master , staring around at the expensive carpets and hand-blown glass chandeliers. Callum had to admit he was impressed, though not entirely comfortable with that level of extreme wealth. While it was incredibly opulent, he suspected it was less showing off as just the way very powerful people lived when they accumulated wealth and connections over hundreds of years.
“Thank you,” Callum said, and followed the butler through the house to where he had already sensed a number of mage bubbles along with Wizzy and Shahey. Even though House Hargrave were allies, he was still twitchy being so deep in another mage’s territory. It wasn’t as nerve-wracking as his first contacts, at least, so he was able to focus on something other than escape plans.
The sitting room had a half-dozen Hargraves, the family resemblance obvious when they were all gathered together, and the ones he hadn’t met stared politely when the butler introduced them. It gave Callum a moment of befuddled confusion to see actual fear in their expressions, but of course he had a reputation. The fae cloak he was wearing probably contributed, since the material was clearly not of Earth and he was sure it looked intimidating to mage-sight.
“Alpha Chester should be arriving soon,” Archmage Hargrave said. “And Princess Felicity is en route with Archmage Taisen.”
“That’s fine,” Callum said. “I’m pretty sure we’re all on the same page after the past couple days.”
“Their willingness to move to open hostilities is worrisome,” Archmage Hargrave acknowledged. “Even I know that the incident at Chester’s compound is getting far too much scrutiny. Especially after the vampire massacres. I’m not sure that GAR is even bothering to try and cover it up.”
“The DAI inherited BSE’s job, basically,” Lucy said, digging a book out of the bag for Alex, since he was sure to be fairly bored by the proceedings. “And they don’t have the expertise for it. Or the interest, probably. Isn’t the new policy that they don’t actually care about secrecy anymore?”
“It’s not clear what the new policy is,” Glenda said, watching as Lucy settled Alex on her lap. “We still have some people over in Faerie who talk to us, but the inner circle of Archmages are keeping their mouths shut.”
“Announcing Archmage Taisen, Princess Felicity Blackblood, and Princess-Consort Magus Raymond Danforth,” the butler said, which didn’t surprise Callum since he’d sensed them arrive. What did surprise him was the amount of power swirling around Felicia, significantly more than the last time he’d seen her. She was also dressed in what could only be described as a tactical ballgown, an armored black dress that integrated both pistol and sword.
“There was never meant to be an inner circle of Archmages,” Taisen said, not at all ashamed about listening in on their conversation. “But that’s the nature of people. Even equals aren’t equal.”
There was another round of greetings as the new arrivals settled in, but aside from mild complaining nobody broached the serious topics. At least, not until the last guest arrived, only a few minutes after Taisen. Chester strode into the room looking grim, though not despondent, and for some reason smelling strongly of pine. Callum didn’t ask, and Chester didn’t explain.
“Let us begin, then,” Archmage Hargrave said, as honest-to-goodness maids came around to serve drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Alex immediately gravitated toward the bacon cream cheese things, but the Hargraves or their household were thoughtful enough to also provide some fruit slices which were slightly more healthy. Callum left wrangling his kid to Lucy and focused on the topic at hand.
“It seems to me that we need to disassemble what remains of GAR and remove Archmage Janry,” Callum said. “Perhaps in that order. I’m not even sure what GAR still does at this point—”
“Coordinates exchange between supernatural and mundane finances, settles grievances between parties, provides education and recordkeeping, recharge services for foci, a marketplace for fae items…” Taisen ticked off a list on his fingers. “Removing GAR is going to mean a lot of trouble for a lot of people. Not that I disagree with you, but it does run the risk of making more enemies.”
“The fae, at least, should not be a problem,” Felicia said, sending the glasses to ringing in resonant sympathy. “They will all have to come under my banner at some point, and it may be for the best if our craftsmanship is less easy to acquire. There are far too many things out there with hidden barbs.”
“The enclaves in the American Alliance aren’t going to like that,” Chester warned. “They prefer their independence.”
“I have no desire to dictate to people whose arrangements already work perfectly well,” Felicia said, waving it aside. “Serving under the banner of the blood of Oberon is an entirely different prospect as well, compared to dealing with the Greater or Lesser Courts.”
“If you can negotiate with them, that is their business, but the American Alliance won’t take kindly to any attempts to force our members to join,” Chester said, frowning at her. Felicia merely smiled and inclined her head.
“We’ve got a lot of Houses pulling out of Janry’s little alliance thanks to my portal worlds,” Callum said. “Do they really need GAR? I mean, GAR does stuff on Earth and most of the rest of the Houses are over on Faerie or the Deep Wilds now.”
“Need?” Hargrave frowned. “Perhaps not, but Earth has the sort of various sundries that even the Faerie types enjoy. The industry of billions of people produces things that magic just can’t match at the price. Without some connection people will find they’re missing many things they took for granted. As we found out when we were cut off ourselves.”
“So we set up a digital marketplace,” Lucy suggested. “We take all of GAR’s magical internet stuff, and model ourselves off of the mundane ones. Get some fae or shifters to deliver things or just send it through regular post.” That suggestion got some very considering looks, but Chester refused to be distracted.
“We may debate the specifics, but we need to take our pound of flesh,” Chester said, almost with a growl. “These people are unafraid of any consequence but death.”
“Have to agree with that,” Callum sighed, glancing over to see that Alex was still focused on his book rather than the conversation. “I’d rather target the right people, though when it comes to GAR it’s hard to figure out who’s responsible for what.”
“For once I don’t think we’ll need The Ghost’s assassination abilities,” Taisen said. “If we’re going in and clearing out GAR completely, then it’s going to be a full military exercise. Your ability to bypass wards and retrieve items will be far more valuable. Besides, this isn’t just your fight.”
“That was the sort of logic that ended up with the Night Lands debacle,” Callum said, not really arguing, just grumbling. “Are we prepared for their response?”
“As we can be,” Hargrave said. “This isn’t something that can go unanswered. They’re daring us to curb our response for fear of escalation. But nothing is stopping them from taking those steps anyway, save for the consequences.”
Callum rubbed his temples. That was why he hadn’t wanted to get into the political angles, but wherever there was power, that was bound to happen. Even if he wasn’t interested in politics, politics was interested in him and he had to engage if he wanted to have any say in what was happening.
“So what are we going to do, if this whole alliance is going to be involved?”
Lucy and Gayle went off with Alex to keep themselves occupied while everyone else spent the next few hours discussing tactics and strategy. Even some of the other Hargraves and Chester’s shifters drifted in and out, since most of them had little to contribute. Callum was fed up with it early on but he stuck it out from sheer force of obligation.
The surprise, at least to him, was that Wizzy volunteered to go along. So far as Callum understood it, Wizzy tended to stay out of these things. He might be willing to defend his own area, but he didn’t get involved in other people’s business. Unlike Callum, GAR seemed perfectly willing to let him be.
“One is not committing to the assault,” Wizzy cautioned them. “But there must be an observer to attest to truth of the conflict. Whatever that truth may be.”
There was no need to stall in their attack on GAR, but it wasn’t just Callum this time and people needed time to get ready. That left several dead hours for Callum and Lucy to address the reason they’d brought Alex along in the first place: magic testing. Callum was pretty certain he knew what Alex’s aspect was considering some of the things he’d caught his son doing, but he didn’t say anything in case he prejudiced the tests.
Fortunately it wasn’t something as awful as the big box that Callum had been stuck in. It was instead a person-sized metal cylinder, heavy with enchantments, that Alex only had to walk into and put his hands on the handles. It was far gentler and lower-powered than what GAR had put Callum through, and it didn’t seem to bother Alex at all.
“Feels all bubbly,” Alex commented, tugging on the handles while the complex enchantments worked. It was looking for some sort of manifestation, because there was no a priori way of determining a mage’s aspect. Callum wouldn’t have been surprised if a number of mages had slipped through the cracks just because their aspect was something nobody had seen before, but without practice and knowledge they wouldn’t have been able to accomplish much.
“Just tell me if there’s a problem, kiddo,” Callum said from outside the cylinder.
“It’s okay, dad,” Alex said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched the wards light up around him. To Callum’s view there was just a lot of vis boiling out at random, not really forming any structure for more than a fraction of a second.
“Huh,” Glenda said, squinting at the runes. “That’s odd.”
“What’s odd?” Callum asked, or maybe even snapped. Those weren’t words he wanted to hear when it came to his son.
“Well, he tripped the wards for gravity fully, but there was also some draw on light, metal, and fire. Just a touch. And some of the supplementary ward structures snapped.” Glenda tapped her lips with a forefinger, then shut the appraisal box down. “Very well, we’re done, Alex.”
“Aww,” Alex said, but let go of the handles and backed out of the cylinder.
“So what does all that mean?” Callum asked, reaching down to take Alex’s hand. “Sounds like maybe an aspect you aren’t testing for?”
“That would be my guess,” Glenda agreed. “I’ve never seen it before but, no offense meant, most mages come from very established lines. Your pedigree is not exactly known.”
“Hey, mine is,” Lucy said, but she didn’t seem too upset. “But yeah, Callum here’s a bit of a weirdo,” she continued affectionately, putting her arm around him.
“Dad’s a weirdo,” Alex confirmed. Callum snorted and ruffled Alex’s hair.
“Okay,” Callum said, some of his irritation fading. “That’s not as bad as it could have been, but…” He trailed off, contemplating the issue. It wasn’t a great thing, because even if Alex ended up being able to do things no other mage could, he wouldn’t have the benefit of hundreds of years of magical resources. Of course, neither had Callum, but he was hoping for something better for his son.
On the other hand, there was no guarantee that they’d ever manage to isolate what that aspect was. At least Alex had gravity as a fairly normal aspect, and even someone who was a master of it that they could consult for help. There was no way that Callum was going to suggest the internal method for his son though, not with an unknown aspect.
Unless there was some way to split the methods by aspect.
“We’ll figure it out,” Lucy said, interrupting his thoughts. “It’s good to know, and we’ll get him started on the early stuff now.”
“Yeah,” Callum said. “Hear that, kiddo? You’re going to learn how to do magic stuff.”
“Like daddy?” Alex asked, eyes wide.
“Yeah, like daddy,” Callum confirmed.
***
“Not an unqualified success, but I’d still call it a victory,” Director O’Keefe reported. “Over half the shifters we surveilled were gone, and most of the remainder have fortified themselves one way or another. I can’t confirm that Alpha Chester is dead, especially since Archmage Taisen took control of the battle site, but all signs are that he is neutralized for the time being.”
“Without a body we have to assume he’s not dead,” Janry said. “If you’d actually managed to bury him under a hundred feet of dirt that would do it even for someone of his power, but he’s aligned with a spatial mage. He made it out. Not that killing Chester was the primary goal anyway.” Janry tapped the tip of his forefinger on his desk, regarding O’Keefe.
While taking Alpha Chester out of play was certainly worthwhile, even with the losses they’d incurred, the fact that all the mundanes had disappeared made it less useful. The primary purpose had been casting Alpha Chester as a villain and an outlaw, setting him against the mundane government. All the evidence being buried in a mysterious sinkhole confused matters, and it was harder to portray Chester as a scoundrel when there was nobody to testify about how bad Chester was.
The fae contribution to the attacks had run into some other kind of trouble, though nobody knew exactly what. Janry had wanted them to install themselves in some of the mundane cities inside Chester’s former territory, to offset the enclaves that were already in North America, but they hadn’t shown. He hadn’t gotten a reply from them yet, but for all he knew they were going to pretend it had never happened. There was a fae power struggle involved and even people who had lived in Faerie for centuries didn’t understand all the rules for those.
“Right, might as well strike while the iron is hot. Redirect all the personnel you can spare to the mundane conversion. The early signs were quite favorable, I think we just need to put more effort into it.” The mundanes had a lot of bizarre top-heavy organization, but Janry was confident that turning it all to his own purposes wouldn’t be too difficult. There were just so many of them that it stretched GAR resources to keep control of the byzantine processes of their governments.
So far they’d avoided going after actual presidents or kings or whatever they styled themselves, and that was sadly partly due to the lack of vampires. Fae had to play by certain rules to target someone so important, and so far there hadn’t been an opportunity to do so.
“Yes, sir,” O’Keefe said. “If I may ask, is there any progress with the Guild of Enchanting? We’re starting to run low on scry-comms and there are some offices where the lights are no longer working. We’ve moved some enchantments from the old Acquisition offices, but people are starting to notice.”
“We’re having to deal under the table with some of the Houses that have declared neutrality,” Janry admitted unhappily. “I’ll put you in touch with my nephew; he’s been handling that of late.” That particular coup on the part of the Earth alliance was an ongoing thorn in Janry’s side, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Once they’d broken the Earth alliance though, there were going to be changes. There were enough people from his House in the Guild that he could probably replace Rossi and lose nothing of value, but for the moment he had to play nice.
“Yes, sir,” O’Keefe repeated, and Janry dismissed him. Alone in his office, Janry stood and paced, looking out his window onto the courtyard of House Janry. When he’d started the push to finalize the Archmage Council’s control of Earth, and thus his, he had not anticipated so much resistance. The mundanes had little they could do, of course, but the resistance from the other Houses and the fae over on Earth had been surprising.
It was exactly the reason the Houses made sure that no new mage could divorce themselves from the House system. Any free mage could be a threat, as Wells demonstrated, and it was clear that even allowing independent Houses wasn’t sufficient for keeping proper order. Given how many Houses were willing to go neutral, many people even in Faerie had lost their understanding of the way the world worked.
The offense had worked, so it was best to continue. Before the crisis with Wells he had been used to subtle dealings, but now he thought that blunt action would be a better policy. If people had no will to oppose him, he could open the door to his people and their fae allies to take what they could.
