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‘Haven’t fled the country yet, if that’s what you’re asking.’

‘There’s good news and bad,’ Talisid said. ‘Good news first. Druss the Red has voted against Levistus’s proposal.’

‘Your work?’

‘I’d like to take credit, but no.’

‘I guess I’ll send him a thank you note if I live out the week. What’s the bad news?’

‘Spire has declined to meet with you. Officially, he’s retiring to his family residence over the Christmas season and is unavailable for comment. Unofficially, I’ve been led to understand that he is staying neutral. He won’t support you, but neither will he vote against you.’

‘Three to two. So it all comes down to the last vote.’

‘To Undaaris, yes.’

‘Has he replied?’ I said. I knew what Talisid was going to say, but conversations go a lot smoother when you don’t pre-empt the other guy.

‘Undaaris has agreed to meet you,’ Talisid said. ‘I believe he spent a good part of yesterday making up his mind. He hasn’t made any commitments, but I would consider his agreement to meet a positive sign.’

‘So I’m going to have to convince him to vote in my favour,’ I said. ‘And whatever I tell him, it’s going to have to be more convincing than whatever arguments Levistus has made already.’

‘Or might make in the future, yes.’

‘Any suggestions for what I could trade him?’

‘How familiar are you with Senior Council politics?’

‘Not very.’

‘Out of the seven members of the Senior Council, Bahamus and Sal Sarque are affiliated with the Guardians,’ Talisid said. ‘Levistus and Alma are strongly associated with the Directors. Traditionally, those two pairs have tended to disagree, but Levistus has recently taken a strong stance opposing further Dark encroachment. In doing so, he’s won over Sarque. Bahamus and Sarque are divided on this issue, and Druss opposes Levistus in almost all areas, but still, that gives Levistus a reasonably consistent voting advantage of three to two. Spire and Undaaris are the swing votes. Spire leans neutral and independent. Undaaris is a Centrist.’

‘I thought Levistus had the support of the Centrists.’

‘Up to a point,’ Talisid said. ‘Many of the Centrists are coming round to the Unity Bloc’s way of thinking. They’re generally opposed to hostile action against Dark mages, and they’ve been disagreeing with Levistus and Sarque’s more aggressive stance. Undaaris isn’t going to want to upset his own faction.’

‘If he was that keen on not upsetting them, wouldn’t he have voted against the proposal already?’

‘A year ago he probably would have, but over the past few months Undaaris has been accused of being overly soft on Dark mages and their violations of the Concord. The Crusaders are pressuring him to show strength.’

I should probably point out here that if you’re finding this confusing, it’s not just you. Council politics are complicated as hell – Light mages grow up with it, but I’m not a Light mage. One of the big issues that divides the Council is the question of how they should treat Dark mages. The Unity Bloc are the closest you can get to a ‘pro-Dark’ faction. The Centrists mostly just want to maintain the status quo, though they can be swayed. The Guardians are opposed to Dark mages, but they do so reactively; they try to protect anyone who might get hurt by Dark mages, but they don’t advocate attacks unless provoked. Talisid is a member of the Guardian faction, and while we’ve had our disagreements, I’ve found his beliefs fairly compatible with mine.

But the mention of the Crusaders worried me. The Crusaders are the most aggressively anti-Dark of all the Light factions, and the most militant. They also have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to rogues; as far as they’re concerned, once a Dark mage, always a Dark mage. In the past, I’d mostly been off their radar – too small-time for them to care about – but the Crusaders had been utterly furious about Morden being raised to the Junior Council, and there had been reports since Morden’s appointment of Crusader attacks on Dark mages and suspected Dark sympathisers. I was pretty sure that, given the choice, they’d be quite happy to see me dead.

‘Which brings us to you,’ Talisid said. ‘Just recently, there have been rumours concerning your old master. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but—’

‘But he has something planned. Yes, I’ve heard. In fact, it seems to be all anybody wants to talk to me about. How does this help?’

‘From what I’ve heard, the Council are preparing a response,’ Talisid said. ‘If you can give Undaaris something that he could bring to the Guardians to prove his credentials, it would favourably dispose him towards you.’

‘What do you mean, prove his credentials?’

‘I mean Undaaris wants to get in the Guardians’ good books. You scratch his back, he’ll scratch yours.’

‘You mean he might scratch mine. Isn’t that a pretty thin thread?’

‘These are Senior Council members,’ Talisid said. ‘I’m afraid that making yourself agreeable is your best chance.’

‘Being agreeable isn’t really one of my specialities.’

‘No, but you’ve demonstrated some talent for negotiation. I suggest you use it.’ Talisid shrugged. ‘That’s all I have.’

It wasn’t as though I had much choice. ‘When’s the meeting?’

‘Ten o’clock. They’re delivering you a gate stone.’

‘Guess I’ll go get dressed.’

‘Good luck. I’ll be in touch if I learn more.’

Talisid hung up. I looked around and sighed. Well, at least I’m awake.

I spent a while deciding what to wear. People in the Council tend to wear suits for day-to-day work, and mage robes for formal ceremonies. Normally I dress much more casually, and given the choice I’d have preferred to go into the meeting in a shirt and jeans, but it would have sent the wrong message – I was trying to look like a law-abiding member of magical society. In the end I pulled my solitary business suit out from the back of the wardrobe, took it out of its plastic covering, then put it on without much enthusiasm. Once I was done I took a look at myself in the mirror. Dark blue suit hanging off an angular figure, spiky and slightly too long hair mostly combed back over a pair of dark watchful eyes. I studied the image for a while, trying to figure out how I’d appear to an outside observer. I didn’t think I looked much like a Dark mage, but I definitely didn’t look like a Light one either. I waited until 9.50, then used the gate stone.

Being a diviner has its ups and downs, but at least you don’t get caught off guard very often.

The gate took me into a small wood-panelled room, with chandelier lights and pictures mounted on the walls. The air was warmer than my flat. It wasn’t flashy, but there was a definite sense that it belonged to someone important. From prior research, I’d learned that Undaaris’s primary residence was in Westminster. A quick check through the futures confirmed that that was where I was now.

Someone cleared their throat behind me. ‘Hello, Alex.’

‘Lyle,’ I said, turning. ‘Long time.’

The man standing behind me was the same age as me, though a little shorter. His features were a touch softer and less healthy than I remembered – he hadn’t put on weight, but he didn’t look as though he’d been getting much exercise. He wore a grey suit that looked noticeably more expensive than mine. ‘It has been, hasn’t it?’ Lyle said.

Lyle and I had been friends once, back when we were both apprentices – me to Richard, Lyle to a Light mage. When my apprenticeship blew up, we’d dropped out of contact. Lyle had built himself a career in the political world, while I’d lived as an independent mage, out on my own.

My choice of friends hadn’t been very good in those days. I suppose Lyle had never been actually evil, which put him a step ahead of most of the mages I’d met during my time with Richard, but while Lyle had been entertaining, he’d never been particularly trustworthy. When I’d really needed him, he’d hung me out to dry.