‘That is betraying them.’
‘It might be made up of adepts, but it isn’t owned by adepts,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t matter who the figurehead is, it’s Richard who calls the shots. And I’m worried about what he’s using them for.’
‘You mean the Council’s worried,’ Lucian said. ‘They just don’t want us getting organised.’
‘They don’t mind you getting organised,’ I said. Okay, skating around the truth there. ‘Taking orders from Richard Drakh is another story. I don’t think you understand just how dangerous this guy is. Anyone who signs up with him is putting themselves on the front lines of a war.’
‘Yeah, well, we’re already on the front lines of a war.’ Lucian said sourly.
‘No. You’re not.’
‘Oh yeah? What about last October? The Keepers murdered twenty adepts who were just out there for a peaceful demonstration and what’s the Council done? Nothing. They don’t even care.’
I didn’t have a good answer to that one. The demonstration that Lucian was talking about had started out as a protest but had quickly spiralled out of control. The Keeper forces that had been on duty claimed they’d been attacked by Dark mages hidden in the crowd, and by the time the dust had settled there had been Council security personnel among the dead, which didn’t exactly fit with the ‘they were all peaceful protesters’ narrative. But given how bad Council–adept relations were, none of the adepts had been in a mood to listen, and Lucian’s version of the story wasn’t even close to the worst one I’d heard. Plenty of adepts now believed that the Council was out to commit wholesale genocide.
The whole thing had made me realise exactly how awful lines of communication in British magical society were. Light mages can hate each other while still exchanging messages, even if the messages don’t express much besides mutual loathing. But if there’s a problem with Dark mages, or independents, or adepts, then there are no good ways to get people to sit down and talk to one another. Which made it all the more worrying that when it came to the adept community, Richard apparently had been sitting down and talking to them.
‘You do realise that there’s a good chance that Richard’s the reason that protest turned violent in the first place?’
‘Yeah, well, at least he’s offering to protect us.’
‘Richard’s the kind of person that you need protection from,’ I said. ‘Have you forgotten how we met? You came into my shop asking for help because you were worried about Dark mages coming after you and your friends. Well, those same mages are the ones who are working for Richard right now. I know you think that you’re getting some kind of safety if you sign up with these guys, but that’s not how it works. Sure, they’ll offer you protection – as long as you do as you’re told. But as soon as you stop, they’ll make a point of targeting you, just to send the message of what happens to other people who don’t get in line. It’s not getting into those sort of groups that’s the problem, it’s getting out.’
‘Maybe that’s better than the deal we’ve got now.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Lucian …’
‘No, listen.’ Lucian looked right at me, and I could tell he was serious. ‘Do you know what it’s like being an adept in this country? No matter what happens to you, the Council doesn’t care. A Dark mage can pick you right off the street, or some monster can eat you in your bed, and they don’t care. Maybe if you’re really lucky some Keepers might come around afterwards to ask questions, but by then it’s too late and most of the time they don’t do anything anyway. Everything they do, it makes it obvious that they don’t give a shit about us. But now, all of a sudden, we’ve got mages like you telling us “oh, it’s really important you don’t do this”. It’s pretty obvious why, isn’t it? The only reason they’ve started paying attention is because they’re afraid of this Richard guy and they don’t want us on his side. It’s like, we yell for help over and over and they don’t listen. Well, they’re listening now.’
‘You join up with Richard, and they’ll pay attention to you all right,’ I said harshly. ‘Just not the kind you want. You’re signing up to be pawns.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s what they’re going to say, isn’t it?’
We stared at each other in the midday sun. On the path below us, a party of men and women went by, talking loudly, a dog bounding at their heels. From the baseball game on the far side of the hill came the crack of a hit, followed by shouts and cheers.
‘I wasn’t representing the Council when we first met, and I’m not speaking for them now,’ I said at last. ‘I’m telling you this because I don’t want you hurt. Don’t sign up with these guys. And if you care about your friends, don’t let them join either.’
Lucian didn’t look convinced. ‘Was there anything else?’
I sighed inwardly. ‘No.’
Lucian got up and left. I watched him walk away down the grassy slope, thinking over his words. If Lucian was willing to say those kinds of things to my face, how many adepts were thinking the same way?
‘He’s got a point,’ Anne said in her soft voice.
I glanced at her. ‘You too?’
‘I know what you said was true,’ Anne said. ‘But think about how it looks to him. No one tells adepts anything about mage politics. I mean, nobody told me anything all the time I was in the apprentice programme. All I ever learned was second-hand from the younger apprentices. Now finally the Council’s talking to them, and all they have to say is, “Don’t join the other side.” Adepts are going to think that the only reason the Council’s paying them any attention at all is that they’re worried they’ll change sides.’
‘Mm,’ I said. ‘The donkey and the shepherd.’
‘What?’
‘One of Aesop’s fables,’ I said. ‘An old shepherd’s watching his donkey grazing in the meadow when he hears an enemy army coming. He tells the donkey to run or they’ll both be captured, and the donkey asks if the enemy army would make him carry a heavier load. When the shepherd says no, the donkey lies back down and says, “Then what difference does it make to me?”’
‘Do you think that’s what it is?’ Anne asked quietly. ‘An army?’
‘It’s what it sounds like to me,’ I said. I didn’t add what I was thinking. You build an army because you’re planning to fight someone. Who was Richard going to be turning that army against?
We gated from the heath to Wales, walking out of the trees into a secluded valley painted in green and gold, with a single small house sitting at the end over a river. A pair of buzzards circled on the thermals above, calling in their mewing voices: kew, kew.
‘It’s the front door, right?’ Anne asked as we walked into the garden.
I nodded. ‘We’ll go around the back.’
The back door was locked, and I pulled out a loose stone from the wall to retrieve the key from its hiding place. ‘Are you going to visit Morden?’ Anne asked.
‘Not planning to,’ I said. ‘Talisid was hinting about it, but I turned him down. I think he’s still hoping I might shake out some information.’
‘Is he still in that prison?’
‘The bubble realm, yeah.’ The key was sticking in the lock. Either it had rusted over the winter, or the last person to break in had managed to do some damage. I pulled it out and rubbed at it with a handkerchief. ‘Why?’