Varre was stunned by the archmage’s rude tone. Fortunately, he had people to deal with situations like this.

  “Watch your tone!” Hakon barked out, with an intensity that surprised even the king.

  The wizard physically jerked. The assistant behind him bowed deeper, while Elvira smirked. The situation was getting a little tense. The Royal Guards stationed throughout the chamber remained at their posts, but they did perceptibly lower their halberds.

  Fortunately, the archmage recovered his senses. He bowed too, though not quite as deeply as either of his companions and finally spoke, “forgive me your majesty. That woman always infuriates me.”

  Varre turned to look at Elvira and saw her stick out her tongue behind her director’s back. He couldn’t help but show a slight smile at that, which the wizard interpreted as a good sign.

  “I am Archmage Kadmos,” he finally introduced himself, “I was informed that Court Mage Tobias was chased out of the castle. I came here to protest this rash decision.”

  “Protest?” the king cocked an eyebrow, “first of all, he is no longer my Court Mage. So don’t call him that. Second of all, this is my decision to make Not yours.”

  The wizard frowned. “And why have you fired one of my best sorcerers exactly?”

  Varre just stared at him. “He is accused of participating in the assassination of Mikkel III.”

  “Preposterous!” Kadmos threw his hands in the air, “Tobias would never do anything like that!”

  Hakon decided to intervene. “Then he should have subjected himself to an investigation! Not flee like a coward, attacking Royal Guards to get away!”

  The archmage turned to glare at the captain. “Fine. I have no idea why he would panic like this, but I can vouch for him with my own name! Tobias isn’t that stupid. I will find him. I will bring him back. And once you prove his innocence you will reinstate him as your Court Mage.”

  “Out of the question,” the king cut the air with his palm, “I need to be able to trust my advisors. Even if he is innocent after all, I bet he hates me now. I’m not going to leave him in such a critical position.”

  “Archmage Kadmos,” Marna stepped forward, “we would like to request that you recommend another one of your people for this position instead. You know that it’s well within our rights to reject your candidates.”

  The wizard tapped his foot on the floor, impatiently. “And what exactly do I get out of this?”

  “Well,” the steward started flipping through her notes, “you can continue the operations of your guild in our capital. Don’t forget that this is supposed to be a mutually beneficial partnership. I still have a copy of your founding contract with me.”

  The archmage clenched his teeth. “You wouldn’t dare. Our guild has served Logres for the last three centuries!”

  “If we cannot rely on you, then what choice does that leave us?” Marna played up her exasperation, “we’ll be forced to start a brand new guild, or hire some mages from abroad.”

  Kadmos was about to spit on the floor, but stopped himself in time. “Fine then. I suppose neither of us wants that.”

  The steward smiled cheerfully. “I’m glad we could come to an agreement!”

  “See? There’s no need to be unreasonable,” Varre added, “now then, who do you recommend for a replacement?”

  “You’re depleting my ranks here,” the archmage complained, “with Tobias gone, I don’t exactly have a lot of senior mages left!”

  “Is it that bad?” the king asked.

  “Mages are rare,” Kadmos shrugged, “and training takes time. We can’t allow random peasants into the guild after all.”

  There it is again, Varre thought to himself, these guys really value their noble blood, don’t they? “So who do you have available?”

  “I’m not going to send you Parros,” the archmage turned to the assistant behind him, “I’m in need of his experience myself…” he paused, going over his options. After a few moments, he smirked, mischievously, “I know! Elvira. Since you seem so hellbent on disagreeing with every one of my decisions, maybe you’ll feel more at home here.”

  “Maybe I will,” she crossed her arms, “maybe I’ll finally be allowed to do something meaningful here!”

  “Bah, there you,” Kadmos turned back to the king, “you see what I have to deal with? Nothing but backtalk! From my own guild members!” he shook his head in disapproval, “you want a Court Mage? You can have her!”

  Varre stared at the woman. He hasn’t talked to her in months, but she certainly seemed far more agreeable than Tobias back then. Though that wasn’t exactly a very high bar to clear.

  Either way, she was certainly more trustworthy than Tobias and Kadmos combined. Even that Parros guy, who the archmage decided to keep for himself, looked a little shady. Perhaps with the witch on his council, the king could finally leave more of his responsibilities to her and get out of those stuffy meetings faster. Not to mention that her training regimen might be more reasonable.

  On top of that, Varre could tell that she hated her boss. He couldn’t blame her. If he had to serve under such a stuck up bastard, one who wasn’t even afraid of arguing with the monarch directly, he’d try to quit as soon as he could. Hiring her on, would at least allow her to finally get some freedom from Kadmos.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Very well,” the king said, “I accept this proposal. Elvira, do you want to become my personal Court Mage?”

  The witch bowed again. “It would be an honor, your majesty.”

  The archmage brought his hands together. “Good! Then it’s settled. She’s your problem now!”

  And with that, the meeting was over. Kadmos and his lackey left the building and Varre could finally speak with his new Court Mage.

  “So… Elvira,” Varre began, “long time no see!”

  “Indeed it is, your majesty! Though the last time we met, I certainly never imagined that you would end up on the throne,” Elvira said.

  “Me neither to be honest. And let me tell, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I had a lot more fun back when I was just a duke!” the king replied.

  The two other councilors turned away, as if ashamed. Elvira looked sadly on the floor instead. “I guess power and responsibility must weigh on you heavily. But don’t worry, your majesty, I’m sure I’ll be far more helpful than Tobias ever was!”

  “That’s what I was hoping for,” Varre winked.

  “You won’t regret it! Now where shall we begin?”

  Oh god, is she trying to kill me? She just got here, the king thought and just barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. As he tried to come up with the best excuse to shut her down, he stared at the side door of the throne room, on the other hand… If I decide to help her out, perhaps by showing her around the quarters, I might be able to shave some time off of Kerryn’s training session! We gotta take our wins where we can!

  “Why don’t we start by showing you around your quarters?” Varre got off his seat, “I hope you don’t mind working in the same laboratory Tobias used.”

  “Oh no, please, your majesty,” Elvira raised her hands, “I can do that on my own. I don’t want to waste your valuable time.”

  “I agree,” Benjamin added, “it’s almost time for your training session!”

  I’m well aware, Varre fought to stop his smile. “I’m sure Kerryn won’t mind if I’m a little late. Besides, I think if we investigate Tobias’s quarters with an expert mage, we might gather some additional clues.”

  No one could argue with that point. The steward excused herself, while Hakon, Varre, Benjamin, and Elvira headed off to the distant corner of the castle containing the Court Mage’s laboratory.

  Elvira decided to pass the time with conversation. “I’m sure you must have been very busy, but it is a shame you never found the time to visit me over these last few months. A talent like yours shouldn’t go to waste.”

  The king coughed. “You’re right, of course. But there’s only so many hours in a day, you know. Every hour I spend training, or visiting a guild, is an hour I don’t spend making the world a better place,” he checked behind himself to see Benjamin’s reaction, but the chamberlain kept a perfect poker face.

  The witch sighed. “Well said, your majesty. I’m glad I can be serving under someone you. Much better than that stuck up Kadmos. All he cares about is money, you know!” she huffed, “do you remember that consumption epidemic a few years ago? The archmage didn’t lift a finger until the crown paid him for the expenses. Hundreds of lives could have been saved!”

  “Sorry,” Varre replied, “I lost my memories, remember? Was it bad?”

  Elvira stopped and raised her hands in exasperation. “The slums were decimated! Even the craftsmen district. No one did anything until the first servants of the noble houses started coming down with the illness. That’s when the crown was finally forced to act!

  “I was still a young magician back then. I had just finished my schooling and was ready to start serving the guild. I begged the archmage to do something. Anything! I even offered to go out there myself, but he wouldn’t let me. Not until he was paid,” she almost spat those words out.

  “Wow. I didn’t know that’s how things work around here. How many people died back then?” the king asked.

  Benjamin brought his hand to his chin. “It was pretty bad if I recall. A few thousand casualties across the city.”

  “We were close to a riot at one point!” Hakon added, “the people were starving. Mikkel III had to send grain to the slums to try and contain the situation.”

  “Such a pointless waste of human life,” Elvira frowned. She clearly didn’t like thinking about those days, “as soon as Kadmos got paid, he allowed us to start treating the commoners for free. It was already pretty bad. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if we waited a few more weeks.”

  “Well, next time this happens, inform me immediately,” Varre said, “I don’t like having my subjects die for no reason. Who’s gonna pay my taxes if they’re all gone, right?”

  “Thank you your majesty,” she smiled, “you may jest, but I get what you mean. I knew there was something different about you.”

  The conversation ended as the group finally arrived at Tobias’s quarters. The doors were wide open, with a single Royal Guard standing outside, blocking the way. He stepped aside and saluted.

  Inside, the room was still in complete disarray. There was a giant gaping hole in one of the walls, caused by the Court Mage’s explosion. Bits of stonework lay arranged in piles on the ground. The area was off limits, even to most of the servants. So far, they were only allowed to gather the debris, but it was left on the floor. No one understood magic as well as Tobias, so until a new wizard was allowed to examine the place, it was decided to leave it alone.

  A second guard was stationed inside the room, making sure that no one accidentally fell through the broken window onto the courtyard. Or climbed up here for that matter.

  Before they began their exploration in earnest, the group waited for Elvira to investigate the quarters for any hidden dangers. She cast a few spells and detected no hidden traps of any kind.

  “It’s safe,” she confirmed, after a couple minutes.

  “Tobias fled in a hurry,” Hakon said, “I wouldn’t expect him to have prepared anything ahead of time. But better safe than sorry.”

  With that out of the way, and under the new Court Mage’s watchful eye, the group began investigating the quarters in earnest.

  Tobias was a strange man. Though he didn’t talk much, he certainly appeared to be interested in magical research. Various books, vials, and alchemical ingredients lay strewn around every available piece of furniture. Inside clothing chests, on top of shelves and tables, even a couple empty bottles lay below the bed. This was why only a small selection of the most meticulous servants were ever allowed to clean up in here. Tobias needed to be sure they wouldn’t mess with anything.

  The exploration group decided to save the laboratory for last. The room didn’t have any windows, though daylight seeped in through the hole from yesterday’s explosion. Elvira was familiar with the enchanted oil lamps Tobias used, so she activated them to better illuminate the room.

  It was a complete disaster. Several of the tables have cracked or fallen over, dropping precious alchemical equipment and ingredients to the ground. Aided by a couple servants, Elvira started picking up some of the surviving pieces and moving them away from the piles of still bubbling liquids and broken glass.

  The damage was heavy, but even still, the laboratory was impressive. Much of the equipment deeper inside survived with no damage. The witch fawned over particularly advanced pieces of technology.

  “We’ll need to replace a lot of it of course, but I can’t believe how much stuff Tobias had gathered here over the years!” Elvira said, while inspecting a strange looking eyeglass, “Kadmos would have never sent me here if he knew just what was in here! It’s extraordinary!”

  Varre was standing behind, looking over her shoulder at the strange contraption. “I’m glad you like it. Get some servants in here, clean it up and then we will fix up the wall. Benjamin, you can take care of that, right?”

  “Of course, your majesty,” the chamberlain bowed, even if his liege couldn’t see it.

  “In the meantime, you can stay in one of the guest rooms,” the king added, “welcome aboard!”

  Elvira was about to curtsy, when she noticed the Varre’s outstretched hand. She hesitated for a second, then smiled and happily shook it.

  Which option will he pick?

  Varre seems to disagree.

  I hope you look forward to it!