Inside the mage’s guild a whole host of wizards awaited the arrival of the king. There were at least two dozen of them, matching the Royal Guards and perhaps even outnumbering them slightly.

  Of course, if it somehow turned to violence, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Most of the robed sorcerers were students, or lower level adepts, unable to defeat experienced knights in combat. The guild only contained a handful of senior mages and one of them was Elvira, who was firmly on Varre’s side. The second, Tobias, was already apprehended. Of the three currently present in the capital, Parros, Kadmos’s personal assistant, was the only one left among the archmage’s supporters.

  The group of sorcerers appeared to step back when they saw the mass of heavily armed guards enter inside, leading a chained up prisoner. They weren’t sure what to expect, but apparently it wasn’t that.

  Parros walked in front of the formation to welcome their guests. “Your majesty,” he said with a bow, “thank you for gracing us with your presence. Please follow me. Archmage Kadmos is already waiting in his study.”

  Varre replied to him with a nod and began walking up the stairs. The group of wizards remained in the entrance hall, watching the guests with curious eyes and murmuring. Elvira even gave them a wink. She was a student here too once, so probably recognized most of them.

  I’m not really sure what Kadmos was planning with this little scene, Varre thought to himself, was this some attempt to intimidate me? Or show off his strength? If so, then it didn’t work.

  Soon, Parros arrived at the doorway to the archmage’s personal study. He waved his hand in front of the door, whispering some sort of spell. A strange rune lit up in response, but the entrance remained shut.

  “He’s asking Kadmos for permission to enter,” Elvira whispered in Varre’s ear.

  After a few short moments, something inside the doors finally clicked and they began to open by themselves. The senior mage stepped aside and bowed one more time, allowing the guests to enter first.

  Varre expected an office similar to the one in his own quarters. A large ornate desk and shelves filled with various books and reports. Alternatively, he imagined a meeting room. A long table with chairs, or perhaps some sofas and a fireplace for a more relaxed setting.

  Instead, the study was a large spacious chamber. There was a circular arena made of stone in the center, lowered a few steps down from the entryway. The sides of the stage served as circular benches. It reminded Varre of an amphitheater.

  Normally, such construction made more sense on the ground floor, or perhaps in the basement, not this high up. There was no desk to be found anywhere either. The king realized that this must have been only a part of the archmage’s office, with a cozier and more comfortable room set somewhere nearby. At least the chamber was spacious enough to fit the entire host of guards that watched over Tobias.

  Kadmos was standing behind a lectern on the far side of the room. Elvira made sure to inform him about the visit yesterday. She left out some key details, just to keep him on his toes, but if he was surprised to see such a number of people, he didn’t show it.

  “Your majesty,” the archmage said with a tone that didn’t seem overly pleased, “thank you for your visit. I see you’ve brought Tobias here to me as well. As promised.”

  “I did,” Varre replied. While the guards carried the prisoner towards the center of the room, he remained close to the doors. He didn’t want to have to look up at the wizard. “I’ve delivered your errant students back home,” he added. Fortunately, the room was designed to allow voices to carry easily.

  “I can see that. I… appreciate the fact that you’re following our procedures,” the archmage said slowly, “murder is a terrible crime and one we absolutely do not tolerate here at the guild. Let alone treason against the crown. I assure you that Tobias was acting completely on his own, without my knowledge or blessing. I will pass judgement on him for his actions and expel him from the guild, as law demands. There is no place for people like him here.”

  “I wish for nothing but the best cooperation between the two of us,” the king said, “I hope this gesture will help us to work better in the future.”

  “Yes, what a wonderful perspective,” Kadmos smirked, “thank you for putting this terrible incident behind us. I assure you that it will not happen again,” he gave Elvira a pointed look, “it’s just that… it seems like the decision has been left out of my hands.”

  “Are you talking about the scheduled execution?” Varre asked innocently.

  “Yes. As I’ve said, the guild has no place for murderers or traitors, but still my hands are tied now,” he gestured, “my options for judgement are limited. If I know he is already scheduled to die, can I really pass judgement fairly? I would have preferred a little more time to conduct my own investigation. It would be… more in line with procedure, you see? Something to consider for next time.”

  “Next time? Do you think there will be a next time?” the king teased.

  Elvira glared at him. This wasn’t the plan. “Master Kadmos,” she quickly returned to the script, “you already know that Tobias murdered Mikkel III, but are you aware as to why? I think if you did, you’d appreciate a larger crowd at the execution.”

  The archmage squinted his eyes. “Enlighten me.”

  “We interrogated Tobias in order to learn it for ourselves. After all, why would a respected Court Mage throw away his position both at the kingdom and at your venerable guild, just to take part in this despicable plot. Money?” she gestured theatrically, “perhaps, but a man of his standing was already well paid. Coin is always good, but as we both know wizards are limited in opportunities for growth. Even if the plan succeeded, if Tobias suddenly started acquiring properties immediately after the murder, everyone would quickly figure out what had happened. Or Clement, the man who hired him would kill him to keep him silent. No, he did it to move up in magical hierarchy.”

  Kadmos crossed his arms. “Elvira, are you suggesting that the plot to murder Mikkel was somehow supposed to remove me from my position? If I was going to be framed for it somehow, then you’d think we would have found some seeds of that scheme by now. I hope you have some evidence if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

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  “That’s not it,” she bowed her head and threw a conspiratorial glance at Varre.

  He winked back.

  “While we haven’t publicized Count Clement’s official reason for his rebellion,” Elvira continued, “we can tell you. We trust your discretion, Master Zarkon.”

  “Oh get on with it,” he waved his arm.

  “Certainly,” she bowed again, “Clement wasn’t trying to overthrow his majesty,” she nodded towards Varre, “he wanted to gain independence from Logres.”

  “That’s why Langogne got involved,” the king added, “the Duke of East Aubin and Clement were secretly working together from the very start. They organized the entire assassination and were planning to secure independence during the chaos. First, get our Western province out of Logres, then get East Aubin out of Langogne. And then unite them into a new, independent kingdom.”

  “The reason Tobias was working with them, Master Kadmos,” Elvira continued, “was because of what they promised him. As soon as they achieved independence, they would allow him to create his own guild in their lands, poaching promising wizards straight out of your hands.”

  “They’d what?!” the archmage roared.

  Throughout the entire conversation, Tobias kept lowering himself further and further. He already knew he was beyond hope, but reliving everything only made it worse. He couldn’t even defend himself, on account of his gag.

  Kadmos glared at the prisoner. “This bastard! This scum! This arrogant piece of shit! How dare he?! After everything I’ve done for him? This incompetent wastrel tried to carve his own little kingdom out of my territory?! Mine?! Out of the illustrious and world renowned Magical Guild of Logres?”

  As the archmage raged, Elvira smiled at Varre. She was right. The two things Kadmos respected the most were money and power. He liked people to helped him gather more and he despised those who tried to steal either of the two away from him.

  “Varre,” the archmage finally turned to him and immediately caught himself, “I mean… your majesty. Thank you for bringing me this rat. Forgive me for acting so hastily. I… well, I only now understood what this monster truly had done. Murdering the monarch is a disgusting, truly unforgiveable act. You were absolutely right in scheduling the execution ahead of time,” he bowed.

  “I thought you’d like that,” the king smiled, “now, we can ensure that a huge crowd will be there to witness it. And you still get to pass your own judgement on Tobias. As procedures dictate of course.”

  “Yes…” Kadmos drawled, “they do don’t they? What an excellent gift. I may have misjudged you.”

  Emotions were clearly getting to the archmage. His sudden shift in behavior was obvious and his mask was slipping off. He couldn’t even pretend that he was punishing Tobias for the murder anymore.

  “You there, you worthless garbage,” Kadmos yelled at the prisoner.

  The guards stepped aside, letting him get a better look at the captive. He had a resigned look, completely disassociating from everything that was happening.

  “You really thought you’d get one over on me, did you? You little…” the archmage chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. Then turned serious, “you are going to die now my friend. I hope it will be slow. And painful. I’d like to say it’ll teach you a lesson, but…” he chuckled again, “and you Parros. Make sure to tell the others that this is what happens when you cross me.”

  “Certainly, Master Kadmos,” the senior mage bowed.

  The archmage widely gestured with his arm and four of the guards dragged Tobias away, into the corridor. The others remained with their monarch.

  “Ah, what a good day,” Kadmos mused to himself, “thank you again Varre, for giving me this opportunity. I always knew that rat was up to something… Yes, I think the two of us will get along splendidly from now on.”

  “As am I,” the king replied and glanced at Elvira.

  She gave him a slightly uncertain, but supportive thumbs up. The archmage was now in a great mood, but the next step wouldn’t be easy. It was better to butter him up a little more.

  “Your mages were very helpful in our conflict as well. You’ve trained them well,” Varre complemented.

  “They are, aren’t they? We’ve been struggling with manpower for a while, but there are some gems here and there,” Kadmos admitted, “I’m glad they’ve come in handy.”

  “Especially the communication mages. They were vital. We were able to keep in touch with the capital despite the distances. That’s the only reason why we were able to act so quickly and decisively when Charles started sieging Westbridge,” the king explained.

  “Yes, I’ve heard as much. Don’t worry, they didn’t tell me any details,” the archmage quickly added, “but I know very well just how helpful they can be.”

  “And that’s just the thing,” Varre said, “I’d like to hire more of them. Full time even. If we could distribute them throughout the country, even just to the largest cities in the provinces, it would really improve our communication.”

  “I see,” Kadmos slowly nodded, “yes, that would be possible. We could help each other. With some extra funding and some new facilities, we could try to train some more wizards for the future. But I’m afraid that such magic is rare and unpopular, your majesty. You see, most students prefer to focus on something… flashier. They want to show off to their families back home and improve the standing of their house. Most mages who go this route are either extremely gifted in communication magic already, or so far down the line of succession that they want to avoid standing out too much. They can make good money, without stepping on any toes.”

  “And that’s just the problem. I think we are limiting ourself in who we approach,” the king gestured with his hand.

  The archmage scratched his chin. “True, we generally wait for volunteers to come to us. Most families who uncover latent magical talents in their children promptly send them to our school, but things might be different in the provinces. Perhaps some of them think they live too far to send people here.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about. I think we need to expand the recruitment pool even further,” Varre insisted, slightly amused.

  Kadmos raised an eyebrow. “You mean foreigners, your majesty? I suppose it could be possible, but most of our neighbors have their own magical guilds. We couldn’t really seek out new students there.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just nobles then,” the king finally said.

  “Excuse me?” the archmage asked, surprised.

  “Commoners, Kadmos, commoners. There are tens of thousands here in the capital alone. Many of them have magical talents, but they go completely unnoticed. They spend their entire lives toiling in the dirt, or joining their parents’ profession with little choice. Just think of how many excellent wizards we missed out on, just because they were born in the wrong family.”

  Kadmos actually laughed. “You want to start training commoners, is that it? You want to let them into these illustrious halls to dirty them with their boots? Assuming they even know what boots are!” he shook his head in disbelief.

  “Is it really so strange?” the king shrugged, “you said it yourself. You don’t have enough prospective students and there’s only so many aristocrats. I’m sure we could find hundreds, even thousands of new wizards if we start looking properly!”

  Elvira didn’t like where the conversation was going, so decided to quickly jump in. “Master Kadmos, I think a small, limited scale program could be implemented. We could set up a new school, away from the noble students, and train them only in the things we’re really missing right now. Like say, communication magic. Maybe we could also train some assistants for our alchemists and healers. I’m not saying that they need to be standing on the front lines of battles per se...”

  “Commoner wizards,” Kadmos chuckled, “you know what Varre? It’s been a long day. For me and for you. And fortunately, it won’t be much longer for Tobias. In… appreciation for what you’ve done for me and my guild, I’m willing to give you this little… concession. But it’s on your head Elvira, you hear?” he asked in an angrier tone, “you will arrange the building, you will prepare the program, and you will find the teachers. Is that clear?”

  “Of course, Master Kadmos,” she bowed, “all the responsibility will fall on me, and all of the rewards on you. The school will be an extension of your guild and the students will have a special, separate status… I understand that I’m allowed to hire teachers from your subordinates, right?”

  “Yes, do as you wish,” the archmage waved dismissively, “just don’t bother me with it. I’m too busy dealing with real wizards. Now come on. Let’s prepare for that execution.”

  The one thing he hates the most are the people who try to take those away from him.