~4~
Gabriel observed thecrowd of wizards and familiars lining the long dining table, grimly wondering exactly how his life had come to this.Though Nic had done a considerable amount to lighten his heart, he couldn’t get his mother’s words out of his mind.I don’t even recognize him.All I see is a monster.I lost my son to your magic.
It didn’t help that the cursed proctor had been invited to join them at dinner.Nic no doubt had some reason for including the woman that had to do with convoluted Convocation social etiquette, but he didn’t much care to dine with the enemy.Nic, seated to his left, set her hand on his thigh under the table.“Your magic is getting all spiky,” she murmured under her breath.“You might reel it back a bit.”
He’d like to send a silver spike through that proctor’s forehead, but he took his wife’s point, along with a deep breath, and turned his attention away.Unfortunately, that meant it lit on Jadren El-Adrel, seated on his other side.Apparently Nic had given up leaving the seat open for Selly, no doubt since everyone had witnessed Selly’s insanity—or had heard about it by now, if they weren’t there—and had also decided that Jadren’s rank put him at Gabriel’s right hand.
He had no idea when Nic had found the opportunity to alter the seating arrangements, but he also had no doubt she was behind it.When his step had faltered at seeing the irascible El-Adrel scion at the chair next to his own, Nic had simply given him a serene smile, her green eyes full of warning.
Fine, then.Fortunately, the man seemed equally uninterested in idle chatter, focusing on eating with single-minded intensity.Unfortunately, that didn’t last.
“You don’t lay much of a table, Lord Phel,” Jadren commented, pushing his empty plate away.It was as clean as if a dog had licked it.
Gabriel set his teeth.“We are in a rebuilding phase.I believe House Phel’s missive inviting junior wizards such as yourself to apply for a contract specified as much.”
“I wouldn’t know.”Jadren replied, stroking his neatly trimmed beard, trying to appear nonchalant, though his jaw was tight.
Ah, yes.Lady El-Adrel had decided for her son.“You are, of course, welcome to go,” Gabriel commented mildly.Nic observed him closely, knowing that tone for what it was.“You have not yet signed a contract.”
Jadren’s eyes flashed with anger.Gabriel could see how the wizard-black could be intimidating, though the El-Adrel wizard didn’t concern him.Especially as, he realized, that anger wasn’t directed at himself.“You agreed to my mother’s terms, Lord Phel,” Jadren gritted out.“We are both trapped in this arrangement, so we might as well go forward.If it’s agreeable to you, I’ll sign the contract after dinner.”
“It includes a nondisclosure agreement,” Gabriel mentioned, taking another roll and smearing it with butter fresh from the dairy.It was simple food, yes, and not exactly bountiful due to Nic’s careful budgeting, but it was nutritious, satisfying, and tasty.Farm food, he supposed, was not up to the elegant standards of House El-Adrel.“You’ll have to sign that before you can see the contract.”
Jadren’s eyebrows rose, and he stared stonily across the table at Nic, who had her head lowered over her plate in a pretense of meekness.The El-Adrel wizard had said something to her earlier.Nic had brushed it off, refusing to tell Gabriel the details, but he’d sensed her unhappiness.“An unusual gambit,” Jadren noted.“One that smacks of Elal guile.”
Nic didn’t react, so Gabriel said nothing.Ostensibly, and according to Convocation norms, as the wizard heading House Phel, he was the final—more correctly, only—word on house policy.Jadren shouldn’t expect Nic to have a role in those decisions, so Gabriel wouldn’t take the bait in that particular trap, no matter what the El-Adrel scion, and spy, suspected.
Asa, seated beside Nic and across from Jadren, had been listening.“I’ve signed both the NDA and the contract,” he told Jadren.“I had no issues with either, if that’s any reassurance.”
“It isn’t,” Jadren replied shortly, with an unfriendly glower.“House Refoel is hardly known for its political savvy.”
Asa smiled thinly, black eyes glittering in his dark face.“And yet we manage to make ourselves of critical importance to the Convocation, regardless.”
Gabriel sensed Nic’s amusement in her magic, the scent of roses blooming lightly in the air.
Jadren apparently chose not to address that argument, turning pointedly back to Gabriel.“Let us stick to conversation not covered by your NDA, Lord Phel.Might I have the key to the workroom in the north wing?”
Gabriel sipped his wine, aware of Nic’s sharpened interest, along with the alert expressions of the wizards nearby.Not that the existence of the locked workroom at the end of the north wing was a secret, but he was somewhat surprised that it seemed to be common knowledge.He and Nic had not yet had the opportunity to revisit the large room in daylight, to discover if it held anything more than empty space.
“I’ll consider it,” he replied judiciously, and loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, “for anyone who has signed the NDA and is duly contracted.”
Jadren set his jaw, folding his arms.“How am I to discover if our magics can combine to create these water-related artifacts if I cannot practice in the workroom?Unless you’ll allow me to use the House Phel arcanium.”His expression was stoic, but something in his manner held a hint of slyness.
You never want to bring another wizard’s magic into your arcanium,Nic’s voice whispered in his mind, and he caught a glimpse of an emerald-green side-eye.Yes, he realized Jadren was baiting him.
“Careful,” he growled, allowing his magic to sharpen.“You risk angering me, junior wizard.”
Jadren’s black eyes hardened further.“You don’t frighten me, Lord Phel.”
Gabriel picked up a sharp knife, spinning it between his fingers before using it to slice off a bite of poultry.Nic might scorn his tendency to reach for physical weapons before magical ones, but he estimated he could slit Jadren’s throat before the arrogant man knew what had happened.This Convocation nicety of sitting down to dinner with your enemies made no sense to him.You dined with your friends and killed your enemies.
Whatever Jadren gleaned of Gabriel’s intentions, it made more of an impression than anything else had thus far, because he cleared his throat.“Perhaps we can discuss the products you have in mind, Lord Phel.I understand you’d like to make flasks that are always filled with clean water?”
Gabriel dipped a chin.“To begin with, yes.”
Jadren grunted thoughtfully.“Shouldn’t be too difficult, as you’ll handle the water magic, I assume.I can enchant a flask.”
Gabriel didn’t reply that he knew that.He’d used an everyday, unenchanted flask to hold the spell that kept it ever full of clean water, but Nic had explained in excruciating detail that House El-Adrel held the monopoly on all enchanted artifacts.Having Jadren “assist” with that product line—and not incidentally giving El-Adrel a chunk of the profits—was necessary only to abide by the legalities.The trick would be discovering what else Jadren could truly contribute.“We’d like to offer clean wells, too,” he added, remembering Nic’s suggestion.