Maybe that’s the point. If the Chief Mage is so busy, it’ll be a while before he’s able to see me. Weeks, maybe even months. During that time I’m sure to find a way to escape.
“That’s ridiculous,” Talcon sputtered, his face growing red as he jumped to his feet. His fists clenched at his sides as he faced the Captain. “Sunaya is no more a mage than I am!”
“On the contrary,” the Director said, sounding somewhat reluctant, “she would have to be at least half-mage to have pulled off the display of power the reports suggest, whereas you are a full human, Deputy Talcon.”
I would have laughed at the murderous look Talcon shot Chartis, if the situation hadn’t been so dire. In any case, the Director was completely unruffled by Talcon’s outburst. It dawned on me that he might not actually care about the proceedings either way; he was just here to make sure the Chief Mage’s laws were enforced.
“What are you suggesting, then, Director Chartis?” Captain Galling asked, his brow furrowing. “Should we execute Miss Baine, or allow her to appeal to the Chief Mage?”
The Director sighed, running a hand through his wavy dark hair as if the idea of being tasked with making an actual decision was just too bothersome. “You can certainly order her execution if you want,” he told the Captain. “But if the Chief Mage found out that he was circumvented by not allowing him to respond to an appeal, I imagine he would be most displeased.”
“Very well.” The Captain banged his gavel, and as he looked down at me I swore there was a twinkle in his eye. “We shall refer the matter to the Chief Mage for a final ruling. You are all dismissed.”
I wasn’t exactly dancing a happy jig when the guards escorted me back to my cell, but my heart did feel significantly lighter now that the Captain had granted me a reprieve. With the way bureaucratic red tape liked to pile up in this city, I was unlikely to get my audience with the Chief Mage for some time, maybe even a month if I was lucky. That was plenty of time for me to figure out how to escape, I thought as the cell door clanged shut behind me.
My best bet, of course, was to contact Rylan and have him get me out of here. He’d happily take me underground in an instant, and since he and the others had already proven successful at evading capture, I was relatively certain that I could, too.
The only drawback was that I would have to pledge myself to the Resistance, something I had been avoiding for as long as Rylan had been trying to recruit me because I was afraid of how they would view me if they found out I was half-mage. But since that cat was out of the bag, there was really nothing to lose now, was there?
Decided, I sat cross-legged atop my cot and waited for Comenius and Noria to come and visit me. We hadn’t had a chance to say more than two words to each other after my hearing, and I knew that they would be anxious to see me. It was only a matter of time before Noria wore the guards down with her insistence.
Sure enough, the door at the end of the hall opened several hours later, and I heard the telltale clop of the heavy uniform shoes the guards wore. But instead of three pairs of feet, as I’d expected, I heard four.
“Time to go, Baine.” Two sets of guards stopped outside my door, dressed in the blue and black uniform that marked all of Privacy Guards’ employees – a security firm that contracted out to a variety of government agencies and businesses, including the Enforcer’s Guild and the Mage’s Guild. The guard who spoke to me held up the same set of rune-protected cuffs from before, and a current of anxiety ran through me as I eyed them.
“Time to go?” I echoed as the cell door opened. I presented my hands and allowed the guards to cuff me – there was little point to fighting back at this stage. “Go where?” I had a feeling he wasn’t referring to the visitors’ room.
“To Solantha Palace, of course. The Chief Mage is expecting you.”
I reeled as the guards pulled me from the cell, two flanking me with their meaty hands clamped firmly around my upper arms, one leading the way, and the other bringing up the rear. Apparently no chances were being taken with me – the guards on either side of me were shifters, and the one up ahead smelled of burnt sugar, indicating that he was one of the low-level mages Privacy Guard employed for situations like this.
“Y-you’re taking me to the Chief Mage now?” I spluttered, digging my heels into the floor like a petulant child. Not that it did me any good as they marched me out into the main hall – the heels of my boots simply screeched against the scuffed tile, drawing the attention of every Enforcer in the hall.
“That’s right.” The mage guard leading the way spoke without turning his head.
“But that’s ridiculous,” I protested as they led me down the front steps and into a horse-drawn carriage waiting at the curb. My heart sank as I saw the Chief Mage’s personal emblem emblazoned on the side of the carriage, a large blue shield with a golden rune composed of a series of interconnected brush strokes – the traditional symbol for magic with a few embellishments added that I imagined were unique to the Chief Mage – painted into the center. “He doesn’t have time to see me now.”
“I wasn’t aware you were so in tune with the Chief Mage’s schedule.” The mage guard arched a brow at me as the two shifter guards escorted me into the cab, which had dark, cushioned seats and was large enough to seat six. I gritted my teeth as all four of them settled into the cab around me, resentment oozing from my pores as the mage guard rapped on the inner roof of the carriage, telling the driver to get moving. The carriage lurched into motion, but I didn’t budge since I was squeezed in between the two hulking shifter guards. I glared up at them both, but they didn’t even deign to look at me – they just stared straight ahead.