“Who is he?” Comenius murmured in my ear, watching wide-eyed at the way Fenris managed to intimidate everyone else in the room. “Isn’t he a shifter?”
“Yeah, but he’s friends with the Chief Mage,” I muttered back. “And also his right-hand man. So everyone seems to listen to him.”
“That’s strange,” Noria mused, also watching with narrowed eyes. “The Chief Mage giving a shifter that kind of power, while oppressing the other shifters under his rule?”
I shrugged, but the words struck me nevertheless. It was strange that Fenris had so much influence over the guards and even some of the mages around here, even if he was a friend of the Chief Mage’s. Moreover, I still didn’t understand why the two of them were friends in the first place, especially since the Chief Mage certainly didn’t show me any kind of preferential treatment. What made Fenris so special?
Canter seemed to recover from his momentary panic attack, and drew his robes around himself imperiously. “I don’t see what business it is of yours what I call her,” he sniffed, “but in any case that’s not the point. These two hooligans,” he jabbed a finger towards Comenius and Noria, “came in demanding to see the prisoner, and I denied them on account of the fact that she isn’t cleared for visitors.”
Fenris simply arched a brow, folding his arms over his broad chest. “I wasn’t aware that anyone had to be ‘cleared’ in order to receive visitors around here. Would you care to show me where such a policy exists?”
Huh. Good point.
Canter’s sallow cheeks reddened. “T-the Chief Mage s-said so,” he stuttered, and Fenris took a threatening step toward him, baring his fangs in a rare show of temper.
“You should know better than to lie to me,” he said in a soft voice. “Even if I couldn’t tell by your scent, it’s a simple enough matter for me to ask the Chief Mage myself. And I’m certain he would tell me that no such policy exists.”
“Huh,” Noria said. “Can shifters really smell when someone is lying?”
I grinned down at her. “It’s one of our many superpowers, kid,” I said, bumping my shoulder playfully into hers. Fenris shot me an annoyed look, but I didn’t care – I was just happy to have my friends with me.
“Your insinuations are insulting,” Canter snapped, but the scent of fresh sweat rolling out from his pores was telling – the man was a liar, and a bad one at that. “I refuse to stand here and be mocked like this.”
Fenris shrugged, gesturing to the chair behind the desk that was stationed in the foyer. “Fine, then sit and be insulted instead,” he said. “But either way, I see no reason why Sunaya can’t have a short visit with her friends.”
In the end, we were taken up to one of the “conference rooms” right off the balcony landing, which was essentially a parlor furnished in gold and green, with low couches and chaises and elegantly carved wooden furniture.
“Don’t think you aren’t under observation,” Fenris warned me, and left us to our own devices.
Suddenly nervous, I grabbed a gold-tasseled pillow and fidgeted with it as I sat. Noria and Comenius sat on the love seat opposite me.
“What?” I finally snapped, noticing the way their eyes brimmed with curiosity and reproach. “Why are you guys staring at me like that?”
“Well –,” Noria began.
“No.” Comenius laid a hand on her knee. “You can’t say it like that.”
“Like what?” Noria protested. “You don’t even know what I’m about to say.”
But I did. It was written clear as day on her freckled face. “You don’t think I’m suffering enough,” I said flatly.
Noria’s shoulders sagged, and she looked at me with a combination of guilt and anger. “Well, yeah.”
“Not that that we’re upset about it,” Comenius rushed to assure me. “It’s just that –”
“Oh who are you kidding?” Noria snapped, shoving Comenius’s hand off her knee. “Of course we’re upset about it. Or at least I am! I’ve been lying awake all night, thinking you’re being magically tortured and interrogated and experimented on, only to find out that you’re clothed and fed and perfectly healthy, and walking around as if you own the damned place.” She leveled a glare at me that was so fierce I actually shrank back a little in my seat.
“Look,” I said, scowling at Noria. “Just because I’m not chained to the wall in a dirty cell somewhere doesn’t mean I’m okay. I can’t set foot outside these walls until the Chief Mage decides to release me, and at the rate he’s going that might not be until next year.”
Noria glanced around at the fancy furnishings of the room. “I’m not entirely sure that’s a bad thing,” she said dubiously, her eyes lingering on the expensive-looking paintings that hung on the walls. “The Chief’s got excellent taste, for a mage.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Yes, well, that didn’t do me much good when I was nearly beaten to death by the guards last night.”
“What!” Comenius shouted as Noria’s face went pale. “What do you mean, nearly beaten to death?”
“And by those guards?” The shock in Noria’s voice was evident. “There must have been an army of them if they were able to take you down.”