you mean Alain was set up, too?” Mari demanded. “The Mage Guild knew he was going to run into serious trouble?”
“The elders at Ringhmon knew more of the plans of the shadows there than they revealed to Mage Alain,” Asha continued. “They were not surprised that the caravan he guarded was attacked, nor that the attack was so powerful as to be beyond any Mage’s ability to counter. They did not expect him to survive, believing that either in the attack or afterwards, alone in the waste, he would die.”
Mari stared at Asha, aghast, but Alain simply nodded, his expression perfectly calm. She could see him withdrawing a bit into his Mage state to deal with the ugly news.
“This explains much,” Alain said tonelessly. “I wondered why the elders in Ringhmon were unconcerned with the fate of the caravan but acted much distressed over my arrival. All of their questions centered on the Mechanic who had accompanied me in escaping the ambush and the desert waste.”
“Just so,” Asha said. “She had not been anticipated. This also I learned, Mage Alain. Your suspicions regarding the attack in Imperial territory were correct. The plan was again that you should fail in your task, and this time surely die in the process. Your fate would not be left to the efforts of commons or chance. Some Mages would be ordered to ensure you did not escape, and if possible the common military force that you accompanied would be eliminated completely, leaving no witnesses and ensuring the magnitude of your failure would be as great as possible.”
“I had wondered why so many Mages were in the force that attacked the Alexdrian soldiers, and how those Mages could have known so surely where I and the Alexdrians would be,” Alain said. “If not for Mari's arrival, I would surely have 'failed' again just as the elders planned. But I was ordered to the Free Cities from Dorcastle. Do you say the plan had already been decided upon at that time?”
“Yes, Mage Alain, your fate had already been decided before you left Dorcastle.” Asha paused. “I was able to learn much because the elders themselves are asking many questions, and in the questions asked, answers can be found. The elders do not understand how you escaped the dragon in the north. They know no single Mage could have defeated that spell creature, nor any force of commons.” Her eyes went to Mari. “The elders do not even consider the possibility that one of the toys of the Mechanics could have accounted for the dragon.”
Mari, stunned by what she had been hearing, managed to nod. “They’re partly right. If my friend Alli hadn’t designed those special weapons, I couldn’t have nailed that dragon.”
Alain had let some puzzlement show. “Could you learn why this decision was made, Mage Asha? To humiliate me and see my death before ever I met Mari? I had assumed my errors after coming to know Mari had led to the decision that I must be eliminated as a threat to the Guild.”
“I cannot be certain,” Asha said. “But the elders do now openly declare you to be in error, ensnared by the wiles of a seductive young female Mechanic whose charms you could not resist.”
“Oh, give me a break!” Mari burst out. “Just who is this irresistible, seductive young female Mechanic?”
“You have ensnared me,” Alain pointed out.
Not in the mood for joking about that, Mari glared at him so strongly that Alain visibly flinched. “Any time you want to be free of my snare all you have to do is ask, Mage Alain. Did you learn anything else, Asha?”
“Yes,” Asha replied. “Mage Alain, you are not the youngest ever to have been declared a Mage. A century ago, one was declared a Mage at the age of sixteen. She died before she became seventeen, in a failed contract. The records say she had neither the experience nor the skills of a Mage, despite having been declared so by several elders at the Mage Hall in Cathlan. Forty years before that, one gained Mage status at
“The elders at Ringhmon knew more of the plans of the shadows there than they revealed to Mage Alain,” Asha continued. “They were not surprised that the caravan he guarded was attacked, nor that the attack was so powerful as to be beyond any Mage’s ability to counter. They did not expect him to survive, believing that either in the attack or afterwards, alone in the waste, he would die.”
Mari stared at Asha, aghast, but Alain simply nodded, his expression perfectly calm. She could see him withdrawing a bit into his Mage state to deal with the ugly news.
“This explains much,” Alain said tonelessly. “I wondered why the elders in Ringhmon were unconcerned with the fate of the caravan but acted much distressed over my arrival. All of their questions centered on the Mechanic who had accompanied me in escaping the ambush and the desert waste.”
“Just so,” Asha said. “She had not been anticipated. This also I learned, Mage Alain. Your suspicions regarding the attack in Imperial territory were correct. The plan was again that you should fail in your task, and this time surely die in the process. Your fate would not be left to the efforts of commons or chance. Some Mages would be ordered to ensure you did not escape, and if possible the common military force that you accompanied would be eliminated completely, leaving no witnesses and ensuring the magnitude of your failure would be as great as possible.”
“I had wondered why so many Mages were in the force that attacked the Alexdrian soldiers, and how those Mages could have known so surely where I and the Alexdrians would be,” Alain said. “If not for Mari's arrival, I would surely have 'failed' again just as the elders planned. But I was ordered to the Free Cities from Dorcastle. Do you say the plan had already been decided upon at that time?”
“Yes, Mage Alain, your fate had already been decided before you left Dorcastle.” Asha paused. “I was able to learn much because the elders themselves are asking many questions, and in the questions asked, answers can be found. The elders do not understand how you escaped the dragon in the north. They know no single Mage could have defeated that spell creature, nor any force of commons.” Her eyes went to Mari. “The elders do not even consider the possibility that one of the toys of the Mechanics could have accounted for the dragon.”
Mari, stunned by what she had been hearing, managed to nod. “They’re partly right. If my friend Alli hadn’t designed those special weapons, I couldn’t have nailed that dragon.”
Alain had let some puzzlement show. “Could you learn why this decision was made, Mage Asha? To humiliate me and see my death before ever I met Mari? I had assumed my errors after coming to know Mari had led to the decision that I must be eliminated as a threat to the Guild.”
“I cannot be certain,” Asha said. “But the elders do now openly declare you to be in error, ensnared by the wiles of a seductive young female Mechanic whose charms you could not resist.”
“Oh, give me a break!” Mari burst out. “Just who is this irresistible, seductive young female Mechanic?”
“You have ensnared me,” Alain pointed out.
Not in the mood for joking about that, Mari glared at him so strongly that Alain visibly flinched. “Any time you want to be free of my snare all you have to do is ask, Mage Alain. Did you learn anything else, Asha?”
“Yes,” Asha replied. “Mage Alain, you are not the youngest ever to have been declared a Mage. A century ago, one was declared a Mage at the age of sixteen. She died before she became seventeen, in a failed contract. The records say she had neither the experience nor the skills of a Mage, despite having been declared so by several elders at the Mage Hall in Cathlan. Forty years before that, one gained Mage status at
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