"The horrors of necromancy are well known. The desperate desire for power and the illusion of immortality that leads a witch down that dark path can only result in misery for all around them. Truly it is an irony that these people, if such a term can even be used for a necromancer, who are driven beyond the bounds of reason and morality by their lust for power, inevitably lose control of their creations. The unavoidable result is yet more misery and pain for the innocents around them. It is fortunate indeed that Her Eternal Majesty has formed the Inquisition to protect us from the horrors these criminals would inflict."

Two Thousand Years of Empire by Jahangir Amini

=====

Velxe shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, until he realised he was doing it and made himself stop.

"So, Velxe, not only did you not meet with success on your little 'adventure', a number of family retainers were also killed and you may have made an enemy of a Mage?" Uncle Kavie's voice was as hard as he had ever heard. "I shall hear a full explanation from you, but I must confess that I am disappointed in you. You were sent for the benefit of House Rutane, not to indulge childish fantasies."

Velxe glanced at Grandmama, but her gaze was as unyielding as his uncle's. Sometimes he could forget that the man was the head of his house. This was not one of those times. He resisted the urge to adjust the sling around his arm. He couldn't show nervousness, not now.

"It was not like that Uncle. Not entirely." He needed to think fast if he was going to avoid punishment for this. Unjustified punishment too.

"Well then, please do explain to me exactly how it was. Never mind the costs to House Rutane, I had known Sir Aranthur since before you were born!"

Velxe swallowed reflexively. "I shall start from the beginning my lord." It was best to be formal when his uncle was this angry. "We travelled to the battlefield without any issues. Es… Lady Mazar and I exchanged a wide range of ideas and had many interesting discussions on the way."

Grandmama interrupted with a very unladylike snort of derision. "Lars told me that the two of you spent most of the time sniping at each other like ill-mannered children."

Velxe smiled wryly. "Perhaps. Lady Mazar can be quite difficult at times, but…"

"He also told me that you were patronising her as if she was one of your air-headed flings."

Velxe's mouth dropped open at that. "Grandmama! I most certainly did not! I do not. Also they are not air-headed!" He did not think he patronised them. Did he?

"That is by the by." Uncle Kavie waved his protest away. "I would like your account of what happened on the battlefield itself."

"Why? Did Lars have more criticism to give?"

"No, but he remembers little of it and no one else was there, other than you and Lady Mazar."

"He did get hit quite hard in the head I suppose."

"Yes, by Lady Mazar."

"Well she had to! She told him to stop, but he would not."

"Stop what exactly?" Velxe truly hated these sorts of discussions. He was never sure how much Grandmama and Uncle Kavie actually knew. Sometimes it was nothing, other times they were just testing him. Waiting to trip him up.

"Our presence there triggered something. Lady Mazar said she did not know what or how, but Weiryin started appearing out of thin air." He paused, he really hated being more ignorant than someone else. "She said something about vortexes and breaches, but I did not fully understand it." At least neither of them smirked at that confession. "Lars started flaring Weiryd while he tried to fight them off, but it seemed to attract more of them. I did not see much because I was too busy battling the ones attacking me. Lightbringer really is an incredible sword by the way, I think it saved my life."

"Ah yes, the family treasure that you handed over to a Mage you had spent the last ten days arguing with."

That was just unfair! "You told me to try to seduce her, or at least ingratiate myself with her!" He forced himself to moderate his tone. "She had just saved my life and the sword was the first thing she seemed truly enthusiastic about." He felt his face heat slightly at the memory of where his thoughts had gone at the time. "I did not let it out of my sight and she gave me her word she would not do it any harm."

"Hmm. Very well. The battlefield, continue."

"Umm, yes. I heard Lady Mazar shout at Lars to stop, but he must have continued. The Weiryding became so bad I could not even keep my feet. She told me afterwards that she hit him with a spell to knock him out. Then she simply blew away the Weiryin, it was incredible! One spell and she must have banished twenty of them."

"Knock him out? She broke his jaw and he lost several teeth from it."

"It was the heat of battle. What was she supposed to do? Try something gentler and have him lash out at her in a panic?"

"What would you know of the heat of battle Velxe?"

"I fought for my life twice in the last two weeks." Velxe was surprised at how mildly he responded to his uncle.

The man blinked and his voice softened a hair. "Yes, I suppose I cannot call you an unbloodied boy anymore."

Grandmama immediately stepped in and her tone had not softened at all. "So, after this 'incredible' feat of magic, you and Lady Mazar carried Lars back to the camp?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"You allowed a Mage to touch you. Should we be checking she did not change you in some way for her own advantage?"

Great Spirits, this was getting ridiculous. "It was that or leave Lars to die. We had just fought together, she could have just not saved me from the Weiryin if she wanted to harm me. Regardless, you wanted me to try to seduce her. How exactly do you think that would have worked without touching her?"

"A fair point." Grandmama gave him a grudging nod. "Now, tell me about Sir Aranthur and the rest." She gave his uncle a small pat on the hand.

"Sir Aranthur…" Velxe shivered. "He just got in the way. No more than that. The Arcanist was trying to kill Es… Lady Mazar. There is no question about that, he asked for her by name and once he knew she was there he attacked without any warning. Sir Aranthur would have felt nothing."

"Small comfort."

"I know." He shivered again, the man would be missed. "The Arcanist shot Lady Mazar with a hand cannon of some kind. I think it was magically enhanced, it went straight through her Schema and injured her. I know that they exchanged spells, but not what. Then he drew another hand cannon and I tried to get her out of the way."

"You put yourself between a powerful magical assassin and a Mage?" Grandmama sounded less impressed than he had hoped.

"Brave and noble." At least Uncle Kavie understood!

"But idiotic." Velxe grimaced.

"Yes, well, I did worse when I was young and stupid."

He was not stupid! "I thought that my Schema would allow me to shield her and give her time to retaliate safely."

"Idiotic, when the Arcanist had just shot straight through hers. You are worth more to this house, to us, than any outsider, no matter how Talented, or pretty, they might be."

"Perhaps." That was the most he was going to concede. "My Schema held, thank you again Uncle, but the impact threw me off my horse. I tried to attack the Arcanist while he was distracted, but he sent me flying and broke my arm. I did not see much of the rest, because of the pain, but I understand that Lady Mazar dueled the Arcanist, but was losing." He chose not to mention the Arcanist's words to him, he doubted anyone else had heard and they would just make Uncle Kavie and Grandmama angrier at him for risking himself. "The other Mages saved her and killed the Arcanist."

"We shall speak of this in more detail. However, first I wish to understand why you chose to challenge this Mohsen Bayat and why you felt it was appropriate for you to threaten him with House Rutane's wrath."

Velxe tried not to look down. He had nothing to feel guilty about, it had been the right thing to do. "It is not quite that simple my lord. You see, it started with him threatening to kill me…" Velxe launched into a full explanation.

"… and so I feel that I have started to build a positive relationship with Lady Mazar now..." As Velxe finished he trailed off, not covering up his nervousness as well as he might have hoped.

Uncle Kavie and Grandmama glanced at each other, seeming to communicate more than they could have with mere words. After a moment his uncle sighed.

"Very well Velxe. I can see that you have become fond of Lady Mazar and I accept that she could be useful to our house, although I have my doubts about some of what you have said. You may continue to pursue a relationship with her, be it friendship or romantic. Just… please try not to be so damn stupid in future, we were both worried sick about you."

Velxe sagged with relief. It seemed he would not be in too much trouble after all.

=====

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Sergeant Etroan swallowed convulsively when Lady Ester came into the training grounds. She'd only been back in Vass Karan for a couple of days and rumours had been flying in all directions. Everything from her fighting off half the Republic to marrying the heir to House Rutane and almost dying defending him from assassins sent by Duke Marcni.

He'd thought it was all bollocks, same as most rumours, but now that he saw her he wasn't quite so sure. Clearly something had happened.

"My lady, welcome back." He bowed low to her. She looked like complete shit. A black eye was framed by purple bruising across her face. It didn't even look all that recent. What in the name of the Throne had she gone and done? Was he encouraging her to get into these kinds of situations by agreeing to help her learn to fight? Not for the first time he wondered whether he should just refuse to teach her anymore.

"Sergeant, thank you. It is good to be back." He could see from the way she was moving that she was still in some pain. Great Spirits! What had happened out there? He hesitated, he didn't want to overstep. She was still a Mage, but…

"My lady, are you well? Begging your pardon, but I can't help but…" He trailed off.

She winced and her cheeks darkened. Etroan's stomach clenched. He liked to think he knew her well enough to be sure she wouldn't do something horrible to him just for annoying her, but she was still a Mage. You couldn't trust high-ups like that.

"I am well, thank you. Just an…" She trailed off for a second. "I am alive and ready to learn."

"My lady are you…" If she'd been a recruit he'd have told her to go back to the barracks and recover. The look in her eyes told him that wouldn't be acceptable. He did his best to smoothly change direction. "Are you ready to perhaps try something different?"

Maybe if he threw targets in the air for her to catch with her magic or something like that it wouldn't be too much for her.

Why did it feel like it was always him that had to deal with the folly of youth? The commonborn were bad enough, without bringing insane young Mages into it.

=====

A few weeks later Ester was deep in thought as she walked through the narrow street beside the two Watchmen. Going on patrol was still a boring waste of time. One she wished the Commander would stop imposing on her. But something was different these days. She just couldn't quite work out what and it was bothering her.

Sergeant Cino paused outside a tavern, peering in through the open window.

"Here, Alric," he waved the other Watchman closer, "is that who I think it is?"

"Aye, I think so. You want to talk to him?"

Ester tried to sidle closer to work out what they were looking at. She couldn't have been as subtle as she'd hoped because Sergeant Cino immediately looked round at her.

"Sorry my lady, we saw someone we know in there. Old Plecu." Of course, it was just someone they knew, she resisted the urge to sigh. They probably wanted a drink with him. "He's… How can I say this?"

Alric ignored the Sergeant's fumbling for words. "He's a thief and a conman. Can't trust him for shit." The Sergeant kicked him in the ankle. "Begging your pardon my lady. Can't trust him at all."

Relief shot through Ester. "So you want to arrest him?"

"Could be, could be. If you say so my lady then we will." Sergeant Cino grinned nervously at her. "But he's a useful man, knows a lot. Better talking to him than having him swinging at the end of a rope. Worse criminals out there. Doesn't always want to talk, to be sure. If you threaten him a bit though…"

That was… not shocking. She felt like little shocked her anymore. It wasn't justice though. "Well then we should…" She hesitated. Maybe the Sergeant was right. If there was one thing that she'd learnt in the months since coming to Vass Karan it was that the world was less black and white than she'd been taught. Less black and white than she wanted it to be too. But dealing with the world as it was, not as you wanted it to be, was vital for a Mage. "What are you proposing Sergeant?"

"Well my lady, there's been a new gang running thieves on the warehouses round here and we haven't been able to work them out. Some of the lords are practically screaming for blood by now. Plecu, now he knows things, but he's not going to want to tell us something that big. If you was willing to help us out with him though, I reckon we could get something proper useful."

Ester barely hesitated. "Very well. What would you like me to do?" She could keep trying to work out what had changed once they were back on patrol.

"Just follow my lead, if you don't mind my lady. Stand there and try to be…" he groped for a word and then waved his hand in the air, "try to be Magey."

"Magey?" Despite herself she let out a slightly unladylike snort of laughter. She got herself back under control almost immediately, but still! Magey?!

A moment later the Watchmen had strode inside the tavern, Ester walking behind them, her expression as haughtily blank as she could make it. The hum of conversation vanished at their entrance, replaced by a hostile silence from the patrons.

"Alright Plecu?" Sergeant Cino and Alric stopped in front of him, butts of their spears resting on the ground.

The chubby greying man in front of them looked up, his eyes widening before his expression morphed into a smooth grin. "Sergeant, Alric, what can I do for you?"

"Information. We want something on the new gang that's been knocking over House Plaute's warehouses."

"I don't know anything about that!" His response was instant, there was no way he'd even considered it.

"Come on now Plecu, give us something and we'll buy you a drink and be on our ways."

Plecu's eyes flicked across the tavern, taking in the other patrons who weren't even pretending not to listen.

"I told you, I don't know anything! Even if I did, it wouldn't be worth my life to tell you."

"You think if you don't help we'll just let you walk away?" The Sergeant's voice dropped to an angry growl.

"Come on now Sergeant I'm sure he wants to help, we wouldn't want to see him hanging." Alric laid a restraining hand on the angry Sergeant's arm. Ester resisted the urge to blink, if she didn't already know better she'd have actually believed that they disagreed about how to treat the man.

"Yep, I'd help you if I could, but I don't know nothing." Plecu's sudden smirk suggested he thought he'd won. "Anyway, if you try to arrest me here…" He made a show of surveying the room. "I'm not sure how it would go for you and I wouldn't want my friends in the Watch to get hurt."

Sergeant Cino shrugged. "Well, normally I'd agree, but you see my hands are tied. Have you met Lady Mazar?"

Behind her Ester heard a couple of chairs scrape back, followed by the sound of their occupants hurrying for the door.

"So your hands are tied because you're being supervised by some nobleborn girl? My sympathies Sergeant, but I don't think it changes your situation, does it? Maybe a bit foolish of you to bring a noble lady here with you, but I won't stop you leaving."

"Ah, well. You see, Lady Mazar's a real stickler for protocol. I persuaded her that you're helpful, not some criminal that needs taking in, but she wasn't sure about that."

"Her problem, not mine."

"Thing is, she's also a Chartered Mage, so I think that's very much your problem Plecu."

Ester allowed a small smile to creep onto her face and focused, shaping her magic. Runes sprung into being around her and she knew that the rest of the room would be seeing her growing, her form distorting into horrifying shapes as she did.

Plecu's eyes followed the illusion above her head, widening as they did. Around the room chairs hit the floor as people ran for the door.

"Ah well, like I said, I don't know…"

Ester twisted the spell, making the illusion loom forward over him. "You said he was helpful, but he seems like any other criminal to me." She sneered. "Take him and we can go home for the day."

"As you say my lady." The two Watchmen grabbed him and Sergeant Cino glanced around the now empty tavern before lowering his voice. "Right Plecu, you're under arrest. We're gonna take you back to the Watch headquarters. If you tell us what we want to know, we'll let you go with a few bruises to make it convincing. Otherwise, we'll give you over to Lady Mazar. I heard she needs some new test subjects."

Ester had to stop herself from grimacing at that. She wasn't some kind of monster! Regardless, Plecu blanched and then started speaking. Far faster than before. "Alright, alright. I'll tell you everything I know. Please, just don't give me to the Mage!"

=====

Ester sat in her room humming tunelessly to herself as she focused on carefully carving runes into a thin sheet of iron with her magic. After seeing Velxe's sword she'd had a number of ideas that she wanted to try and she finally had time for one of them.

Making Schemas out of iron was frustrating. It was both more difficult to work and considerably less effective than proper materials like gold, or even silver. It was what it was though. Unless they started paying her a lot more, she wasn't going to get any gold.

So she'd make do, as she always did. Ester shrugged mentally and bit her bottom lip as she focused her magic to carve the rune for 'wall' into just the right place. She hoped Velxe hadn't been in too much trouble with his family. He'd been getting increasingly nervous as they got closer to Vass Karan and while he'd sent her a letter since then, it hadn't really said much except that he'd like to meet. She'd have to make time for that.

When she finished the rune Ester leant back and looked over her work with a satisfied nod. A few more and she might be able to give this Schema a test run.

It was funny really, Velxe had turned out not to be all that bad at all in the end. Still far too full of himself, but putting himself between her and Mohsen… The Arcanist too. That had been very brave of him. Stupid. But brave. Maybe she'd let him be her assistant when she was a hero.

Ester smiled at the idea. He probably wouldn't like it at first, but then when she was finally made a Master he'd have no choice but to acknowledge her brilliance. Adventures with him at her side, saving the Empire, hailed as heroes…

She gave herself a shake. She needed to focus on her Schema, not on silly fantasies. She cleared her mind and prepared herself for the next rune. Its placement would need to be just perfect or it wouldn't make the connection she wanted.

Achingly slowly her magic ground the shape into the iron. Precision was everything.

Bang! Bang! Someone hammered on her door and Ester's concentration flickered, causing the rune to distort.

"Drat!" She was going to have to remove that one and redo it, or possibly even melt the iron back into smoothness and start all over again.

Ester let out a frustrated growl and stood up. What a waste! She was going to give whatever idiot Watchman had bothered her an earful!

She stalked over to her door and flung it open. "What is it? Do you not know…"

Ester trailed off, faced with someone she didn't recognise. A portly middle aged man, standing there with a puffed up chest like some kind of self-important bird. Likely a servant based on his clothing, but a senior one for someone rich.

"Lady Mazar?"

"Yes? What do you want?" She didn't bother to conceal her irritation.

"I have a message for you."

"And it was so important that you needed to hammer on my door? I am very busy you know." Normally people were more worried about bothering a Mage. Why was it that people lost their fear of magic at the most inconvenient times?

"Indeed." His tone suggested he was as unimpressed by her as she was by him. "I am in the service of Master Tabasi and he asked me to deliver this to you directly." He held out an envelope.

"Oh." Ester stood there for a second and then gave herself a mental kick. "Of course. Do you wish to wait for an answer?" If a Master Mage, let alone the most powerful one in the city, wanted to bother her, then that was very much his prerogative.

The servant looked around himself with a faint air of disdain. "I shall wait."

"Very well, thank you. I will be brief." Ester took a certain immature satisfaction in closing the door in his face before she hurried to her desk and tore the envelope open.

The letter inside was short, written in a neat, almost finicky hand.

"Sister,

While I would always hesitate to interfere in the affairs of another Mage, I have been unable to avoid noticing that you are attracting a great deal of attention, much of it negative.

This has, as you are no doubt aware, resulted in your involvement in several unfortunate and unseemly situations. Naturally, my preference would be that you restrict yourself to activities more appropriate to you and I would be happy to recommend such. However, for all of your feminine impetuousness, you remain a Mage and I should not presume to command you in these matters; regardless of how improper they might be or how much I personally might disapprove.

Given your continued insistence on defying social convention, which I would remind you exists for a good reason, I find myself worried on your behalf. It would not behoove me to see a talented young woman who has done so much to overcome her inherent weaknesses injured or killed through her own ignorance.

Please attend me at my residence at fourth bell in three days' time and I shall endeavour to rectify that ignorance in some small way.

Yours under the Throne

Master Aref Tabasi"

Ester put the letter down with trembling hands. The language was pompous and insulting, but if she was reading that correctly, Master Tabasi had just sent her an offer to teach her. That was… That was beyond anything she could have expected.

She read it again, just to make sure she hadn't misunderstood and resisted the urge to leap up and start jumping up and down while laughing manically. Master Tabasi's servant would almost certainly hear. She needed to be calm, dignified and she really really needed not to make a mess of this opportunity.

Ester focused her mind, emptying it as if she was about to cast a spell and then reached for her inkpot. She'd need to draft a suitably polite reply and then think about how she'd avoid losing her temper with him once she was there.

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