Shadows in the Smoke - 2 - Unwelcome News

"Enemies of the Republic accuse it of abusing its so-called nobleborn and other privileged classes. This is simply untrue. The founding principles of the Republic are equality for every citizen, male or female, rich or poor. The accident of your birth will accord you no privilege in the Republic, but equally it will bring you no disadvantage. Why, at the time of writing, no fewer than three members of the Central Committee would have been considered nobleborn under the backwards political structures of the Old Regime. However, they rose to that position on their own merits, as did every other member. Unfortunately, to those that have benefited from unearned privilege, equality can feel like oppression."

The Struggle for Freedom by Bjarne Midthun

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The next day saw Ester in the basement of the Watch Headquarters with several boxes of jewelery taken from the shop she'd raided laid out in front of her. Commander Savate had been so pleased with how things had gone there that he'd told her he wouldn't notice the way she was limping. Ester still couldn't quite get her head around the man. Or figure out what the man actually thought about her, but since he wasn't complaining she wasn't going to worry herself with it.

With a small thrill of anticipation Ester pulled on a pair of gloves, ignoring the sharp pain in her shoulder. At least this might be interesting. She doubted that any of the witches had come up with anything overly interesting, but she could learn things from badly made Schemas too. Technically she was meant to be checking for anything treasonous or dangerous, but frankly she didn't expect to find anything like that.

She reached into the box and pulled out the first item. A bronze brooch covered in small carvings. A glance told her it had no magical power whatsoever and she tossed it aside without a second thought.

The next three were the same. How many people had these witches deceived with their false goods? However, she could feel the magic in the fifth the moment she picked it up.

Ester focused on it, silently reading the clumsily carved runes on it and building a mental map of them. It was something to do with heat, that much was immediately obvious, it was probably meant to keep the wearer warm. Useful for someone who spent a lot of time outdoors, particularly in winter. She could already see it was horrendously inefficiently designed though and that was without considering the low quality of the carving.

Ester pushed a tiny bit of her own magic into the Schema and watched it flow through the runes. As she'd expected, the pattern rapidly attenuated her magic. After a moment she put it aside into a different pile from the discarded items. It wasn't completely useless, but it would wear out after a couple of days of use and produce very little heat in the meantime. Whoever had made it clearly hadn't had much idea what they were doing.

On to the next one.

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By the end of the day Ester felt even more exhausted than she did after a long tutoring session with Master Tabasi. Most of the day had been a complete waste of time. Those items that were genuine Schemas were almost all crude and borderline useless. There had only been a couple of dangerous ones. A ring that would have left the wearer with burns and a plaque that was meant to promote healing, but would probably have left the user dying of cancer in weeks. It was difficult to believe anyone who wasn't an actual Master had tried to make a healing Schema! More annoyingly there'd been nothing interesting in there at all for her to learn.

However, as she walked out of the imposing gates of the Watch Headquarters, she still had a spring in her step.

It didn't take long to walk to the Lonely Trumpet. It was an inn, albeit Ester suspected its owners and clientèle would have been offended to hear it called that. Whatever it was, it catered to the wealthy and powerful. It wasn't the sort of place she went to of course.

Ester smiled wryly at that thought. It wasn't like she went to any drinking establishments at all, but when she'd been invited she'd asked around about the place.

The doors were made of ornately carved wood and an imposingly tall, finely dressed servant stood outside. He wasn't visibly armed, but he was built more like a guard than a doorman. As Ester approached, he looked her over, his eyes pausing just for a fraction of a second on the crossed lightning bolts on her collar, before bowing low and pushing the door open for her.

With a muttered 'thank you', she stepped inside. There was none of the filth or clamour of the Fighting Cocks in Clanis Edge, or even any of the inns she'd slept in on the way to Vass Karan. In fact, the place was spotlessly clean, with patrons wearing clothes that probably cost more than her annual stipend sitting around talking quietly to each other. Well, mostly quietly anyway.

"Lady Ester, over here!" Velxe's shout echoed across the whole room, gaining both him and her irritated glances from many of the other patrons. Her face heating, Ester started to hurry towards his table, only to quickly remember herself and slow to a dignified walk.

"Lord Velxe," despite his over enthusiastic greeting she gave him a genuine smile. She still hadn't quite figured out how she felt about him, but just having someone who was willing to treat her like a friend rather than a Mage was nice, even if he was still completely full of himself.

"Please, sit down. These are my friends Cuinte and Lars. My lords, this is Ester Mazar, Chartered Mage."

"My lords." Ester nodded politely to the two young men as she pulled a chair out for herself.

Both of them sprang to their feet and bowed low.

"Lady Ester."

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"Pleased to meet you, my lady."

It was a little odd, people weren't normally so enthusiastic when they met her. Particularly not nobleborn. Then again Velxe was a bit odd, so maybe his friends were too. Ester shrugged it off and turned her attention back to Velxe, just in time to catch the amused grin he was shooting at his friends.

"So how have you been Lord Velxe?" Ester did her best to ignore whatever byplay was going between the boys. It was probably some kind of inside joke that they thought was hilarious and no one else would find the slightest bit funny.

She sat back as Velxe started telling her about how his grandmother had been overworking him and relaxed into the flow of conversation, aided by a glass of watered-down wine that a serving girl deposited in front of her. It was nice having a friend.

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"So have you heard about the discussions with the Republic delegation?" Given the company, it had been inevitable that the talk would turn to politics sooner or later. Ester could only be thankful it had taken a couple of hours.

When Lars and Velxe nodded she shook her head. She'd known that an ambassador had been sent and obviously something was being discussed, but not what. The knowing looks that went between the young noblemen were irritating though. Of course they'd have inside information, or at least might think they did.

She made sure not to let that irritation show in her voice. "No, I knew they were here, but I thought the negotiations were secret."

Lars' lips turned down slightly. "I do not see why we are talking to these people. They would like nothing better than to bring down the Empire."

He was probably right about that much. She'd almost been killed by a Republican Arcanist too. If not for the intervention of a Battle Mage and his trainees she wouldn't even be here today. But then the Empire's reaction to that had hurt a lot of innocent people. Republicans who'd had nothing to do with any conflict. Was it ever a good thing to have conflict where it wasn't necessary? It was those kinds of questions that made her glad she wasn't involved in anything political.

Ester settled for asking a question rather than revealing her own ambivalence. "Why are they even having negotiations though? I had thought there was little left to be said."

Of course Velxe took that as his cue. He really did like being given opportunities to sound intelligent. It could even be useful. Very occasionally. "Duke Marcni, before his… unfortunate fall," even Ester couldn't miss the sidelong glances the other two young men shot at her, "was an opponent of improved ties with the Republic. With his death other factions, including House Rutane have gained influence over the matter." Of course he sounded pleased at being able to mention his own house. "Given that Governor Hashem and therefore the Throne are not opposed to this, negotiations are happening."

"You'd know all about that wouldn't you." Lars gave Velxe a nudge at the same time as Ester grumpily replied.

"So it's just about money and power then? Not a thought for the dangers of the Republic, their own actions, or even what the Empire did to their people with its purge?" Neither of Velxe's friends looked impressed by that. To Ester's surprise though, Velxe didn't go off on a patronising speech about political realities.

"I agree, but would you rather we just killed each other instead? Isn't talking better than fighting?"

Ester blinked in surprise a couple of times. That had been a very un-Velxe like thing to say. Even after what they'd been through together.

"I… I suppose so." He was right, frustrating as it was to admit it to herself. "Too many people have died already." She had to suppress a shudder. She'd seen too many deaths, caused too many of them. Velxe understood that, she could see it in his eyes. It was his retainers that had died at the hands of the Republican Arcanist. He'd even put himself between her and the killer.

"What happened to you Velxe?" Cuinte chuckled. "Surely a good kicking is what is needed to keep those revolutionary idiots under control!"

Velxe sighed. "Cuinte…"

"Well he can hardly be too bloodthirsty given what he's going to be doing." Irritation flashed across Velxe's face at Lars' interruption.

"Come on!" Velxe's sudden shout brought their nattering to a stop. "Can we talk about something else?"

"What are you going to be doing, Velxe?" Ester could hardly let him get away with changing the subject like that.

Velxe looked less than happy at her question, but after a moment he sighed. "There is going to be a delegation going back to the Republic. To improve relations and discuss trade."

Ester shrugged. "Well alright, that seems sensible I suppose. If we are talking, then why not continue talking?"

"Well, yes, but I will be joining them to represent House Rutane."

"Oh." Ester stared for a second, a her stomach momentarily twisting. "I see."

"We should be leaving." Lars suddenly stood. "Cuinte and I have appointments." Cuinte looked at him for a second and then jerked and winced before standing too.

"Ah yes, thank you for the reminder, Lars. Velxe." He turned to Ester and bowed. "Lady Mazar. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

As they hurried away Velxe gave her a long look. "Why did you have to scare them away?"

"What?!" She hadn't done anything! "How did I scare them away?"

Velxe held her gaze with his green eyes. Vass Karaners were all so pale, but even they didn't normally have such interestingly coloured eyes before looking down. "Don't worry about it, anyway, how have you been?"

Ester jerked her attention back to their conversation. "Wait! No, you are not going to avoid this. Why did you not tell me you were going to the Republic?"

"Well it was meant to be a secret and I…"

"A secret? But they knew!" Ester wasn't even sure why she was getting so worked up about this. It wasn't even like she cared all that much what Velxe did.

"Look… I am sorry Ester." He reached out and patted her forearm. Of course he was careful to touch her somewhere where there was cloth. Ester resisted the urge to scowl at that. "I should have told you, I did not tell them. They found out through their own contacts. Not from me."

Ester scowled at him. "Fine. Alright." She took a breath and forced the tension out of herself. "I understand. I was just surprised. Sorry."

"Nothing to apologise for." Velxe visibly relaxed. "At least you will not have to put up with my rambling while I am gone."

"I suppose not. How long will you be gone for anyway? Maybe I can find something you have not read in the meantime."

Velxe flashed her one of his characteristic grins, although it looked a little forced. "I doubt that, anyway I would have thought you were far too busy to do much reading these days, especially with everything from that Schema shop to go through."

Ester felt a frown forming, how did he know about that? She dismissed it under his amused gaze. Of course he knew, he always seemed to know what was going on around her. "I suppose I will be at that. Sometimes I do not know how I find the time to do anything."

She was going to have to work harder while he was gone to keep herself distracted. Velxe was pretty much the only person she could see as a true friend in Vass Karan. His grandmother, Caia, was nice, but Ester could never quite get her head around the woman and it felt like everyone else she knew was either far above or below her, or just uninterested. Or in many cases uninteresting.

"Ha! I have no idea how you find time for everything you do do. You should try to relax more or you will die of a heart attack before you hit 25."

"Just because I am not as lazy as you does not mean I overwork myself. You should try applying yourself some time." Ester smiled to take the sting out of her words, then hesitated wondering if she'd gone too far.

"Pfff." Ester relaxed at the dismissive noise Velxe made. "If you were any more highly strung the staff could hang laundry off you."

"I am surprised you do not think that clean laundry just appears like magic in your rooms."

It was nice having a friend, even if she still wasn't totally sure how she felt about Velxe. Ester could only hope she wasn't going to be too lonely while he was gone.

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