Shadows in the Smoke - 3 - A Polite Request

"Awake you People from your sleep Awake subject, serf and worker The Revolution's trumpets are sounding deep Arise and fight with all your ardour For at last ends the age of kings Servile masses come to your feet Together until freedom sings The People march to the beat

So citizens go forth and sound the call We fight for freedom One and all"

The Revolutionary Hymn, Anthem of the Republic

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Ester rubbed her forearm over her eyes and then sat back with a deep sigh. How long had she been working down here?

She glanced around the dark stone basement room that had unofficially become the closest thing she had to an office in the Watch Headquarters. She was fairly sure she'd heard a Watchman call it Mazar's Den when he thought she couldn't hear.

At least it wasn't dusty or dimly lit like it had been when Ester had taken it over. Instead a couple of Schemas cast bright light across the stone walls and every surface had been left as spotless as magic could achieve. Pupli and Sethra couldn't have done a better job.

Still, clean wasn't the same thing as tidy. Crates were stacked haphazardly around the room. A mixture of her work for the Watch and her own projects. The workbench in front of her was covered in various tools, thin sheets of cheap metal and scribbled designs and none of them did what she wanted!

With an angry huff Ester slumped lower in her chair. There were no professors here to chastise an apprentice for poor comportment. She knew she shouldn't be getting frustrated with herself, not so early into a new project, but sometimes it was difficult.

With Velxe leaving and Vass Karan seeming thankfully quiet, she'd thought she could distract herself by trying to design a new Schema. Something useful, maybe even something she could sell to supplement her stipend. Her idea would be a fun gift for an adventurer or anyone who had to travel a lot really. A dual use Schema, something that could provide gentle heat in a tent all night, but then if needed, also work as a secret weapon, shooting out a beam of fire at an enemy. Obviously using it as a weapon would burn it out very quickly, but she enjoyed the thought of some vulnerable, soft-looking traveler being attacked by bandits, only for him to surprise them with her deadly invention and escape.

The problem was getting the Schema to be able to do two things, while keeping its efficiency and degeneration rate manageable, and it just wasn't working. Ester hadn't even tried putting anything together yet, just sketched out ideas for the array of runes and she could already see none of them would work.

She glanced down at the sheets of paper she'd already wastefully used up. She might be better off than she'd ever been, but she should probably be using chalk on a board or wax tablets rather than wasting paper.

Ester reached out for her pen again and then scowled and instead stood in a decisive movement. This was pointless, she wasn't getting anywhere at all with it and was just getting more and more frustrated. Maybe tomorrow. If things were quiet with the Watch, she might be able to make more progress. For now though, she was going to go home and read something.

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By the time Ester returned home from the Watch Headquarters her bad mood hadn't improved. Her mind wouldn't stop working, but instead of coming up with possible solutions to make her Schema work, she just kept getting the same old ideas coming round again and again.

After the obligatory greetings from Pupli and Sethra she headed straight for her bedroom. Maybe there she could clear her head and actually relax a bit. She'd read something light, not that stupid book on philosophy Velxe had lent her. Last week she'd bought herself a copy of Aram Falair's Adventures, just close enough to a historical text to be semi-respectable, but not the sort of book a proper lady would be meant to read. Not that anyone got to tell that to a Mage. Maybe she'd start on that, although she wouldn't be having much in the way of adventures sitting in the Watch Headquarters' basement.

With a scowl Ester threw the door open and headed straight for her wardrobe.

"Bad day?"

Ester shrieked, spinning round faster than she'd have thought possible, fire already forming around her hand. As she registered who it was, sitting far too comfortably on her bed, she let the magic fade away.

"What… What are you doing here?!" She couldn't bring herself to give him his title. Either of them.

Sir Vitaly gave Ester as smug a smile as she'd ever seen from him. "I wanted to have a discreet word."

"So you broke into my house and waited for me in my bedroom?!" It was beyond inappropriate, even for an Inquisitor!

"I did say a discreet word." His smile didn't budge.

"I put up wards!"

"Well they clearly weren't very good ones then, were they?"

"They…" Ester took a deep breath. Attacking an Inquisitor, however justified, was unlikely to end well. Also, she was very sure Sir Vitaly would win any fight between them. She took another deep breath, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to say anything anyway. "What can I do for you, My Lord Inquisitor?"

To her satisfaction he grimaced at the title. "Sir Vitaly please, even in private. Now, I wanted to speak to you because I had a proposition," he paused as if to think, "perhaps more of a request."

"A request?" Ester wasn't completely naive. A request from an Inquisitor might as well be an order for all of the likelihood that anyone would refuse it. Particularly when that Inquisitor had just broken into her home to make it.

Sir Vitaly's smug smile returned. "Indeed, a request. You may, of course, say no to it."

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"I will serve Her Eternal Majesty in whatever way I can." That at least was true. She didn't even have to pretend. If the Empire needed her she was ready. Maybe it would even be a good thing to keep her distracted with a new project. Just let it not be something as horrific as the Marcni Vaults. If she never saw another walking corpse in her life she'd be delighted.

"I thought you would say that. You have heard about the delegation traveling to the Republic shortly." It wasn't a question, but Ester nodded nevertheless. Although actually, how had he known she'd heard about it? "The Inquisition would like you to join that delegation."

Ester froze. What under the Throne?! Standing there under Sir Vitaly's amused gaze, it took her a moment to gather her thoughts enough to reply.

"Why would you…? I cannot, I have my duty… But…" She trailed off.

"Well the why is easy, I think you being there would be helpful to the Empire's interests so that ties in nicely with your duty. Your duty is to the Undying Queen, the Watch will survive without you. As for the but, I assume you're going to say something like you're very busy at the moment. I shan't dignify that with an answer."

Ester took a deep breath. She wasn't sure whether Sir Vitaly was more annoying in his public personality or in what she had to assume was his true one. It was almost enough to make her forget what he was and say something that might come back to haunt her.

"The Watch needs me though, Commander Savate would never agree to me leaving. And I don't see how me going to the Republic would help the Empire's interests."

"Commander Savate will do as he's told, like you he serves the Empire. I'm sure the Watch will muddle on without you and wouldn't you rather go on an adventure to a foreign power than sit around making Schemas and hunting down petty criminals?" Ester did her best to ignore the little jolt of energy that shot through her at that idea. She was happy here. She was!

"I only want to serve the Empire." She hesitated, but Sir Vitaly still seemed to be feeling affable enough, so she ploughed on. "I do not see what I could do for the Empire that someone else could not do better though."

"Well there's always someone better, at least until you reach the ranks of the Archmages. And Her Eternal Majesty Herself too, of course. However," Sir Vitaly leant forward, "you have many excellent characteristics which I very much want to see applied in the Republic." He held up three fingers. "Firstly, you are a skilled Mage with an inquiring mind. I would like you to find out what you can about the state of the Republic's magic."

"You mean be a spy?" She wasn't going to do that! "You said I was a terrible liar!"

"Oh no, not a spy. An arcane liaison." Ester frowned at the term, it sounded vaguely inappropriate. The sort of thing some of the nobleborn apprentices who didn't have to care about their reputations might do at the Academy. "You will be there as part of an open delegation to build links with the Republic's Arcanists and if you happen to learn some interesting things, well that's just the way things work, nothing underhanded about it at all. We do very much want to be friends with the Republic now after all."

"We do? Why though? Is it just money? Velxe said…"

"Yes, well young Velxe knows all about money I'm sure. House Rutane is certainly good at obtaining it. However, no, there are other considerations." Sir Vitaly paused, as if considering whether to tell her more. "The Republic seems inclined towards trying to repair ties and the Empire of course wishes only for peace."

"Of course." Ester nodded. She knew very well that the Empire didn't seek war with its neighbours, but the Republic was still dangerous. Sometimes the Empire had no choice.

"And, frankly, the Republic is not the only external threat faced by the Empire and at this point Her Eternal Majesty would prefer to focus the Empire's attentions in other directions. Therefore, it's time for us all to pretend we're good friends and that means you can go and see what they have to show you."

"But would they not learn things from me too?"

"Oh, I expect so, but you're no Battle Mage, I'm not too worried about you giving away our military secrets. In fact, I hope that your harmlessness will put them off guard and allow you to learn more."

"My harmlessness?" Ester couldn't quite keep the outrage out of her voice.

Sir Vitaly gave her a bland look. "Well yes. You are still in your second decade, a woman, not trained in battle and somewhat naive."

It took Ester a couple of seconds to clamp down on her temper and fumble for a polite response. "I think that is a little unfair."

"Well, so long as they believe it." He looked infuriatingly pleased with himself. "Just think, they might even teach you some of their combat magic."

He was manipulating her. If Sir Vitaly wanted her to learn combat magic he could arrange for someone in the Empire to teach it with a simple 'request'. Of course he was, and he wasn't even trying to hide it, but Ester still couldn't help the spark of excitement at the idea.

"You said there were three reasons." She kept her voice cool. At least she could pretend not to be caught up in his game.

"I did, didn't I? Secondly, you were almost killed by an Arcanist. A rogue acting outside the Republic's desires of course. Nevertheless, your presence on the delegation will be a powerful symbol of goodwill and reconciliation."

"I see." It did make sense, in a way. "And the last one?"

"I trust in your loyalty to the Empire."

"Oh." Ester felt her lips curve up slightly. Obviously she was loyal, but to have an Inquisitor acknowledge it, that was something special. "Thank you, Sir Vitaly." It almost made up for everything else he'd said and done today. Almost.

He waved a hand dismissively. "So, will you do it?"

There were so many reasons why it was a bad idea to say yes. Just getting involved in the Inquisition's scheming was a recipe for disaster, gallivanting off to the Republic was probably highly improper behaviour for a young woman and there were myriad things she needed to do in Vass Karan. Ester didn't hesitate. "Yes, I'll go."

Sir Vitaly stood in a fluid motion and clapped his hands together. "Excellent! I never doubted your willingness, so arrangements have already been made. I expect Commander Savate will be having a word with you tomorrow. Please do try to act surprised, or at least blame young Velxe. Now, I'd better be off before your staff come and investigate the noise." He took a step towards her window and then looked over his shoulder. "Maybe spend some of the journey thinking about how to make better wards too."

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Velthur Savate pinched the bridge of his nose as he scowled down at the letter on his desk. Before the man's precipitous fall, he'd had to fend off Duke Marcni's attempt at depriving him of his Mage and now it was happening again.

For a moment he considered refusing and then quickly dismissed the idea. It wasn't a request for young Ester's services, just a blunt order, and it wasn't like he had any authority to stand on anyway. Carefully rebuffing a Duke was one thing when you were the local head of an Imperial institution like the Watch. However, Governor Hashem was a direct representative of the Throne, he very much did have the authority to order Velthur to loan Ester to the diplomatic party.

It was just deeply frustrating! After all the trouble and disruption of her first few months in Vass Karan, she was finally settling down and becoming a useful asset for him and the Watch, rather than going off on hare-brained, and worryingly successful, schemes to find adventure.

There was nothing he could do to stop her being sent to the Republic, but maybe he could get something in return for his cooperation. Given everything that had been going on in Vass Karan the Governor did accept that the Watch had been underfunded. Velthur could probably convince the man that further support would be needed during Ester's absence. If he played his cards right, maybe he could even keep the extra resources after her return. Assuming she didn't get herself killed out there of course, which he had to admit was rather more of a possibility than he'd like. The question was, what to ask for. He didn't want to overplay his hand after all.

Velthur scanned further down the letter to the list of notable members of the delegation. Interesting, she wouldn't be the only Mage, which raised more questions about why it was so important that she go. Not something he had any intention of going near, this had all the signs of political scheming far above his position.

He kept going, finding nothing unexpected until his eyebrows shot up at the final name on the list.

That would certainly be interesting. Ester would no doubt be delighted, naive fanatic that she was, but he wasn't sure having that man along would be all that helpful for her or the delegation's survival chances.

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