“I appreciate that.” And was relieved to hear it. Of course, work was work and had to be done. But a nice boss at least tried to work with people so they weren’t stuck with something they weren’t comfortable with.
Lisette ticked things off on her fingers. “I need a gathering wand, focus crystal, and herb pouch renewed. Two more gathering wands need to be made. Which have you done or would like to try this morning?”
“I’ve done gathering wands and herb pouches. Never a focus crystal.”
“Then let’s start with the wands, do a focus crystal next.” Lisette was up, far more spry than her age suggested she should be. “I think I have the perfect wood to work with.”
“I’ve only ever used spruce wood for my wands.” Tori followed her to a cabinet that held a variety of wood stacked on shelves. The scent coming from the cabinet was divine.
“Oh? Of course, spruces likely were common in your area.”
“One of the few trees we had. That and pine.”
“I have spruce, pine, beech, and oak in here.”
“Can we do oak?” Tori touched a particular branch that had a good size to it. “I like the look of this one.”
“So do I. Take it, and I’ll grab this one. With some wands, we’ll be able to harvest much faster. Those high-hanging vines are such a chore at times.”
Tori followed her to the table. His heart had been right, after all. There was no reason to be nervous around Lisette. This was the easiest evaluation of his skills he’d ever experienced, and it ended with him working magic alongside a master.
The day couldn’t go any better than this.
King Rodrigo Valerii of the Ice Dragon Clan was, as Cameron immediately dubbed him, a silver fox. He looked a little like ice personified, with thick blond hair so pale it was almost white and pale blue eyes that seemed to see right through you. The paleness was only accentuated by the dragon’s dark, bespoke suit. However, his tie and matching pocket square were an interesting explosion of color.
Baldewin probably would find him intimidating if he weren’t so friendly in nature. The man’s charm had a way of disarming him before Baldewin could get his guard up.
Now, his head mage, Evora? The woman scared the shit out of him.
Baldewin eyed her sideways as everyone settled in the formal receiving room. His composure nearly shattered when Alric attempted a formal greeting, but the ice dragon walked straight up to Alric and embraced him in a tight hug, thumping him on the back as if they were long-lost friends. Baldewin recognized Rodrigo’s head retainer, Thiago, from a couple of recent video chats, and the man simply rolled his eyes and sighed, as if he wasn’t surprised by his king’s impulsive and friendly behavior.
“We don’t need any of that formality between us after all our conversations,” Rodrigo exclaimed with a broad wave of his hand as he released Alric.
Alric’s smile turned a little wry, considering that, until the past couple of months, it had been centuries since the two kings had communicated on a regular basis. “I only wish to show the great king of the Valerii Clan the respect he deserves.”
Rodrigo let out a deep belly laugh. “If there is any respect to be given, it all goes to you, great mage hunter!”
Baldewin softly cleared his throat when he saw Alric flush under Rodrigo’s praise. It wasn’t often that Alric was flustered, but it was clear Rodrigo was going to give Cameron a run for his money in that department.
“And that is why we have come. We are here to study at the feet of the master, so we can bring new mages into our clan,” the Valerii leader continued.
Alric nodded, straightening a little. “And we are happy to share all we know with you. But you must be tired after your travels. We have rooms prepared if you would like to freshen up—”
Rodrigo waved off his offer. “We spent last night in Paris. Lovely city. Hasn’t changed as much as I would have expected in five centuries.” He paused and made a face. “Well, at least they’ve stopped fighting with Italy. But we are rested and ready to speak about mages.”
The formal receiving room had comfortable chairs for this sort of visit, all of them situated around a large oval, with a long coffee table in the center for snacks. Alric took his usual chair, Cameron at his right, as he should be, while Dieter sat on Alric’s left, Baldewin beside him.
Rodrigo had brought three bodyguards with him, but after showing them that the room was perfectly safe for the king, they were taken on a tour of the castle with Ravi and Warin. There was no way he was leaving Ravi alone with the Valerii. Warin would help to temper Ravi’s tongue. But then, if the bodyguards were anything like their king, they would be quite comfortable with Ravi.
For the Valerii side, Rodrigo was accompanied by Thiago and their head mage Evora. They all chose seats, with Rodrigo sitting directly across from Alric.
“Cameron,” Rodrigo greeted in that gravelly voice of his, “I want to thank you for all the information you’ve compiled and sent to us. It’s helped us get a better picture of what’s happening over here. And that spell you detailed for us, of how to break Jaeggi trapping spells. My mages were over the moon with that, weren’t you, Evora?”
Evora’s narrow face normally looked sharp enough to hack a man to death. She was pretty, certainly, but a femme fatale in search of a noir movie. In this moment, she unbent enough to give Cameron a slight smile. “We are always glad to have a spell in our repertoire that helps us protect our dragons. Especially one tried and true. I do wish to speak with you more on it.”
“Of course,” Cameron encouraged with a smile. “Just go easy on me. I’m still learning magic.”
Rodrigo leaned forward in his chair, concern writing itself into the lines of his face. “But it concerns me we even need this spell. Why are the Jaeggi so intent on being our enemies, even now? What are they trying to accomplish by kidnapping our mages? Do we still only have a half-guessed answer to these questions?”
“I’m afraid so,” Alric sighed. “Our recent run-in with them gave us some information, as you know. Tori—our new mage—believes their magic is somehow dysfunctional. Or warped. He said their auras are unlike a normal mage’s, and certainly, they don’t operate the same. Every time they encounter a mage, they either try to abscond with them or, in this latest attempt, try to drain them of magic on the spot. It speaks of a dark, underlying problem.”
Cameron picked up the tale smoothly, his hand coming to cover Alric’s and grip it on the chair’s arm. “All of us here have been throwing this theory back and forth, and I have little to substantiate it, but I think it’s plausible. I think when Kaiser Jaeggi enacted the spell that wiped out the mage clans, it backfired.”
“An anti-spell,” Evora murmured thoughtfully. “It’s true. A spell that powerful, it must have been an anti-spell. I think none of us really sat and considered it at the time. We were too busy trying to hold our clans together. But I can’t think of how else he was able to do it.”
“We’ve had time to think about it now and still can’t,” Cameron agreed with an unhappy frown. “The man abruptly died in the middle of the war, and I’ll bet you that was the reason. The anti-spell blew up in his face, killing him, and possibly damaging all of his clan members.”