“Ow.” The abused male peeled his face off the floor. “Lord Enchanter, you promised that the teleportation magic wouldn’t hurt.” He propped himself up on his elbows, then smiled brightly when he saw Angelique. “Hello there, Lady Enchantress!” He nonchalantly waved to her, then hopped to his feet. “You look—” He was cut off with a choking sound when Clovicus grabbed him by the neck of his robe and yanked him backwards.
“Manners, manners, manners,” Clovicus clicked in irritation. “What are your teachers doing if you don’t even know to wait for your betters to exchange greetings first?”
“They did teach me that,” the young man confirmed. “But you told me I should rebel against society.”
“Yes, well, you shouldn’t rebel when it’s inconvenient for me,” Clovicus said.
The young man grinned. “I understand, Master Clovicus.”
“I am not your master,” Clovicus stressed. “You were a convenient tool of escape. Now be a good child and be quiet—and don’t touch anything.”
“Okay, Instructor Clovicus!”
Clovicus pinched the bridge of his nose. “What did I just say?”
The young man grinned. “Sorry, Lord Enchanter.”
It took a moment for Angelique to recognize the lad as one of the students Clovicus had been forced to temporarily teach a year ago. He had grown a little since then, but he still had his easy-going manners and carefree smile.
“It’s good to see you, Lord Enchanter Clovicus.” Angelique looked curiously from Clovicus, to the student, and back again.
Clovicus inhaled deeply and rolled his shoulders back. “Yes, hello, Angelique. I apologize for the unexpected intrusion, but I felt we needed to talk. Might we sit down?”
Angelique bowed her head. “Certainly. The sitting room is this way.”
She led the pair out of Evariste’s bedroom, down the stairs, and trooped through the hallway to the front sitting room—which also contained the windows to Farset and Baris.
Clovicus paused at the front door. “Ahh, perfect. Here, you impetuous cub. Go play outside.” He opened the door and motioned for the gangly student to step outside.
The smiley student blinked. “Do I have to? Since you gave Wallace the slip, you must have something interesting to talk about!”
“Out!” Clovicus pushed him out and firmly shut the door behind him.
When Angelique raised an eyebrow, Clovicus sighed. “I wanted to speak to you without the knowledge of the Veneno Conclave. I used him as an excuse to leave my office without the supervision of my busy-body assistant.”
“Wallace, right?” Angelique asked. “He is one of Councilmember Crest’s men?” She stepped into the sitting room and took a seat in a straight-backed armchair.
“Indeed, he is.” Clovicus followed her into the sitting room, although he remained standing and peered through the front windows, watching the student approach the ducks sitting at the edge of the pond. “Which is precisely why I didn’t want Wallace knowing I was coming to talk with you, or the entire Veneno Conclave Council was sure to hear about it.”
Angelique set her hands in her lap. “How did you know I was home?”
“I’ve been glancing in Evariste’s office to check on the portal, hoping to catch you. Last night I saw a light creeping under the crack at the bottom of Evariste’s bedroom door. When I arrived at my office this morning, I was looking to manufacture an excuse to escape Wallace, and I happened upon Grandmaster Intellect out there.”
The happy-go-lucky student crouched down next to the ducks. Unfortunately for him, the ducks didn’t take kindly to the invasion, and they started pecking at his legs.
He leaped to his feet and ran across the lawn, three ducks waddling after him and beating their wings.
“Tristisim has stuck me with that guppy out there and his motley crew for two additional fieldtrips. As such, Wallace didn’t get too suspicious when I said he was in need of mentoring.” Clovicus watched, his brow furrowing as the student evaded the ducks long enough for them to settle down.
That was when the student caught sight of the porcupine eating bark off a stack of logs and set off to investigate the animal.
“You know,” Clovicus said conversationally. “I truly think he might be an idiot.”
Angelique watched with apparently more concern for the lad’s safety than the Lord Enchanter. “Is it safe to leave him out there?”
Clovicus shrugged. “Nonsense! This is mentoring at its finest—we are allowing him to learn the law of cause and effect.”
“If you say so.” Angelique watched doubtfully for a moment longer before she shifted her gaze to Clovicus. “Has the Conclave caught Carabosso again?”
Clovicus winced. “Ahh, yes. Back to our necessary conversation. They have not.” He finally eased himself down onto the settee next to Angelique and picked at some of the purple embroidery on his pristine white robes. “They have been searching, though. The Council dispatched multiple teams of extremely skilled mages to search for him. It seems they’re finally aware that the Conclave might not recover its reputation if they don’t get something right soon.”
“Have they at least been able to find a lead?” Angelique asked.
Clovicus shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Carabosso has disappeared without a trace. I suspect he slipped off to whatever secret base the Chosen have built because even the most advanced tracking spells can’t locate him. It’s like Evariste’s disappearance all over again.”
Angelique shut her eyes and wished she could shut out the disappointment and heartbreak as easily.
I have to hold it together. This is an important conversation. I can’t let myself be overwhelmed right now.
She cleared her throat and forced her eyes to open so she could calmly meet Clovicus’ gaze. “It’s possible Carabosso might have had a spell that contained some of Evariste’s magic that let him use a transportation gate to go straight to their base.”
“That’s right—I got your letter about the second attack from that knife-wielding black mage,” Clovicus said.
After the attack—or more correctly, after she’d stopped shaking from adrenaline and disappointment—Angelique had sent messages out to Lord Enchanter Clovicus, Prince Severin of Loire who was the organizer behind the alliance of countries that was moving to oppose the Chosen, and Fairy Godmother Sybilla—a kind mage Angelique had met through her association with Evariste.
Clovicus continued, “You said he used portal magic to escape?”
“Yes.”
Clovicus sighed. “That’s going to make tracking Carabosso nearly impossible. Sole is livid—rightfully so. The only thing that has allowed us to save face with them is that you haven’t rescinded your orders for Mage Firra and Mage Donaigh, so they have remained with the royal family. Well done in that venture, by the way.”
Angelique shrugged. “I wasn’t trying to cover for any potential trouble. Actually, until this mess with the Chosen is over, I have no plans to rescind my orders ever. If I did, the Veneno Conclave would no doubt demand Firra and Donaigh return and cloister themselves with the rest of the magic users who are low enough on the chain of command they can be bossed around, and I can’t lose them.”