“Cadence is feeling a little light-headed. We need to get some food into her.”
“Again?” Gia put her tray on the table and pushed it toward me. “Here, have this. I’ll get another one.”
“Please allow me,” Zeke said smoothly, although his brows had drawn together at her initial comment. “I’ll bring back food for both of us.”
Gia accepted the offer, sliding into the seat next to me with a ready smile and a stream of complaints about her morning.
“It’s not as if they needed me there for any of it,” she huffed. “They didn’t even want me, other than for show. I can just imagine how they would have responded if I’d started giving out opinions.”
“I’m sure they’ll be interested in your perspective once you’re a qualified mage,” I offered, unsure what else to say.
“Maybe,” Nik grunted as he took the seat on Gia’s other side. “Or maybe they’ll want her to silently attend meetings for the next thirty to forty years, waiting for her turn to come.”
I shot him a glare as Gia’s expression turned slightly sick. Anybody would think he was trying to goad her into doing something outrageous.
“I’m sure that’s not the case,” I said with totally unfounded confidence before curiosity compelled me to add, “Were they discussing the raider attack? What are they going to do?”
“A census.” Gia rolled her eyes, snatching a fork off the tray Zeke deftly slid in front of her and scooping up a mouthful of mashed potato. “The most boring possible response to something as provocative as an attack.”
“A census?” I looked from her to Nikolas to Zeke. “What kind of census?”
“They want to know where all the kingdom’s mages are,” Zeke said. “To find out if any are missing. Mother’s assured him the rogue mage can’t have come from the nomads. There’s no way the General could have abducted any powerful mages from among the tribes without word getting out. Tribes are more akin to extended families, and any of them would call on the king for assistance in defending themselves against such an outrage. And he, in turn, would call on the other tribes. So we would all hear of it.”
I nodded, although rumor suggested old King Fenix wasn’t capable of anything much these days. But no doubt his tribe would act for him, if needed. Each generation, one tribe was elected to guard the nomads’ single fixed city—giving up their roving ways in exchange for dominion over all nomad tribes for the span of their leader’s life. And apparently uniting the tribes to protect themselves against external threats was included among the ruling tribe’s responsibilities.
“So Father fears the General has somehow managed to abduct Tartoran mages,” Nikolas finished. “The Mages’ Guild has authority over all mages, but they don’t actually require all of them to live here at the Guild. Many mages are spread across the kingdom, and some have little contact with the Guild after they graduate from their apprenticeships. As long as they don’t cause trouble, they’re left alone. Which might turn out to have been a mistake.”
“Considering the mages serve all sorts of useful purposes across the kingdom—from healing our people to preserving our crops—it’s hardly a mistake,” Gia said. “Hopefully the census will determine if any of them have gone missing along with the abducted villagers.”
“So they definitely think the raiders have multiple powerful mages?” I asked with a sinking feeling. “Is it so impossible they have just one or two who’ve come from among their own number?”
“Yes, it is,” Nikolas said dismissively. “We would know if they had bloodlines of such power—beside the General himself, of course. For generations now, anyone born with a strong seed has been sent to the Guild—or to one of its far-flung mages, at least—for an apprenticeship. It means the only people with strong abilities are mages, further ensuring that only their apprentices—who automatically become Guild mages in turn—can have strong abilities in the next generation. There just aren’t people wandering around out there with powerful abilities—unless they’re accredited Guild mages, of course.”
“Except the General.” I played with my potatoes, too distracted to eat.
Why did everyone dismiss his existence? If he could have a strong ability outside of the Guild system, why couldn’t others?
“Well, there’s always an exception,” Nikolas said shortly.
I glanced at Gia, but she just shrugged while Zeke looked almost as confused as I was. I sighed. Clearly Nikolas wasn’t going to engage on the question further.
I changed topic. “Are they moving the tour forward?”
Given the preferred lifestyle of the nomads, King Marius and Queen Celestine planned a tour around the kingdom for the duration of their stay, rather than expecting them to remain within Tarona’s walls.
“No,” Gia said around a mouthful. “There are more members of Tribe Nicabar to arrive still, as well as the delegations from Tribes Callen and Patrin.”
“So it’s definitely happening?” I asked. “Members of the ruling tribe are actually leaving the hidden city to come to Tartora?”
Zeke nodded. “Mother confirmed it. Tribe Patrin knows its rule is coming to an end—King Fenix can’t possibly last much longer—and they’re seeking to position themselves for the future. They’ll want to leverage their current status to its fullest while they still have it.”
“Even so, it’s significant,” I said. “I know there have been nomad delegations in Tartora in the distant past because I looked up the records myself. But I don’t think any of them included members of the ruling tribe.”
“Thus why we’ve all been studying nomad culture for the last months,” Nikolas said. “Father will be furious if anyone coming on the tour disgraces the kingdom through ignorance.”
“So they’ll all be here in four days as planned?” I asked. “And we leave on the tour in five?”
I couldn’t help a small thrill of excitement when Gia nodded. I’d been counting down to the tour for what felt like forever. Finally Evermund and I were going to have the chance to take our search further afield. He’d been looking for signs of Airlie everywhere his official business took him, but I knew I would have better luck than him—he couldn’t sense her the way I could. If I could only get close enough to bring her into range, there was nowhere the raiders could hide her from me.
“I’m afraid we’re not going to be around much.” Zeke gave me an apologetic look.
I glanced at Gia who looked a little sour but didn’t dispute his words. With foreign delegations involved, she couldn’t fully embrace her Apprentice Gia persona for the next few months, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise.
“I don’t think I’ll have time for the library myself,” I said. “Every mage included in the tour has been having their apprentices prepare for them, so I’ve offered my help to Evermund. I’m the closest thing he’s got to one with Airlie missing.”
Gia placed her hand over mine, giving my fingers a quick squeeze. “Evermund has asked everyone going on the tour to keep an eye out for any sign of her. I’m certain we’ll find something.”