Page 36 of The Study of Magic
“And if Alea is a magician…” Frustration choked off his words. Why did he think burning down the Criollo factory would neutralize the threat? It was like a weed and had spread as weeds do.
“If Alea is a magician, the generals are vulnerable to her influence,” Ari finished. “Do you think that’s why General Tesso was so…resistant to your efforts? And why General Franis behaved so badly over General Ute’s promotion?”
“The generals never liked me, but, normally, they are more…subtle,” Valek said. He considered. “It’s possible, but that would mean there’s a magician for each general. There’s no way one person could control them all from a distance.”
“Unless Alea has her very own magical ring of horror to boost her range,” Janco said, spinning his finger in the air.
“That’s a terrible thought,” Ari said.
“What’s worse?” Janco asked. “Seven magicians in Ixia, targeting each of the generals, or a single really powerful one?”
CHAPTER7
Thinking of Mogkan, Valek replied, “One powerful magician is worse than seven with lesser powers. In either case, I need to alert my corps about the danger. Perhaps one of them will discover something useful.”
“Do you have agents in the barracks at the Commander’s castle?” Janco asked.
“Worried one of them is going to report you for sleeping through the morning meetings?” Ari asked.
“No,” Janco shot back a little too quickly. “I’m just curious. We all know about your network of spies. How extensive is it?”
“That information is classified,” Valek said. “And we have a problem to solve.”
“What to do about the generals,” Ari said.
“Yes. What would you suggest?”
Janco rubbed a hand through his goatee. “Why do anything? Won’t the effects of the Criollo wear off eventually?"
“As long as there isn’t any more Criollo. We don’t know how much the factory produced before it was destroyed,” Valek said.
“We could visit each general and you could track the magic to the source and capture the magician. Ha!” Janco pumped his fist in the air.
Not a bad idea. Yet that assumed the magician was nearby. Then Valek remembered what General Tesso had said about the generals discussing the situation with the Commander and Valek.
“Or we wait until all the generals are in one place and see what happens,” Valek said and told them about Tesso’s comment.
“Won’t that be too dangerous?” Ari asked. “What if there are seven magicians and they all come together?”
“We’ll be one step ahead of them,” Valek said. Ari and Janco failed to look reassured. “It’ll be similar to the time we knew there was a threat to the Sitian Delegation. Remember? We discussed all the ways a person could target the talks and we planned for each. In the end, we stopped the assassination attempt.”
“Except, Yelena almost died,” Ari said.
True. And he had been completely powerless, unable to do a damn thing to help her. Dreadful.
“What’s next?” Ari asked.
“We keep searching. There’s still Mogkan’s suite, his laboratory, and where he chained his victims.”
Janco groaned. “I was afraid you’d say that.” He rubbed his stomach. “I think I’d rather be stabbed again than go near there.”
“If it helps, I don’t think there’s much inthatroom.” He hoped. “I’ll check it while you and Ari search his suite.”
“My hero,” Janco said.
* * *
A damp funk tainted the air in the two lower levels of the East Wing. Valek, Ari, and Janco each held a lantern to push back the darkness. Still not enough light. Valek stopped at every wall sconce and lit it. The windows had all been covered with bricks. Another thing to add to General Ute’s long to-do list.
