Meaning she was rebuking me for being careless.
“Two attacks on wizards in one night,” Bernard said. “It can’t have been a coincidence. Both wizards were part of the king’s council. Do you think rogue wizards are challenging the king by destroying his wizards?” He regarded a couple of wizards eating together at one of the high tables.
Lord Percy spread some butter on a roll. “Whatever the motive, I imagine the king’s next appointments won’t be eager to accept the position.”
Master Godfrey scanned the room, taking in the mages and their robes. “Who can King Leofric trust now that he knows some of Aerador’s wizards are working against him?”
“Who indeed,” Madame Godfrey said. “It makes one look at all the visiting wizards with suspicion.”
And I hoped everyone’s suspicions didn’t wander.
Agnes made a tsking sound. “What will become of Mage Saxeus?”
Lord Percy bit into his roll, chewing without concern. “The king’s steward asked Lord Ainsworth if Saxeus could retire to their estate.”
“Will they take him back?” Lady Edith asked. “I would’ve felt quite abandoned if I went to a wedding and without any notice my wizard threw me over to work elsewhere.”
“I imagine they’ll take him,” Lord Percy said. “The king offered to pay for a cottage on their estate, so Saxeus would have a place to live. If you ask me, that’s high payment for a day’s work.”
“Very generous of the king,” Madame Godfrey declared and everyone jumped in to agree, that King Leofric was the most generous of men, as though he might hear the conversation. He wasn’t even at breakfast. Neither Ronan nor Mage Zephyr had come either.
A trumpeter at the front of the room blew a short note and all the wizards in the dining hall stood and began filing out of the room.
“Where are they going?” I asked.
“Convening with the king,” Lady Edith said. “If you’d been on time this morning, you’d have heard the steward announce the meeting to them.”
Agnes craned her neck to watch them go. “Do you suppose King Leofric is sending all but his own wizards away?”
“That’s what I would do,” Madame Godfrey said. “Send the lot packing and make his next appointments carefully. He needn’t rush to choose. He still has two wizards left on his council to see to anything he needs.”
The other wizards were my alibi. If they left today and Mage Zephyr and Ronan lost their marks tonight, everyone would know that an unknown wizard was among them. They would search the men for marks, and when they didn’t find any, would they think to search the women? Or would Ronan save them the trouble and tell them of my mark right off?
If he admitted he’d given a woman a mark and she’d used that power in an act of rebellion, he might be put to death too. Would that be how our story ended, like some tale of tragedy meant to warn people not to give power or affection where it wasn’t deserved?
“If King Leofric sends them away,” Master Godfrey drew my attention back to the conversation, “he’ll never discover who the guilty wizards are.”
Lord Percy leaned forward and lowered his voice, taking us into his confidence. “It’s my understanding the meeting was called in part to uncover the truth of the murder.”
I took a drink with a mostly steady hand. “Do they have clues to the rogue wizards’ identity?”
“They must have,” Lord Percy said as though it was self-evident.
Anxiety crept up my back. Had I dropped any of my spell things when I’d fled Redboot’s room?
“One would suppose,” Lady Edith said, “that someone clever enough to take a wizard’s mark would be careful not to leave clues behind.”
Ihadbeen careful but perhaps not careful enough. If the king was about to discover the truth, I should devise a way to escape and take Alaric, Lady Edith, Joanne, and… how could I take Gwenyth with me?
Her health was already uncertain. Sitting in a carriage for days was out of the question.
Although perhaps I was worrying when it wasn’t necessary. The king might have no idea as to my identity. Surely, I’d left nothing behind that could point to me.
Alaric would tell me that we should stay and complete the mission. If we failed, if nothing changed, the renegades would begin planning to go to battle again.
In order to make a sound choice, I needed to know what was transpiring in the king’s meeting. Eavesdropping on a collection of wizards would be dangerous. Normally, I’d stay clear of a group of wizards who were looking for a traitor, but it was my fault the mission was in jeopardy. I should find out if the people who’d come with me to Valistowe were also in danger.
I excused myself from breakfast so I could pay a visit to the king’s council room.