Барб Хенди - First and Last Sorcerer

Convincing the others might be easier without her, and then she would be more easily swayed.

Ghassan was well aware that Wynn sided with him only under duress, but she was intelligent enough to understand the situation. Her pressing him about the prince had come too close to the truths he was not yet ready to share.

Years before, his sect had noted the doctrinal differences between the emperor and his son, to the point where all of the sect knew they would need to intervene. The empire had to be steered toward a path of reason and not a theocracy rooted in a dead, dark religion that few even knew had once existed. The prince’s lean toward the former made him a target for those who found his way of thinking—and his future potential rule—dangerous.

Ghassan had cunningly befriended the heir to the imperial throne during the prince’s youth and found him trustworthy to a fault. By introducing the young man to a few of the sect, one at a time, he began Ounyal’am’s awakening to his father’s destructive beliefs.

It had not been pleasant for the young prince. It had also not been much of a surprise, considering all that the young prince would have seen in the imperial court under his father’s rule.

To protect the prince, the sect agreed on something that had been unthinkable before. They created one of their own medallions for Ounyal’am.

Ghassan taught him how to use it, and the prince’s quick acceptance was startling. In another life, he could have been a worthy “sage” if not specifically a metaologer.

Another life was not to be had. An imperial prince was a tool to wield against the emperor’s ways. And the medallion had other properties that manifested over time as Ghassan continued teaching the prince. If he focused, Ghassan could nearly always sense Ounyal’am’s whereabouts, or at least direction.

In the past, this had seemed another way to watch over the prince.

Ghassan could not help dwelling on how much time Magiere had spent under Khalidah’s influence ... inside her mind. What if that thing had established a like connection to her? That very possibility had also pushed Ghassan into cornering Wynn.

He needed her to make his case to the others and through them to Magiere. There could be no hint that such influence came directly from him where the dhampir was concerned.

Ghassan reassessed all present, starting with Wayfarer, and Leesil, and then Chap. Osha was no threat, as he was so obviously enamored with Wynn and would follow wherever she led.

At the last, he glanced into the chamber’s back corner.

Fortunately, Chane lay dormant. The night before, the undead was the one who had been intellectually, and physically, the most challenging. Ghassan had held back from dealing with that one for fear of alienating Wynn.

Shade sat guarding Chane, but she would also follow Wynn in all things.

Then there was the scarred elder, Brot’an, more dangerous and unpredictable than the undead. Chane’s impulsive side was linked to protecting Wynn, while Brot’an’s personal motivations were a mystery. For now, he simply bore watching.

Wynn half turned where she crouched beside Chap. “Osha ... Brot’an, Shade ... there is plenty of stew if you’d like some. I will bring Magiere a bowl and see if she is awake.”

Before she could take further action, Ghassan interceded. “Events are unfolding around us, and we need to make some decisions.”

Osha stood off toward the front door, and Brot’an still sat cross-legged on the floor in the chamber’s front right corner.

Leesil put down his spoon. “What decisions?”

In turn, Ghassan looked to Wynn, though she looked away.

“The domin believes we have to hunt down this specter,” she said, “before we can search for the last orb ... and I think he may be right.”

“Like I said last night,” Leesil retorted, “Magiere isn’t hunting anything. Not now.”

Chap sat up, ears rising. No one reacted, so apparently he was only listening. Brot’an rose from sitting without bracing a hand on the floor and stepped toward Ghassan.

“I agree with Léshil,” the elder elf added. “This specter is your problem, not ours.”

Ghassan said nothing to this and glanced at Wynn.

“It is our problem,” she countered, “if this specter inhabited whoever interrogated Magiere. According to the domin, Khalidah—in life—served the Ancient Enemy. If he’s been inside Magiere’s mind, he might know about the orbs ... at least that some have been found. Now that she has escaped, he will not stop hunting for her. If he has a host with enough authority, he could have imperial guards or even the military at his disposal.”

Leesil dropped his spoon and was already arguing with her as it clattered.

Several times Wynn turned on Chap as well for whatever passed silently between them. In the end, she accomplished what Ghassan had needed and without his involvement or being the source of more ardent resistance.

Leesil dropped both elbows on the table, though his breaths were labored by anger. Chap became still, his large blue eyes shifting about the room, but since Wynn made no reaction, the dog said nothing.

In the long silence, Ghassan wondered whether it was time to reveal his connection to the prince. There were things even Wynn did not know and could not have reasoned out. So, as simply as possible, he began to explain how he had come to know Ounyal’am.

When all remained silent, neither resisting further nor consenting, he was forced to take one more risk. He pulled the copper medallion from inside his shirt.

“My sect created one of these for Prince Ounyal’am, so he could communicate with us and we could protect him.”

He shared in short some of what he had told Wynn, including his sense of the prince’s direction within a limited range.

Wynn’s eyes locked on him without blinking. “What are you saying?”

“Khalidah may have a similar awareness of Magiere. If any of you escape this city and take her with you, you may lead him wherever you go ... including to another orb.”

Wynn pushed up, trying to gain her feet, but her heavy chair did not slide away, and she toppled back into it. “Why didn’t you make that clear? There’s already an orb here ... with her ... in the other room!”

Ghassan remained calm at her foolish panic. “No one can find us here by any means. The sanctuary is secure, even from me while outside of it. That was its ultimate purpose. Why else would I have brought and kept all of you here? But we must destroy Khalidah before you can attempt to leave this city.”

“He’s right.”

Even Ghassan was caught off guard by a new voice. Leesil roughly shoved back his chair to gain his feet as Chap wheeled and lunged off across the room toward ...

Magiere stood watching from the bedchamber’s entrance. She was wrapped in a thin blanket and gripped the doorframe for support.

When the gray majay-hì neared her, he slowed as if hesitating. He dropped his head, with perhaps only his eyes looking up at her as his ears lowered.

Magiere looked down at Chap as if startled, though that came too late to have been caused by his rush at her. A low whine filled the room, and the canine utterance was pained and pitiful, like a howl caught in Chap’s throat.

Magiere’s eyes widened in something akin to fright. She dropped to her knees and put a hand against the side of his face.

“No,” she whispered. “Don’t say that. Even if you could’ve ... you couldn’t. It’s all right ... Please, you did right.”

Ghassan was lost by all of this, and apparently so were the others.

“Leesil?” Wynn asked quietly.

He shook his head as he both stared and frowned at the pair in the bedchamber entrance.