Burned (9 page)

I had to bite back my response.
I’m so sorry my imminent death is making things inconvenient for you.
Instead I took a measured breath, then spoke once I was calm. ‘Voting against it could also be seen as a more measured response. Avoiding escalation.’

‘There is that.’ Undaaris sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk, then looked up. ‘Perhaps there might be a solution.’

Undaaris was acting as though he’d had a new idea. I didn’t believe it – the futures hadn’t changed. He’d had this in mind since the beginning. ‘What did you have in mind?’

‘The Keepers are planning an operation,’ Undaaris said. ‘I don’t know the exact details – operational security is quite tight – but from what I’ve heard, it involves your old master in some way. I imagine they’d be very grateful for your assistance.’

‘Assuming they trusted me enough to let me come.’

‘Well, you’re a Keeper auxiliary, aren’t you?’

‘True. How would this benefit you?’

‘Well, it would be a show of good faith, wouldn’t it? If you took part and the operation was a success, then they could hardly keep maintaining that you were a danger to the Council. You’d have shown that you’d left your old master entirely behind.’

‘I’d like to think I’ve done that already, but I take your point. And I assume you’d like me to make it known that you’re the reason I’m joining?’

‘Well, yes, that would help.’

‘And in exchange, you’d feel yourself able to vote against Levistus?’

‘It’s not quite as simple as that.’

‘It’s pretty simple to me.’ I was managing to keep my voice calm, but it was difficult. ‘There’s not much point me helping the Keepers if I get executed at the end of the week. I agree to take on this job, and in exchange, you vote against the proposal. Deal?’

‘If the mission is a
success
,’ Undaaris said. ‘If it turns out to be a failure, then, well…’

‘Then they’ll assume that it’s because I betrayed them,’ I said.
Lovely. Well, it’s not as though they can execute me twice.
‘Fine. Then if the mission’s a success, you’ll vote against the proposal.’

Undaaris sighed. ‘You drive a hard bargain, don’t you?’ He straightened. ‘All right.’

I studied Undaaris. He looked back at me with an honest expression. ‘I guess we’ve got an agreement, then,’ I said.

‘Indeed.’ Undaaris rose to shake my hand. ‘Best of luck.’

Lyle was waiting in the hallway. ‘Did it go well?’ he asked.

‘About how I was expecting,’ I said. ‘Do you know the details?’

‘Well, just the basics,’ Lyle said. He moved to lead me towards the room where I’d arrived, and I followed. ‘Ah … did you take the assignment?’

‘Didn’t really have much choice.’ I hadn’t bothered to get the details. The Keepers would know more, and it wasn’t as though there was anything he was realistically going to say that could make me turn him down. ‘How long’s this been on for?’

‘It’s a bit of a rush job, really. We suddenly started hearing about it while we were still in America. They’ve been pressuring us for support.’

‘Did they ask for someone like me?’

‘Er.’ Lyle opened the door to the waiting room. ‘Actually, that was my suggestion.’

I looked at Lyle in surprise.

‘Well, Talisid called. He’d been hoping to set up a meeting, but I wasn’t sure if Undaaris was available, and we got to talking, and, well, it seemed like a possible solution. I hope.’

I walked inside. ‘I see.’

‘You’re not upset, are you?’

I leaned back on to the table and shrugged. ‘Given your motives, it would seem a little ungrateful.’

Lyle seemed about to go, then paused. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘Lyle, I’m under a death sentence. I’m not going to be “all right” until that’s fixed.’

‘Oh. Yes.’

I gave Lyle a nod. He started to turn away, then hesitated. ‘You know … when I introduced you to Levistus, it really wasn’t … I was just trying to help.’

I blinked. ‘Seriously?’

‘Well … I mean, yes, the Council needed a diviner. And I’d been asked to find one, but … You seemed to think I was out to get you. I really wasn’t. You’d been out on your own for so long, that was all. I mean, you’re an excellent diviner – you always were – but you were spending all your time in that little shop, and it was such a waste. I really didn’t expect it to turn out like this.’

I stared at Lyle. He shifted uncomfortably. Probably he thought I was angry, but the truth was, I was just puzzled. I honestly didn’t know what to say.

‘I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I hope this goes better,’ Lyle said. ‘You know. Just to make up for things.’

‘Yeah.’ I paused. ‘Thanks.’

Lyle nodded. ‘Well then. I’ll have them call you, shall I?’ He closed the door behind him.

I stared after Lyle for a moment, then took out my gate stone to make the journey back.

Back home, the first thing I did was to get out my communicator and check that Lyle had been telling the truth. I didn’t want to call Talisid over something so minor, so I looked into the futures where I did. It’s hard to read details from future conversations – too much application of free will – but if you focus only on asking simple questions, and if the person you’re talking to is sufficiently well disposed towards you to
answer
a simple question, then you can get reasonably reliable results. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that Talisid confirmed it. It really had been Lyle’s idea.

It was a minor thing, really, but it still made me pause. When you’re under pressure, it’s easy to fall into thinking that everyone who’s making your life difficult is a bad guy. The idea that all of this crap with Levistus might have started because Lyle was originally trying to do me a
favour
… well, it made things feel like less of a conspiracy and more like something else. Black comedy, maybe.

Of course, given how well his good intentions had worked out last time, it wasn’t actually much of a reassurance that he might also have good intentions
this
time. I might have a plan of action, but I was very much aware of how many weak links it had. First, I had to be accepted for this mission. Then I had to not only make sure it was successful, but also make sure that I was seen to have made a sufficiently positive contribution. And even if I did all that, there was no guarantee that Undaaris would follow through on his end of the deal. He’d been fairly open about his reasons, but he was still a politician and I didn’t have any good reason to trust the guy. A lot of steps; a lot of chances for things to go wrong.

But it wasn’t as though I had much choice. I needed to get this resolution blocked, and Undaaris’s offer was the only realistic chance I had.

I sighed, put the whole thing out of my mind, and looked into the future to see what would happen if I called Luna. Unsurprisingly, she was busy training with Chalice. I wanted to check in on her, but I figured she didn’t really need any distractions. Instead I called Landis.

Landis picked up immediately. His image didn’t appear above the disc; the ones Keepers get are audio only. ‘Oh, hello, Verus.’ Landis sounded far too cheerful, but then he usually does. ‘I imagine you’re looking for an update on Vari and his friend, hmm?’

‘Actually, no,’ I said. ‘I heard there was some Keeper operation in the works. Wondered if you were free for a chat.’

‘You’re getting yourself involved in that? Would have thought you had other things on your mind.’

‘Yeah, there’s kind of a connection. I’ll tell you about it in person.’

‘Well, ours not to reason why. Drop by and I’ll put the kettle on.’

Landis lives in Edinburgh, in a tall stone house down a side alley. I found the right door and knocked; no answer. I tried the bell; it didn’t work. After a brief glance through the futures I tried the handle. It opened into a dark hallway. I closed the door behind me and climbed the stairs.

Landis, unsurprisingly, was up in his workshop. I’ve visited his home a few times now and it seems to be his preferred room – Landis’s hobby is magical items, particularly ones that explode or set things on fire, and he seems happiest when he’s surrounded by his tools and toys. Right now he was in the corner, a tall man with sandy-brown hair, long arms and legs bent over something mounted on a workbench that was glowing with an orange-red light. ‘Verus!’ Landis called without looking in my direction. ‘Have a seat, there’s a good chap. I’ll be just a tick.’

I checked to see what would happen if I did, and caught an unlikely future of being scalded by a blast of steam. I walked over to the side wall and examined the source of the disturbance; it was roughly spherical, with steam hissing from a small chimney, and was radiating fire magic from the apparatus underneath. The metal sphere was hot enough to burn the skin off my hands. I had no idea what it was, but the nice thing about being a diviner is that you don’t need to. I studied the futures for a second, then reached down and twisted a small axle sticking out from the base. The futures of the thing exploding vanished.

‘There we go!’ Landis straightened up and came across on bounding steps to shake my hand. ‘Delighted to see you again, Verus. Wish it were under better circumstances, but mere anarchy loosed upon the world and all that, eh? What are you up to with that?’

‘Just making adjustments,’ I said. ‘Did you know this thing was about to burst open?’

‘Really?’ Landis bent down to study the apparatus from about six inches away, peering in with one eye closed, then slapped his forehead. ‘Goodness, you’re quite right! Put the thing on when I heard you were coming and completely forgot. Vari usually does it but I’ve been deserted, sad to say. Younger generation and their flightiness.’

‘What does it do?’ I asked curiously.

Landis blinked at me. ‘Makes tea, of course.’ He gave the container at the top a twist to make it come away, then began pouring out the contents into a pair of mugs, holding the metal sphere bare-handed. I wondered briefly how hot that sphere was, and decided it was probably over a hundred degrees. ‘Do you take milk or sugar? Can’t remember for the life of me.’

‘Neither, thanks.’

‘Good man! Never trust a fellow who puts milk in his tea. Bad enough if they use the regular kind, but do you know some of them use the skimmed sort? Don’t know what the world’s coming to.’ Landis flopped down into one of the armchairs. ‘Right, then!’

I sat opposite, holding the mug carefully by the handle. ‘So, this job.’

‘Ah-ah!’ Landis wagged a finger at me. ‘I’ve a bone to pick with you first. What’s this I’m hearing about you and the Crusaders?’

‘The what now?’

‘I’m talking about your little tiff with a Mr James Redman on the heath a couple of nights ago. Or did it slip your mind?’

‘You know about that?’ I shook my head. ‘News travels fast.’

‘My dear boy, I was at Newbury last night and it was quite the topic of conversation. The detractors of the Crusader faction found it absolutely hilarious. Apparently you beat up all three of them with a dustbin lid?’

‘No, I beat them up with a stick. The dustbin lid was for defence. They were Crusaders?’

‘Not strictly speaking. Redman’s for rent to the highest, and it wouldn’t be very high. However,’ Landis waved his finger, ‘the important part is that they were
perceived
to be with the Crusaders.’

‘Yeah, well, they can perceive whatever they like.’

Landis frowned. ‘My dear boy, I’m not certain you’re taking this seriously.’

‘They sent a dropout and a couple of tagalongs to whack me over the head with clubs,’ I said. ‘Quite honestly, no, I’m not taking them very seriously. I’ve had enemies who are considerably more threatening. Got one to worry about right now, in fact.’

Landis looked at me with raised eyebrows.

‘What?’

‘Hmm.’

‘What do you mean,
hmm
?’

‘How much do you know about the Crusader faction?’

‘I pretty much stay away from them.’

‘Do they strike you as competent?’

‘Not really,’ I said. ‘They seem to hate Dark mages and aren’t too picky about who makes the list. I get the feeling they aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.’

Landis sighed. ‘My dear chap.’

‘Okay, if there’s something you want to say, let’s hear it.’

‘This idea that the Crusaders are some separate group really is quite a misconception,’ Landis said. ‘They’re simply the more militant wing of the Guardians. Now, I’ll grant you that the more extreme ones are not exactly the keenest cutting implements in the storage facility, but when there’s a threat that they perceive as serious, then the more capable ones are going to sit up and take notice. And when they do, watch out.’

I shrugged. ‘I already had one come around to visit yesterday. Was more of a nuisance than a threat.’

‘Who?’

‘Called herself Symmaris.’

‘Long black hair, jumpy type?’

‘That’s the one.’

Landis nodded. ‘You’re in trouble. Watch yourself.’

‘I’m pretty sure she was more scared of me.’

‘Verus, my lad, you’re in the Council world now. You need to stop thinking like a Dark mage, bash-bash, who’s-stronger, slice-’em-in-half. Of course Symmaris is scared of you – frightened little rabbit of a woman. Space mage who specialises in gates, nothing exceptional. But the people she talks to—’ Landis raised a finger. ‘—now
that
you should be concerning yourself with. It’s not what you can do, it’s who you know.’

‘Yeah, well, since I don’t know all that many people, I’m not really sure how that’s going to help. Can we focus on the stuff I can actually affect?’

Landis raised an eyebrow.

I sighed and passed a hand in front of my eyes. First Arachne, now Landis. ‘Sorry. Look, I’m under kind of a lot of stress at the moment. It’s not that I don’t get what you’re saying; I just don’t have enough attention to spare. How’s the thing with Anne and Vari?’

‘Well as can be expected, really,’ Landis said, accepting the change of subject. ‘I had a pow-wow with Nigel: he’s the fellow in charge of admissions. Promised he should be able to get Vari’s name through.’

‘That’s something, at least.’ My tea had cooled enough to drink and I took a sip. ‘Thanks for doing this. I really do appreciate it.’