Chapter 13 There was a knock on the door. Coelus looked up from his tablet and a sheet of calculations and let in the college porter. "A mage at the gate, with a note." The porter handed it to him. Coelus glanced down at it and smiled. "Good. Show the learned Gervase to one of the guest rooms in the north wing, then escort him to me." Coelus stood to greet his guest. Gervase was tall and middle aged, with a beard sprinkled with grey. "I think I have solved the problem, at least well enough to prevent another accident. Did you arrange for the others to come? I have heard nothing from either of them." "Raynald was willing. Nikolas thought one life- threatening experience was enough." "Then we are two mages short. I doubt that any of my colleagues or students would agree. Maridon was the only one who believed in what I was doing. Anyone else?" Gervase smiled. "An old schoolmate of mine_and he has brought several more mages, all at the inn in town. We should meet there. It is less likely to cause talk than if we all come here." "Of course. But we should repeat the experiment here to take advantage of the containment sphere. This time I will be the focus. I won't rupture it, however much power I have." "Is that what you think happened? That Maridon burned up after he tore through the barrier?" "Not rupturing the sphere is one precaution. But I have also modified the spell to limit the power pulled from any one source. I should have done that anyway, to better protect the donors from being overdrawn. But I think it takes care of the other problem too. "I still do not know exactly what happened to Maridon. He seemed to be drawing from an impossibly large source of fire, hundreds of times more than any fire mage that ever existed, and it burned him up. I wonder if he somehow tapped the containment dome itself; it must have a lot of stored fire in it. Or the sun, if Olver is right. But whatever it is, if I limit the amount the spell can draw, it won't matter how much fire is at the other end." "Interesting, but you don't have to get into it now. Let's be off to the inn to meet your new assistants. You can explain it to us all there." Business was good at the village's only inn: the stable yard was filled with horses, strange grooms, and travelers' servants. Gervase led Coelus through the main room to the staircase that led to the guest rooms above. There Coelus stopped cold. Two men, in armor and wearing swords stood at the top of the stairs looking down. "Who are they and what are they doing here?" Coelus asked. "Come with me and all will become clear," Gervase replied. The guards stood back to let the mages onto the landing. Gervase led Coelus to the door of one of the rooms. Inside were three mages. The one in the center_tall, very well dressed, face a little flushed_was at least in part an earth mage. One problem solved. The other two were veiled, strongly enough that Coelus could not be sure what the veil was hiding. There was something else as well about them, some sort of barrier. In a moment, the tall man nodded to the other two and they left the room. Gervase spoke: "Your Highness, may I present Magister Coelus of the college? Coelus, this is His Highness Prince Kieran. He and I were students together. When you wrote proposing a second experiment, it occurred to me that he would be interested in what you were doing and could help with finding sufficient mages." There was a long silence while the two men looked at each other. The Prince was the first to speak. "I am honored to make your acquaintance, Magister Coelus. I have read some of your work and heard a report of your recent researches from Gervase. The brilliance of your theoretical accomplishments is only matched _" He paused a moment for effect. "By the irresponsible stupidity of your practical actions. Did you think at all of the consequences of what you were doing?" It took Coelus a moment to respond. "Could your Highness explain in what respect you believe I have erred? It is true that the first attempt to implement the Cascade effect went badly, but new research is always risky. I thought the precautions I had taken were sufficient but they proved not to be." "Precautions? What precautions?" "The first implementation was within the containment sphere, so that if anything went wrong no harm would be done outside; also, I had my athame at hand, in case the spell had to be cut suddenly. I intend to do the same with the second implementation. It did not occur to me that the mage the effect focused on would try to breach the sphere, let alone that he would succeed; I still do not entirely understand why that happened. Nor do I clearly understand what happened to Maridon after he breached it." "You put in the hands of one of your colleagues more power than any mage had ever had_the combined talent of a college full of mages, students and magisters together, bridging all of magery. And it did not occur to you that he might have some interest in the matter beyond doing an experiment for you?" Coelus shook his head, a bit stunned. "Maridon agreed with me about what could be accomplished by use of the effect, and on the protocol for the experiment. It did not occur to me that he might change his mind after it started." "Change his mind? Did you read his mind in advance to know what was in it? You offered the man a chance at unlimited power and you are surprised he took it. Whose idea was it to make him and not you the focus for the Cascade?" Coelus thought a moment, spoke reluctantly. "His, your Highness. Since I was the only one who really understood the theory behind the Cascade, he did not want me to risk myself if something went wrong_ At least, that is what he said." He paused. "It did not occur to me that he might have another reason." The Prince nodded. "You are, so far as I know, one of the ablest theoreticians in the kingdom, perhaps the world. But you should not be allowed to wander about without a keeper. Suppose Maridon wasn't destroyed by whatever went wrong at the end of the experiment. Have you considered what he would have done next, after he had control of all of the magic of thousands of mages?" "I have not, Highness. Tell me." "Perhaps he considered it time for another mage king. My brother is, of course, defended by mages as well as guards. But, if I understand your contrivance correctly, their power would be useless against him. Maridon would be drawing not only their talent but that of every other mage in range of the effect. As he increased the power he used against them, the power they had to use against him would shrink accordingly. I do not see how His Majesty could be defended under those circumstances. Am I missing anything?" Coelus shook his head. "I think you are correct, so far as conflicts between mages go. Had Maridon succeeded in expanding the Cascade to the entire kingdom he could have slain His Majesty. But that might not suffice to seize the throne. His Majesty's soldiers, his nobles, are loyal to him, and wars are not won by magery alone." "And why are they not? Because there are mages on both sides, and because the power of a single mage is very limited. But you have changed all that, have you not? If one side has the Cascade then there is really magery on only one side. And with the Cascade, there is more magery on that side than anyone has ever had before." "I confess that I had not considered that possibility. Your Highness may well be correct. I will try not to make the same mistake again." Prince Kieran shook his head. "That is not the only mistake you can make, or have made. Maridon, fortunately, is dead. But surely there are others to whom you have mentioned your plans. You told Gervase enough, and he told me enough, to bring me here. Who else? With which of your students, your colleagues, have you discussed your work? Which other mages outside the College? "Very few, Highness. At Maridon's urging I told my colleagues only that I had a schema for pooling four mages, not what I planned to do with it. None of the others expressed much interest in the project. I described it to one student whom I hoped to involve, but she was not interested. Another student was used in an early experiment; he did not know its nature, and the design of the experiment was such that he saw nothing. Of course, Raynald and Nikolas were involved along with Gervase, and I suppose they know as much as he does. "Raynald and Nikolas I know of, and am taking steps to deal with. We will have to do something about the students; what are their names?" "I am not sure I understand your Highness. What peril do you fear, and what precautions do you wish to take other than to select the focus of the pool more wisely the next time we do the experiment?" "We can discuss that later. My present concern is not with your experiments, but with those of others. Have you considered the consequences should the Cascade be achieved and the pool controlled by a mage in service to Forstmark? Perhaps it has escaped your notice, but there has been trouble on that frontier for some years now; we have been recruiting both troops and mages and may need to use them. Your Cascade would be very useful to us_but equally so to the Forstings, should they happen to hear of it and succeed in duplicating your work." "I understand your Highness's concern. But the core of the work, the theory and the mathematics, is known to no-one but me. Even the mages who assisted with the first experiment knew each only his part of it, not the whole, as Gervase will confirm. Maridon knew the most of any of them, and he is dead." "Yes. Nobody but you knows how to do it_today. But how long do you think another mage would take, even one less brilliant than you, knowing what I do, to work out the rest for himself? You are not the only able theorist in the world, and not all of them are within the kingdom. I may be mistaken, but the hard part seems to be the idea, first of the pool and second of the Cascade. Once that is known, and shown to be possible, can the rest be so difficult?" Coelus was silent. "So, I want the names of the two students you mentioned. Bring them here. I have mages who will see what can be done to assure their silence, or remove the knowledge from their memories, in hopes that more extreme measures will not be necessary. I have already arranged to have Nikolas brought here for the same purpose, and Raynald is here already." "That seems drastic, Your Highness. Neither student has committed any crime against His Majesty, or shown any inclination to. Surely a warning against speaking carelessly of what little they know should be sufficient." "Perhaps. I will speak with them myself and decide. What are their names?" Coelus hesitated a moment. "The student who participated in an experiment is Joshua son of Maas. The student to whom I mentioned the project is Ellen. As Your Highness knows, all instruction takes place within the college, so I can hardly send them a message bidding them come here, and it would be odder still if strangers came into the college seeking them." He thought a moment. "Let me send each a message arranging to meet in the college, not too far from the gate; I can then escort them out. I sometimes hold instruction out of doors when the weather is good. That will make it easier to avoid any unnecessary fuss." "Very good; several of my people will accompany you. Gervase, fetch paper and pen from my servants in the next room." In a moment the mage returned. Coelus wrote two notes, folded each, wrote "Joshua" on one, "Ellen" on the other. "If we return to the college now, I can give the notes to a porter and then meet them in the orchard." Chapter 14 Ellen re-read the note. The hand was certainly his; she knew it well enough. The words: "Meet me again in the orchard." Why he had written it, or at whose command, she could not guess, but the meaning was clear enough. She got up, went over to the clothes chest beside her bed, and opened it. From the bottom she drew out a tunic, flame colored, of some odd shimmery material. She changed into it, over it a plain tunic, long sleeved. She reached into the chest again, drew out an amulet on a tightly woven silk cord, put it around her neck. She took her wallet from the peg it hung on, put the strap over her shoulder. One more thing. She shut the chest, turned it on its side to expose the bottom, spoke a Word softly, and pressed down on one of the planks. It slid smoothly to one side. From the cavity revealed, she drew out a small leather bag full of coins and put it into the wallet, then put the chest aright. She glanced around the room for a few moments, thinking of whether there was anything she had forgotten, took her cloak from its hook and opened the door. The corridor was empty. Clearly someone other than Coelus was involved. Considering what he was doing, it would hardly be surprising if rumor had spread even outside the college. If so, the entrance to the College might be watched. Instead of turning into the main corridor she crossed it, continued down the student wing, turned right at its end through a door that opened on a corner of the front lawn. Nobody was in sight. Just ahead of her was the surface of the containment sphere; she sunk her hands into its web, stepped forward. A few minutes later Coelus arrived at the orchard, accompanied by three of the prince's mages and one guard, armor hidden by his cloak. It was, to his relief, empty. One of the mages spoke briefly to the others, then the three spread out, leaving Coelus and the guard alone near the dome. "What do you want me to do?" "Nothing. When they arrive we will take care of it." They waited in silence. In a few minutes he heard footsteps in the cloister. A moment later Joshua came in sight. "Magister Coelus, you wanted to speak with me?" Before Coelus could answer, the three mages moved together with practiced skill. Joshua had barely time to look around before he was enveloped in a grey mist. When it cleared, he was standing perfectly still, his face frozen in its expression of a moment before. One of the mages spoke softly to him. He walked over to the bench a little rigidly and sat down, expression frozen. The guard spoke to Coelus: "That was easy enough. As you can see, they know what they are doing. The girl should be easier still." "Do you know if the spell does him any injury?" The guard shook his head. "When he comes out of it he will be a bit confused, not knowing where he is or how he got there. Until then, obedient as a lamb. The Prince said he didn't want any trouble, anything to get the college talking. This seemed the best way." Coelus paced nervously up and down, listening for another footstep. None came. The guard stood patiently, waiting. Ellen, listening on the far side of the barrier barely ten feet from the two men, stood up and set off for the village. * * * It was full dark by the time the men got back to the inn with their captive. The Prince sent Coelus off to one of the inn rooms, Gervase back to the College to see what he could find out about the missing student. That accomplished, he sent for provisions and invited Alayn, the guard who had accompanied Coelus to the college, to join him. "Did Magister Coelus expect the girl to show up?" Alayn thought a moment. "Feared she might, hoped she wouldn't, would be my guess. He looked nervous when we heard someone coming, relieved when he saw it wasn't her, less and less worried as time passed." The Prince nodded and took a sip of his wine. "Remind me not to underestimate academics," he said. "Coelus has no sense of what he ought to be paying attention to, but once he gets hit over the head with the need to think, I expect he is very good at it. Something in that note warned her." "Perhaps someone else? She may be a spy, and have accomplices. Perhaps we were seen at the inn and someone drew the right conclusion. Short of a trumpeter and a banner, we couldn't have been more obvious. A town inn doesn't usually entertain a party of guests with armed guards." The Prince cut himself a slice of mutton, chewing slowly before responding. "If she was a Forsting spy and not just a student who heard too much, we are wasting our time trying to catch her. Coelus did his last experiment almost a month ago. Her report on whatever she discovered about it will be over the border by now, and our only hope would be to get Coelus's weapon working for us before they get it working for them. It may come to that, but I am still hoping we can keep the information from getting out, secure everyone who knows anything, and have time to complete the project with more care. "It would help if we knew what she looks like. If I were sending a girl to the College to get information out of a susceptible young scholar, I would pick a pretty one. When Gervase comes back, we'll see what he can tell us." The next morning, Alayn brought Coelus into the room as the Prince was eating his breakfast. Kieran motioned them to join him, spoke to Coelus as he sat down. "Your missing student. How much do you know about her? Could she be a spy for Forstmark, or for someone else?" Coelus thought a moment. "If you are asking about her background, where she came from or who her parents are, I am afraid I cannot help you, although I suppose someone in the College must know. It never occurred to me to ask such questions. But I am quite sure she was not a spy." "Because you could read her mind?" "Your Highness persuaded me yesterday of the limits of my abilities in that direction. My conclusion is based not on mind reading but on logic." Prince Kieran gave him a quizzical look, said nothing. "I invited Ellen to help me with the Cascade project. She refused, in quite clear and unambiguous terms, on the basis that it ought not to be done, and showed no interest in how I expected to do it after that. A spy might have tried to discourage me from working on the project, in the hope that her employers could complete it first. But a spy would surely have wanted to know all she could learn about what I was doing, and I would have been glad to teach it to her." "That sounds convincing. I hope you are correct. But I am still left with several problems, beginning with what I am to do with you." Coelus nodded. "Yes. I have been thinking about your problems a good deal of the night. So far as dealing with me is concerned, you could of course kill me. That would keep me from misusing the Cascade myself, a possibility that it finally occurred to me you must be concerned about. And it would keep me from telling anyone else about it. But if you wish to employ the Cascade yourself, you would then have to find someone else to finish the project. I can only think of two people in the kingdom who could do it, and I do not think either would be willing to." "And who are they?" Coelus shook his head. "Lying would, I expect, be pointless. But I choose to remain silent. There is no way to extract information against a mage's will without injuring him. Until you have no further need of me, I don't think that's a risk you will want to take." The Prince gave him an amused look. "I would certainly prefer to avoid such risks if I can. But you have not yet answered my question." "Surely the answer is obvious. If your only objective is to suppress the invention, you should kill me and anyone else who knows anything about it, possibly including yourself_and somehow do it without calling attention to my work and so encouraging others to try to continue it. "If, on the other hand, your objective is to complete the project and implement it, with yourself or someone else you trust as the focus, then the simplest way to avoid attracting more attention than you already have is to send me back to the college to continue my teaching and my research, and trust me to keep my mouth shut. Unfortunately, if that is your intention, I am afraid another difficulty arises." "That being?" "Last night, I concluded that Ellen was right about the problems posed by the Cascade. Completing my work would make the world a worse place, not a better one. You and Maridon have shown me the danger of the Cascade being used for evil. She showed me that, even used for good purposes, the talent I wished to borrow to cure a plague or divert a flood was talent that already had uses in the hands of those it belonged to, perhaps, taken all together, uses at least as important. "Ellen would not help me create the Cascade. Now, I am persuaded that she was right. I cannot help you. I am sorry. I can see that the situation raises serious problems for you and perhaps for the kingdom. But it seems to me that the alternative raises still more serious problems for the kingdom, and the world." There was a long silence. At last Prince Kieran spoke. "I concede the strength of your argument. Nonetheless, I have my duty. Suppose that I do not develop the Cascade. How then can I fulfill my obligation of protecting my brother the King from enemies who will show no such restraint?" "I have been thinking about that too. I do not think the situation is quite as hopeless as you suggested yesterday. The containment sphere blocks magic, including the magic by which the Cascade spreads. It should be possible, by containing his Majesty and the mages that protect him in something similar, to keep the Cascade from spreading to them. A mage controlling the pool from a Cascade would still have a very considerable advantage, but perhaps not an overwhelming one, especially if there were other places also so protected, such as the College." "Maridon breached the sphere using only the power of the mages within the College." Coelus nodded. "Yes. But he was standing next to the sphere, and as you know, magic weakens with distance. I expect His Majesty's guards could make it difficult for an enemy mage to tear open the sphere protecting them and His Majesty. "And the containment sphere had no supporting mages. Its makers are long dead. I think it at least possible that such a sphere, actively supported by the mages it contains, could withstand a very great force. "But I must concede that so far this is speculation. I have not built a containment sphere. So far as I know, only one has ever been constructed, its builder is dead, and I do not yet know how to duplicate his work. Ellen has done more research on the subject than I have, but she, I gather, is gone. I have no idea how to find her and, if I did, I would not. I will, however, be happy to do what I can to devise defenses against the threat the Cascade poses." "I thank you. I will consider your points and try to decide what to do with you. You have already missed your morning lecture, so I have at least a few more hours to make up my mind." It was nearly noon by the time Gervase returned. He was escorted swiftly to the Prince. "I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you." "I thought your Highness would want as much information as possible under the circumstances. I used the guest room that Coelus had arranged for me for an evening of gossip with some of the magisters, and breakfast gave me a chance to listen to the students. Afterwards Magister Bertram was free, so I talked with him for a while." "And you learned?" "They all know something lethal happened to Maridon, of course, in an experiment Coelus was doing that other magisters were glad not to have volunteered to help with, and that it had to do with pooling more than two mages. They don't seem to know much more than that." "Coelus had a morning lecture; someone else filled in for him after I passed on his note about being taken ill in town. Nobody seems to have noticed that one or two of their students are missing. Apparently it would not be the first time the boy stayed out all night. Some of his fellow students had at least a guess as to where he was." "Not, I hope, a correct one." "No. With the town whore, if I correctly took their meaning." "What about the girl_Ellen? What could you learn about her?" "She was not at breakfast_I asked. One of the other girls is a good friend of hers and seemed a bit concerned." Alayn broke into the conversation. "Did you find out what the missing girl looks like?" Gervase nodded. "Short, stocky but not fat, dark hair." "Not a looker?" Gervase shook his head. "By what I could gather, brains not beauty. Her friend Mari, on the other hand _ ." The Prince thought a moment. "I will send someone to fetch the friend; I expect if he tells her it is about Ellen the girl will come." * * * "Send her in." One of the guards opened the door. Mari walked through it, dropped a low curtsey to the Prince. "Greetings, Your Highness. It has been some time." The Prince stood regarding her silently for a long moment. Mari spoke again. "It is a common name." He replied with a visible effort. "Yes. I had not expected to find Duke Morgen's daughter as a student at the College." "It is surely not that surprising, Highness. I am told that even princes can sometimes be found here." "Sometimes, but rarely." He closed his eyes a moment. "It is true that you have talent. And yet _ . Just when did your father decide to enroll you?" "This is my first year, Highness." "And Nan died a little more than a year ago, leaving me _ . If I were inclined to suspicion, and if your father were not a man utterly without subtlety or intrigue, I might suspect some connection." "Indeed, Your Highness. As might I, were I not an innocent and unsuspicious damsel." Their eyes met, held. "You were a clever child, and I see that you have become a clever lady. I do not think this is the time and place to discuss your father's plans. Still, it would at least not be boring." "Even so. How then may I serve your Highness?" "You may tell me everything you know concerning your friend Ellen, who seems to have vanished from the surface of the earth just when I wished her presence, and about Magister Coelus. It appears that their doings may touch nearly upon the kingdom's welfare, and my duties to it. And _ I would advise you to speak the truth." Mari nodded. "Advice you would not have to give to Ellen, were she here. To judge from my experience, that is her fixed policy, even when there is no truthteller in the next room. A weakness, I suppose, but an endearing one. Is that the sort of information that is of use to your Highness?" "It might be. I take it you are fond of the girl?" Mari nodded. "Very. In some ways an innocent, in others the wisest person I have had the pleasure of knowing. And very generous with her time and knowledge. She has taught me and several of our friends more about magery these past months than all of the magisters together." "And her connection with Magister Coelus?" "Magister Coelus has been giving her a tutorial on the theory of magic, a field in which I understand, at least from her, that he has no masters and few equals." "I thought she was your year. Have they started giving tutorials to students in the first year now?" "To students, no. To Ellen, yes. She arrived, so far as I can tell, already knowing more than any student and half the magisters. It took a month or two for Coelus to realize that he had finally found a student fully able to learn what he had to teach. He offered her a special tutorial, she accepted. She attends the lectures and is very helpful in explaining them to the rest of us, but most of what she learns is from him." "How much does she know of his work?" "Whatever he has been willing to teach her; how much that is I do not know. He cannot have taught her all of it yet, since she has shown no sign of wanting to depart." "Do you think that is all that is between them_teacher and student?" Mari hesitated a moment. "Do I think so? No. Do they think so? Perhaps. I suspect Coelus is falling in love with her, but he may not have noticed it yet. As to her feelings for him _ . She regards him with great admiration, I think some fondness. Whether more I cannot tell. "I have told you the truth, so far as I know it, as your man in the next room will assure you. Now tell me why you need to know all this." There was a long silence. At last the Prince broke it. "Your father and I have not always agreed, but I have never had any reason to doubt his loyalty nor have I any reason to doubt yours; I trust you can keep your mouth shut when necessary. The research that Magister Coelus was doing led him towards certain discoveries which would be of considerable value to the kingdom_or to its enemies. I wish to make sure that the results end up in our hands, not theirs, and to know who knows enough about his research to be dangerous. It sounds as though your friend may be one. "If you could get a message to her, asking her to come here and assuring her of safety, would she believe you?" "Perhaps. Would it be true?" Another long silence, again ended by the Prince. "No. She sounds an admirable person, and one who might in time prove useful to the Kingdom; I would prefer to do her no harm. But I have obligations to my brother and to the kingdom he rules. If it turns out that the only way of keeping our enemies from learning magery that could be our ruin is to kill a charming young lady, or two, or three, I will do it. " Mari smiled. "And you say so even though I have no truthteller to tell me if you lie. I am not sure your Highness is fit for politics." "I do not think you need a truthteller, lady. And under the circumstances, lying to you might be unwise." "There is that. If you have a truthful message for Ellen, I will take it. I cannot promise delivery; I am no more able than you to find her, probably less. But she may find me." After Mari left, the Prince remained silent for some time, finally gave Alayn a quizzical look. Alayn was the first to speak. "So that is Duke Morgen's daughter. A formidable young lady." "Yes. I wonder what terms her father is planning to offer me." "You think he intends to propose a matrimonial alliance?" Prince Kieran nodded. "Shortly after I become a widower, he sends his very beautiful and very clever daughter to be trained as a mage, providing her with the one qualification no rival can offer. I have no doubt that is his plan, and it is clear that she is of the same opinion. Not a lady to take lightly. "Morgen is one of the most powerful men in the kingdom and one of the cleverest. I am my brother's closest adviser. We are not exactly enemies, but we clash sometimes on policy and, more often, on patronage. Our combined interest would be a faction loyal to His Majesty and more powerful than any likely rival combination. "It is a tempting idea, even without the very tempting bait. And, since I am my brother's heir, marrying Morgen's daughter would tie Morgen more closely to the throne, which would be a very good thing. I have no doubt that that is what he intends. I am not at all sure that I will not let the plan succeed_but, I will at least charge as high a price as I can manage." * * * Magister Bertram looked around the senior common room once more. All of the magisters were present and none of the tutors, as was, under the circumstances, proper. Coelus looked tired but not unwell. Interesting, even suggestive, but none of Bertram's affair. Bertram coughed twice to get the attention of the others, then spoke: "I asked you all here this evening to greet a distinguished visitor, one some of you already know." He nodded to Simon, standing by the door, who opened it and whispered to those outside. The Prince came to the doorway, looked curiously around and entered, accompanied by a second mage. "His Highness Prince Kieran, His Majesty's Master of Mages and a most distinguished graduate of the College. Your Highness, may I introduce my colleagues?" The Prince smiled and shook his head. "How could I forget Magister Simon, who very nearly despaired of my ever learning to construct a word of the true speech? Magister Hal, too. His lessons have proved useful to me in recent years. Magister Coelus of course was not here then, but I have met him since." Simon was the first to respond: " I remember just what the word was that you succeeded in constructing but will refrain from sharing it. If I am ever charged with professional misdeeds and brought before you, it may prove useful." The prince grinned. "Not if Magister Hal did his job properly. Having been well instructed in the ethics of magery, I am as immune to threats as to bribes. I hope. What violation of the bounds were you planning to commit?" "I will have to consider the matter carefully." After Bertram introduced the remaining magisters, Hal was the first to speak. "By your leave, Your Highness, I have a question I was not inclined to ask when you were a student, but which may be permissible now." "Ask away_I have answered enough of your questions in the past, or tried to. I hope this one will not prove even more difficult." "It is quite simple, Highness. In all my lectures, you, as I recall, were never the first to answer any question. And yet your answers were correct at least as often as those of other students. At the time I formed a conjecture as to your reason and now I would like to know if it is true." The prince thought for a moment. "A fair question, and one that deserves an honest answer. Before I came here as a student, I discussed how I ought to behave at some length with His Majesty my brother. He was concerned that the presence of a royal prince, heir presumptive to the throne, might disrupt the functioning of this valuable institution. I resolved never to be the first to answer a question, so as not to oblige others to agree with whatever I said, and held to that resolution." Hal nodded. "Thank you, Your Highness, so I surmised. I am delighted at last to be able to thank you for your forbearance." There was a brief silence. The Prince broke it. "I hope I may be able to give you further reasons to thank me. I confess that my purposes are not purely social. Among my responsibilities to His Majesty, I felt obligated to inquire as to the death of one of your colleagues, since it seemed clear that it was in some way due to magery. I spent some time with Magister Coelus yesterday and today and I believe now that I understand the unfortunate accident which cost the life of Magister Maridon. I do not expect that any further investigation will be required. "His death has left your faculty short a magister. Since he was the only earth mage on your faculty, his absence creates a problem for those students whose talents lie in that direction. Fieras here, an accomplished earth mage, has volunteered to take over Maridon's tutorials until you find a suitable replacement. While not a graduate of the College, he is a mage who has worked with me for some years and I have given him, I believe, a sense of what is required. Since he is already being compensated by the Crown for his services to me, there will be no additional expense for the College. I hope you gentleman will find that arrangement satisfactory. I insist only that you make no effort to lure him away on a permanent basis; I need his services." Bertram was the first to respond. "I cannot speak for my colleagues, but the arrangement seems to me entirely proper, and it is one that leaves us even further in Your Highness's debt." "Indeed it does." Simon looked around the room a moment. "If there is no objection, allow me to offer a toast to our new colleague." He nodded to a servant standing in the open door. A moment later a second servant appeared, bearing a tray with a bottle and glasses. * * * Fieras looked up at the knock on his door. "Come in." The visitor was a girl, by her dress a student. "I am Ellen. You sent a message that you wished to see me." He looked her over carefully. Short, broad, dark hair. An amulet on a cord around her neck. Some talent, but not a great deal. Probably a waste of time_she did not look likely to conceal dangerous secrets_but if the Prince wanted to talk with her, talk with her he would, whether she wished it or not. "Yes, have a seat, this may take some time. His Highness wanted me to ask you some questions concerning your work with Magister Coelus." He motioned to the chair in front of his desk. Ellen sat down, froze. Fieras got up and walked around the desk to her. "Now what is this, I wonder." He lifted the amulet, twisted off the cap, teased out the scroll with the tip of his pen knife, read it. "Very useful, I'm sure." He dropped the scroll on the desk, stepped back. "I do not expect you have studied quick-trigger static spells yet. As you can see, they have their uses. The last time His Highness wished to speak with you, you arranged to be elsewhere. This time you will not. Get up." She stood. "Follow me." He opened the door, went through it. She followed. A few minutes brought them to gatehouse and gatemaster. The old man rose and grasped the iron ring to the massive front door of the college. Beyond the door the stone walk, bordered on each side by high hedges, crossed the front lawn, vanished at the brink of the containment sphere. The old man spoke a Word; Fieras watched curiously as the sphere dilated, opening a half circle hole, and turned back to the gatemaster. "Half the circle is below the ground?" The man nodded. Ellen was silent. Fieras turned and strode through the gate, through the sphere, and up the hill slope beyond, towards the village, then turned to look back. The road behind him was empty. The gatemaster, summoned by the entering bell, responded to the mage's questions with a shrug of his shoulders. The magister had gone through the gate, the student had turned back. He had no idea where she had gone or why. After a half hour search through the College, it occurred to Fieras to ask someone where the girl's room was. As he came through the door, Ellen looked up from her desk and the sheet of paper she was studying. "The custom is to knock before entering," she said, mildly. "The custom is for students to obey magisters. Enough of this nonsense; get up and follow me." Ellen looked at him curiously. "What makes you expect people to obey you when you give them orders?" "I am a magister and a mage_you are a student and a girl at that. You are under my authority and will do what I tell you, willingly or not. I thought I had already demonstrated that. And you will not discuss the matter with others." Ellen shook her head. "Even if I were willing to obey your orders, it is too late for that one." "What do you mean? Have you been gossiping with the other students?" "Not with the students. As soon as I was free of your compulsion spell I went to the senior common room and informed the magisters present that I was charging you with violation of the bounds and the criminal use of magic. I expect they will want to speak with you." Fieras was speechless for a moment. "You charged me? And what authority do you think you have?" "What authority do I need? The use of compulsion spells is a violation of the bounds of magery, whomever they are used against. If you know that, you know you are guilty of the offense. If you do not know it, then you have no business practicing magic in this kingdom." The final words were spoken to the empty air. Ellen got up from her chair and set off after him for the senior common room. Approaching, she heard raised voices. Peering through the door, she saw Fieras on one side of the room, Simon and Bertram on the other. Fieras spluttering, "And I say it is outrageous! Why should you believe a student, a girl student, over a mage recommended to you by His Highness?" Simon responded calmly. "The accusation is indeed surprising, but we must determine its truth before deciding which of you has committed an outrage. The girl told us her story and offered to repeat it in the presence of a truthteller. If you are willing to give your account under the same conditions, we should be able to determine what happened easily enough." "No! Even if I were willing to go through with such a thing, it would be useless. I am shielded against any magic that deals in any way with the contents of my mind." "If the accusation is false, drop the shielding for long enough to prove it." "I cannot. The spells are keyed to the Prince. Only he can cancel them. What would be the use of shielding my mind if any thug willing to apply sufficient force, or sufficiently persuasive threats, could force me to drop the shield?" Bertram nodded. "It is a common enough precaution among servants of His Majesty, at least those entrusted with information of importance." "And since that is settled," Fieras spoke in a tone to override dissent, "you may dismiss the charges and let me deal with the girl. Unless you wish to provoke not only my annoyance but that of my master." Another voice broke in. Magister Hal was standing in the doorway. "Tell us what happened. Truthtellers are not the only means of determining truth." Fieras shook his head. "I asked the girl to follow me to the village to speak with the Prince about matters I will not discuss here. When I saw she was not following me, I came back for her." Hal came into the room, joined the other two magisters. "She charges you with the use of a compulsion spell. Is it true?" "She is a student, not a mage. How could she judge?" "You can judge. Is it true?" Fieras hesitated. "She also charges that, while she was held by the spell, you opened the protective amulet she was wearing and removed the scroll, in order to make sure it did not interfere with your spell. Is that not correct, Ellen?" Fieras spun around and glared at Ellen, who came into view behind Hal in the doorway. "It is." She spoke quietly but clearly. "Nonsense. You are still wearing your amulet." "Yes. But the case is now empty." "And for all I know it always was. I have no idea where your scroll is, if it ever existed." Hal broke into the exchange. "I, however, do." He held out his hand. "I found it on your desk a few minutes ago." "You found a scroll on my desk? Aside from the discourtesy of searching my room, what does that show? Are you surprised to find scrolls on the desk of a mage?" "This scroll, as it happens, has Ellen's name in the inscription. Also, I spoke to the Magister gatekeeper. His account accords with hers." Ellen carefully drew the amulet's cord up and over her head, turned to Hal. "You may want to examine this also; it retains the spell cast on me. But be careful _" Fieras took two long steps towards Ellen, reached out and snatched the amulet and cord from her hand. Froze. Ellen went on, calmly. "The spell on the scroll was a protection against mosquitoes and bedbugs, which seemed to amuse Magister Fieras. The spell on the cord was a protection against magery, including compulsion spells. By the time we reached the outer gate, it had absorbed enough of his spell to free me. Since it was a protection for me alone, it released the spell as soon as anyone else touched it." She gestured towards Fieras, still frozen. "As you can see. He is bound by his own spell." Hal stepped over to the motionless mage. "Can you hear me?" "Yes." Fieras's voice was a monotone. "What is the release for the spell you are under?" "The word 'unbind' in the true speech releases the spell." Hal turned to Simon, who spoke the Word. Fieras looked around the room, blinking and speechless. For a moment there was silence. Hal broke it. "Fellow mages. Gentlemen. I believe we have seen enough and more than enough support for these charges to put our fellow mage under ban, as law and custom require, until the matter can be fully judged. Do any here disagree?" Nobody spoke. In a moment Hal continued, speaking directly to Fieras. "By judgment of myself, Magister Henryk, and by judgment of all mages here present, you are held to be under suspicion of violation of the bounds of magery and accordingly banned from all use of the art until the matter is finally judged. You have the right, if you wish, to demand that we summon any additional mages nearby, put the facts to them, and ask if they will join in our judgment." Fieras said nothing; Hal waited a moment, then continued. "You shall be taken to His Highness that he may arrange for trial according to law and custom. That will require at least two mages to accompany you. A damned nuisance, but I see no help for it." Fieras finally spoke. "As it happens, they will not have to accompany me far. His Highness was not planning to leave the village until tomorrow morning. You_we_will find him at the inn, where I expect he will dispose of this nonsense, although with what consequences for you and the College, I cannot say."