Betrayed by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #5)(6)

She frowned. “Very well, if only to dissuade you. One such method involves transferring the knowledge and memories of an older mage into your own mind. You would instantly gain mastery of Loranian as well as any spellcraft he knew and practiced.”

“By Magorah!” My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. “You can do that?”

“Yes, but it is hardly recommended.” Janta’s lips thinned. “The procedure has been known to alter a person’s character, and the newly gained knowledge is not always easily assimilated.”

“Yeesh.” I made a face at that—I certainly did not want to take on the personality of some cantankerous old mage. “Why was such a procedure even invented?”

“It was mostly used in wartime, when a master was near death and had not yet imparted all his knowledge to his favored apprentice. But such a scenario has not occurred in quite some time, at least not in the Federation.”

“Really? Even though war recently broke out here in Solantha?”

An uncomfortable expression flitted across Janta’s face. “If it has happened as a result of recent events, I do not know of it.”

I let out a small sigh. “Oh, well. It doesn’t really matter—I don’t think I’d be comfortable trying such a thing, even if I could find a volunteer mage.”

“Agreed.” A thoughtful expression crossed Janta’s face, and she reached into her sleeve again. A moment later, she pulled out a small text bound in light blue cloth. The title Spellcraft for Beginners was embroidered across the front in gold thread. “This is a basic primer a friend of mine had printed for his daughter when she was young. He was a notable Federation mage. Not many copies exist, as unsupervised practice is generally frowned upon. I do hope you’ll be careful when you practice with it.”

“Oh, thank you!” I took the book carefully from her, then opened it. To my delight, it was written primarily in Northian, and the Loranian spells all had a pronunciation guide. “So this has all the basic spells that mage children learn?”

“Nearly,” Janta said. “And I’m sure Lord Iannis will teach you anything that’s missing.”

“Is that trick where you pull large objects out of your sleeve one of those spells?” I asked, staring pointedly at Janta’s sleeve. I’d seen Iannis do the same thing multiple times, and I really wanted to add it to my list of skills. I could carry much more food around, which would be handy because using magic always left me famished.

A knock on the door sounded before Janta could answer, and we turned to see Fenris standing on the other side of the glass.

“Sunaya?” he asked, surprise flickering in his dark eyes as Janta opened the door for him. “What are you doing here?”

I folded my arms and arched a brow. “I could ask you the same question.”

He huffed. “I came here looking for Miss Urama. Lord Iannis asked me to retrieve a book from the restricted section.” He smiled briefly at Janta. “I was told she was already back here, but not that she was with you.”

“Miss Baine wanted to find out more about mage weddings,” Janta said smoothly, saving me from having to lie to Fenris. He was a friend, sure, but he was still more Iannis’s friend than mine, and he probably wouldn’t approve. “I was explaining to her about the legalities involved.”

“Ah.” Fenris’s expression cleared, and he shut the door behind him. “Thankfully, you won’t have to deal with the usual contracts and endless negotiations between mage families, but you will still need to observe the proper protocol expected of any Chief Mage who marries.”

My heart sank a little. “What kind of protocol?” By Magorah, I really did not want this to get any more complicated than it already was.

“A man of Lord Iannis’s position would be expected to invite the other Chief Mages in the Federation to the ceremony,” Fenris explained. “Some couples choose to have the ceremonies held in Dara when the Convention is in session, since the Chief Mages will all be gathered in one place anyway.”

“Ugh.” I made a face. “I’m definitely not a fan of that idea.” I wanted my friends to come to the wedding, and I didn’t know if that would be possible if we held it in the middle of the Convention. Besides, I didn’t want to have to travel across the country to get married—I wanted to do it right here, in my hometown.

“Well, if that’s the case, you’ll need to let the Chief Mage know,” Fenris said. “After all, the invitations must go out at least six months early. To send them later would be an insult.”

I rolled my eyes at that. All these rules! “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Yes,” Fenris said, his lips twitching as he sensed my annoyance. “Since the ceremony is magically binding, it will be conducted in Loranian. So you’ll need to improve significantly.” His smile widened when I groaned. “Thankfully for you, Iannis has instructed me to tutor you in Loranian for at least two hours a day,” he added in mindspeak. “So you should be more than prepared.”

“Just great,” I muttered, tucking the primer Janta had given me into my leather jacket. “Thanks so much for your advice, Miss Urama. Please let me know if you have any other helpful information for me.”

“I will,” Janta said, her eyes twinkling knowingly. I strongly suspected that she knew of my desire to keep Fenris in the dark about my true purpose for being in the library, and I made a mental note to send her fancy chocolates or something—the woman was a true godsend.