Hunted by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #3)(74)

Of course this would all be much easier if I could actually ask questions, but nobody wanted to divulge any information to me since I was an outsider, and I didn’t want to draw suspicion my way. The mages who did talk directly to me mostly just wanted to pump me for info about Iannis anyway. Hopefully he was having better luck than I was.

Lord Cedris himself was present, of course, and he diligently circled the crowds, talking and laughing and rubbing elbows. He was tall and lean, dressed in a set of red and white robes that did nothing for his long, pale blond hair and haughty, aristocratic features. I saw Iannis speak with him for a few moments, but Cedris seemed much more interested in talking up the other delegates, presumably to persuade them to vote for him.

“Good evening, Miss Baine. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” a low, throaty voice came from my right.

I jumped at the sound of my real name, nearly spilling the glass of champagne I was nursing, and turned to see Thorgana Mills standing next to me, a smile on her glossy lips. The owner of Mills Media & Entertainment was resplendent in a white mermaid-style gown that clung to her willowy figure, and her ice-blonde hair was swept into a classy up-do and secured with a diamond-encrusted hair-clip.

“Good evening, Mrs. Mills,” I said in a low voice. “How are you this evening?” It figured someone of her great wealth and status would be invited here, and I cursed myself for not donning a better disguise. I had worked for her as a bodyguard on occasion, and she had seen me in Iannis’s palace not that long ago.

Thorgana laughed lightly. “You have gumption, I’ll give you that,” she said, “daring to show up at such a public event so thinly disguised and expecting no one to recognize you. You seem to be moving up in the world. You could not have afforded that dress on an Enforcer’s income.”

“Indeed.” I smiled apologetically, though what I really wanted to do was smash her in the back of the head with my champagne glass and lock her up somewhere before she blew my cover. “I hope you won’t rat me out, Mrs. Mills.”

“Not at all,” she said, still smiling. “I admire your audacity. I’m sure Lord Iannis is making good use of your valuable talents to gather information and support so he can secure his title as the new Minister.”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” I demurred, lifting my glass of champagne to my lips. I took another sip as I studied her over the rim of my glass, trying to figure out what her angle was. Was she just toying with me for the hell of it? “Lord Cedris is a very strong contender.”

“It certainly seems so, though I can’t understand why exactly,” Thorgana mused. Her perfectly plucked brows drew together in a faint frown. “There are dozens of Chief Mages who are more qualified, Lord Iannis included. I would think that Lord Iannis would be confident enough in his abilities to not be intimidated by Lord Cedris?” she prodded.

“Perhaps,” I allowed. It seemed like she was trying to get me to confirm that Iannis was running for Minister, and just because he wasn’t didn’t mean I was about to let anyone know that. “I suppose you’ll have to ask him yourself.”

“Oh I have, and he’s just as tight-lipped as you.” Thorgana laughed again. “It seems that you are learning well from him. He wouldn’t give me any details about what happened after his airship crash-landed in the middle of nowhere, either.”

“Well you do own several newspaper companies,” I pointed out with a teasing smile. “I think you can understand his reluctance to share information he doesn’t want distributed by the media.”

“Oh how silly.” Thorgana waved a hand as if the notion was ridiculous, but even though she appeared to be little more than diamonds and silk on the outside, I wasn’t so sure that Iannis’s caution was misplaced. After all, she was the owner of the company, wasn’t she? “I have little to do with the business I inherited from my father. It pays for my jewels and parties, but I leave the muck-raking to my managers.”

“Of course.” I smiled indulgently. My nose told me she wasn’t lying, but there was something about the way she said it that made me unsure whether to believe her protestations.

“Well, I suppose I ought to get back to my husband,” Thorgana said with a little sigh. “I’m done here, but my husband isn’t, so I must be the dutiful wife and finish making the rounds with him. Don’t worry, though,” she added with a wink. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Enjoy the party,” I murmured as she walked gracefully back to her husband, who was schmoozing with a couple of delegates in Cedris’s camp. I toyed with one of the jewels in my skirt, still trying to discern exactly what it was about my conversation with Mrs. Mills that made me uneasy.

I didn’t have long to dwell on it, though, because Coman passed in front of my line of sight, and something about his purposeful gait gave me pause. He wore a pair of dark maroon robes shot through with silver threading, and the embroidery sparkled in the light as his robes rippled about his tall form. I thought perhaps he was going to join the group of mages clustered near the hors d’oeuvres-laden tables to talk to his boss, but Lord Cedris was no longer amongst them. Instead, Coman headed for the ballroom exit. Senses tingling, I handed off my half-empty champagne glass to a waiter, then made my way across the room as quickly as I could without drawing attention. Coman could just be looking for the restroom, but my intuition told me that he was up to something.