The Sorcery Code (The Sorcery Code #1)(27)

Why hadn’t she voted differently? Augusta wondered bitterly for a thousandth time. Why hadn’t at least one other member of the Council? Every time she thought of that disastrous event, she felt consumed with regret. If she had known that her vote wouldn’t matter—that the entire Council, with the exception of Blaise, would vote to punish Louie—she would’ve gone against her convictions and voted to spare Blaise’s brother. But she hadn’t. What Louie had done—giving a magical object to the commoners—was one of the worst crimes Augusta could imagine, and she’d voted according to her conscience.

It was that vote that had cost her the man she loved. Somehow, Blaise had found out about the breakdown of the votes and learned that Augusta had been one of the Councilors who’d sentenced Louie to death. There had been only one vote against the punishment: that of Blaise himself.

Or so Blaise had told her when he’d yelled at her to get out of his house and never return. She would never forget that day for as long as she lived—the pain and rage had transformed him into someone she couldn’t even recognize. Her normally mild-tempered lover had been truly frightening, and she’d known then that it was over between them, that eight years together had not meant nearly as much to Blaise as they had to her.

Not for the first time, Augusta tried to figure out how Blaise had learned the exact vote count. The voting process was designed to be completely fair and anonymous. Each Councilor possessed a voting stone that he or she would teleport into one of the voting boxes—red box for Yes, blue box for No. The boxes stood on the Scales of Justice in the middle of the Council Chamber. Nobody was supposed to know how many stones were in each box; the scales would simply tip whichever way the vote was leaning. There should have been no way Blaise had known how many stones were in the red box on that fateful day.

“I’m sorry,” Ganir said, interrupting her dark thoughts. “I didn’t mean to imply that you’re to blame. I just think Blaise is still in pain. I would go speak to him myself, but as you probably know, he said he would kill me on sight if I ever approached him again.”

“You don’t think he’d do the same thing to me?” Augusta asked, remembering the black fury on Blaise’s face as he threw her out of his house.

“No,” Ganir said with conviction. “He wouldn’t harm you, not with the way he felt about you once. Just talk to him, make him see reason. Maybe he would like to rejoin our ranks again—he’s been away from the Tower long enough.”

Augusta raised her eyebrows. “You want him back on the Council?”

“Why not?” The Council Leader looked at her. “Like you, he’s one of our best and brightest. It’s a shame that his talents are going to waste.”

“What about Gina? She took his place, so what’s going to happen to her if he comes back?”

“We’ll have fourteen Councilors,” Ganir said. “I wouldn’t want to replace Gina. She’s an asset.”

Augusta stared at him. “It’s been thirteen ever since the Council began. You know that.”

Ganir didn’t look particularly concerned. “Yes. But that doesn’t mean things can’t change. For now, let’s not worry about this. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“Do you really think the others would welcome him back?” Augusta asked dubiously.

“He was never forced out. Blaise left on his own. Besides, if you and I team up, everyone will have to follow.”

Augusta gave him an incredulous look. She and Ganir, team up? That was an idea she’d have to get used to.

“All I can promise is to speak with him,” she said, and then walked out of the old sorcerer’s study.





Chapter 18: Blaise


“So who is this girl?” Esther asked as soon as she and Blaise were alone. “How did you meet? How long have you two known each other?”

Still reeling from Gala’s kiss, Blaise shook his head at the barrage of questions. “This is not why I wanted to speak to you, Esther,” he said. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Of course, anything,” his former nanny said immediately, though Blaise knew she had been hoping to learn more about Gala and was likely disappointed at the lack of gossip coming her way.

“I want you to look after Gala,” he said, giving Esther a serious look. “I don’t want her to draw any needless attention to herself—and it’s best if her connection to me is kept secret.”

“Why?” The old woman looked puzzled. “Is she a fugitive?”

Blaise shook his head. “No. She’s just . . . different.”

Esther frowned at him. “She seems very young and innocent. Did you involve her in something you shouldn’t have?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Blaise said vaguely. He wasn’t certain how Maya and Esther would react if they knew the truth about Gala’s origins. Even other sorcerers would be shocked to learn what he had done; how would someone with much more rudimentary understanding of magic feel? Even in this enlightened age, most peasants were superstitious, and many still believed the old tales of undead monsters and ghosts. If they knew Gala was not really human, she would never be able to experience the world as a regular person.

Esther continued looking at him, and he sighed, not wanting to lie to the woman who’d raised him after his mother’s death. “Esther,” he said carefully, “Gala has a power that the Council might find . . . threatening.”