The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(34)

“You think Jandison rigged the vote?” Blaise sounded incredulous. “Why? What would he have to gain by it?”

“Was it he?” Ganir sounded frustrated. “Blaise, was it Jandison who spoke to you after the vote?”

“What proof do I have that you’re not lying to me right now, trying to get me to betray something that I was told in confidence?” Blaise asked, and Gala could hear the simmering anger his voice.

“I can give you proof,” Ganir said. “I had a thorough look through my Life Capture archives, and I want you to take this.” Gala heard shuffling footsteps as Ganir presumably approached Blaise.

“If I take that droplet, I will be at your mercy,” Blaise said, still sounding uncompromising. Gala wished she could see what was happening, to better understand her creator’s emotional state.

“You are welcome to use it later to verify my words,” Ganir said. “This droplet contains my recollections of Louie’s trial, including my memory of voting against the execution.”

For a few moments, there was silence. Then Blaise spoke again. “All right, I will watch this later. But tell me one thing. If this is true, why haven’t you gone to the Council with this information?”

“Because at this point, all I have are your words, my suspicions, and this anonymous letter,” Ganir explained. “It’s not enough to publicly accuse one of our own, let alone call for a trial.”

“So what do you plan to do?”

“I have some ideas of how I can prove this,” the old man said. “The next time we hold a vote, I will know more about the breakdown, and I will record it as proof.”

“How can you do that?” Blaise sounded curious now. “The process is designed to be anonymous.”

“I wrote an intricate spell, similar to the locator one, which would be embedded in my voting stone. This should show me where my stone is after I place it into the voting box. I plan to vote in a way that would not suit Jandison. If he is indeed behind this, then my stone will shift, and I will have my proof.”

“That would be proof indeed,” Blaise said, sounding thoughtful.

“If you could replicate the droplet when you take it, I would be grateful,” Ganir said, sounding mildly relieved. Gala guessed he was glad Blaise was less angry now, though she had no idea what the man meant by his request.

“What do you mean, replicate?” Blaise voiced Gala’s unspoken question.

She listened in fascination as Ganir explained how one could preserve the information contained in Droplets. Blaise appeared quite interested too, asking several questions to clarify the simple process. “So promise me you will take the droplet as soon as you can,” Ganir said finally, concluding the Life Capture lecture.

“How do I know you didn’t tamper with the droplet itself?” Blaise asked. “If anyone could manipulate Life Capture, that would be you, its creator.”

“I am honored you think so highly of me.” Ganir sounded amused now. “But I assure you, what you describe is impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible if you come up with the right code,” Blaise said derisively.

“You’re right. It would be theoretically possible, but extremely difficult in practice. So much so, it might as well be impossible,” Ganir responded. “Ask yourself this: even if I could do it, why would I go through that much trouble?”

“Because you want Gala for your own purposes.” There was renewed anger in Blaise’s voice.

She could hear the old man sighing. “It’s true that I’m curious about her,” Ganir admitted, “but all I want is to learn about her. She’s important to you, and because of that, I want to help you save her.” The old man sounded so sincere that Gala felt touched by his words.

“Is that why you sent the Sorcerer Guard after her?” Blaise said sarcastically. “So they could save her with their swords and arrows?”

Gala shuddered, remembering the fight. Maybe Blaise was right to distrust Ganir; those soldiers certainly hadn’t had peaceful intentions.

“I only sent a few men after her so they could bring her to Turingrad.” Ganir sounded defensive now. “I don’t know how the entire Sorcerer Guard ended up going—I certainly didn’t authorize it.”

“Right, of course. They acted on their own.”

“They did,” Ganir insisted. “Either that, or your former fiancée had a hand in it. You do know she was seeing the Captain of the Guard, right?”

“Augusta?” Blaise sounded surprised. “She was with Barson? No, I didn’t know that. Are you saying she got the Guard to come after Gala?”

Ganir let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t say for sure, since I don’t know the depth of her involvement with the plot. It’s possible that Barson was responsible for this himself.”

“What plot?” Blaise sounded as confused as Gala felt.

Another sigh from Ganir. “It doesn’t matter now. They’re all dead, thanks to you and your creation.”

Gala bit her lip to remain silent. Everything inside her wanted to protest the unfair accusation. The soldiers were not all dead—she’d healed many of them.

“All dead?” Blaise echoed her thoughts. “What do you mean, all dead? The majority were alive and well when I last saw them.”