Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(2)

When the servants were about to serve the dessert course, Iannis stood. A hush instantly settled over the room, shifters and enforcers turning their attention toward their Chief Mage. As Iannis launched into his farewell speech for Captain Galling, giving a rundown of the captain’s career and accomplishments, I let my eyes drift over the crowd again. Most of the guests were relaxed and in a good mood, but there was still tension in many faces and shoulders. There might not have been very many mages in the room, but shifter and human relations were still strained since it had come out that the Resistance had been planning to backstab its shifter members.

That news had poisoned race relations everywhere, including within the Enforcers Guild. During the three months Iannis and I had been gone, several crews had broken up and new ones had been formed. And all this time, Father Calmias’s fervent followers were still stirring racial tensions.

Not wanting to look like I was bored, I turned my attention back to Iannis just in time for him to bring Captain Galling up to the podium for the obligatory speech. The captain had been working for the Enforcers Guild for over thirty years, and while he had gone soft and sloppy toward the end of his career, he was still well respected. Many of the enforcers present seemed genuinely sad the captain was leaving. There was much stomping and cheering from them as he made a few enforcer in-jokes, the raucous behavior drawing appalled looks from the stuffy Mage Council members.

“I know that some of you are uncertain about the future of the Enforcers Guild,” Captain Galling was saying, a grave expression on his face now. “But my successor, Acting Captain Skonel, is more than man enough for the job.” He raised his glass to Skonel, who was still seated, and the crowd cheered again. Skonel had been Foreman to the second largest crew for a good ten years before he was promoted to deputy captain. Clean-cut, handsome, and with a fair but militant air about him, he was a far a cry from Garius Talcon, his sleazy predecessor who’d secretly been working with the Resistance and had tried to press me for sexual favors more times than I could count. I didn’t know Skonel very well, but I expected he would manage the Enforcers Guild with a firmer hand than Galling had-.

“I will never truly stop being an enforcer, and I will be here to assist with this transition as Captain Skonel settles into his new role. But I am getting to be an old man now, and I would like to spend what’s left of my time here on Recca with my lovely wife.” He raised his glass to Mrs. Galling, who beamed at him. “Her restored health is entirely due to Lord Iannis’s abilities, and I will always be grateful.” He turned toward Iannis, his steely eyes brimming with emotion, and bowed. “Thank you, sir, for all you have done for Solantha and Canalo. You are the finest Chief Mage this state has seen for some time.”

I could tell by Iannis’s slight hesitation that he had not been expecting the compliment, but he smiled and inclined his head graciously. There was a second or two of silence before the room erupted into thunderous applause. It took everything I had to dim down my grin into a more sedate smile. Iannis worked far harder with the shifter and human populations in Canalo than his predecessor had, and it was often a thankless job due to the animosity toward mages that had built up over centuries. I was thrilled to see he was finally getting some genuine recognition.

After the speeches were finished, the tables were cleared away to make room for dancing and general mingling. I took Iannis’s offered arm and we made our rounds throughout the room, taking the time to speak to Captain Galling and his family, the Shifter Council members, and various prominent figures from Maintown and Shiftertown.

“Sunaya,” a throaty, accented female voice called, and I turned to see Elania weaving through the crowd toward me. The talented witch looked sexy and elegant in a black sequined sheath dress, her thick dark hair piled up in one of her elaborate up-dos, and amber dangling from her ears and throat. “You look wonderful.”

“Thank you.” Smiling, I smoothed my hands over the silk skirt of my emerald-green dress. I would never look as graceful and mysterious as Elania, but I was getting more comfortable dressing in finery, even going so far as to request certain hairstyles and outfits rather than just letting my maid decide as I had in the beginning. My thick black curls had been braided and twisted into an up-do of their own, secured with tiny diamond pins that caught the light.

“Where is Comenius?” I asked. I had been too busy to notice his arrival. Even though Nelia, my secretary, had helped with the preparations, it had been my first time organizing an event on this scale and I’d been too stressed to keep track of all attendees.

Elania’s full mouth tightened almost imperceptibly. “He is at home with Rusalia. The babysitter we used last week refused to come back, and we have not been able to find another on such short notice.”

“Well, that sucks.” I pursed my lips at the thought of Rusalia, Comenius’s estranged daughter who had come to live with him after her mother’s unexpected death. I hadn’t met her yet since Iannis and I had only been back from our travels for a few weeks, and the one time I’d managed to stop by Com’s shop, Rusalia had been in school. “Is she having a rough time settling in?”

“I’m afraid so.” Elania sighed heavily, and my heart sank at the wave of despair coming off her. It unsettled me to see Elania looking anything but self-assured and wise—her confident and mysterious aura always made her seem as though she had the secrets of the universe locked behind those dark beguiling eyes. But apparently, those secrets did not include how to tame an unruly child. “I cannot blame the girl for being out of sorts,” Elania said, trying hard to be fair, though it was clear to me that she was not so altruistic in her own thoughts. “Her mother did die very suddenly, and she is living in a foreign country with a father she can barely remember. We’re trying to be understanding of her situation, but Comenius is taking it very hard. He has always wanted to be there for his daughter, and now that he finally has the chance, she is pushing him away as hard as she can.”