Scorched by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #7)(32)

As soon as dinner was over, Garrett and his assistant bowed out, retreating to their quarters for the evening. The bastards were probably going to hold a war council of their own. Glad to be rid of them, Iannis and I bid the others a good evening, then went to find Fenris. He’d elected to dine in his own room tonight instead of joining us. With Garrett in the room, he would have had to face probing questions, or else eat from a doggy bowl in wolf form, which he considered demeaning.

The lingering scent of steak and potatoes met my nose as Iannis and I entered Fenris’s room. We found him sitting in his recliner, a plate on the side table next to him that was clean aside from a leftover bone.

“Enjoy your dinner?” he asked casually as Iannis and I sat down on the edge of Fenris’s bed—his room was smaller than mine, with only the bed, dressers, closet, and the single chair and table by the fire.

“As much as can be expected,” Iannis said. He raised his hands and spoke a spell, causing the walls around us to shimmer a faint blue. “There,” he said, lowering his hands. “We can speak safely now.” He turned to me, his expression serious. “Has Garrett learned anything that might put Fenris in jeopardy?”

“No, not really.” I told them about the brief exchange between Pillick and Janta, and Garrett’s not-so-subtle attempts to question me throughout the day. “All he knows is that Fenris was already a scholar before he came here, and judging by his line of questioning, it’s clear he has no idea about your past, Fenris. He’s just trying to figure out how to use you as leverage against Iannis.”

“Charming,” Fenris said tersely, his yellow eyes glimmering with banked ire. “This is only more proof that it is better for me to be on my way, as soon as Garrett is gone. I do not want a repeat of this, Iannis,” he insisted when Iannis started to argue. “While you and Garrett were out,” he said to me, “Harron, his assistant, was questioning the Palace staff. He likely knows exactly when I joined the household, only some four weeks after Polar ar’Tollis disappeared.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re going to connect the dots,” I pointed out. “Like I said, I don’t think Garrett has made the leap.”

“Yet,” Fenris said darkly. “Director Toring is an intelligent man. It will come to him eventually. I can only hope that by the time it does, he is already back in Dara.”

“Agreed,” Iannis said, and then changed the subject. It was clear Fenris was only going to be gloom and doom about the situation, and there was no point in discussing it further. “I have been debating what to do about Father Calmias. It seems there is no changing his mind—he will continue to preach his pernicious views on shifters and mages, and spread what he believes to be the Ur-God’s true message. While he does not soil his own hands with violence, he has already caused enormous damage with his gospel of hatred and division.”

“Maybe we really should kill him,” I growled. “To hell with the consequences. At the very least, it’ll buy us some time until they install someone new.”

“There is another option, though I never considered using it before,” Iannis said slowly, his gaze troubled. “A Tua spell that permanently changes a person’s attitude and personality. I could use it on Father Calmias to make him forget all about his genocidal tendencies, and instead replace them with a message of tolerance and unity.”

“You’re joking,” Fenris said, looking as astonished as I felt. “I have never heard of such a spell in my life. Is there a mage equivalent?”

“Not that I ever heard of—and if there were, it would be buried deep down in the forbidden archives somewhere,” Iannis said. “Using magic to alter an individual’s personality like that is highly illegal, and it goes against Resinah’s teachings. The First Mage would never have countenanced such a thing, but the Tua are an amoral race who view humans as their playthings, so they have no such qualms about taking their free will from them. They often use this spell to make a human fall hopelessly in love with them, which is what happened to my grandfather.” His tone had taken on a dangerous edge. “It would be far more ethical to simply kill Calmias, as Sunaya says, than it would be to use this spell on him.”

There was a long pause as we mulled over the pros and cons.

“Still,” Fenris eventually said, “if such a change can be permanently and seamlessly effected, it would be worth a try. Father Calmias cannot be allowed to continue to agitate the populace, and killing him would only upset the humans further, so it’s counter-productive. The idea that you have such a spell that could do this…it’s amazing,” Fenris added, shaking his head in admiration. The scholar inside him had come out in full force, the prospect of new knowledge banishing the demons gnawing at him.

“The suggestion techniques we mages use are far less effective,” Fenris explained to me, adopting his lecturing voice. “They are rarely permanent, and usually produce adverse side effects like stuttering, memory gaps, and cognitive dissonance. His acolytes would suspect us of tampering with his mind if Father Calmias emerged with any of those symptoms, but if his personality could be changed without them, they would have no choice but to accept his change of heart as genuine.”

“I am still not certain it is the right thing,” Iannis insisted. “There may be far-reaching consequences we are not considering, just as my Tua grandmother did not consider anything beyond her own needs when she ensorcelled my grandfather.”