Taken by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #8)(49)

After the wedding, we all retreated to the palace for an intimate reception. Since Fenris and Mina didn’t want a lot of fuss, and weren’t politically prominent, only the close friends and family who’d attended the ceremony were invited.

“Two weddings in one week,” Comenius said as he gazed fondly at Rusalia, who was flitting from person to person like an eager butterfly. “It’s no wonder she’s so excited.”

I nodded. “It looks like you’re all getting along well these days,” I said. Rusalia had made a rough start of it with Comenius and Elania—her mother had just died, and the little girl was rebellious and belligerent. She still had a bit of that wild streak in her, but ever since her near-death experience in the quake, she’d become much more manageable and affectionate.

“Oh, absolutely,” Elania agreed. “She is a darling. She has already promised to help look after her little brother and sister, when the time comes.” She placed a hand over her belly, which was barely beginning to show.

My eyes widened. “Twins?” I asked in a hushed voice.

She beamed. “We are doubly blessed,” she said, planting a kiss on Comenius’s cheek.

I hugged them both, feeling absurdly excited for them. “I’m so happy for you both,” I said. Everyone seemed to be increasing their families…but Iannis and I would get around to that eventually, when things settled down a bit. There was no rush, I told myself.

“You haven’t had any more trouble with your in-laws in Manuc?” Com asked, leaning in as he lowered his voice. We’d told Comenius and Elania what had happened, as well as Fenris and Mina, but no one else knew the truth about our long “vacation.”

“No, and I don’t expect to hear from them again,” I said firmly, sincerely hoping I was right.

“Good. They sound far too troublesome.”

“If you need any help with them, we are at your service,” Elania said.

“I know.” I smiled at them, glad that in all likelihood, they would never need to face a Tua. There were some things better left to old legends.

Iannis and I made our rounds through the gathering, talking to Rylan, who complained how boring his life was these days, and to Janta and Tinari, who were doing fine. Tinari had been overcome with joy when I’d returned—when she’d first laid eyes on me, she’d wrapped her arms tight around me and refused to let go for a very long while. Janta informed me that she and the other girls felt guilty, and I’d had to assure them all that what had happened wasn’t their fault. Ta’sradala would have found a way to get to me even if I hadn’t been playing hide-and-seek in the garden.

Fenris and Mina’s friends, Barrla and Marris, a cheerful young couple from Watawis, were playing with Liu, who had got the afternoon off for the occasion. Trouble was observing everything from the curtain rod and occasionally repeating something in his raucous parrot voice.

“We’d love to stay longer,” Iannis finally said to Fenris and Mina, who were sitting with Fenris’s “grandparents” in the corner, “but unfortunately, Sunaya and I have to be off to the Minister’s reception.”

“Of course.” Mina and Fenris rose. “Thank you so much for doing this for us,” Mina said, reaching up so she could hug Iannis. “It is amazing what you two have pulled together on such short notice.”

I laughed. “We couldn’t have done it without my assistant,” I said as I hugged her next. “I’m just glad I got to see the two of you married. You two were made for each other.”

“Yes, we are,” Fenris said, putting an arm around Mina’s shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, and she snuggled into him, her face glowing with pleasure. Exchanging glances, Iannis and I left them to enjoy the rest of their reception, and we changed and got into the carriage.

“We’re nearly done with all this wedding business now,” I said to Iannis as we slowly progressed through the heavy traffic. “How is the Convention going?” It had kept him very busy, since he was the head of the Canalo delegation and had missed all the preliminary horse-dealing sessions.

“Reasonably well.” Iannis smiled. “Yesterday we managed to defeat a new law that the Minister proposed to extend the mandate of Toring’s new agency over the entire Federation. Garrett will still need to work with the Chief Mages, and seek their permission, before he undertakes investigations in our states.”

“Garrett won’t like that,” I said. I could imagine the disappointment on his face when the bill was struck down. “Was there really any chance of something like that getting passed, though? Surely the Chief Mages would not vote for something that decreases their autonomy so much?”

“You’d think so, but it was a near thing. I’m sure they will try again at the next Convention. Toring is nothing if not tenacious.”

We arrived at the concert hall and were received by the Minister, as the host. There was some initial tension between him and Iannis that made me wonder if it was just because of the defeated legislation or something more serious—but this wasn’t the time to ask Iannis, as both of us were swamped with felicitations, questions, requests, and gossip. The hall was packed with close to a thousand people, including forty-seven of the fifty Chief Mages and many of their families, the entire Federal Government from Dara, the most important foreign diplomats, and the heads of numerous institutions, museums, newspapers, and big companies.