The Golden Tower (Magisterium #5)(42)

“And you really believe that of Alex?” Master Rufus’s expressive eyebrows were raised.

“I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t go back, that you have no hope of a second chance.” Call tried to look his most sympathetic and heroic, but he was afraid that what he actually looked like was someone bugging out his eyes. On the other hand, he couldn’t look more bug-eyed than Jasper did.

“If you believe you can defeat Alex and leave him alive,” said Graves, “then you believe he can be taken prisoner?”

“That is ridiculous,” said Mr. Rajavi, staring in disbelief. “He will still be an out-of-control Makar — ”

“No, he won’t,” said Call quickly. “Stripping him of all chaos will strip his Makar powers, too. He’ll be an ordinary mage.”

Graves shook his head slowly. “This is madness.”

“Think of what he knows,” said Tamara suddenly. “All Master Joseph’s magic, Anastasia’s secrets. If he died and we never learned any of those things …”

Graves’s eyes sparked. “You understand,” he said, “that if he seems rebellious or resistant, we will have to kill him.”

“Of course,” Call said. “We get it. We just think there’s a good person in there, trapped under Anastasia’s commands.”

“Once he’s been subdued, we will have to have him come before the Assembly and give an accounting of all of his misdeeds and Anastasia’s role in them. Then we will decide what to believe,” said Graves.

“I understand,” said Call. “Thank you. But there’s one more thing. I want you to change your policy on the Devoured.”

“You can’t be serious!” Master North said.

“I am,” said Call. “If they’re going to help us defeat Alex here, then they’re going to want to be treated fairly. Not like criminals and monsters.”

“Most of them live quietly among the elements,” Jasper added suddenly. “No one’s saying you shouldn’t arrest a Devoured who does something wrong, but it’s wrong to assume that they’re evil without giving them a chance.”

“This is about your sister,” said Graves, staring narrowly at Tamara. “Isn’t it?”

“Ravan is a good example,” she said stubbornly. “She’s never done anything wrong.”

Jasper coughed a cough that sounded like jailbreak. Call and Tamara ignored him.

“She helped defeat Master Joseph,” said Tamara. “And for that, she’s being hunted.”

“She’s dangerous,” said Graves.

“Many things are dangerous,” Mrs. Rajavi said, voice dry. Her husband looked at her as though there was something he wished to communicate, but she was looking straight ahead. “Although the Assembly may conclude that my decision is biased, I would like to say that knowing Ravan has revealed to me that though the Devoured are not as they were, they are not elementals either. We should treat them better and we might find better allies in them.”

Graves cleared his throat. “This is most irregular.”

Call waited, unwilling to back down.

“We will discuss and inform you of our decision,” Graves finally said, unhappily. “And now we want to wish the three of you good luck tomorrow. We stand ready to assist you once Alex is … subdued. We will be there, shields in place, to make sure that Alex cannot call on any more creatures of chaos. We will be witness to your bravery.”

But we’re not going to be coming to help you. “Uh, thanks,” said Call. “Great. And when we’re done, we’re going to come back and discuss our reward.”

“Reward?” Graves sputtered. “What reward?”

“We’ll let you know,” Call promised, grinning in Jasper’s direction. If they managed the rest of this, getting Jasper’s dad out of prison was going to be a cakewalk.

Then, together, they left the Assembly. As they did, Call heard Master Rufus getting grilled and felt a little bit bad. But it was hard to feel too guilty when he was still so nervous about his plan coming together.

“What was all that back there?” Gwenda asked.

“What do you mean?” Call asked innocently.

“You really think Alex is being controlled by someone else?” She put a hand on her hip and gave him the sort of look you give someone when you believe you can tell if they’re lying by some physical tic. Call hoped that wasn’t true.

“Maybe,” he said.

“Fine,” she said. “Don’t tell me. I’m going back to the room. Jasper, come on.” She stomped off. Surprisingly, Jasper followed without comment.

Tamara sighed, looking guilty.

You know we’re not done, right? Aaron said in Call’s head.

What do you mean? Call asked.

Well, you’re not going to like it, but there’s one more person you’re going to have to get on board.

Who? Call asked, although he had a bad feeling he already knew.

Anastasia Tarquin. You have to convince her to back up your story.

She’s not going to do that.

Call explained to Tamara about Anastasia Tarquin and how Aaron thought they should contact her. “But I don’t even know how to do that.”