The Traitor Queen (The Traitor Spy Trilogy #3)(149)
A palace attendant ushered them through a door and into a sumptuously decorated hall, then led them along a corridor to a dining room. Sonea had eaten here a few times before, along with other Higher Magicians, sometimes as a guest of the king, sometimes in order to meet important foreign visitors. Today the chairs were occupied only by the Higher Magicians and four of the king’s non-magician advisers. Rothen smiled and nodded as she saw him seated at the end of the table. As she, Osen, Balkan and Kallen took the four unoccupied chairs a man strode into the room and all rose to their feet.
“Your majesty,” Osen began.
The king waved a hand. “Sit. You have important decisions to make, and knowing how quickly magicians make decisions you’d best get started without delay.” Sonea suppressed a smile at his dry tone. He moved to the end of the table and planted his palms flat on the surface.
“Yesterday the new Sachakan Ambassador arrived. As you know, she is a black magician – or, as she calls it, a higher magician. As you also know, her not being a member of the Guild makes her a rogue magician. So her presence here means two of our most serious laws regarding magic are being broken right now.
“So, either I send her home or we change our laws.”
He paused to look around the table, meeting each magician’s gaze.
“I do not intend to send her home, so we had better change our laws. That is what you are here for. You’ve been arguing about this for months, and it is time you came to an agreement. Between yourselves and my advisers, before the end of the day, you will draft new laws that will allow foreign, non-Guild magicians to live and trade here legally and with effective, workable restrictions. Those restrictions must regulate both the use of black magic and the possession of magical gemstones. Your predecessors had good reason to fear black magic, but we need a better method of control than banning it.
“It has also been pointed out to me that gemstones put magic into the hands of non-magicians, and we don’t want them hearing about the Igrese and deciding to rid the Allied Lands of magicians. Though I think it is unlikely they’d succeed, I do not want to deal with a civil uprising. We must have some kind of regulation of gemstones, even if only to prevent the Thieves from getting hold of them. The rise of the Rogue Skellin should be a warning to you: we must keep magic out of the underworld.
“I also expect that these laws will go some way toward improving the behaviour of Guild magicians. It is clear from the corruption roet has revealed in the Guild’s ranks that some magicians aren’t immune to vice and profiting at the expense of others. It is time their excesses and activities were curtailed.”
The king straightened. “You have a lot to discuss, so I will leave you to it. Bring me a summary of your progress at midday.” He pausing for a last look around the table, then turned and strode out of the room.
All were quiet, listening to the king’s footsteps fading in the background, then Osen cleared his throat and looked at the advisers.
“If it is acceptable, I will lead the discussions.”
The advisers nodded. As Osen started to speak, Sonea felt an unexpected sadness. And so everything changes again. Just like after the Ichani Invasion, when we knew we had to accept black magic as our only form of defence, and restore the Guild by taking in lower-class novices. There were so many unforeseen consequences, like the Thieves battling each other and the city overtaking the slums. We can try to make laws that control the changes that magical gemstones and an alliance with Sachaka will bring, but they will have effects we don’t anticipate.
All they could do was try. And, for her part, attempt to ensure that when Lorkin returned to Kyralia, even if only to visit, he – and the family he might eventually have – would be safe and welcome.