The Archmage: Chapter Forty-Seven

Osheen stepped into the room, wearing a blue suit with white trimmings, a cooling contrast to his coppery hair, and as he entered, he allowed his aura to blaze out around him, revealing the five arch-stars that hung around his head like a crown. 

Chris’ mouth fell open, and Serena let out a laugh. Eira winked at me, and Dormer applauded politely. 

“I apologize for keeping you waiting,” he said, his voice filling the room. “It’s quite a flight from Yesgol – or what’s left of it – to Luis Manor, and unlike my soon-to-be husband, I need some time to prepare myself.” 

He strode in and shook everyone’s hands, then sat next to me. 

“How?!” Chris asked. 

“I worked for it,” Osheen said. “I formed these archstars legitimately, as did Evan.” 

Though the ‘unlike you’ was silent, but deafening. 

“It seems I’m outvoted heavily,” Chris said, sounding a bit bitter. “Well. Luckily, I prepared for this scenario. I’m not conceding to your terms.”

Osheen shot me a worried look, so I gave him a quick rundown of treating him like Draven – able to retain ownership over land and money, but losing noble title and no guaranteed spot of power, outside of what money naturally created. 

“I see,” Osheen said. “Well, to clarify – are we all in agreement that the council will subject itself to the rulings of the senate?” 

“I am,” Zachary said immediately. 

“Yes,” Eira agreed. 

“No,” Serena said, and I raised my eyebrows. 

“I don’t know if you can win,” she said flatly. “I’m going to keep the military out of this conflict until it becomes clear who’s going to win in the end. If you want me on your side, then crush the noble houses.” 

“No,” Chris said. “I’ll be managing my own relations, thank you very much. But I’m not going to be supporting you either – I’ll be standing to the side, but it’s clear that things won’t be staying the same. I’ll be heading out to the reporters now. This is clearly not headed the way I had intended, but I can still salvage it.” 

He rose and left the room, and Serena rolled her eyes. 

“How immature. But you two should watch out, there’s a decent chance that Chris will backstab you if it looks like it could give him an advantage.” 

“We should,” Eira agreed. “But if you’re dedicated to the dissolution of the senate, Osheen, then we’ll be in near-unanimous agreement, with the only holdout being Serena. Serena, you agreed to keep the army out, yes?” 

“Yes,” she confirmed, and Eira rose to her feet. 

“Then we need to get going,” she said, glancing at Draven, Zachary, Osheen, and myself. “The nobility has already begun to assimilate. We need to step in before they can do too much.” 

“Agreed,” Draven said. “But we should inform the papers first. We can’t fire off another massive mental spell yet, and the people need to know that this is happening, and what we’re fighting for. To sitting room c, then?” 

“Hold on,” I said, holding up his hand. “Eira, Zachary Dormer. Can you spare a contingent of soldiers to guard an elf from the capital? I may be an archmage, but I have no established staff.”

“Not a problem,” Eira said. “I assume you’re referring to the enchanted fortress home?” 

“What?” I asked, and Zachary picked up the thread of the conversation.

“It’s made some news. Defensive enchantments have covered the house, and it’s become somewhat of a sanctum in the capital. A tailors shop that’s been taking in mass amounts of ex-factory workers and orphans who are striking from factories. They’ve sent in strikebreakers, but the enchantments have been holding.” 

I couldn’t help but smile a little bit at that. Aldvarri might not want to have much to do with the ligature after Rowan’s death, but I could always count on him to do the right thing. 

“I think that’s him, yes,” I said. “And thank you.” 

Osheen nodded and murmured his own thanks, and we headed out into the next room over. Chris was already there, and we caught the tail end of the speech he had given reporters. 

“... dedicated to ensuring that no matter who guides the next steps of our nation, it is done in a more egalitarian manner. While no, I will not be releasing the aura sparks I’ve gathered, I will be sponsoring fifty students from the orphanages into my new school’s first class, and one of them will be raised to the status of archmage, with no debt to me.” 

Osheen tensed, and I understood why. If Chris was already dedicated to making a new school…

Several reporters flew over to us, and bombarded us with questions. Eira handled most of them, but I was still forced to answer several. A shocking amount of them were overall pointed at me. 

“Did you really kill a faerie queen?!” 

“Yes, I–” 

“What is your plan for the construction of a new magical school?!”

“I’ve received three of the seeds from what was once Yegol,” I said. “I’ve got plans for the rituals to activate them, and–”

“Do you believe that creating an all-powerful senate is the correct choice in the long run?”

“No, but it’s a step in the ri–” 

“Are you afraid of facing the noble factions in battle?!” 

“Of course, but I’m confident tha–”

By the time I was finally able to escape, I felt like I’d fought ten battles, and was honestly looking forward to a fight with a bunch of archmages. 

That… wasn’t great. I didn’t want to kill people. And there was, technically speaking, a chance that the gathered power of the archmages would surrender when faced with a coalition of five archmages.

But I doubted it. 

They would fight, because if they couldn’t overwhelm our combined might. Especially not with the force of the people behind us. 

If they killed me, I’d become a martyr, that was true. 

But if they didn’t, I would win. 

The nobility were backed into a corner, and they had no way out. Like a trapped animal, they’d fight.

Tara… 

That was going to be a wild card. I didn’t know how she’d intervene. It was possible that she was satisfied with her attacks, and would join us after, and if she did, we’d need to have a reckoning, because relentlessly killing innocents and children wasn’t acceptable. 

But she might do something else. 

I closed my eyes as I ran through the possibilities, then finally spoke. 

“Draven, you should go ahead first. You’ll be able to escape them if it is a trap, and if they’re willing to talk, then we’ll be able to talk. I have some final preparations and enchanting that I need to do in order to get ready for this fight.” 

Osheen gave me a concerned look, catching the look on my face, and I just shook my head. 

“I could use the time as well,” Eira said. “There are a few contingencies I need to activate.” 

“It’s certainly not a bad idea,” Zachary Dormer said thoughtfully. “But what are you doing, Evander?” 

“Final preparations,” I said. “I need to be able to fight, and there are a few weapons and tools I’ve left at Yesgol.” 

My mind drifted back to the cave, the artifact that Draven had given to me, and the words that Oberon had told me. Oracle nodded his head, and I glanced at Draven. 

“Send me a message through the Silver Queen’s realm when it becomes clear what’s going to happen.” 

Draven’s eyes narrowed, and he slowly nodded. 

“Very well. You’ve got some trick to rejoin us?” he asked, winking. I was a touch surprised he wasn’t just coming out and speaking about the portal network, but the least I could do for him was keep it secret.” 

“Yes,” I said. “You should expect me to arrive quickly.” 

“Where have they holed up?” Zachary Dormer asked. “I’ve been dealing with the capital. Not the nobility.” 

“Brittney Byron’s estate,” Osheen said grimly, and I wondered when he’d learned that. 

“That’s disadvantagous territory for us,” Eira said. “Even with Evan destroying the crystals, Byron is a powerful earth and water sorceress, and she operates on a huge scale. We’ll have to be careful.” 

“I’ll have to be careful, you mean,” Zachary Dormer said with a chuckle. “I’m well aware that I’m the weakest of the archmages in a fight. But I’m not going to die as easily as you fear. Now, before you head off, Evander, might we speak privately?” 

“Of course,” I said, and the two of us strolled away from the group. The older man snapped off a small necklace around his neck, and I saw the shimmer of magic surrounding us.

“Just a simple privacy bubble,” Zachary said. “The Ligature thanks you, deeply. We’ve been working towards a day like this for a long time.” 

“I could figure,” I said wryly. “How exactly did Elderglass manage to get three airships into Zheren’s air territory?” 

A complex look came over Zachary’s face, and he shook his head. 

“I’m not sure. They’ve been stalwart allies, but they’re becoming increasingly pushy. My contacts in Tracktath are becoming worried about a potential war, and some within my house think that they’re intentionally destabilizing Paerús, since our coalition of archmages is one of the few major threats they have.” 

My stomach twisted into a knot at that, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that I’d made the wrong choice. The people needed to know the truth, and our current system was predatory and abusive. It couldn’t stand. 

“What does that mean?” I asked. 

“Just… Be careful,” he said. “We need to unify, quickly. The nobles will be gunning for you, in an attempt to show off their power as quickly as possible. You need to show off every bit of power you have. You’ve won a lot of goodwill from the people with this move, but you’ve made a lot of enemies. Watch your back, because you’re going to die if you don’t. While you dying in a heroic manner could be useful in a political sense, I’d prefer that you didn’t die at all.” 

“I understand,” I said. “When we fight, trust me, I won’t be holding anything back.” 

“Good,” he said. “And watch your back. But you should know, if there’s anything that I can do, on a personal note, I’ll be happy to.” 

I gave him a complex look.

“When I die,” I said. “Don’t remember me for being a warrior. Remember my magic, and spread every bit of knowledge you could. The ligature denied my requests for industrial magic because this isn’t what

“When you die?” Zachary said, looking alarmed, and I shook my head. 

“If,” I said. “If I die.” 

“Well,” he said. “Nobody gets to decide how their legacy is shared, but I’ll do my best.” 

“Thank you,” I said. “Now, we should go tell Osheen. He’s a member of the ligature as well, you know.” 

“I had noticed,” Dormer said. “But he’s in far less danger. In fact, given who his father was, the nobility wants him alive.” 

“I see,” I said. “Well, that’s good to know.” 

I walked over to Osheen, and we began to head into the forest, towards Draven’s portal. 

“What are you planning?” Osheen asked as we stepped into the privacy of the Wandering Path. 

“What do you think about the name Valdarii? I asked. “Or Ivaldar? Or even Arvilaid?”