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He scoffed, “Your sources are wrong.”
“Unlikely.”
“Why would the Commander do that?”
“That’s all part of my explanation.” Bruns waited.
Playing nice meant listening to his captor’s crazy theories and perhaps pretending to agree with him.
“All right, Bruns. I’ll listen to your...pitch.” Leif picked up the glass and gulped half the water. Ahhh. Welcome back, tongue.
“The Commander is preparing to invade Sitia. We know this because he has gone to great lengths to secure Curare, stockpile null shields, nullify the Liaison and is harboring Owen Moon, a known rogue magician.”
Stockpiling null shields? That was news to Leif. Filling the spoon with chunks of beef and potatoes, Leif shoveled it into his mouth. Not bad. Not the best he’d ever tasted, but up there in the top five.
“The Commander ordered the hit to block the Liaison’s magic so she would no longer be an asset to the Sitian Council. Without her magic, the Commander could invite her to be one of his advisers and, with the added appeal of being with her heart mate, it would be a tempting offer. Valek would also be happy. And it’s important to the Commander to keep him happy. He’s vital to their security. That’s also why Onora didn’t kill Yelena. That would have sent him on a quest for revenge.”
Bruns crossed his legs. “With me so far?”
“One question. Why did you hire The Mosquito to assassinate Yelena?”
“To cause strife in Ixia by sending Valek on that quest for revenge. We hoped he’d assume the second attempt was connected to the first and discover the Commander sent Onora. Plus Yelena has classified information about Sitia. The last thing we wanted was for her to give it to the Commander. We’re trying to protect Sitia.”
Protect Sitia by murdering Yelena? That was very twisted logic. “Who’s we?”
“I’m getting to that. Considering the Commander’s hatred of magicians, Owen Moon’s presence is harder to explain. He must have something rather significant that the Commander can use when he attacks Sitia.
“The Sitian Council has almost all this information, yet they still argue and discuss and get nothing done. Yes, I know they tasked your Councilman to increase production of Theobroma, but that will take years. We don’t have years. We have a year at most.”
Leif stopped chewing. A year? Even with the grafting technique, they’d never be ready in time.
“Frustrated with the Sitian Council’s refusal to accept the facts and act, I contacted a number of friends and colleagues. We formed our Cartel and brainstormed ideas on how to protect Sitia from being invaded. First we listed our assets. Our army doesn’t stand a chance—we lack discipline and numbers. But we have magicians and super messengers.
“Except the magicians don’t know how to fight or work with an army. Some of them can’t be counted on to help because they’re selfishly pursuing their own agendas, which is why the Commander can stockpile null shields. It’s incomprehensible to me why a magician would create something that can be used against him. It’s like giving your sword to your previously unarmed enemy, and then being surprised when he stabs you with it!”
Bruns stopped his tirade. He drew in a deep breath then continued in an even tone, “We decided to stop the randomness and the stupidity. The idea is to gather all the magicians into one unit, train them how to fight and use their magic to gain information. Organize them to maximize their efforts during a war and stop them from selling null shields to the enemy. It’s the only way we will prevent the Commander from conquering Sitia.”
“The Council does use magicians—”
“Only a handful compared to how many there are. And how many like Owen Moon have caused us trouble over the years? Dozens?”
Names sprang to mind, but Leif resisted the temptation to list them. Instead he considered Bruns’s idea. He gestured to the bruisers. “And this is your way of gathering all the magicians? Ambush and imprison them until they hear your speech? Then what? Join or die?”
Bruns smiled, revealing a row of straight white teeth, but no humor shone in his gray eyes. “Those who have been recruited by the members of the Cartel had no need for a demonstration of our resources. They recognized the danger and agreed to train.”
“And the ones that don’t agree?”
“They’re persuaded. I can be very convincing.”
Leif imagined Bruns’s persuasion techniques involved threats, torture and isolation. Good thing he’d finished the food, or he would have lost his appetite. “How about the four who were assassinated? Are they the ones you couldn’t sway?”
“No. They were the troublemakers. No amount of logic or appealing to their patriotic sense of duty would ever entice them away from being selfish, greedy problems. We didn’t bother to waste our time with them.”
Harsh. “And you sent The Mosquito to Lapeer to assassinate Ben Moon and Loris and Cilly Cloud Mist.”
“Yes. They were easy–to-solve problems.” Bruns’s tone remained reasonable, as if they discussed business.
That brought the total number of murdered magicians to seven—playing nice might be harder than Leif had thought. He switched to a safer topic. “Why didn’t you try logic and reason on me?”
“I’m doing that right now.”
“No. I meant why the ambush, the...demonstration?” At least Bruns hadn’t called it a kidnapping. He detested that word.
“Ah. I see. In your case and in a few others, we determined that your loyalty to the Council would make it much harder to convince you. That it would take us some time to demonstrate our sincerity in protecting Sitia.”
“A few others? Like Hale?”
“Yes. And those who work closely with the Council and Master Magicians on various operations.”
“Is Hale...?” Leif couldn’t say the word. He’d grown fond of the stiff—quite the surprise.
“He’s fine. Another reason for the extra measures is so you don’t warn the Council until we’re ready.”
“But they already know about the Cartel and the missing and dead magicians.”
“Yes, but they don’t know who is involved or where our base of operations is located.”
So The Mosquito hadn’t informed his boss about revealing Bruns’s name to Yelena when he failed to assassinate her in Fulgor’s jail. That little detail might just save Leif’s life. “If they do find out who’s involved, they’ll know to search Jewelrose lands.”
“I believe you’re fishing for information. And I’m insulted that you’d think I’d be fooled that easily.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“If you wanted a tour of the compound, all you had to do was ask.” Bruns stood and smoothed his tunic. “First, some safety information. These two gentlemen are armed with blowpipes and darts filled with Curare. Their aim is remarkable, even at a distance. They will be accompanying us. Understand?”
“That they’ll shoot me with Curare if I try to escape? Yes, that’s quite clear.”
Mister Business frowned at him as if he’d used crass language. But he gestured to Bruiser One. The broad-shouldered man unlo
cked Leif’s ankles. Leif noted which pocket the key disappeared into. Valek’s lessons on how to pick a pocket just might come in handy. Leif rubbed feeling back into his feet. His boots had been placed beside the bed. He wondered what had happened to his cloak and machete as he tied the laces.
When Leif stood, a brief spell of weakness flushed through him. He’d need more than one meal to return to full strength. Bruiser Two opened the door and, with Bruns in the lead, followed by Leif, the four of them entered a hallway. The null shield remained around him. Too bad. He’d hoped it was attached to the room.
The hallway’s white walls held no decorations, just a series of closed doors on both sides. Leif counted a total of forty.
“This is the barracks for the magicians,” Bruns said.
Did he expect to fill the entire building? That would be quite an accomplishment. At the end of the corridor, they descended two flights of stairs and walked into the sunlight. Leif squinted until his eyes adjusted. The warm air smelled of wood smoke and leather. A green fuzz lined the tree branches, but he’d have to examine the buds closer to see where in Sitia he might be. Bigger buds would mean he was farther south. Of course, that only narrowed down his north/south location. East/west would be harder to discern without more geographical information.
Bruns strode around the compound, pointing to the various buildings—stables, armory, infirmary, dining hall—with pride. Leif memorized the layout. It resembled a military base and even had a three-story-high marble wall surrounding it. Leif wouldn’t be surprised if Bruns had commandeered the Jewelrose garrison.
Soldiers marched in unison, wearing olive-colored fatigues. Others practiced a variety of fighting techniques in a large training area.
Bruns showed him the armory. “We’ve been developing new weapons.” He picked up an oversize bow. “We’ve discovered the bigger the bow, the farther an arrow will fly, giving us an advantage.” Placing it back on the table, he drew Leif over to a pile of leather. “This is going to be made into protective clothing. It resists punctures and will stop a dart of Curare from reaching a soldier’s skin!”
