“No, they are all over the city.”
“What could do this?” Lord Tsukang asked.
“That is the question,” Jucai said.
“Well, it's a magic disruptor, of course,” I said.
“Such things exist?” Lady Sulai asked.
“On the surface, yes. We have machines that can disrupt magic, turning it off like a faucet. There are safes and treasure rooms that employ such machines to create unseen doors. You ward a door with magic no one can penetrate and use a disruptor as a key. Turn it on, and the path is clear. We even have manacles that disrupt magic on a small scale, limited to the individual who wears them.”
“Could it stop God Magic?” Jucai asked.
I met his gaze. “I don't know. No one's ever tried.”
“So someone has brought a surface machine here and used it to turn off magic?” Lady Sulai asked. “All to implicate Land Dragons? Why? To stop us from trading for land goods?”
“This isn't about trade,” I said. “They're trying to start a war.”
“Again, I ask, why?” Sulai slapped her hand on the table. “No one in Ilshi would want a war. It will hurt everyone in our kingdom.”
“Sometimes, the path forward is painful, but if you knew the pain would lead to victory, wouldn't you take it?” I looked from the advisers to the King. “We need to think bigger. What would war do to this kingdom?”
Jucai shrugged. “We've never been to war.”
“You'd become isolated,” I said. “Your people would resent you. They might even revolt. War steals lives, money, and security. It can make kings into outcasts.”
Jucai lifted his chin. “So, this is about me.”
“Not necessarily, but I'd wager it's about your rule or your court. Someone, probably a lot of someones, is displeased with the Ilshi Dread.
“Could this not simply be a normal failure of magic?” Lord Yao asked. “Enchantments fail.”
“Rarely,” Jucai said. “And some citizens tried to repair their enchantments. None were successful.”
“One or two, even five failures would be normal, but over a hundred enchantments failing all at once? No, this is no coincidence,” I said. “Someone turned off all the Fire Magic in the city, and they did it to point the finger at my people.”
Jucai looked at me. “Can you locate a magic disruptor?”
“No, there's no way of finding one. However, the entire city was affected, so I think the disruptor is in the palace.”
“The palace? But we weren't affected.”
“Some disruptors can be set to push out the field of disruption so it doesn't affect the operator. What about your guard? Did you investigate the people he'd been in contact with?”
“They were all slaves who hadn't left the palace since their arrival.”
“Are you sure?”
“The Master of Palace Slaves keeps a record of where each slave is.”
“But what if it was a bed slave?”
The Sea Dragons laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” I scowled at them.
Lady Sulai said, “Our bed slaves adore us. They would never rebel.”
