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“No more guilt!” she hissed at him. “And you do need me, stubborn wizard. I specifically qualified my remark as applying tominorwizards with arefined skill set. That is hugely different from a high-level wizard with MP scores off the charts, no Convocation education, and a lord of a High House with a host of enemies. I’m going to prove to you how much you need me, Gabriel Phel, if I have to beat you over the head to do it.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he protested. “Of course I know I needyou, I just—”
“Save it.” She waved the minions list at him and plunked it on the desk for him to see. “As I was saying, if you’d become Lord Phel through the fullness of time, having grown up in a house full of wizards—andfamiliars—you would have minions already. Right now you have no one, so we need to import some minions.”
“I have you, as you’ve been reminding me so sternly.”
“You needwizardminions, like any self-respecting head of a house does. For example, Papa has nearly a thousand wizards working for House Elal.”
“I don’t want to be anything like your father,” he ground out.
“Then you shouldn’t have acquired his daughter for a wife,” she retorted. “You want my savvy in establishing Phel as a High House? You need minions, starting with a House Refoel wizard.”
“I thought you planned to set up an account with Refoel, barter for services.” He didn’t like the idea of any other wizards in Meresin, much less in his house.
“I changed my mind. Once I started assessing what we needed to bring House Phel up to standard, I realized that having in-house wizards with loyalty to you is key.”
“How do we know they’d be loyal to us? Seems like they could act as spies for their houses.”
She shrugged as if that was of no concern. “There’s some of that, for sure, but that can work in our favor, as they can report back that you’re not up to anything scurrilous.” She raised a significant brow, not saying aloudlike hoping to destroy the Convocation.“Besides, of all the High Houses, Refoel tends to steer clear of wars and disputes. As healers, they hold themselves to a standard of benevolence over hostility.”
“How comforting,” he remarked drily.
“Isn’t it? Most importantly, we have the control here, so we’ll issue the invitations carefully, seeking out people who I believe will be tolerant of… the unusual living conditions, shall we say, in exchange for the opportunity to be first among the wizards of a brand-new High House.”
“Which we are not, yet.”
“Which we will be.”
“You finally said we!” Slipping a hand behind her neck, despite the presence of the workers, he kissed her long and tenderly. “Thank you.”
She made a face, but a high flush graced her cheekbones. “A slip of the tongue. Focus, would you?”
Obediently, he studied the list, noting House Ratsiel on it. “I thought one doesn’t retain a Ratsiel courier.”
“One doesn’t. The couriers themselves aren’t living beings. But the best houses keep a Ratsiel wizard on site—who keeps a stable of couriers, much as an Elal wizard will have an arsenal of spirits—for speed of communication.”
Gabriel suppressed a shudder at the reminder of Jan, the Elal wizard who’d attempted to abduct Nic, and his creepy spirit warriors. “Is that really necessary?” He’d been fine with the previous speed of missives. In fact, he could wish some had arrived more slowly.
“Yes. Unfortunately, we’ll have to pay Ratsiel to install a wizard on site.”
“Sounds expensive.”
“Looksexpensive,” she corrected, “and appearances are important. If we were an established High House, we could make a trade, send Ratsiel a water wizard to keep their wells clean, for example. But you don’t yet have junior water wizards, and we’re not giving them you.”
“Comforting.”
“You’re much more valuable here,” she replied with an impish smile.
“Darling, you say the sweetest things.”
“Now, with Refoel, I think we can barter flasks like the healer in Wartson had, with water that purifies wounds. Can you do that?”
“Should be easy, with a bit of experimentation.”
She gave him an approving look that warmed his heart. “I wonder who made hers?”
That was a good question. “El-Adrel, of enchanted artifacts fame?”
