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I have zero sympathy for fools.And idealists,Nic whispered in his mind.
Terribly afraid he was being both in this venture, and that these fatal flaws would spell Nic’s doom, he leaned his forehead against Salve’s pale hide, stroking her silky shoulder.The mare ruffled his hair with hay-scented breath, and for no good reason, that made him miss Nic more than ever.
“Hey,” Jadren said quietly, for once entirely serious, no joking to him.“We’ll get her back.”
Gabriel closed his eyes, though the image of that forbidding, unassailable castle had seared itself into his brain.“How do you know?”
“We have to.Therefore we will.”
Gabriel mulled that as they rode on, all of Nic’s advice about intention filtering through his mind.I have to,he repeated to himself.Therefore, I will.
There weren’t manyroads to House Sammael.So much so that it wasn’t possible to approach the place undetected.At some point, someone would inevitably see them, if they hadn’t been spotted already.That was something the High House shared with House Elal.Gabriel mused grimly over the contrast of those with House Phel.Even in its previous heyday, the grand manse in Meresin had never been designed as a fortress as these were.The entrée to both the Sammael and Elal family seats were explicitly made to be difficult for the uninvited—and no doubt treacherous for anyone with ill intentions.
“Is House El-Adrel like this?”he asked Jadren, who rode beside him.“Built like they expect an invading army to attack at any moment,” he explained when Jadren raised an inquiring brow.
“Of course,” Jadren answered, as if it were self-evident.
“So is House Hanneil,” Han supplied from behind them.“And every other High House I’ve been to—along with a significant number of lower-tier houses hoping to elevate themselves.”
“The history of the Convocation is a bloody and violent one, especially among the houses jockeying to become High Houses,” Jadren added.“No one wins by underestimating their enemies.House Phel is unusual in that it’s so easily approached.”
Perhaps that explained why the Phel family was defeated back in the day.Gabriel rarely felt empathy for his unknown ancestors, but now it seemed perhaps they may have been what Nic accused him of being: too soft and concerned with all the wrong things.Gazing up at the malevolent architecture of House Sammael as it loomed over them, taking up most of the sky from this perspective, he recognized with visceral clarity how unlike the bulk of the Convocation he truly was.
But that didn’t make him a victim.They have no idea how dangerous you are,Nic’s voice echoed in his head.Well, soon theywouldknow.
“Why are we simply riding up to the front doors again?”Gabriel asked, worry and suspicion tightening in his gut.
“The High Houses might be forever at each other’s throats, but we do it politely,” Jadren answered with an easy grin.
Abruptly, Gabriel turned Vale around, Salve whickering on her lead as she kicked into a trot to follow.The rest of his entourage scrambled out of his way to allow them through.Selly immediately turned her steed to follow along.
“Where are you going?”Alise demanded, dazed by the sudden shift.“We know Nic is up in one of those towers!”She’d been able to determine that much before the spirit spy she’d sent was ripped from her control by high Elal magic.
“We’re walking into a trap,” Gabriel threw over his shoulder, urging Vale and Salve into a faster pace.“No way am I just riding up to Sammael’s front door and asking politely that they give my wife back.”
“But they have to!”Jadren shouted after him.“She belongs to you by Convocation law.All you have to do is demonstrate that you’re alive and that you’ve properly bonded her.”
Gabriel brought Vale up short, wheeling him around again, poor, confused Salve following.The gelding, having caught his mood, pranced and pawed his displeasure.Selly drew her steed up, watching over her shoulder and waiting.“You just said that the history of the Convocation is a bloody and violent one,” Gabriel nearly shouted at Jadren, “and that no one wins by underestimating their enemies.Do you really believe they’re going to start playing by the rules with me now?Or is that your role in this little venture—to convince me to stumble blindly into this trap they’ve set for me?”
Jadren reddened, jaw tight.“I’m trying to give you the best advice I can.”
“From a self-confessed spy,” Gabriel snarled.He shouldn’t have been lulled into thinking that Jadren was—what?—some sort of friend.
Face hardening, Jadren nudged his own steed forward.Like most everything the house-poor wizard possessed, the horse was borrowed from House Phel.The gelding danced sideways, unhappy, and Jadren had difficulty regaining control.“House El-Adrel has nothing to do with this…collaborationbetween Elal and Sammael.I’m a spy in your house entirely to discover these things.”
“And report back,” Gabriel retorted, his rage growing.
“Yes, obviously—which does not mean I’m working to harm House Phel.”He laughed bitterly.“I’d be sabotaging my one opportunity to escape my mother’s grip.Why would I do that?”
“To ingratiate yourself with your mother.”Gabriel waited, but Jadren had no quick reply to that.He nodded, confirming his guess.“Tell me, Wizard Jadren, if there’s no collaboration between Elal and El-Adrel, why did Nic see Elal-tamed spirits animating your automatons?”
Alise caught her breath, head whipping around to Jadren.“Is that true?”
“No!”Jadren denied the accusation immediately, but his brows drew together.
It was Alise’s turn to nudge her horse forward, crowding Jadren.“Would you know?”she demanded coolly.“Your MP scorecard is a mystery, but I don’t sense any magic in you suitable for communicating with or manipulating the spirit world.”
Jadren glared at her—then relented as he thought through her words.“No,” he admitted in a softer tone.“I wouldn’t know.Are you sure of this?”he demanded of Gabriel.
