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Mak sighed and lifted a hand. “It still feels like we’re marching naked into Corona. I don’t like us giving all our concentration to a spell that can’t be interrupted while there are mages at our backs.”
“And at my mercy?” Lio quirked a brow.
“I wish we could postpone the Renewal till the embassy is gone,” Lyros said. “The Queens decided against it, though. They were concerned it might diminish the ward’s preservation of the vacant city while we’re in Orthros Notou. Architectural repairs would be a small price to pay, but they don’t want the gardens and the wildlife to suffer.”
“That’s out of the question,” Lio said. “I would be aghast if the Summit made anyone think otherwise. The Annassa must give the ward an infusion of their magic for the coming year, and all the elder firstbloods must lend their power to the working. It’s an honor for the Stewards to get to participate and strengthen your connection with the ward. I can only imagine what that must feel like.”
“We promised to tell Bosko all about it at bedtime,” Mak said. “Why don’t you and Cassia bring Zoe over?”
Lio smiled. “We’ll do that.”
Lyros pulled him a little closer. “I mean it, Glasstongue. Don’t get any ideas about talking to the mages.”
Lio signed Alathea’s constellation over his heart. “My lips are sealed. I don’t need to talk to gouge their eyes out with blinding light or break their minds into little pieces, should they cause trouble.”
Mak grinned. “Are you sure you don’t need a couple of Chargers to hold them down for you?”
Lyros released Lio with some reluctance. “The Chargers need to be on alert at the border in case the envoys send word of the hostages while we’re engrossed in the casting.”
“I managed hundreds of heart hunters all right,” Lio reminded them, “without killing them. You can trust me with two mages and an apprentice.”
His Trial brothers saluted him and stepped away.
Lio let out a sigh. He focused his thoughts on Cassia’s aura in the next building. Like the Harbor Light guiding him home, she kept him from straying into dire thoughts of the hostages and the envoys who were searching for them.
The beacon of her aura gleamed brighter with surprise, then hope so fierce, Lio could taste it. He shut his eyes. No one else in either guest house was astir, except…was that spirit afire Eudias? It was indeed.
Lio was still debating whether this justified leaving his post when he heard footsteps in the gallery. In a moment, Cassia strode into the corridor and approached with Eudias, Callen, and Perita. Knight’s hackles rose as they neared the mages’ doors.
Cassia spoke first. “Apprentice Eudias has new information about the hostages, which could help us discover where the mages are holding them.”
“Thank the Goddess.” Lio turned to the young mage.
“Is it safe to do this here, now?” Eudias peered up and down the hall. “You’re the only guard tonight, Ambassador?”
“Yes.”
“But—but—you’re a light mage.”
“I am.” Lio left him to imagine the dangerous mystery skills Hesperines possessed, which he now had on his side.
“We must do this now,” Cassia said, “regardless of the risk. There is no time to lose.”
Lio hesitated, a hand on his breast where he had just signed Alathea’s constellation. “I know you would not suggest anything risky unless it were necessary.”
Eudias gestured to Cassia. “Go ahead, Basilis.”
Cassia spoke quickly. Lio listened in silence as she described what they had learned about the Gift Collector’s work for the war mages and his whereabouts during the past year.
“So you see,” she finished, “we have reason to believe that Skleros captured the seven Hesperines errant for the Dexion. We also know the Gift Collector has not been in Cordium for a year. Do you have any reason to believe the hostages were taken before that time?”
Lio thought back to what Ioustin had told him about the disappearances Abroad. “I am certain they were not. I have it on the best authority they went missing between the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes.”
“That must mean Skleros delivered the hostages somewhere in Tenebra.”
“We have to find out where.”
“I’m afraid we must take into consideration that the mages may have moved them since then.”
