Life Magic: Book One of the Pagolian Saga by Norman Rae

Author:Norman Rae [Rae, Norman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-06T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

They sat there in silence as the servants cleared the last vestiges of dinner. Only when they were alone in the large hall did Ciel begin to tell Amassat the full story.

‘Do you think I should talk to Dundolde about this essay? Ciel asked her. ‘He’s into all the intrigue and stuff so it might help.’

Amassat shook her head, ‘No, I wouldn’t.’

‘Why not?’ Ciel was interested.

‘I just, I’ve never really liked him.’

‘I’ve always found him friendly.’

‘He is. In a deliberate way. He’s very ambitious; Selenda says he wants be the next Supreme Magician. I suppose that’s why Master Woaran and Tophious have got him involved though, so they have someone with power and influence in the Institute. But I think the less he knows about what you’re doing the better.’

‘I’ve not seen you with Selenda recently,’ Ciel said carefully.

‘No, she’s not talking to me. Which is not so bad.’ She smiled slightly. ‘She wasn’t happy that I went on the date with you, and, when I said I was still going to be friends with you, that was it; she was in a terrible rage.’ Amassat shook her head.

Ciel was not surprised, but slightly taken aback by just how much distaste Selenda had for him. ‘She really doesn’t think much of me,’ he commented.

‘She looks down on you, but she’s also jealous. You’re really talented and she’s so ambitious, probably even more than Dundolde,’ she gave a laugh. ‘I only know about the politics of the Institute because Selenda talks non-stop about it; who’s doing this for that, which faction is moving to align with another. It can get very dull, the way she tells it at least. And it’s horrendously complicated, because they all constantly shift and change who they’re working with.’

Amassat was silent for a time. At last, she spoke again, ‘It must have something to do with Orlando’s league.’

Ciel looked at her, not sure what she was getting at.

‘They wanted you in Orlando’s League, didn’t they?’

He nodded.

‘So, if you’re trying to find out what they’re up to, that’s where your answer lies. How much do you know about it, Orlando’s League?’

Ciel pondered this. Not very much, was the answer. Just the few things people had told him, and what he saw at the ceremony. If he hadn’t been so distracted, it would normally have been something he would have been driven to find out all about. He realised that he had not even thought to explore the League’s chambers; most unlike himself.

‘Yeah, I’ve not really looked at that,’ he agreed. He checked his watch, ‘Here, I was going to show you my structure for the life-magic, see if you have any idea what I’m missing. We should get up there, it’s getting late.’

‘I’ll grab Goral and Bearbater’s scroll for you on the way,’ Amassat said.

*****

‘Here you go, it’s not very long.’

Ciel took the scroll that Amassat proffered, and glanced briefly, before putting it on his desk and turning to his diagram. Step by step he went through it, as he had already done for Lonn and Algernon.

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