City of Mages

Chapter 12: Alara

Alara was only vaguely aware of the stares and whispers that followed her out of the room as she trailed behind Jimena. The young woman didn't even look at Alara as she led her down the hall.

This is it. This is when I get kicked out. She thought she would have felt more misery at the prospect, but as she followed after the woman in front of her, she just felt tired.

The walk to the councilrooms felt longer than normal. When they finally arrived. Jimena only gave a short knock on the door before opening it and leading Alara in. Before she could say anything, Jimena had disappeared back out the door.

The room was a large circle, the walls lined with woven tapestries of bright reds, teals, and pinks. A small fire burned in a hearth set against the rounded wall, the smoke drifting up and into the walls of the Haven. The circular Council's table sat in the middle of the room, its surface a scattering of maps, books, and papers. Six chairs held the six councilmembers who were in the middle of a heated argument. A couple other seats sat a little away from the table and Alara wondered if she should sit. She wasn't quite sure how long her shaky legs would keep her standing at this point.

"This is unacceptable." One of the women at the table said, the wrinkles on her face deep with concern. Although they had never talked in person, Alara knew Senya Juanez was the oldest member of the Council in both age and tenure, and one of the three blameless that helped rule the realm.

"They are becoming a dangerous liability that needs to be stomped out if the Haven is to survive," one of the men said—another blameless. His green eyes stared daggers at Emaru, who sat still and silent across from him.

Alara knew the members on the Council didn't always fully agree with each other, but there was a tension in the room that she didn't expect.

For centuries, the Council sat balanced with three mages and three blameless. As the original founders intended after the Bruya Wars, this forced them to compromise and find agreement among themselves, despite the bad blood that had once festered between those who held magia and those who didn't. But as Alara stared at the six councilmembers before her, it didn't feel like the bad blood resided only in the past.

She made eye contact with Jorye Molina, the third mage on the Council, who cleared his throat and gave a tight smile. "Our guest has arrived."

Five other pair of eyes swiveled toward her and she felt her heart give a small lurch. A jumble of words and pleas formed in her head, a dozen arguments for why the Council should keep her on in the Haven.

"Alara," Senya Cruz spoke. Until now she had been silently watching the exchange between the others.

Before should continue, however, Nile cut in sharply, "Your roommate Quenti appears to have gone missing. What do you know about this?"

Alara could taste copper on her tongue and she felt the blood rush from her head. Not what she was expecting. Her eyes flickered to Emaru who looked her impassively. The other six sat in silence.

"I—" she stuttered, "I have no idea. I haven't seen her in a few days." Emaru's eyes were intense and dark; the three blameless scowled at her. Senya Cruz seemed to be wearing a smirk of satisfaction—she probably predicted that Alara would screw this up. "I haven't been in the room a lot, and I just thought we kept missing each other. I didn't think—"

"You didn't think it was important to tell me that you hadn't seen her in a few days." It wasn't a question.

Alara felt sick.

"Clearly," Senya Cruz cut in, "the child should not have been entrusted with this task. The decision to give her supervision of a feral new magite was a mistake." This time the councilwoman cold eyes were directed at Emaru, who didn't meet her gaze, but continued to glare at Alara.