First Apprentice

Chapter 20 Part 2

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Terry closed his eyes and inhaled. His lips moved as he counted to five then exhaled. His eyes snapped open. "Here's the problem. My seal mastery is a battlefield mastery. Outside of battle, I'm a by-the-book sealer. If someone brings me a seal that works better than the current ones, I'll use it. But I don't create new seals. Never have. Different mentality." He sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered and extended his hand.

A twitch of his fingers levitated two books off the shelf. They floated over to me and dropped on the couch beside me, narrowly missing my plate. "Everything you never wanted to know about the approval process and security reviews," Terry said. "Read it. I want a preliminary report on that power array in one month. Joel, I hate to ask this. I know she's not your apprentice."

Joel cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I'll guide her through the process." He grinned at me and waggled his eyebrows. "Gives me a new toy to play with."

I shot him a mock glare. "Just don't claim the toy."

"How about its owner?"

"Flirt on your own time, not mine," Terry cut in. "Amit's a problem."

"They are all problems. Amit and Mitra are extremely loyal," Joel paused, "to the Pundarikam Clan, not the Border Guard." Terry snorted. "Diane never leaves her lab. Simon, I can't tell if he's loyal to the Dracon or being blackmailed. Ever since the Shedu Clan assassinated her daughter, Natalie's toed the clan line."

"Murdered," Terry said absently. "We can't prove assassination."

"Because Amit destroyed the evidence," Joel said. "The Shedu murdered Seventh Apprentice Zarita – David Nease's mate, mother of two boys, and our third seat's only child. We do nothing!"

"She was also your former apprentice," Terry said in the same cold tone he used with Amit. A tone that suggested whatever emotions the man possessed he'd carved them out of with a rusty spun and burned them to ashes. "According to the charter, Amit's office handles all investigations. No one can censure him unless we have a chief."

I stared at Terry in disbelief. "You are both made chiefs. If Amit's covering up murders, then one of you should acknowledge reality and take the title."

Joel sighed. "It's not that simple. Peace-time chiefs are more politicians than warriors. Both of us combined don't have the political support we'd need to keep the peace."

"You cannot keep the peace with a dying gate," I said. The bait dangled between them, as they exchanged a look I couldn't interpret. Cursing Joel's magic and how it interfered with my sight for all I was worth, I plastered a disinterested expression on my face.

"We can keep it with a dying gate," Joel said after a long pause. "We cannot keep it with a dead one. Unless we enforce the old oaths –"

Terry shook his head. "They will never agree."

"Then don't ask." Steel entered Joel's voice. His gaze hardened as he set his fork on his plate and gave Terry his full attention. "War's coming. We can no longer stop it. Allowing the Seven to continue functioning under peacetime oaths is inviting assassins into our beds. They either join us in swearing the full oaths or they become guardians."

"Who will replace them? Their apprentices are incapable of holding their seats, probably by design. Promoting her so soon will draw more scrutiny than we can afford. Caed's sworn to the Shedu. Asking him to abjure his oaths will sever our alliances with the Shedu and Pundarikam. The commanders are needed with the legions. Who?"

"I don't know, but we can't continue like this."

Terry's gaze bored into me. "We won't have to."