Hemlock And The Wizard Tower (Book 1) (26 page)

Falignus presented
other statistics to the Senate
and received
a neutral response at best and muttering opposition at worst.  Still, he
had
not show
n any reaction to the mutterings.
He
completed his speech and
then
sat down in his chair.

Gwineval saw that Samberlin
was
having discussions
with
some Senators seated beside him.  The elder Senator then rose
to address the Senate and the assembled
wizards
.  Gwineval noted that
Samberlin
appeared somewhat discomfited as he began to speak.

"
The Senate thanks the
wizards
for their report.  The statistics see
m acceptable for the most part. 
I fear, however, that we must bring up a matter of some…sensitivity.  It seems that a
Citizen of our
district was recently apprehended by the
wizards
in a rather public
and heavy handed
fashion.  This has created some outrage amongst the Citizens.  This man’s name is Poyer.
"

Gwineval,
who was
familiar with the case of
citizen
Poyer, glanced at Falignus
in order
to gauge his reaction
to Samberlin’s comments
. 
Gwineval
quickly saw
the annoyance
on Falignus’ face
,
albeit
just barely, but doubted that any of the Senators
were able to detect it
. 
Gwineval knew that
Falignus
was very good at maintaining his composure
, though Gwineval also knew that Falignus often reached a breaking point at which his explosive temper took over.  Gwineval was hopeful that Falignus would stay in control of himself e
ven in an unusual situation
like this
, with the Senate questioning a Wizard Guild action directly
.

Samberlin
continued
his address
:
"
Poyer came to the City some ten years ago.  Although he arrived without any items of value, he was able to establish
proof
his
considerable
talents during his month of tri
al, and was accepted as a full c
itizen of the City.  As you may be aware, he has great talent w
ith food and may be the finest c
hef that the City has ever seen.
"

"
The recent policy change regarding the usage of illusion magic was difficult for Poyer.  He was an accomplished Mage in his original lands, and
relied on
the illusion magic to enhance his culinary creations. 
He feared for his profits due to the high requirements for magic in his recipes, so h
e apparently kept using his own spells even after the ban went into effect.
"

"
We do not dispute
the problem with
what Poyer has done, but we ask for clemency on his beh
alf.  He is a valued and loved c
itizen
–
and a productive one.  We do not doubt that he can be reformed and that we will be able to persuade hi
m to see the error of his ways."

Suddenly Falignus burst from his chair and lightning
shot from his fingertips.  The lightning bolts struck
an ornate
statue
of an old and honored Senator,
which was mounted regally,
high
on the walls of the Senate chamber, just below the balconies.  The energy bolt struck home
and shear
ed
the
statue’s
stately stone head right off.  The head
then fell
heavily into the Senators below and it
was
only through
great
providence and some quick reactions that none
were
hurt by the
fall of the great piece of stone
.

"
THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
!"
Falignus
cried
, his face reddened and saliva spitting from his mouth as he screamed.

"
YOU WILL NOT QUESTION OUR POLICIES ON MAGIC!
"
he cried again.

Samberlin
looked surprised, but held his ground before the raging Wizard.

"
The laws that govern our two bodies
are
clear,"
Falignus
continued
loudly
,
but
in a voice that sounded
somewhat more composed
to Gwineval
.

"
The Senate holds sway in matters of governance of the City insofar as it does not involve
the
matter of magic, which
is
the sole jurisdiction of the
Wizard
Guild
,"
Falignus
continued.

"
When you question these fundamental agreements between us, you jeopardize the order that we have established
in the governance of this City." 

"The matter of the former c
itizen Poyer is not one for Senate consi
deration.  This meeting is over
.
"

Falignus looked over the body of assembled Senators.  The room was completely silent.

Gwineval
had
watched the spectacle
that had unfolded before him
with a detached point of view.  On one hand, he agreed with Falignus, since it
was
well known that the Senate
harbored w
izards that operated outside of
the Wizard Guild’s rules
.  Clearly, Po
yer had been one of these,
had been careless and
had
gotten caught by the
Wizard Guild
.  On the other hand, Gwineval thought that Falignus should have handled the matter more judiciously.  Gwineval believed, along with most Guild
wizards
, that the Senate existed only at the whim of the
wizards
, because it
had been
convenient to have them be the public face of government
in the City
.  It
was
doubtful that the Senate could ever seriously oppose the Wizard Guild. 
Gwineval knew that t
he last time that happened
, the
re
sult had been the Night of Ninety-Nine Tears:
a lesson that Gwineval felt that the Senate would not soon
forget
.  Still, he reflected, generations came and went
,
and experiences faded
into
tales and stories.  Some
foolish citizens had
even
recently
questioned the veracity of the
tale of the
Night of
Ninety-Nine
Tears openly.  Gwineval
hoped that the Senate wouldn’t be so foolish
as
to openly oppose the Wizard Guild again, but felt certain that if they did, the result would
be
similar to
their
last attempt.

The
wizards
gathered behind Falignus and strode from the Senate hall.  As they left,
Gwineval
noted that there were
knight g
uards in full plate mail armor stationed at the doors.  Some of them even leered at the
wizards through their helmets
, although the ic
y demeanor of Falignus and the First C
ircle wizard guards seemed to quell their stares somewhat.  Fortunately, in Gwineval’s
reckoning
, the
wizards
exited the Senate
chamber
without
further
incident.

After the
wizards
walked several
blocks back toward Hemisphere L
ake, Gwineval surged
forward
to walk abreast with Falignus.

"
Do you think that display was wise?
"
he asked skeptically.

Falignus shrugged and replied:
"
Would you rather we had a little hysterics in the Senate or a
full replay of the N
ight of
Ninety-Nine T
ears?
"

Gwineval felt
Malvert
’s presence
closer
behind him and
saw
an urge for restraint in Miara’s eyes, as she
also
stood behind Falignus.

"
You have a point,
"
Gwineval
admitted,
"
but I still think the matter could have been handled a little more delicately.  You’ve made an enemy of
Samberlin
now.
"

"
Perhaps
,"
Falignus
c
onceded,
as dark locks of hair fell
down over his
noble
features. 
"
But I know how
Samberlin
seeks and wields power.  He’ll use this conflict to solidify his power in the Senate and then I’ll use him as a single point of control soon thereafter
. 
You think me some headstrong boy, Gwineval,
but I always plan my actions,"
Falignus
had a hint of mockery in his voice
.

"
That was no planned outburst, Falignus.  You surely plan wisely to account for your temper, but don’t think that I do
n’t see the truth of the matter,"
Gwineval
r
eplied angrily.

Gwineval
took
his leave of the group.  He
had been
tasked with making a stop at
a
local Wizard
building
in the south part of the Elite district, and
w
anted to get it over with. 

After he announced his intentions, Miara cautioned him.

"Gwineval, take a guard with you. T
he
events in the
Senate meeting may
cause a stir in the district," s
he recommended, her
salt and pepper colored
hair blowing over her face in the midday wind.  Gwineval noted that her features were
still
appealing, even
though she was
well into middle age.

"
She’s right
,
Gwineval, it woul
d be prudent," the wizard
Jalis
stated
.

Falignus nodded in agreement as well.

"
No, I think not.  The
Citizens will not strike out at
us this day.  I will go about my duties normally
,"
he stated and walked off, pausing only to cast a reassuring look at Miara, who
shook
her head in return
,
in a gesture of
mild reproach.

…

Safreon
watched the w
izard
called Gwineval
leave the group
of wizards
and
begin to
walk south into the Elite district.

"
Perfect
,"
he thought to himself.

Safreon had been in the balconies during the Senate meeting.  In fact, he had been uncomfortably close to the
damage caused by the
lightning bolt that Falignus had thrown.

The proceedings had taken quite a surprising turn
for Safreon
when
Samberlin
had brought up the matter of Citizen Poyer.  But Safreon had been more surprised at the reaction
of this w
izard Gwineval, which he
had
observed from his balcony vantage point.

Safreon had been studying the council wizards carefully during the meeting, looking for any hint of a p
otentially
sympathetic ear to his cause.  He
had been
looking for a
point of
contact
that
he could
establish
within the Wizard Guild.