Free Enchanter (Book 7) by Terry Mancour

just enjoy the fair.”
     
     
    *
     
     
    After ensuring that the Knights of Nablus weren’t going to start attacking every mage in sight, I wearily went back to the castle to get changed for the evening’s festivities.  I was about to head for the new hall when I glanced up at my tower and saw Lorcus sitting in the window of my workshop.  He gave me a nod and I changed course.
    “When the hells did you arrive?” I demanded, the moment I entered the room.  “Why didn’t you tell me, mind-to-mind?”
    “A few hours ago,” he said, as he sprawled in my window bay with a cup in his hand.  “And I didn’t want to disturb your academic pursuits.  And this way I got to sit here and drink your wine for free,” he pointed out.
    “Dunselen an Isily are at the fair.  When were you going to tell me that?”
    The Remeran shrugged. “I thought you knew.  The fair schedule was established months ago.  Didn’t Banamor tell you?”
    “It must have slipped his mind,” I grunted.  “You have something to report?”
    “It was a lovely wedding. The bride wore russet and yellow, the groom didn’t smell too bad.  Neighbor and vassal, family and friends gathered in the sight of the Holy Mother to add their blessings to hers.  The musicians played ‘ O, Were She A Rose’ and ‘ The Legacy of Love’ .  The cake was a five-layered affair involving lemon and rosewater.”
    You had to have a lot of patience with Lorcus.  “Your impressions?”
    “I’ve never been a fan of rosewater, and the lemon just didn’t go over as well as I had expected,” he said, philosophically.  “An interesting experiment, but it was tragically too subtle for the occasion.”
    A whole lot of patience.  “I was more interested in the bridesmaids,” I said through clenched teeth.
    “I have no doubt – who wouldn’t be?  A lively lot, they were.  Young, pretty, and all friends of Her Highness.  There were four of the beauties there, and they’ve all agreed to stay on as the new baroness’ ladies-in-waiting.  Something that might be of concern – at least two of the lasses are magi.”
    That was concerning.  I had figured that Isily was using her marriage as a pretext for some scheme or another, on behalf of the Princess, and this as much as confirmed it.  A whole pretty coven of magical assassins. 
    “And how did Lady Isily appear around her new groom?” I asked, as casually as I could.
    “Oh, she was the very picture of wifely devotion and managed a surprising amount of affection toward him, in public.  I wasn’t able to see how the happy couple were in private – I’m not certain my eyes could have taken the strain.  But if the marriage is a sham, it’s a well-constructed sham.  Either way, milady has pretty killers infesting her chambers.  As to what her plans are . . . well, that remains a mystery.”
    “Speculation?”
    “With my imagination and five beautiful women to play with?  That could get involved,” Lorcus said, stroking his chin and grinning.  “But she’s having a hall constructed for their use.  The official story is that they are all dear friends and family who go back years, and she cannot bear to be parted from them.  But I see it as a headquarters for Family operations in the region, as well as a strategic move by Mother to keep the power of the Arcane Orders in check.”
    “So why didn’t you report all of this to me, mind-to-mind?” I demanded.
    “Because you were off in the Wilderlands with the kiddies, and there was nothing that was urgent enough in my opinion to justify the intrusion,” he shot back.  In other households the retort would have been considered cheeky enough for a rebuke.  But I’d taken Lorcus into service partially because he was cunning, devious, intelligent . . . and he didn’t kiss my ass.  He respected me, the man, not the title or even the power. 
    Part of that respect involved trusting his judgment.  If he didn’t think it was worthy of