Unlicensed Sorceress - Prologue
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Konigstad
Colonel
“Did you buy her story?” asked the young man sitting across from him, taking notes. The full dark black robe marked him as a full mage. In the colonel’s eyes, the mages seemed to get younger and younger every year.
The colonel looked at the paperwork on his desk. “Hilde Brant is a loyal citizen,” he said.
“But she’s a mercenary,” objected the young mage. His voice ended in a squeak.
The colonel frowned at the mage. “You know that most of our mercenaries were fighting in the Dragon wars. They might not be polished aristocratic clss, but they were loyal to a fault.” The colonel didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“So what do you know of her personaly?” the mage settled back into his chair and watched the colonel closely.
The colonel looked back warily. “Why are you asking?
The colonel fiddled with the quill pen. He carefully wt it in the in stand so it wouldn’t blot the papers on his desk. Then he put his full attention on the mage. He didn’t like the smirk on the mage’s face.
“Where do you stand?” asked the colonel. He kept his voice uncaring. Maybe the mage would actually pontificate on mage internal politics.
But the young mage was too cagey. “With King and country, of course,” he said with a laugh in his voice. He gave the colonel a fake smile.
The colonel bent his head and shuffled his papers. Soon the mage would get bored of taunting him and would leave. When he didn’t rise to the bait, the mage stood, pulled his black cloak around him, and walked behind the colonel.
It made the colonel itchy to have this mage behind him. He didn’t even turn when he heard a board snick as a panel opened behind him. He heard the soft shuffle as the mage left.
He had know there were secret passages, but didn’t know that one was in his office. The hair stood up on the back of his neck.
After the mage left, the colonel inspected the panel behind his desk. He saw a little peephole that looked like a nail hole. Anyone inspecting it would think that someone had tried to mount a painting there. It was perfect for spying on him and whatever was on his desk.
The young mage was too obvious in checking the colonel’s loyalties. Maybe Hilda was right that there was a coup happening in the palace, led by the mages. Maybe someone had heard his conversation with her.
He cleared his throat, sighed, and grabbed the quill pen and dipped the end into the inkwell. He started signing papers.