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.”But that will make it worse, part of Emily’s mind objected.Every time someone had remonstrated with her stepfather, he’d just grown worse and worse.Was Master Tor the same kind of person? It was hard to see his face without seeing her stepfather’s face overlying it.She fought down the urge to start crying again.“Why.why does he hate me?”Lady Barb pursed her lips in a manner that promised trouble for Master Tor.“It’s.it’s political,” she said, finally.“And it isn’t really something you could help.”Emily stared at her.“Did I unseat his patron in Zangaria?”“If only it were that simple,” Lady Barb said.“I think he had decided to dislike you even before you were ennobled.”She laughed, humorlessly.“King Randor should have made sure that you had a proper set of lessons on how our world actually works,” she added.“He’s marked you out as a target without telling you why.”Emily looked at her.“Why?”“It’s political,” Lady Barb repeated.“How much do you actually know about the White Council?”She went on before Emily could speak.“On the face of it, the White Council exists to coordinate the Allied Lands in battling the necromancers,” she explained.“But it’s more than just a simple council of kingdoms.There are independent city-states, magical dynasties and trading networks that also have vast influence.And then there are the independent sorcerers like your guardian.It’s all a terribly confusing mess.”Emily nodded, remembering how the great trading families of Europe had exercised an influence out of all proportion to their size.And someone like Void, vastly powerful, would also have considerable influence, if he saw fit to use it.“There are three.call them factions within the White Council,” Lady Barb continued.“The first faction wants to maintain the status quo, while the other two wish to rebuild the empire and reunite the Allied Lands completely.” She snorted.“The only real difference is who they want to put on top.One faction wishes to support a king as High King, blurring all the monarchies together, while the other wishes a looser structure, led and guarded by the Mediators.Master Tor is a strong proponent of the third.”Emily remembered his lectures on the rule of law and nodded.“He thinks that the Allied Lands should have a federal structure?”“The concept isn’t fully developed,” Lady Barb explained.“That faction is largely made up of independent magicians and traders.I suspect that it will fracture if it ever managed to get into power and start bending the rest of the Allied Lands to its will.”“While the other faction just wants to stay with aristocracy,” Emily deduced.“Why.?”“Just after the empire fell, there were several attempts to reunite the world by force,” Lady Barb explained.“None of those attempts succeeded, but many aristocrats still hold dreams of total power.I would not expect King Randor to hesitate if he was offered the position of High King—or emperor.But every other monarch would oppose him on principle.”“Because they want to be High King,” Emily said.“But what does that have to do with me?”Lady Barb snorted, rudely.“You came into this world and changed it,” she said.“Not just beating a necromancer, but by introducing all kinds of minor improvements that have started to spread out of control.And then King Randor offers you a position that, just incidentally, binds you to him.Just what do you think Master Tor’s faction thinks of you now?”Emily felt her blood run cold.“They think I’m going to help him conquer the world?”“Yes,” Lady Barb said, simply.She smiled at Emily’s shocked disbelief.“You are the greatest force for change this world has seen since the first necromancers,” she said, dryly.“Or didn’t you realize that? If King Randor has you in his corner, or at least has people thinking that you’re his powerful ally, he can boost his own status within the Allied Lands.Tell me.what didn’t happen during the holidays?”Emily hesitated, then saw it.“Alassa didn’t get married,” she said.“But that wasn’t my fault.”Lady Barb shrugged.“Alassa is your friend and your future liege,” she said.“How much do you think that has improved her status when it comes to marriage?”She shook her head.“I suspect that Master Tor considered you a potential ally for his faction before you became Baroness Cockatrice,” she added.“Instead, you’ve threatened to upset the balance of power in favor of monarchy.”“I didn’t mean to,” Emily protested.“But.”“That doesn’t always matter,” Lady Barb reminded her.“And now he had another demonstration of what he thinks is your gross irresponsibility.”“I didn’t kill the Warden,” she said.“I.”She stopped as a thought struck her.“Why did they keep saying that someone had destroyed the Warden?”Lady Barb chuckled, lightly.“What made you think that the Warden was human?”She nodded towards the table where Paddy lay.“The clue is in the name,” she said.“Warden; linked to the wards.The Warden was the embodiment of the monitoring functions built into the wards that supervise you and your fellow students.Like Paddy, he was a homunculus, if rather older and more capable than any other.”“Because he drew power from the wards,” Emily guessed.“Yes,” Lady Barb agreed.“Think about what the Warden does—did [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.”But that will make it worse, part of Emily’s mind objected.Every time someone had remonstrated with her stepfather, he’d just grown worse and worse.Was Master Tor the same kind of person? It was hard to see his face without seeing her stepfather’s face overlying it.She fought down the urge to start crying again.“Why.why does he hate me?”Lady Barb pursed her lips in a manner that promised trouble for Master Tor.“It’s.it’s political,” she said, finally.“And it isn’t really something you could help.”Emily stared at her.“Did I unseat his patron in Zangaria?”“If only it were that simple,” Lady Barb said.“I think he had decided to dislike you even before you were ennobled.”She laughed, humorlessly.“King Randor should have made sure that you had a proper set of lessons on how our world actually works,” she added.“He’s marked you out as a target without telling you why.”Emily looked at her.“Why?”“It’s political,” Lady Barb repeated.“How much do you actually know about the White Council?”She went on before Emily could speak.“On the face of it, the White Council exists to coordinate the Allied Lands in battling the necromancers,” she explained.“But it’s more than just a simple council of kingdoms.There are independent city-states, magical dynasties and trading networks that also have vast influence.And then there are the independent sorcerers like your guardian.It’s all a terribly confusing mess.”Emily nodded, remembering how the great trading families of Europe had exercised an influence out of all proportion to their size.And someone like Void, vastly powerful, would also have considerable influence, if he saw fit to use it.“There are three.call them factions within the White Council,” Lady Barb continued.“The first faction wants to maintain the status quo, while the other two wish to rebuild the empire and reunite the Allied Lands completely.” She snorted.“The only real difference is who they want to put on top.One faction wishes to support a king as High King, blurring all the monarchies together, while the other wishes a looser structure, led and guarded by the Mediators.Master Tor is a strong proponent of the third.”Emily remembered his lectures on the rule of law and nodded.“He thinks that the Allied Lands should have a federal structure?”“The concept isn’t fully developed,” Lady Barb explained.“That faction is largely made up of independent magicians and traders.I suspect that it will fracture if it ever managed to get into power and start bending the rest of the Allied Lands to its will.”“While the other faction just wants to stay with aristocracy,” Emily deduced.“Why.?”“Just after the empire fell, there were several attempts to reunite the world by force,” Lady Barb explained.“None of those attempts succeeded, but many aristocrats still hold dreams of total power.I would not expect King Randor to hesitate if he was offered the position of High King—or emperor.But every other monarch would oppose him on principle.”“Because they want to be High King,” Emily said.“But what does that have to do with me?”Lady Barb snorted, rudely.“You came into this world and changed it,” she said.“Not just beating a necromancer, but by introducing all kinds of minor improvements that have started to spread out of control.And then King Randor offers you a position that, just incidentally, binds you to him.Just what do you think Master Tor’s faction thinks of you now?”Emily felt her blood run cold.“They think I’m going to help him conquer the world?”“Yes,” Lady Barb said, simply.She smiled at Emily’s shocked disbelief.“You are the greatest force for change this world has seen since the first necromancers,” she said, dryly.“Or didn’t you realize that? If King Randor has you in his corner, or at least has people thinking that you’re his powerful ally, he can boost his own status within the Allied Lands.Tell me.what didn’t happen during the holidays?”Emily hesitated, then saw it.“Alassa didn’t get married,” she said.“But that wasn’t my fault.”Lady Barb shrugged.“Alassa is your friend and your future liege,” she said.“How much do you think that has improved her status when it comes to marriage?”She shook her head.“I suspect that Master Tor considered you a potential ally for his faction before you became Baroness Cockatrice,” she added.“Instead, you’ve threatened to upset the balance of power in favor of monarchy.”“I didn’t mean to,” Emily protested.“But.”“That doesn’t always matter,” Lady Barb reminded her.“And now he had another demonstration of what he thinks is your gross irresponsibility.”“I didn’t kill the Warden,” she said.“I.”She stopped as a thought struck her.“Why did they keep saying that someone had destroyed the Warden?”Lady Barb chuckled, lightly.“What made you think that the Warden was human?”She nodded towards the table where Paddy lay.“The clue is in the name,” she said.“Warden; linked to the wards.The Warden was the embodiment of the monitoring functions built into the wards that supervise you and your fellow students.Like Paddy, he was a homunculus, if rather older and more capable than any other.”“Because he drew power from the wards,” Emily guessed.“Yes,” Lady Barb agreed.“Think about what the Warden does—did [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]