"Greetings, Baroness," I said, taking a seat.
"A pleasure," she said, taking another sip of wine. "I have to admit, I half expected you to run, considering how dangerous it is for someone of your status."
"From great risk comes great reward. And nobility tends to pay well. Your inane sense of noble pride won't allow you to shortchange me."
She smiled, revealing straight white teeth. "I'm sure you know my reputation. There is little honor in me."
I considered her for a moment, wondering if she was more than she appeared, " You sound like a Magus."
"My grandfather was a Magus, and the few I've met since then all follow the same pattern. That is where my insight comes from."
"Well then, what are you planning to pay me with, given your keen insight into Magi?"
She tutted prettily, " Oh come now, we just sat down. Business so soon?"
I gestured to the table, "In that case, I'll need something to wet my mouth. Since my host didn't provide me with wine."
She placed a hand against her heart and said, in mock sadness, "My humblest apologies, where are my manners. What is your poison for the eve?"
Throwing my mind back to my time with Darion, I selected the most expensive wine I could think of, "A glass of Goldpine would be pleasant."
A flash of shock came across her face, since Goldpine was both rare and enormously expensive. The ridiculous drink had actual gold flakes suspended in the liquor.
For a few moments, she actually had a genuine smile on her face. It was a challenge, and if she didn't have the wine, it would stain her honor. The nobility were just that vain.
She clapped twice, the sound echoing in the empty eatery.
'I wonder where Lily is?'
A well-dressed manservant came running in, bowed to me, then had a short, hushed conversation with the baroness before leaving.
"Well, aren't you a surprise? Quite an expensive taste for a commoner."
I shrugged, "I like the flavor, and the thought of drinking gold is amusing."
"Speaking of, you've earned quite a lot of it."
"A great fortune for a peasant, an evening at the market for nobility, but to a Magus, it's all just metal in the end."
"You play the role of the Magus masterfully. How long have you been using magic?" She asked, taking a sip of her wine.
'Probing for information?'
"Not long, as you see, I'm rather young."
She leaned back, her composure dropping, "Therein lies the confusion."
"Who am I and where did I learn magic?" I asked her, "Any answers to that question?"
"None, only speculation."
I nodded for her to elaborate.
"Peasant born, certainly. But your behavior speaks of etiquette training. Your accent is reasonably refined, yet still southern Falacian. So, a northern girl, born in the south, who has etiquette training, experience with nobility, and has had enough exposure to magic, or a magus to learn from them or steal their secrets. I doubt there is more than one woman with such a unique combination of attributes."
Her smile became positively villainous, "One piece of information is all that is missing. Then all the puzzle pieces fall together, and who you are is answered. In fact, I'm certain, you're sure the Magisterium is on your trail and well aware of who you are. But why don't you run? Simple, you want to learn more magic, but doing it on the run is difficult. Quite the gamble, my dear."
'The single piece of information she needs is that Baroness Surian Redstone, the Magus apprentice, had a Northern girl as a handmaiden. It is fortunate, Rennah is so isolated from her neighbors due to her proclivities.'
"Even though you know I'm being hunted by the Magisterium, you want to hire me. Do you not fear them?"
"Not in the slightest, I'm nobility."
That was genuinely confusing. "What could you possibly do against Magus?"
"The very thing the Magi use to maintain their domination of magic is the same thing that creates their weakness..." She didn't have to continue.
"Numbers," I finished for her, "There are well over 10,000 members of the nobility, far more considering minor nobles."
"It goes even deeper, to the core of imperial power. Why is a magus not the emperor? In fact, what keeps the Magi's power in check?" She asked.
I considered it for a few moments, then answered. "The Nobility keep them in check. The nobility control trade and commerce, the very engines of resources that magi need to thrive. It keeps them bound to the empire. A magus simply cannot march into Grenwood and make a threat against you with impunity. The other nobility would not stand for it. The separation and self-rule of the mundane and magical is necessary for stability. But surely there are rules."
"True." The baroness nodded, "Outright circumventing the agreements between Magi and the rest of the empire can result in severe punishment for the accused. However, it must be proven."
'A passive binding isn't exactly binding proof of anything.'
"You don't want me to build something, you want me to repair something. You have magical items that are currently dormant. Without a magus, they cannot operate. If Magisterium investigates, they will find that all the items belonged to you, well before I arrived in the city, items created by your grandfather. Proving you violated the law to a magistrate would be challenging, if not impossible." Then my mind flashed to the simple wand that was in Derek's family for 47 years. "The wand Derek asked me to repair; did it belong to your family?"
She smiled broadly, "Clever girl. I was quite surprised that Derek had one of my grandfather's air warmers tucked away. I have over 20 of them, all dormant and unusable. I've requested the services of a Magi for years, and every time I have been rejected."
'If it's anything like the Baron's castle, I would have to do hundreds of bindings.'
"What is my payment for this?" I asked.
"Not a single bit. You'll do it all for free." She grinned as if I had already lost.
It took me an instant to realise she was correct. In fact, I was close to begging her for the chance.
'Hundreds of magical items, likely a proper energy furnace to study. So much to learn, such an opportunity. She understood my personality and understood that knowledge is the ultimate currency to a magus.
"Well played, so how do we arrange things so both of us can maintain anonymity?" I asked.
She smiled, "Simple enough, you pose as a handmaiden in my colors, no one would look twice at you beyond your hair. Even then, I can pretend I hired you for the novelty if asked why an apostate was serving as a handmaiden. I could use the magisterium's own secrecy against them. How was I to know she was an apostate?"
'Anier, is this a joke? Are you laughing at me? Playing a handmaiden to another baroness to gain magical power.'
"I could pose as a man, could add to the confusion," I suggested casually.
She rubbed her chin, "Yes, that could work, your face is a bit too pretty for a man, but there are some men who are quite comely." She nodded even further, "In fact, most will assume I'm bedding you, perhaps my tastes have changed, that I prefer younger, more effeminate men. That will be the gossip instead of me hiring an apostate."
Then she looked at my head, "There is one problem."
"That is?"
"Your hair, men wear their hair at most shoulder length, you'd have to cut it."
I won't lie, I genuinely considered abandoning the male costume before I sighed and muttered, "Magic requires sacrifice."
"What did you say?" The baroness asked.
"Magic requires sacrifice," I said clearly.
"You're quite well read to quote such old text."
"What am I quoting? I've only ever heard the phrase in passing."
The baroness shrugged and answered, "It's a quote from Flaketh the Crimson maiden after she became the first empress. Apparently, instead of heat or wood to power her magic. She could use living creatures, sacrificing the lives of sentient beings to generate power. She was deposed, and on her death, her last words were 'Magic required sacrifice.' Though that was thousands of years ago, most consider it anti-Magi propaganda from the people who deposed her."
'You were quoting a book, Emyr? Even now, you amuse me with how well you played young Edith. Those words are a driving force to many of my decisions. To think they were the words of the First Magus. I wonder if Flaketh would be pleased that I adopted her philosophy on magic purely by chance. I'll have to get my hands on that book.'
The manservant returned with the clear liquor and poured me a glass in beautiful crystal. I took a sip of the clear gold-flecked liquid and nearly spat it out. It was disgusting. I failed to hide my disgust.
"Now that we have a feel for each other, let's plan to ensure this deal moves as smoothly as possible," Rennah said, amused.