“Illegal?” Miranda said.
Whitefall nodded. “Think of the possibilities. The Court will no longer have to deal with rogue wizards alone. You’ll be able to call on Council law to demand backup from local officials. The Court will have authority like it’s never had before. Plus, you will save your Spiritualists from a division that could doom your entire organization without compromising your ideals, and you’ll help me keep our necks out from under the Empress’s boot. Now”—he smiled—“is that a compromise that could interest you?”
Miranda bit her lip. It was a good offer, a potentially fantastic offer, but… “I’m not the person who can make that decision.”
“I know,” Whitefall said. “Sara says you owe us a debt. I’m calling it in. Take my compromise to Banage. I’ve tried sending him messages, but he won’t open his Tower for anything. That said, I’m betting he’ll open it for you. Make my case to your master and I’ll wipe your obligation to Sara and the Council clean. There is no downside for you in this, Spiritualist Lyonette. Even if Banage refuses, you’ll still be with him, and your debt to us will still be forgiven. What do you say?”
Miranda thought the words through carefully. “Just support?”
“Just support,” Whitefall said, nodding.
“All right,” Miranda said at last. “But I want everything in writing first.”
Whitefall smiled. “Very shrewd, but I expected no less.” He walked back over to his desk and drew out a thick stack of papers. “I had the clerks draw it up the moment Sara told me you were on your way.”
Miranda took the papers. The offer was all there, just as he’d said. Copied in triplicate, she noticed with a sigh, but what else could you expect from the Council?
“I’ll take this to Banage at once,” she said, tucking the papers under her arm. “But I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
“With Etmon, I never do,” Whitefall said, sitting down at his desk. “Nice meeting you, Spiritualist.”
Miranda bowed from the waist, turned on her heel, and left. The men in the waiting room sneered at her as she pushed past them, but Miranda didn’t even notice. Her head was reeling with everything that had happened. This morning she’d been preparing for the potential pitfalls of telling the story of the Shaper Mountain to Sara, now she was bringing the Council’s compromise to Master Banage with war looming over them, and there was still the issue of the demons, the stars, and the Shepherdess. She didn’t even know what crisis to focus on anymore but, pressing the papers hard against her chest, she knew where to begin. First she had to find Master Banage and explain everything. Once all the cards were on the table, he would know what to do.
That thought alone was enough to calm her mind as she marched down the stairs toward the citadel yard where Gin was waiting to take her home to the Tower.
Tower Keeper Blint turned to face the Merchant Prince, brandishing his rings as he did. “You do realize you just gave Banage back his greatest weapon?”
“A calculated risk,” Whitefall said, leaning back in his chair. “And the best choice, given our options. She certainly wasn’t going to turn against Banage, and you can’t force a Spiritualist to work. That left locking her up, which I don’t have the resources for at the moment, or sending her running home to sulk with her master. At least this way I can get an offer through that stone wall of his, and who knows, the old zealot just might take it.”
“He won’t,” Blint said. “Banage would die before he compromised his integrity.”
“We also thought he would die before he split his precious Court,” Sara said. “But he laid down the line and shed you Tower Keepers without so much as a look back, didn’t he? But you saw the girl’s eyes light up when Alber offered to outlaw Enslavement. The Court’s been after that apple for years. It might just be enough to convince Miranda that the Council’s position is in the right, and she can be very persuasive when she thinks she’s on the moral side of things.”
“It will take more than an apple and an earnest girl to talk Banage out of that Tower,” Blint said, his voice dripping with superiority. “The Rector Spiritualis is a slave to his pride. I don’t even know why you want him along. He’ll just get in our way.”
“With all due respect to you and your Tower Keepers, Blint,” Whitefall said in a tired voice, “you’d better hope Sara’s right. It’s no secret that Lyonette and Banage are the two strongest wizards in the Court. They are weapons we cannot afford to lay by, however much trouble they may be. If sending the girl doesn’t work, we’ll just have to try something else. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other people to mollify today.”