Cold Steel

Bee shook her head again. “Legal cases can take years or decades to proceed!”



“So can wars,” said Chartji.



Vai nodded. “Change must come from all sides. Change is not a rope, a single line that you pull on. Change is a net. Or anyway, that is what Kofi always says.”



He addressed his next words to me. “Maybe it is true I forgot my promise to Kofi a little because I was so dazzled by what the mansa offered me.” He sat back to address the entire table. “But we all want the same things.”



“The best strategy is to play them off each other,” I said as I fiddled with the hem of my jacket, since I was too anxious to sit still. “They can’t both end stronger than they have begun, because they desire only victory, and thus risk defeat. But if they are both weakened, that leaves opportunity for the humbler parties to rise.”



Bee propped her chin on clasped hands. “That is why I stay with the radicals. Besides being a good orator, I can sometimes help people avoid arrest and know the safe places to hold meetings.”



“I do support the radicals,” said Vai, “and I can do so most fruitfully within the mage Houses. If Camjiata wins, he will need cold mages. I am therefore in a position to negotiate for how the Houses will cooperate with him afterward. If he loses, I can influence the mage councils when they are weakened and unstable because of the conflict. Either way, there will always be mage Houses. No matter how much you shake the boat, it will not turn over. We have to hold on to tradition but also allow it to change where it must.”



“We have long wished to place a powerful agent within the mage Houses,” said Brennan, “and this is honestly more even than we had hoped for.”



“It might work,” said Bee reluctantly.



Heart heavy, I looked down at my hands, for I knew Vai was right, that by training and temperament he belonged in the mage House, and I regretted it.



“May I speak to Catherine alone, please?” he asked, exactly as if he were a courting man requesting permission from my elders.



“Don’t involve me in this,” said Brennan. “I’ve already heard more than I feel I ought.”



“It must be Catherine’s choice, not ours to make for her,” said Kehinde.



“I don’t trust you with her,” said Bee.



I frowned. “What do you think he’s going to do? Kiss me?”



Rory laughed.



Bee rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly what he’s going to do. Instead of using reasoned words and rational arguments, the kind you would once have insisted on back when you were sensible and heartless, he will use kisses to seduce you back into his arms.”



Ignoring her, Vai addressed me. “Seeing that the hour was late when we returned, I acquired a room for the night. We might speak privately there if you will, Catherine.”



The axe blow of Bee’s gaze struck me full on. “You who so proudly claimed at the academy that you did not fall in love with every handsome face you encountered! Now I look at you and despair!”



Vai’s slyest smile crept light-foot onto his lips. “You can’t possibly believe she could encounter a handsomer man. So by that logic, she is safe.”



“Enough!” I got to my feet as Bee sputtered more from laughter than from indignation. “I will speak to you, Andevai, if only to spare the others any more of this.”



“Chartji,” Vai added as he stood, “we need to be ready to take legal action as soon as an auspicious opening presents itself.”



She whistled a few colorful notes. To my surprise he answered with a short melodic pattern. Her crest flared. Then she chuffed a laugh and flashed me a toothy grin. I made my good nights to the others, not that I felt at all flushed and self-conscious for leaving them in this way.



Vai had taken a chamber on the street side of the troll wing, a tiny room with a bed, a clothes rack, a dressing table and chair placed under the shuttered window, and barely enough room to turn around. The chamber was scrupulously clean, with fresh linen on the bed and plank floors still damp from being scrubbed. A basin, three pitchers of water, and a leather satchel rested on the table. A knock came on the door. Vai opened it to reveal Rory, who handed over the leather bag Vai had brought for me. Rory stepped into the little room to hug me, pressing his cheek to mine before letting go, then paused in the door to wish us a peaceful night.



Vai lifted an eyebrow as with a question. Rory rubbed a hand over his lips in a way that reminded me of a cat grooming with a paw, and then smiled and shut the door.



“I can’t sleep on the other side of the tavern, for I would put out all the fires,” Vai remarked as he set the bag under the clothes rack. “I had to ask them to take out the nests and arrange the room for rats.” He untied his kerchief. “They all expect me to use my wiles and caresses, but as you know, Catherine, I have practice in denying myself what I most desire.”