A Young Man Without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans Page B

Anrel thought that unlikely. However clever and impassioned these people might be, they were mere commoners in a provincial capital, and he thought it far more likely that the future of the empire would be shaped by the sorcerers of Lume.

8
In Which the House of Adirane Celebrates the Equinox
    Lord Allutar was still in Lord Dorias’s parlor when Valin and Anrel returned from Naith, though the evening was well advanced. He did not linger; he nodded an acknowledgment of the new arrivals, then took his leave of Lady Saria and departed.
    Saria’s face was flushed, Anrel noticed, though he could not have said precisely why. Whether it was perplexity or passion he could not guess, and his cousin did not volunteer an explanation.
    â€œIs Naith as you remembered it, Anrel?” she asked.
    â€œIn most respects, yes,” he said. “It is I who have changed; I see it with more educated eyes now.”
    â€œOh?”
    â€œSaria,” Valin said, interrupting, “I trust today’s visit from your suitor went well?”
    â€œWell enough,” Saria said.
    â€œDid you think, perhaps, to ask him to spare the baker’s son? Perhaps he would do so to please you, as a courting gift—surely, you would prefer not to wed a murderer.”
    Saria’s flush deepened. “No, I did not ask, Lord Valin. I have no interest in seeing Urunar Kazien’s life spared.”
    â€œNo? And what has Master Kazien done to you, that you would see him dead?” Valin demanded.
    â€œNot to me, but to Mistress Lenzinir,” Saria snapped. “I was merelyone of those who sought to comfort her; I did not share her misfortune.”
    Taken aback, Valin said, “What?”
    â€œDo you pay
no
attention to what happens in Alzur, then?” Saria asked. “Is our little town so utterly beneath your notice, my lord? Or is it only the women you ignore?”
    â€œI don’t . . . who is Mistress Lenzinir?”
    â€œGei Lenzinir, the weaver’s apprentice,” Saria said. “From Orlias, originally, though she has lived here in Alzur for three years now.”
    That relieved Anrel’s mind; he had been trying unsuccessfully to place the name, but if she had only dwelt in Alzur for three years, then he would have had no opportunity to meet her. “Valin,” he murmured, “I think you had best drop the subject.”
    Valin looked from Saria to Anrel and back, then retreated in confusion, leaving the parlor to the two cousins.
    â€œWhat does he
do
in Naith?” Saria asked, after a moment of silent consideration. “What does he find so fascinating there?”
    â€œHe sits at a table in Aulix Square, drinking cheap wine and debating politics with his friends,” Anrel said. “The fascination would seem to lie in the admiring audience these discussions attract.”
    â€œHe was not talking to prospective employers?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen how does he ever hope to find employment? He has no land, and no chance of an imperial appointment; he needs to earn a living if he is not to remain dependent upon my father forever.”
    Anrel smiled wryly. “He has decided he wants a seat on the Grand Council,” he said. “It was suggested that you and your father might want to arrange it merely to get him out of Alzur, and away from Lord Allutar.”
    Saria started. “What an outrageous notion!” she said.
    â€œIndeed.”
    Saria looked at Anrel, realized he was serious, then turned to stare at the doorway where Valin had departed. “I sometimes wonder how the mind of someone who has lived in my home since I was a child can be such a mystery to me.”
    â€œHe lived his first twelve years as a shop keep er’s son,” Anrel said. “And he does not share our blood.”
    â€œEven so.”
    Anrel nodded. “How
did
the visit from Lord Allutar go?”
    â€œOh, wonderfully well,