Hemlock And The Wizard Tower (Book 1) (25 page)

Gwineval
looked ahead of him then and studied the gait of Falignus,
who
had
then
only
been
appointed as the head of the
Seventh C
ircle of wizards in the
year
prior. 
Gwineval thought that i
n that
one year’s time, Falignus was
already
over
confident
.  In fact, Gwineval had already considered him overconfident when
he had
just
been the
upstart
young leader of the
Fourth C
ircle
of wizards
.
  Falignus was bordering on recklessness since he had taken on his new role.
 

Falignus had recently taken to wearing a bright red vestment over his ceremonial olive wizard cloak.  This represented more than a fashion choice, Gwineval noted
disapprovingly
, as
it was
a sign of
leader
ship in the new Crimson Order
,
which
Falignus had started as a way for wizards outside of the Seventh Circle to learn more about Seventh Circle magic.  Gwineval had concluded that the Crimson Order represented
a
dangerous
parallel power st
ructure within the Wizard Guild, because it was a group that
only answered to Falignus.
  The Wizard Council had objected to its formation, but had not had the resolve to vigorously oppose it.

Gwineval's gaze
then moved to one of the First C
ircle
wizards
who
marched nearby
, his tattooed and muscular arms protruding from beneath his boldly colored red robes. 
Gwineval noted despondently that he and the entire group of First Circle guard wizards had abandoned their traditional brown robes for t
he
new
red robes
,
which signified their membership in
the Crimson order.
 
Falignus' martial message of Wizard Guild dominance had appealed imme
diately to the combat oriented First Circle wizards.
They
had joined his
group
quickly and almost to a man. 

Gwineval
then
glanced behind him at
Malvert
, t
he bald, scarred leader of the First C
ircle
of wizards
and the only council member besides Falignus to
openly
wear the crimson vestment. 
Although only Malvert wore the vestment,
Gwineval
knew
that several of the other council wizards
were also
Crimson Order sympathizers. 

He
then
looked to his right at Arcos,
Falignus’ handpicked successor to the position of head
of the
Fourth C
ircle of
wizards–a position which
Falignus had occupied prior to his promotion to the
head of the
Seventh C
ircle. 
Gwineval judged that this
younger
wizard
was clearly under the influence of Falignus.

The wizard Jalis shuffled along in the procession, walking to
Gwineval’s
left
.
Gwineval knew Jalis as
the bookish leader of the
Second C
ircle of
wizards
. 
Gwineval thought that t
he portly man walked awkwardly, yet somehow his gait still communicated confidence.  Jalis, Gwineval reflected, thought that he could gain in prestige and power by playing both sides against one another in the power struggle that
was
churning inside the Guild. 
Gwineval
believed
that
Jalis’ ambitions were greater than his abilities
, however, and that Falignus
had already seen
him as a
self–serving
liability. 
Jalis had become a man that nobody trusted
.
Gwineval felt that Jalis was going to lose out no matter
which side won the battle for dominance within the Wizard Guild
.

Behind
Jalis walked Colberth, the leader of the
Sixth C
ircle
of wizards
. 
Gwineval knew him as
a meticulous and exacting man, favoring order in all things.  Gwineval
was
almost certain that he had fallen under the influence of Falignus, whose message of absolute order no doubt resonated with Colberth
’s sensibilities
.

Gwineval glanced to his left then and met eyes with Miara, leader of the
Third Circle of w
izards.  In her eyes
,
he
perceived what he believed was
his only true ally.  As she smiled and looked away, Gwineval thought that she personified everything that the
wizards could represent in the C
ity: 
the qualities of
benevolence
, liberty
and
personal
responsibility.  Gwineval
knew
that Miara already looked to
ward
him for leadership, even though he had only recently become a council member
and
leader of the
Fifth C
ircle.  Gwineval was
the only w
izard who
had
openly challenged Falignus and his ideology
of absolute control over the City
.

So while Gwineval dreaded these Senate meetings, and
beyond that
political matters in general, he suddenly found himself thrust into the role of the opposition leader
,
confronting
the Crimson Order movement.  It certainly
was not
a role that he
savored, but he
had chosen to
reluctantly accept it.  There simply
was
no one else to do it.

The group of
wizards
continued to walk
proudly
down the main street of the Elite district.  The ivory colored stone of the district shone brilliantly in the morning
light
and the colorful flowers dazzled.  White robed men and women walked unhurriedly in the street,
and stared
at the
wizards
and
gave
them a wide berth.  Other people in
the
gray robes
that denoted non-citizens,
moved more hurriedly
, and
some of them
t
ended to the many floral arrangements that
adorned the buildings.
Others
worked merchant carts
that sold
food and other goods, or led horse drawn carts filled with goods.  These people
didn't even dare
to look at the
wizards
,
who proceeded
in their ceremonial splendor.

Soon the procession reached the gates of a huge building with a gently angled, overhanging roof
which rose to meet
at an apex,
and
which
was
supported by a series of beautifully beveled columns as thick as an old growth tree,
which rose
, in grandeur, to a height of several stories.

As the procession of
wizards
halted, the ornate gates of the Senate building opened slowly, and out strode an older man, wiry and taciturn, who bowed to the
wizards
.

"Greetings.  Please enter,
"
the man
stated simply, but with stately delicacy, as he retreated into the shadows of the building, arms outstretched and facing the
wizards
.

The
wizards
,
who were
familiar with the building and the proceedings, filed into the great hall of the Senate, and
took
their appointed seats,
flanked by their First C
ircle
wizard
escort.

The Senate hall
had been
built as an amphitheater, with seating
that
rose
in curved steps around the floor.  The many Senators sat in near full attendance and gazed impassively at the
wizards
.  Above the Senators, in high balconies, many other Elite citizens stood
and watched
the proceedings from afar.

Gwineval found that his
eyes
were
drawn to the balconies for some reason.  He felt slightly uneasy but
dismissed the sensation,
as the old man who had greeted them,
Samberlin
, first seat of the Senate, addressed the
assembled wizards
.

"
Wizard
Council, the Senate greets you,
"
Samberlin began
, his slight build spry and demonstrating a fitness that def
ied
the tale of the passage of years told by his grizzled face.  "We welcome you and your report for this day, the twelfth day of the fourth month of the four hundred and first year of our reckoning.  Let the report commence."

After that final
remark,
Samberlin
took
a prominent seat amo
ngst the assembled Senators. 

Falignus
rose and began to
speak.

"Greetings
to all of you
,
Senators and Citizens.  I am pleased to report that the Wizard Guild remains strong and steadfast in
its role as
the
manager and distributor of magic,"
Falignus
began confidently.
Gwineval noticed how Falignus moved
back and forth in front of the seated
Senators
,
and
ma
de
eye contact with many of the
m
.

"
During the preceding three month period, I am pleased to report that we were able to increase Oberon production to one hundred
ton
s, which was reduced to approximately
twelve thousand five hundred
gallons
of liquid
.  Of this amount, approximately
nine thousand
gallons was
consumed by the emanation
of mana energy
from our main tower and other smaller Wizard Guild towers
located
throughout the city.
"

"
We used another
one thousand
gallons of Oberon
distillate
for potion production. 
Of our total production,
approximately
thirty percent
was
healing potions,
another thirty percent
was
enhancement potions,
twenty five percent
was
illusion potions, and
ten percent
was
divination potions.  Of the potions produced,
one hundred and two percent
were purchased, slightly reducing our potion inventory for the period.  We plan to address this issue in the following months by increasing potion production.  As you know, the past months were the first period in which illusion and divination magic were reclassified as greater magic, and the sales of these potions increased by approximately
one hundred and forty percent
each.  We believe that
our City of San Cyra
is
now
a safer place due to these new regulations
,"
Falignus continued.  At this last remark, many of the Senators
muttered
darkly
amongst themselves.  Falignus
appeared to note
this, but continued unabated.

"
Our new Oberon harvesters were field tested last month and seem to be working well.  One w
as attacked by a group of dark spirits
during a harvest
,
and
we were
able to repel the attack without casualties.  We believe that the harvesters will enable us to
dramatically
increase Oberon production in the future, if
necessary
.
"