Book 4 Chapter 7: A Reversal Of Stations
Book 4 Chapter 7: A Reversal Of Stations
++We should have been more diligent. We should have stamped Vornholt out early on, not sat around like fat louts and patiently awaited our own destruction. Ten thousand years of absolute power, that was all it took. That was all that was required for us to degrade into little more than impotent slugs.++
- An anonymous account, dated to 1,941 A.E.
I was interrupted on my way through Laugrey by the feeling of magic touching my senses from far below. It was faint enough that I did not suspect I was being attacked, but direct enough that I had no doubt it was intended for me specifically. I turned down to the streets and scanned them, but of course I could see little from as high as I was. Instead I drifted lower in altitude and closed on the place I believed the magic had originated from.
Within half a minute I was close enough to make out a human figure on the distant ground below. Ten more seconds let me recognise Professor Varylani, and ten more saw me dropping to land before her.
The woman had aged well, I thought. Or perhaps she had simply not allowed herself to age poorly. She must have been pushing fifty by now, but she still looked healthy and vigorous. She was, however, shorter than me now, at least two inches shy of my own five-foot-ten. That should not have been a surprise, but it felt like one. Perhaps my early memories of interacting with her as a child coloured my expectations.
This was not the only change. She seemed far less belligerent in that moment than I had ever seen her, not quite fidgeting where she stood before me but with her hands folded in such a way as to leave me certain they would be were she not intentionally keeping them still. She met my eye, just. I could tell that was uncomfortable for her too.
“It’s been a while, Vornholt,” she said dully.
“It has been, Alice,” I replied, using her first name and enjoying how it seemed to shake her. I had not yet applied for registry as a High Mage, but at this point I could do so whenever I pleased, and my education in Winzorth was finished. We were both essentially equals now, adult magicians.
Varylani did not let it throw her off for more than a moment before she launched into conversation.
“I’ve been hoping you’d return to Laugrey. If you hadn’t, I’d have needed to catch you at your refinery, and that’s a long trip.”
“You have something to say to me then?” I asked.
“Yes, I do. A request actually.” I could see a faint flushing in her cheeks, clearly she did not enjoy making this request.
“Ask away, you have caught me in a good mood,” I told her.
She wavered for a few more moments, which left me wondering exactly what she wanted to speak about.
“I would like to ask you for a job,” she said at last.
First I was surprised, then considering, and then I drew several conclusions in rapid succession.
“The Vorets are pulling strings to remove my allies from the Winzorth Institute?” I asked.
Her jaw tightened. “Yes, they are.” I laughed at that, which seemed to confuse her.
“This means they have not taken it for granted that I will accept their marriage offer as a subordinate to the family,” I explained. If they had some larger scheme to force my hand again, they would wait to make moves like this until they were certain it would not interfere. As things were, the fact that they were aiming to disarm my influence in the Winzorth Institute told me that they were operating on the assumption I would be able to continue exercising that influence on my own behalf rather than their family’s. It was probably a good sign, I doubted they would give up on ‘acquiring me’, so the only remaining explanation was that they assumed I would be every bit the independent Voret I had demanded they make me.
Of course, Varylani lacked this context. I imagine to her the events were just confusing and infuriating. That she had lost her position at the world’s foremost magical Institute probably did little to help matters.
“What sort of work are you offering to do?” I asked her once I had finished processing things and expressing my good mood with a cackle. It was even more satisfying to see that she was forced to move past my display, no longer able to police my reactions and remarks as she once had.
“I can do heavy-duty magic for construction, I can treat wounds well, as you already know I’m the world’s foremost expert on illusion magic.”
“Enchantments?” I asked. She bristled.
“I can’t enchant, never had the knack for it.” That was a pity, but unsurprising.
“And what would your desired salary be?” I asked her.
“Three thousand crowns a year,” she replied.
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It was a vast sum for a magician, but then her level of power was a vast sum as well so that was not such a surprise. I considered it.
“The unfortunate fact is that I do not really need the heavy duty sort of magical labour you are offering, not for a while at least,” I told her. She blanched just as an idea struck me. “...But I will in the future. I intend to one day have my refineries outnumber the cities and towns of Poloira. And when that day comes, I will need a loyal and reliable force of magicians to call on for use in construction, maintenance and land-clearing. What would you say to being one of the founding Professors in an entirely new Institute?”
She looked utterly baffled at the suggestion, which I was not especially surprised by. My excuses for forming the organisation were less than seamless, and Varylani was familiar enough with the economics of magic that she probably understood what the cracks were in my claimed motivations.
Of course, the real motives were significantly different, and simply too dangerous for me to possibly say out loud. After all, if I told her I wanted trainers for a growing magician army in preparation for war against the Gods, she would be inclined to flee and turn me over on the spot.
“What would the salary be?” she asked me.
“One thousand crowns a year,” I replied. “Yes, that is less than you made at Winzorth. Do not be surprised. It will take a vast amount of resources to properly set up this Institute in the first place. Should it grow in volume and influence, though, then I intend to scale up the salary of its Professors to match. In fact, I would hope to be out-paying the Professors of Winzorth in a few years.”
I doubted that would sway many of them, most went to that older Institute for the prestige more than the money. Magicians who only cared about hard currency were far better served as the private bodyguards for some tycoon or noble.
Varylani, though, was clearly motivated by money, at least now that she had been denied her chance at the recognition of a continued Winzorth position. She hesitated only on one account.
“I’ve heard you’re in discussion with the Vorets to marry into them,” she told me.
“My businesses will all be independent from their influence, as will my affairs,” I told her. “I will not accept any marriage that falls short of those terms, and they have already failed in one attempt to make me concede otherwise.”
She relaxed, then nodded. “Then you have me,” she said. “Provided the money is as good as you say. Accommodation is free?”
“It is.” I was pleasantly amused by the thought of what her reaction to said accommodation would likely be. The quarters set aside for the senior members of Bountiful Oil and its associated organisations were more akin to a top-range hotel than anything else.
Of course, there was more to deal with than just promises and offers. Varylani took her leave after requesting I meet her again several hours from then. I did so, bringing two representatives from the law firm I had taken on to serve Bountiful Oil, fortunately having an outpost in Laugrey from which I could draw local help. Varylani, of course, came with her own lawyers as well.
From there, the discussion became terribly technical and dreadfully long.
Varylani wanted an open contract she could sever at will.
Obviously, I found that objectionable.
Her lawyers found my objection objectionable.
My lawyers found the objection to my objection objectionable.
The objections continued until morale improved. One after another, slung over the table like magic missiles striking an energy shield. Before long myself and Varylani were almost taking a backseat to the debate of our own legal representation.
Unfortunately for me, a Winzorth Professor’s salary had let her afford about the best that money could buy, so I did not enjoy any sort of advantage in seeing my own side bully hers around. This was not a legal debate however, it was a negotiation, which meant that the deciding factor ultimately came down not to who was permitted to do what, but what each side was willing to give up, and how much they needed the other.
This was where my chief advantage reared its head, because of the two of us I was an owner of vast capital and essentially set for life. Varylani certainly had savings, but if she wished to maintain the quality of existence she had become accustomed to, she needed to work with me.
As a female magician, even one able to acquire a job teaching at the Winzorth Institute, she would find it in precious few other places.
I simply shot down one offer after another and waited for her desperation to grow, knowing all the while that I could afford to be uncompromising while my future employee could not. It took the better part of three hours before Varylani was finally pushed into accepting my final offer. When she did, there was fortunately not too much bitterness.
We both knew she would have behaved the exact same way in my position.
“Should I head to Poloira now then?” Varylani asked me. I considered the question.
“That is up to you. I will not be able to start construction for a while, not even in the planning stage. On the other hand, if you think you can recruit other notable magicians, then that will only raise the profile of your new Institute.”
Which would, in turn, bolster her reputation, and of course bring her closer to that increase in salary I promised would follow with the new ‘Vornholt Institute’ rising to prominence.
I could see the hunger in her eyes, and knew I had gambled well with that particular condition. Magicians will always take the chance to heighten their own influence, and will always assume that success is their due.
Varylani and I parted ways, and I was once again left with no more pressing matters to attend to. It felt strange to have such an empty span ahead of me. For most of this new, reborn life I had either been stifled by circumstances or forced to run around putting out fires as quickly as they emerged. Now here I was, totally free of any obligations, at least for the time being.
My refineries would continue working without my direct oversight, bringing in wealth whether I was there to personally collect it or not. I had set plates spinning that would now continue independent of me, and each one was another step towards a return to my old power.
I had, I realised, finally come to prominence in this new world.