Chapter B4C64 - The Red Tower
The Lady Recillia Erryn was furious. Beyond furious. She sat behind her desk, demeanour so icy the unfortunate Magisters summoned to her office felt their breath should have been misting in the air.
Unlike the various functionaries, who scurried in and out of the office, for Grand Magister Tommat Baln, there was no escape. Seated at a second desk at a decidedly lower level than the Noble, he was forced to endure her fury at close range as best he was able.
“How many times did the Red Tower commission this heretic and criminal, Grand Magister?” Lady Erryn asked, her voice emotionless and flat. “Surely you have determined the final number by now.”
Even her face was a still mask, giving no hint of her underlying emotions, but there was no doubt as to how she felt. The heat of her gaze was scalding, and the chill of her words was icy.
“Well, uh,” Grand Magister Tommat stuttered, flicking through the stack of loose papers in front of him. “We contracted Lukas Almsfield on… at least three occasions. He did…” more shuffling papers, “... several jobs for us in each commission… his speciality was conduit magick, which is widely applicable.”
Lady Erryn folded her hands together in front of her on the table, a genteel gesture, but the old Magister couldn’t help but feel she was restraining her hands lest she rip his throat out.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” she said quietly.
Her glare was like a roaring bonfire, and the Grand Magister wilted even further. He retreated to the only tactic that remained to him: honesty.
“We brought in dozens of Arcanists on limited contracts through that period,” he pleaded. “All the work was documented, but it's difficult to rifle through the paperwork so quickly. I have ten Magisters and documentarians going through the records, but it will take time.”