The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume III: Volume III

wait until I have completed my investigation to interview him,” Scarface replied. He looked as if he intended to stalk out of the solar without waiting for permission to withdraw from the royal presence.
    “You’d best hurry your investigation, then. I intend to ride on my mission within the hour with Bessel at my side.”
    “At your own risk, madam.” Scarface deigned to glance briefly at her, then back at the wall behind her left shoulder.
    Katie tilted her head in question but didn’t dignify the remark with words.
    Scarface sighed and then explained. “Bessel is out of control.”
    “I thought he exercised admirable control,” Katie remarked. “His testimony in Council yesterday was most concise and logical.” She needed to draw Scarface out, get him to say something, anything, that would give her a clue as to why he had become so implacable of late. Then she’d know how to appeal to his better judgment and have him release the journeyman magician.
    “You cannot know, Your Grace, the evil in the power that tempts him.”
    “Explain it to me, then.”
    Scarface shuddered deeply. Then he looked to the door and to Nimbulan for some kind of reprieve. Resignedly, he turned back to Katie.
    “Imagine, if you can, being forced to watch renegade soldiers torturing your closest family for information they did not have. Imagine yourself bound and gagged by magic so powerful you cannot even close your eyes to the carnage wrought in the name of justice. Then picture the glee on the faces of those same magicians as they revel in the pain of their victims, draw power from their screams of agony. And nothing could stop them except another magician more powerful than they. These magicians forced me to become a Battlemage. As soon as I had enough power to escape them, I ran to Hanassa to become a mercenary rather than continue to wreck havoc in their employ. Nothing could control the terror these men brought to Kardia Hodos until the dragons blessed us with their magic. Dragon magic allows—no, demands—that many magicians with honor in their souls combine their powers and amplify them beyond the dreams of the most powerful solitary magicians and control them. I must control Bessel. I must control all solitary magicians who attempt to bring down the Commune.”
    “Don’t you mean that the Commune must control those who attempt to bring down the Commune?” Katie raised her eyebrows and stared at Scarface, daring him to countermand her.
    Scarface did not look away as he spoke again. “I lead the Commune. The responsibility for its failures and its successes are mine.”
    “Bessel is one young man who respects both you and the Commune,” Nimbulan protested. “He would never . . .”
    “He used rogue magic once. He will use it again. The lure of the ley lines is addicting. He will learn to fear the Commune because we must prevent him from tapping illegal sources of power. With fear comes hatred and the need to destroy. I have seen the pattern before.” Scarface sighed deeply as if Bessel’s one action was a deep personal insult.
    “The Commune can control Bessel. He is more valuable as an ally than an enemy,” Nimbulan argued.
    “I have no choice. The young man must remain in his sanctuary or be declared a fugitive from justice, subject to immediate execution by any who can capture him.”
    “I have requested an interview with Bessel as part of the investigation, Master Aaddler. I am your queen. You may interpret that request as an order.” By invoking his true name, Katie hoped to force him to answer. She’d use every trick at her disposal to have Bessel as her escort, but she wouldn’t stoop to reading Scarface’s mind, even if she were able to penetrate his personal armor—which she doubted she could.
    Scarface merely stared at the wall, not intimidated in the least by her.
    Nimbulan stared at Scarface, jaw slightly agape. Then he closed it with an audible click of his teeth. The silent tension among them grew almost like a living thing that squeezed the air out of the room.
    “I will bring Bessel to you, Your Grace,” Nimbulan said defiantly.
    “I could force you into exile for violating the law of the Commune,” Scarface snarled at Nimbulan.
    “No, you can’t. I’m not a magician anymore.”
    For the first time since he’d lost his magic, Nimbulan didn’t shrink from admitting it. Katie wanted to applaud him.
    “You have taken binding oaths. Be warned, Nimbulan, you are in contempt