November 11

Word Count: 2,026

The rest of the mages came in as a group. The men’s hair was slick and wet from their bath, but apparently someone had managed to rid them of the smell. The whole room was filled with the scent of fresh flowers. Saratin almost sneezed.

"Good evening," he said as they drew around the table. Saratin didn't take it as a good sign that no one replied. It was going to be a rather difficult night.

"Here are your agendas.” He handed out the parchments Trevelyn had written out.

“Oooh, how official,” Malek taunted.

“Now if we stick to them, I believe we’ll be out of here in an hour. I think an hour is a good amount of time for a meeting. Well, let’s start shall we?” No one replied. He didn’t know how to take that. He continued. “First on the list is oh, meeting times. I think every two weeks to start out with, for one hour or as needed, with special meetings if something dire comes up.”

“So I’m supposed to trek out here every two weeks?” Malek asked.

“That’s why I thought it best to teach Mitty some magic first, so your trek is instantaneous.”

“And why did you not see fit to tell me first about your little visit to my wife?”

“Mitty is a Great Mage, and you are also. You and she are equals in that respect, so I don’t think that me coming to her and asking if she wants to learn something needs your approval… but we digress, that’s not on the agenda.”

“I’m not done…” Malek grumbled.

“Yes, you are, Malek. He didn’t tell you because he knew you’d grumble and complain, but I’d win you over in the end. We don’t exactly have time for that. Have you seen the people in the city who need our help?”

“Again with the helping issue,” Malek said.

“Not on the agenda… well, later… please?” Saratin said.

“Later,” Malek stated ominously.

“Okay, moving on to colors. I believe Trevelyn has approached each of you and asked what colors you have chosen. As is tradition, on official business only, mages should wear white. Heads of Staff wear black with colored belts, and brothers wear the color of the mage they choose to serve. Trevelyn, can you read the colors to make sure there’s no mistake?”

“Iber is purple. Lynah is pink. Saratin has chosen red, Lasser green. Malek chose yellow, and Mitty chose orange. I picked blue. Is that right?” Everyone nodded.

“Good,” Saratin said, checking off his list and moving right along. “Now on to new business. As we will all have our own staff, we will need to choose a brother to head each staff. The brothers themselves will choose the mage best suited for expertise. For example, most of the Ladona brothers are scribes, and will probably choose to serve me, because I’ll be in charge of scribes and research. Trevelyn has looked at your strengths and we’ve tried to find things that fit you for you to be in charge of.”

“And what if we don’t want to be in charge of anything?” Malek asked.

“We’ve split up the work, but I can pretty much guarantee, that once you’ve got your staff in place, they will do most of the work. If you choose a great head of staff, they will be able to make most decisions for you, and perhaps you may eventually only meet with them on the days you visit Tamarin for meetings. I have kept in mind that you don’t want to live in the city, and have tried my best to limit the amount of time you spend here. Trevelyn, can you read the Inner City Responsibilities?”

“Lasser, I’ve given you charge of the grounds and the forests related issues. I figured that would suit you quite well, considering your former career as a ranger. I’ve taken on the magical maladies and the attempt to heal them. We haven’t made much progress, but at least we’re organized. As Saratin mentioned, he’s fittingly in charge of Scribes and Research. Iber, since you’re a nobleman’s son, we thought you could handle the issues that have been erupting with the noblemen. They seem to want special treatment.” Iber nodded.

“Lynah, you have always been an excellent hostess and planner, so we’ve given you Hospitality. You’ll be in charge of housing and feeding.”

“Everyone? Does that mean I can choose the menus? And who eats at what time?” Lynah asked.

“Yes,” Trevelyn stated. Lynah glowed.

“Mitty, I’d like you to be in charge of getting the brothers in order. Making sure they are all assigned to the proper mage for their skills, and wearing the right color. Malek, you’re good with your hands, and I remembered how well you used that location ball to find the gates. We have a whole lot of magical items that need to be identified. People bring them in and ask what they do. We want you to find out.” Malek raised his eyebrow but said nothing.

“Are there any duties you think we forgot?” Saratin asked. “Any questions?” No one replied. Saratin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Next topic. There have been some recent developments. Trevelyn and I would like to assign some extra duties for the first two weeks, until all the tasks are complete. For most of you, there will simply be a lot more time to put in. But we also have two situations that need looking at. First of all, I understand that we have a girl with a village stuck in her head?”

“Vyna,” Iber supplied. “She wants to be fixed.”

“I think it’s fairly easy. One of us needs to escort her to the site of the village and open the locket she wears around her neck. Geoi created in to help the people in the village get over the magic drought. They were somehow linked and were dying, like the Great Mages were.

“So why didn’t Geoi lock the mages in a locket?”

“Because someone had to be able to wear the locket… and the Great Mages have powers too great. The villagers only seem to have trace amounts of power. Enough to make them live for quite along time. He wrote a long description of it in his book. I won’t bore you with it now. I simply need to know who wants to take her there?” Iber raised his hand.

“It sounds easy enough. As long as we don’t have to go through dragon infested territory.”

“Great. Next, Lynah’s father, the King of Galadin, was promised a quest for an heir. He seems to think she’s being married.”

Lynah giggled. “Oh, I told him that when we left, so that he’d let me take Trevvie with me.”

“Well, he’s sending a messenger about every three days wanting to know when someone will come and choose an heir.”

“I thought she told him that he was supposed to create the contest,” Lasser commented.

“Contest? Should we really leave the heir to the throne as a contest? We’ll eventually have to work fairly close in hand with them,” Mitty asked.

“So one of us needs to go and supervise at least,” Saratin said, looking around. He was relieved when Lasser raised his hand.

“I suppose it’ll give me time to trek through that part of the forest again, and see what other surprises have awoken with the forest. I’ll have Snult go with me.”

“Speaking of little surprises,” Malek said as he glared back at Saratin. “We were almost killed by a lot of little surprises. Especially when they weren’t afraid of water, or anything else for that matter. Next time, you’re going on the hunting mission.”

“You survived.”

“By sheer luck. Iber nearly had his head gnawed off at least three times.”

“I only counted twice.” Iber held up two fingers.

“That’s because you were unconscious for most of the trip,” Lasser mentioned.

“We really need to be sent in with better information. I’d like to see you stab a couple of those buggers in the jugular, and then have one throw up on you.”

“I was only…”

“I just want to know who died and made you leader. And don’t answer a Great Mage, because we’re all Great Mages. I’m tired of being led around blind!” Malek slammed his hand down on the table to emphasize his point.

“So which one of you wants to be in charge?” Saratin asked, making eye contact with each one in turn. “Sure, I’m going to make some decisions, and they may not be the right ones, but someone has to make them. Otherwise, do you realize what those people out there will do? There won’t be any place that is safe for you in Galadin, or in any other country. They will continually bother you, and the only thing that will allow us to lead a semi-normal is organization. I may be blind, but at least I’ve got my hands out, feeling around, rather than trying to ignore the fact that I can’t see a thing. So if you want to vote on a new leader, then be my guest.” Saratin sat down in his chair, missing slightly. He plopped down with a huff. The others stared at each other and at him.

“I’ll be in charge,” Lynah announced. “Vote for me. After all, I was born for it.” An utter silence prevailed. “Well?” she asked. “All those who want me as a ruler, raise their hand. No one moved except Lynah. She waved her hand in the air. Saratin watched their faces as they sized each other up. He could almost see them weighing the responsibility in their minds, and asking themselves if they could have done a better job in Saratin’s shoes.

“I vote for Saratin,” Trevelyn announced. “Who else votes for Saratin?” Iber’s hand went up, followed by Mitty’s and Lasser’s. Malek stared at Lynah for a moment before raising his hand. “Five votes take it.”

“But what about me?” Lynah asked again. No one answered her. “I have a headache,” she announced, she flounced out of the room.

“I’ll go after her,” Trevelyn said with a huff.

“Is there anything else to say?” Saratin asked. The mages were again silent. “Then the meeting is adjourned. Good luck on your new responsibilities.”