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examination of the soil around your carrion flower will suffice to see if you have been adding lionroot extract to it. Very clever, by the way. Smarter than I would have expected of you, but not quite smart…”
    “Enough!” shouted Morius. “Enough! By all the gods, I am sick to death of your lectures!”
    “You…” said Rhazion.
    Caina felt a crawling tingle against her skin, a faint wave of nausea going through her stomach. She was sensitive to the presence of sorcery, and she felt it now.
    Morius was casting a spell.
    She started to shout a warning, but it was too late. Morius flung out his hands, and psychokinetic force erupted from him in all directions. The blast knocked Rhazion to the ground, flipped over the dining room table, and threw down a score of guests. Corvalis stumbled, but Caina was far enough away that the burst only struck her as a gust of wind, and she stumbled into the wall, her skirts rippling around her legs. 
    Morius sprinted for the doors next to Caina, his robes flapping around his ankles. Throughout the dining room the other guests staggered to their feet, and some of the magi began casting spells of their own. But Morius was going to get away before the magi could recover. Caina could try to hit Morius with a throwing knife, but if she killed Morius in front of so many witnesses, that would draw suspicion upon the House of Kularus…and then eventually to the Ghosts.
    She shifted, the high heels of her sandals sliding against the floor, and the idea came to her.
    Morius raced for the doors, and Caina took a wobbling step forward, shrieked, and made herself trip.
    She fell right into Morius.
    The magus cursed, lost his balance, and fell upon his back, Caina on top of him. He cursed and shoved her off, and Caina let out a long scream and rolled away. Morius scrambled back to his feet, fury in his eyes as he started to cast a spell…
    The surge of a dozen other spells drowned out Morius’s power, and suddenly the master magus went motionless. He floated into the air, eyes bulging, suspended in the power of a score of magi.
    “Well, Morius,” said Rhazion, striding forward. He ignored Caina, his eyes fixed on the traitorous master magus. “Thought to murder me, did you?” He snorted. “Why anyone would want to be the preceptor of a Magisterium chapter, I’ll never know. The work never ends! Plus, I have to deal with fools like you.”
    Corvalis helped Caina to her feet, and Marcus staggered to their side.
    “Lord Marcus,” said Rhazion, “you have done me an invaluable service tonight, and saved both my life and the lives of many others. Thank you. I shall not forget this.”
    “But I,” said Marcus, “I did nothing, my lord the credit goes to…”
    Caina feigned another stumble, using the motion to drive an elbow into Marcus’s side.
    Rhazion glance. “Trouble with your balance, hmm?”
    “Too much wine, my lord preceptor,” said Caina, resuming her Szaldic accent with a hint of a slur. “It goes right to my head, oh, and then I fall down.”
    Rhazion grunted. “Young, beautiful, and drunken. You’re a fortunate man, Kularus.”
    Corvalis bowed. “I’ve always thought so, my lord preceptor.”
      “Come along, Morius,” said Rhazion with a cold smile. “You have a trial coming.”
    He beckoned, and the magi filed out of the dining room, Morius Orian floating after them, his face frozen in terror.

    ###

    A few days later Caina sat at her table in the House of Kularus, sipping coffee, when Marcus Orian strode through the front doors.
    He hesitated, took a deep breath, and walked to her table.
    “Good evening, my lord,” said Caina, setting aside her coffee. “It is good to see that you are not shouting warnings about poisonous flowers.”
    Marcus grimaced, and then chuckled. “No, thankfully not.” He took a deep breath. “I thought…I thought you would like to know that my father has been formally charged with attempted murder. It seems he will likely be