Heart-Less

Chapter 17

"Head Wizard, a Miss Ada is here to see you."

"Send her in."

It seemed like Miss Ada was confused. Her heart was alternating between upset and confused. Pendragon wondered if she had managed to find the formula, or if she was already on her way to being burnt alive. It would be a shame to lose his prize protege even before she finished the formula.

The door to his office slid open, wood crashing upon wood. Ada was certainly doing a good job of appearing to be angry.

"Head Wizard," Ada announced as she stepped into the room, "I would like to register a complain."

Pendragon raised an eyebrow, and Ada dipped her head.

"My apologies for my rudeness."

"Thank you," Pendragon said as he leaned back. "Now, what are you protesting about?"

"I would like to protest about the seating arrangements. My countrymen definitely will not be pleased with it, and when they act on their feelings, I do not want to be held responsible in any way for this. In fact, I do not wish to be held responsible for anything that goes wrong during this meeting, because it's clear that my opinion isn't respected."

"I see that we're covering all our bases here. Now, why should I listen to you?"

Ada suddenly smiled. "Because I'm your protege and you want me to finish figuring out the formula. I can't do it with my emotions swinging from one extreme to the other."

"And how is your formula coming along?" Pendragon leaned forward and laced his fingers together. He tried not to look too eager.

Ada shrugged. "I haven't been able to work on it," she said, her eyes now back to their usual dullness. "But if I knew that the council is no longer my problem, I'll be able to devote more time to it, instead of having to go for the pre-meetings." Her voice was soft, steady and devoid of any emotion.

Pendragon had to pretend to consider the matter. After all, he couldn't have Ada thinking that he already knew about this. "Well," he said slowly, "you make good points. As you've tried your best, I will be giving you immunity from whatever is coming. In return, I want you to give me the formula before this meeting ends. Is that possible?"

"Of course."

"You may leave."

Ada bowed and left, her figure considerably more relaxed than the start of the meeting. After she closed the door, however, Pendragon saw her silhouette stiffen as she stepped into the part of an angry foreigner.

Suddenly, a flame flared up. Pendragon stared in horror at the lamp. He hadn't even been that nervous.

Calm down, he told himself as he took deep breathes. Focus on the fire, will it out, will all traces of it away. Gradually, the flame died down, and the ashes flew away in the wind.

Ada must hurry.

Pendragon closed his eyes, and slowly, a book materialised in his hand. With trembling fingers, he flipped to the correct page.

"... Eventually though, we found a balance or sorts. True, we couldn't do any of the grand magic that made us feared by the other two, but we could do enough magic to make every day life comfortable.

And in this way, our people changed from a race of mighty rulers to peasants leading comfortable lives. But within us is the spark of leaders."

- Taken from "An Analysis of the Decline of the Magi" by Professor [REDACTED], available only to the high council.