Sedgewick let out a long-suffering sigh as he waited behind the procession of lords and ladies about to enter the council chamber. Beryn gave him a brief nod before taking his place near the front since Kingsford was one of the most important territories. Sedgewick pulled his hat down over the remains of his bruise as Lord Faren of Endingwood struck him with a cold glare instead of a fist. The hulking man took his place at the very back of the lords and Sedgewick bit down a snicker. His son slept beside the queen and the man still couldn't move up in line. Perhaps next generation.

Sedgewick scanned the hall again, taking in the moves and countermoves already in motion. Soon he would be wrapped up in them too, but for now, he could pretend he was once again a young man, a foreigner, removed the games being played.

"Does it ever get old?" a man asked behind him. "The anticipation?"

Sedgewick pushed his hat up slightly as he turned. The man smiled, the whites of his teeth matching his healer's garb. A red cloth belt fell just above his knees where his tunic ended. His orange-red hair was tied back neatly and landed just past his shoulders.

"Eventually," Sedgewick answered simply. A smile curled at the edges of his lips as bits of the past echoed through his head. Remnants of the heady rush he'd felt during his early years before he'd founded the Magic Ministry, back when Sedgewick was just a court mage, bubbled at the edge of his consciousness. The idea that being here meant he had power, he had a purpose, was almost more than his younger self could take. "But there are certain times when it sticks."

Of course, the shine wore off after he'd realize how irritating interacting with the lords was, and had faded almost entirely after he— after the kingdom lost the young Queen Eleyna's grandmother, Alena.

The healer stuck out his hand. "Daydrel Elyssgrow. Heard of me?"

Sedgewick sighed inwardly. This is what he got for engaging. "No."

"Well, if I can make my presentation work, that will change." The man let them drop into silence for a moment, only to cruelly crush Sedgewick's solitude once again. "You're the Minister of Magic, aren't you?"

"The hat tends to give it away," Sedgewick clipped.

"Anything I should know before going in?"

Smart people leave me alone, he thought. But only thought. He was trying not to say things like that out loud. Feyla had praised his progress the other day. With kisses, Sedgewick recalled before forcing the heat rising in his cheeks back down. Their...fight? Confrontation? Made it slightly easier than normal. "Push your points. They like to talk over you," he said. There. Now the man could stop.

"Thanks," Elyssgrow answered just as the doors opened, allowing the council members, Sedgewick, and the other retainers in. "I appreciate that. Especially since I'm planning on stealing your funding."

Sedgewick's eyebrows shot above his glasses. Then the steward pushed him into the council room and promptly closed the door.

The healer smiled.

The man must be crazy. What would a healer do with Sedgewick's funding? Buy more bandages? Sedgewick shook his head and tucked his notes into his robe. The ruling lords, and a few ladies, from each of Abreyla's territories split off into two processions and circled around the round room.

Sedgewick followed behind one of the lines of lords and made his way up the steps of the dais at the end of the room to his place standing behind the left side of the throne. Sunlight streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, illuminating the marble floor and jade-colored pillars in sun-shaped pools of light from the topmost windows. Sedgewick took a deep breath and settled into the comfortable standing position he'd used year after year. The council members waited beside their seats, but wouldn't take them yet. Not until the queen was seated.

Sedgewick pricked his ears up, listening for the tell-tale sign of the other presenters being temporarily shuffled off into another hall as the clink of armor took their place. Shouldn't be long now.

The tall doors were pulled open again. Two guardsmen took their place on either side of the door while two more stepped out of the shadows behind Sedgewick. A herald in a smart blue-and-gold uniform entered. "Announcing their royal highnesses, King Fenroy of Endingwood and Crown Prince Faren."

That man entered the room, his steps so heavy they probably shook the chandelier above them. He wore a thigh length tunic with a V-shaped collar that was tied closed at the waist with a studded leather belt. A longer green-brown undershirt peaked through the traditional muted gold of the royal family. His young son walked beside him, the boy's little legs taking three steps for each of his father's despite the man's slower pace. Poor lad. At least his height challenges should only be temporary, if Faren's resemblance to his father was any indication.

The king consort nodded at the lords and ladies and his son followed suit. Fenroy took the seat to the right of the throne. Faren glanced at Sedgewick briefly, a ghost of a nervous smile on the serious boy's face. Sedgewick winked at him as the boy took his place standing near his father.

The herald stepped forward again and a hush fell over the room. The guards stood a bit straighter. Little Faren's too-big ears perked up.

"Announcing, the daughter of King Eldain, son of Queen Alena, daughter of..."

The herald went on for several more generations.

"...defender of our sacred borders, bearer of the Creator's Gift, Her Majesty, Queen Eleyna of Abreyla!"

The doors flung open as Eleyna stepped into the council room. Sedgewick resisted the urge to inhale sharply. Even though he'd see his former apprentice in her royal station countless times, the younger woman's resemblance to her illustrious grandmother still made his breath catch.

Energy seemed to zap through the room the moment she stepped inside. The lords and ladies place a fist across their chests and bowed their heads at her passing. Mostly because it was traditional but if the eagerness of some of the council was any indication, it was partially to avoid staring into those eyes of hers.

A fey's eyes lightened with magic use, but Eleyna's has been that color since her birth, a side effect of her rare ability to harness Pure Magic. Sedgewick had seen more than one man quake under that gaze. The simple cut of her gold dress contrasted the elaborate attire of the other nobles and matched the eerie honey-gold of said eyes.

Her husband was unaffected. Fenroy smiled at his approaching wife like she was joining him for a romantic picnic as opposed to signaling the opening of Lord's Season. Sedgewick let out a small irritated sigh. That was Queen Alena's granddaughter and the man still stared at her like she was a common village girl he was constantly wooing.

Eleyna swept her golden dress to the side and took her seat. "Let us begin."

The next hour or so was spent renewing a few uncontroversial edicts necessary for the kingdom's function. Then the topic moved to solutions for dealing with the spring flooding. Roads had been completely wiped out, fields had been washed away, docks overrun. And of course, everyone thought that their territory needed help the most.

Eventually, after Sedgewick told Lord Nadris that no, he could not just "magic up" an instant fix to the problem, it was decided that something somewhere was going to have to go if the kingdom hoped to repair everything in a timely manner. With that taken care of, Eleyna signaled for Sedgewick to begin his presentation.

Sedgewick braced himself like he was about to duel a sorceress. It was only once a year. Small words, no obvious insults. Gates, he wished he'd finished that coffee Feyla had brought him.

Sedgewick stepped into the center of the room. He knelt before Eleyna, fist across his chest and then gave a shallower bow to the rest of the council before launching straight into his presentation. "General rates of black magic use is down two percent, and the ministry has successfully apprehended the leaders of the witches' guild that was plaguing Lady Calinya's territory..."

An excruciating while later, after Sedgewick had given the Magic Ministry's state of affairs and explained the same things he had to explain every. Single. Gates-rattled. Year, he gave his notes one last glance to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything. His eyes skipped over his own handwriting and stalled at Feyla's. She'd scribbled a reminder at the bottom of the last page.

Sedgewick smiled at it softly. That woman really did think of everything.

"Is that all, Master Alverdyne?" asked Lord Beryn. His voice rose slightly at the end. Sedgewick fought back a scowl. Of course Beryn remembered what he'd almost forgotten.

"No." Sedgewick cleared his throat and tugged at his shirt's high collar. Maybe it would have been better if he had forgotten. At least then he wouldn't have to announce something so personal to the entire Lord's Council. "I request some time off come autumn."

Eleyna nodded at the record's keeper to make a note. Was that laugher crinkling the corners of her eyes? "Purpose of request?"

Sedgewick shifted his weight. What had that woman done to him? A hundred years ago, he'd never dream of doing anything that required announcing his personal business to the Lord's Council. He cleared his throat again and admired the glass windows above them. "I...recently became betrothed. We were hoping to get it all taken care of then."

"Ha!" Lord Beryn's laughter reverberated throughout the tall room. He leaned forward in his chair and held out a hand. "Pay up, Endingwoods."

Lord Endingwood let out a snort as he and Fenroy both tossed a bag of coins at the other man. Beryn caught them and leaned back in his chair, shaking them with a satisfied smirk.

"Noted. Congratulations, Master Alverdyne." Eleyna gave her husband a look that would have crippled a weaker man.

Sedgewick smiled at her weakly and ignored the stares of incredulity and gasps of surprise as he made his way back to his spot. His shoulders slacked with relief when Eleyna signaled for the first of the presenters to be brought in.

Only for them to tighten again at the sight of the healer from earlier being led in. Idiotic man. Could a healer hunt wizards? Track witches? Study the Pure Magic filled ley-lines that crisscrossed the world?

The man—Daydrel was it?—bowed deeply to the queen and the council.

Eleyna gestured for him to rise. "What is the purpose of your presentation?"

"The purpose of any good guild presentation, Your Majesty. Patronage. Funding."

A few people snickered at that and relaxed into their seats. Daydrel smiled before continuing. "But I like to think the project I'm spearheading will be worth the time it takes to hear it." Daydrel took a step forward and addressed the room as a whole. "Centuries ago, before even our last war with the Northlands, each of you—" He waved his hand toward the lords and ladies. "Were responsible for any and all magical issues in your territories with the head court mage serving...more as the king's personal mage than an overseer of the mages throughout our kingdom."

Daydrel locked eyes with Sedgewick and his smiled seemed less polite and more predatory. "But then came along a man who said he could do it better, faster, more effectively. And thus was born Master Alverdyne's Magic Ministry. Who now handles all our kingdom's magical problems for us."

Lady Calinya, a widowed woman of about a century past a millennium, straightened in her seat. Her voice was soft, but with a firm undercurrent, like silk stretched over steel. "Healer, we all heard what Master Alverdyne does for this kingdom from his own lips not even an hour ago. What is it you can do."

"The same thing. But, like Master Alverdyne promised all those years ago, I can do it better. Faster. Cheaper. And—" He side eyed Sedgewick. "With fewer burnt buildings and treacherous second-in-commands."

When Sedgewick was a boy, his father had once planned to place him in charge of half their flock of goats. It had been one of the few times his sire had entrusted him with any sort of man's work. Hope had fluttered in his chest, birthed by the then still-existing desire for his acceptance, if not approval. He could still hear his older brother's laughter in his ears. Let his useless little brother take the stragglers like he always did. He could handle the rest.

And then Sedgewick had watched that hope die as his father's shoulders slacked with relief. He'd clapped his oldest son on the shoulder and thanked him for stepping up. Anger had bubbled in Sedgewick like his still-developing magic. He was competent. He was intelligent. He could be useful. No one was going to steal his job. That anger had propelled him forward and earned him a backhand for the words that had poured from his mouth. It should have taught him a lesson.

It hadn't.

Sedgewick pushed himself out of his spot and took the steps of the raised platform two at a time. "And what are you going to do? Bandage the wizards to death? Refuse to clean their cuts? I've been doing this job longer than you've been alive and you really think you can do it better?"

Daydrel smirked the exact same way Sedgewick had all those years ago when he first founded the Magic Ministry. "Not the research. Or the ley-line studies. But the wizards? The witches? Sorceresses?" His voice grew louder, firmer at the end. "Yes. My team of battle healers and I can work with whatever you throw at us. And we can do it without casualties."

"You can't be serious. No one in their right mind would—"

"Calm yourself, Minister Alverdyne," said Lord Endingwood said. "Let the man finish."

Sedgewick seethed, the hair on his neck spiking up like his cat's. His eyes drifted to Eleyna. She said nothing, instead giving a subtle jerk of her chin, signaling for him to return to his position. Sedgewick gave Daydrel one last glare before retreating to his post by Eleyna.

"Now, I know that what I'm proposing is a bit unorthodox, but if you could move past that, things start to make sense. Battle healers go through extensive approval and training to learn how to subdue someone in the safest and cleanest way possible. When Minister Alverdyne fights magic with magic, he's exacerbating the problem he's trying to solve. My team and I can stop a wizard's magic—"

"Your entire technique requires you to be in close proximity to whoever you're trying to subdue!" Sedgewick's voice rose again. Eleyna rubbed her temple, but he avoided looking at her too long. "Hunting wizards and sorceresses isn't like subduing the two-bit witch bounties you pride yourself on collecting. It's not even like fighting some upstart who just figured out how to taint his magic."

Sedgewick paused to collect himself. "I could tell you stories of the things I've seen. You can't handle this."

"This has been...interesting," Lord Beryn cut in. "But this is the Lord's Council. If you want to convince the descendants of warriors to support a team of pacifists, I think we can all agree that we will need to see something more substantial."

Daydrel stepped closer to the council. "I was hoping you'd say that. If you would take a look at the papers sent over with me, there's a list of my past services. At least one of them should be familiar."

Sedgewick's ear twitched as Lady Calinya did a sharp intake of breath. Could the man have been referring to...

"And if that's not enough, then I have a challenge for your Master Alverdyne." Daydrel tugged his white glove straight. "You all know about the tragedy that struck our new Healing House. The guild's entrusted me with finding the man who did this. Which is something that you haven't managed yet, have you, Minister?"

Sedgewick's ear slipped back and the hair on his neck raised like a cat's. "It's only been a few days. I expect to remedy that shortly."

"Then this shouldn't be a problem for you." Daydrel turned back to the Queen. "If Minister Alverdyne manages to catch him first, I'll withdraw my petition. But if my team and I can find him faster, I'd say that speaks for my proposal itself."

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Author's Note: Here's that long-delayed chapter! Probably one of my longest to date. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's time to let it go. In other news, I've decided to revive a practice from the early days of Magic's Minister and have a sneak peek of the next chapter at the bottom.

Chapter 13: "Why are you bothering him, Everbloom?" Sandrina cut in before Feyla finished saying her name.