Page 72 of The Princess of Portals

“Fenris captured spirits—many spirits—and forced them to Blend with the young Apprentices he’d captured, but the process didn’t work as he’d expected. Blending with six spirits is too much power for one body to handle. His Polymages are dying. But those Polymages—” Zenik pointed at me, Kato, and Conner. “—are strong and healthy. Fenris thought that if he ran enough tests on Savannah, he’d figure out how to make a stable Polymage.”

Murmurs rose from the members of the Court, and this time, they weren’t all in Fenris’s favor.

Portia gave them a serene smile. “And there you have it: the truth, as told by someone who worked within Fenris’s operation.”

“He’s hardly a trustworthy witness. He’s a mercenary!”

“And he looks terrified for his life. Portia, did you threaten him?”

Portia folded her hands over her lap. “Of course not. Violence is not my way. I merely gave him a truth serum.”

Once again, Lord Daykan was called to the front. He examined Zenik.

“He is under the influence of a truth serum. Perhaps we should administer the same truth serum to Prince Fenris,” Daykan added with a chuckle.

Fenris jumped to his feet. “You forget yourself, Lord Daykan!”

“Actually, it is you, with all your pageantry and lies, who has almost made us forget ourselves,” Daykan countered, then he turned to face his comrades. “This Court is rational, unemotional, and just. We do not succumb to hysteria and fear. We allowed Fenris to manipulate us. We cannot make the same mistake again.”

Voices rose from the Court, some in Fenris’s favor, but just as many were not. The two sides began to argue. Discord saturated the ballroom. It took a few explosive spells from the First Inquisitor to silence them.

“The matter will be put to a vote,” Vela declared. “Members of the Court, prepare your arguments. Everyone else, leave the room.”

CHAPTER 6

THE PRINCESS OF PORTALS

While the Court debated the matter of Fenris’s guilt, Conner, Kato, and I retreated to a meeting room just down the hall from the ballroom.

“What do you think?” I asked them. “Will the Court vote against him?”

“Hard to say,” Kato replied. “Fenris has a lot of allies.”

“But how many of them are in the Order of Kings?”

“Best guess?” Conner frowned. “Far too many.”

I was afraid he was right about that.

The door opened, and Portia stepped into the room. Given how good she was at teleporting, I had to wonder why she even bothered with doors.

“The Court will vote against Fenris,” Portia told me.

“How do you know?”

“Fenris is not as popular as he appears. His allies are outspoken, but his enemies outnumber them. Even so, the members of the Court are set in their ways. They fear change. That’s why they generally vote to maintain the status quo. Imprisoning one of their own would disrupt that status quo. That’s why I had to provide them with evidence that they could not ignore. Fenris is guilty, and they know it. Now they just need time to come to terms with what they must do. In the end, they will do the right thing. Convicting Fenris is preferable to allowing him to go free. He captured spirits and used them in his experiments. The members of the Court cannot allow his crime to go unpunished. The people of the Many Realms revere the spirits.”

I watched her, wondering.

She smiled at me. “Yes?”

“I know you’re one of the Paragons of Magic.”

“I am.”

“You’re the Princess of Portals. That’s how you can summon and read the Paragons’ spellbook.”

“I couldn’t summon it to me for many years.”