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.Leicester asked for approval of the agenda and Nick raised his hand.“First, I move that we select a chairperson and a scribe,” the old wizard suggested.The bear’s head mounted on his staff gleamed softly.They’d tried to take his staff away from him at the door of the conference room.He’d said he would have to sit in the hallway, then, because he was an old man of 465 years and needed its support.The alumnus at the door was no match for him, and Nick retained his staff.Leicester shrugged.He had automatically assumed the role of chair.“Perhaps one of our council observers would be willing?” He looked at the wizards in the gallery.“I move that the chair be a non-wizard,” Nick said quickly.“I think it would help reassure some of our Anawizard participants that this is a fair process.”“I second the motion,” said Aaron Bryan, the seer, without waiting for an invitation.Nick had done considerable networking the night before.“Which motion?” Leicester looked confused.“It’s one motion,” Nick explained, “In several parts.”Immediately, Jack could sense an almost physical pressure from the wizards in the spectator seats.The Anawizard Weir looked around uneasily.Wizards were not accustomed to democracy.It made them edgy.“There is a motion on the floor,” Leicester said.“Is there discussion?”“It’s a good idea,” said Jeremy Ravenstock, one of the wizard representatives.“And it might make all of us more comfortable.” He frowned at Leicester and scanned the gallery.So far, Jack noticed, wizards were doing most of the talking.There was no further discussion.The Interguild Council took a vote, and the motion carried.Even the wizards voted for it.Leicester sighed.“Are there any nominations or volunteers for chairperson?”Blaise Highbourne rose to his feet, his trademark silver cuffs and neckpiece glittering in the light from the wall sconces.“I nominate Linda Downey.”“An enchanter?” Leicester raised an eyebrow.“Are you serious?”“I second the nomination.” The enchanter Akana Moon didn’t rise from her chair.She looked nervous, and her voice shook, but she said it just the same.“We don’t even know if the girl is willing to serve,” Leicester said.“After all, it’s a lot to ask of a.”“I’ll do it,” Linda said.“As long as the ground rules are understood.I promise to be impartial as chair of the meeting.But I want to make it clear that I will participate as an advocate on those issues I feel strongly about.”“Of course,” said Leicester, amused.“All in favor?” The motion carried.“It’s settled then.The enchanter is chair.”“My name is Linda Downey,” Linda said in a clear voice.“Make a note of it, Dr.Leicester.”Leicester looked up, startled, his smile fading.Linda turned to the rest of the participants.“Are there any volunteers for scribe?” There was another long pause during which no one volunteered.None of the wizards wanted to be secretary, and none of the Anawizard representatives dared to.“Jack, you’re good at keyboarding.Help me out here.”“Okay.” Jack slid the tray out from under the table, glad to be doing something he had some skill at.Linda nodded.“Thanks, Jack.Now, let’s take another look at our agenda.Are there any changes in the items?” There were none.“Well, I have something to add,” she said “Before we vote on the constitutions that are before us, I suggest that we discuss the issue that drove this constitutional effort in the first place: that of wizard aggression against the Anawizard Weir.”There was a shocked silence.Then Claude D’Orsay rose to his feet.“I don’t think that would be constructive, Linda Downey,” he said pointedly.“Our time is limited, and, after all, we have come together here as peacemakers.Why bring up old issues that are bound to cause hard feelings?”“Some of the issues are very new,” Linda said evenly.“Some of them are downright current.” She spat out the word.“Those of us who are not students of history are condemned to repeat it.”The magical pressure from the sidelines was increasing.Linda staggered a bit, as if from a physical blow.She inclined her head and said something to Nick.He stood and put his arm around her, steadying her, and his staff flared up brightly.After a moment, Linda was able to speak.“If the council observers cannot resist intruding on the proceed-ings, we will have to clear the room.”“This is a joke,” the wizard Geoffrey Wylie snarled from his seat against the wall.“I did not recognize you, Mr.Wylie,” Linda said coldly.“You are an observer and not a participant in this process.Speak again, and you’re out of here.Think again, and you’re out of here.”The Anawizard Weir stared at Linda with a mixture of admiration and astonishment.Jack suspected the wizards in the room were already regretting their choice of the enchanter as chair.The observers settled, still fuming, but the pressure dissipated a little.“Is there a motion to add this issue to the agenda?” Linda asked, looking around the room.“I so move,” said Akana Moon, who seemed to have found her courage.She defiantly turned her eyes toward the Wizard Council.“I second,” said Jack.Ah, well, he thought.We may all end up dead, but we’re sticking it to them in the meantime.He was worried about his aunt, though.It almost seemed as if she were trying to pick a fight.The motion carried.Gregory Leicester spoke up.“In the interest of time, I suggest that we table this truth-finding enterprise until after we consider the constitutional issues.”“Is that a motion, Dr.Leicester?” Linda asked.Leicester sizzled with irritation.He put the suggestion forward in the form of a motion, seconded by D’Orsay.It was voted down.“If you’d like to make a motion, Dr.Leicester, we can also allocate time for a discussion of attacks by members of the other guilds against wizards,” Linda offered sweetly.“That will take two minutes,” Jack muttered to Ellen.Leicester shook his head, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.“The issue is, wizard aggression against the other Weir.Is there anyone who has something to share on this topic?” Linda gazed around the table.Jack rose to his feet.“I’m Jackson Swift, a warrior.Actually, I should have been a wizard, but Dr.Longbranch here fraudulently planted a warrior stone in me.” He pointed toward Jessamine Longbranch, then Geoffrey Wylie.“Mr.Wylie tried to kidnap me, to keep me from playing in the Game.And then Dr.Longbranch tried to kill me when I wouldn’t play for her.”“You ungrateful mixed-blood mongrel! You wouldn’t even be alive today if it weren’t for me.” Longbranch combed crimson-painted nails through her mane of pitch-black hair.She looked like she would have said more, but stopped herself, sliding a look at Linda Downey.“Warriors are bred for the tournaments,” D’Orsay said coldly.“That is their purpose.It makes good use of their natural talents [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Leicester asked for approval of the agenda and Nick raised his hand.“First, I move that we select a chairperson and a scribe,” the old wizard suggested.The bear’s head mounted on his staff gleamed softly.They’d tried to take his staff away from him at the door of the conference room.He’d said he would have to sit in the hallway, then, because he was an old man of 465 years and needed its support.The alumnus at the door was no match for him, and Nick retained his staff.Leicester shrugged.He had automatically assumed the role of chair.“Perhaps one of our council observers would be willing?” He looked at the wizards in the gallery.“I move that the chair be a non-wizard,” Nick said quickly.“I think it would help reassure some of our Anawizard participants that this is a fair process.”“I second the motion,” said Aaron Bryan, the seer, without waiting for an invitation.Nick had done considerable networking the night before.“Which motion?” Leicester looked confused.“It’s one motion,” Nick explained, “In several parts.”Immediately, Jack could sense an almost physical pressure from the wizards in the spectator seats.The Anawizard Weir looked around uneasily.Wizards were not accustomed to democracy.It made them edgy.“There is a motion on the floor,” Leicester said.“Is there discussion?”“It’s a good idea,” said Jeremy Ravenstock, one of the wizard representatives.“And it might make all of us more comfortable.” He frowned at Leicester and scanned the gallery.So far, Jack noticed, wizards were doing most of the talking.There was no further discussion.The Interguild Council took a vote, and the motion carried.Even the wizards voted for it.Leicester sighed.“Are there any nominations or volunteers for chairperson?”Blaise Highbourne rose to his feet, his trademark silver cuffs and neckpiece glittering in the light from the wall sconces.“I nominate Linda Downey.”“An enchanter?” Leicester raised an eyebrow.“Are you serious?”“I second the nomination.” The enchanter Akana Moon didn’t rise from her chair.She looked nervous, and her voice shook, but she said it just the same.“We don’t even know if the girl is willing to serve,” Leicester said.“After all, it’s a lot to ask of a.”“I’ll do it,” Linda said.“As long as the ground rules are understood.I promise to be impartial as chair of the meeting.But I want to make it clear that I will participate as an advocate on those issues I feel strongly about.”“Of course,” said Leicester, amused.“All in favor?” The motion carried.“It’s settled then.The enchanter is chair.”“My name is Linda Downey,” Linda said in a clear voice.“Make a note of it, Dr.Leicester.”Leicester looked up, startled, his smile fading.Linda turned to the rest of the participants.“Are there any volunteers for scribe?” There was another long pause during which no one volunteered.None of the wizards wanted to be secretary, and none of the Anawizard representatives dared to.“Jack, you’re good at keyboarding.Help me out here.”“Okay.” Jack slid the tray out from under the table, glad to be doing something he had some skill at.Linda nodded.“Thanks, Jack.Now, let’s take another look at our agenda.Are there any changes in the items?” There were none.“Well, I have something to add,” she said “Before we vote on the constitutions that are before us, I suggest that we discuss the issue that drove this constitutional effort in the first place: that of wizard aggression against the Anawizard Weir.”There was a shocked silence.Then Claude D’Orsay rose to his feet.“I don’t think that would be constructive, Linda Downey,” he said pointedly.“Our time is limited, and, after all, we have come together here as peacemakers.Why bring up old issues that are bound to cause hard feelings?”“Some of the issues are very new,” Linda said evenly.“Some of them are downright current.” She spat out the word.“Those of us who are not students of history are condemned to repeat it.”The magical pressure from the sidelines was increasing.Linda staggered a bit, as if from a physical blow.She inclined her head and said something to Nick.He stood and put his arm around her, steadying her, and his staff flared up brightly.After a moment, Linda was able to speak.“If the council observers cannot resist intruding on the proceed-ings, we will have to clear the room.”“This is a joke,” the wizard Geoffrey Wylie snarled from his seat against the wall.“I did not recognize you, Mr.Wylie,” Linda said coldly.“You are an observer and not a participant in this process.Speak again, and you’re out of here.Think again, and you’re out of here.”The Anawizard Weir stared at Linda with a mixture of admiration and astonishment.Jack suspected the wizards in the room were already regretting their choice of the enchanter as chair.The observers settled, still fuming, but the pressure dissipated a little.“Is there a motion to add this issue to the agenda?” Linda asked, looking around the room.“I so move,” said Akana Moon, who seemed to have found her courage.She defiantly turned her eyes toward the Wizard Council.“I second,” said Jack.Ah, well, he thought.We may all end up dead, but we’re sticking it to them in the meantime.He was worried about his aunt, though.It almost seemed as if she were trying to pick a fight.The motion carried.Gregory Leicester spoke up.“In the interest of time, I suggest that we table this truth-finding enterprise until after we consider the constitutional issues.”“Is that a motion, Dr.Leicester?” Linda asked.Leicester sizzled with irritation.He put the suggestion forward in the form of a motion, seconded by D’Orsay.It was voted down.“If you’d like to make a motion, Dr.Leicester, we can also allocate time for a discussion of attacks by members of the other guilds against wizards,” Linda offered sweetly.“That will take two minutes,” Jack muttered to Ellen.Leicester shook his head, drumming his fingers on the tabletop.“The issue is, wizard aggression against the other Weir.Is there anyone who has something to share on this topic?” Linda gazed around the table.Jack rose to his feet.“I’m Jackson Swift, a warrior.Actually, I should have been a wizard, but Dr.Longbranch here fraudulently planted a warrior stone in me.” He pointed toward Jessamine Longbranch, then Geoffrey Wylie.“Mr.Wylie tried to kidnap me, to keep me from playing in the Game.And then Dr.Longbranch tried to kill me when I wouldn’t play for her.”“You ungrateful mixed-blood mongrel! You wouldn’t even be alive today if it weren’t for me.” Longbranch combed crimson-painted nails through her mane of pitch-black hair.She looked like she would have said more, but stopped herself, sliding a look at Linda Downey.“Warriors are bred for the tournaments,” D’Orsay said coldly.“That is their purpose.It makes good use of their natural talents [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]