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“What?” Marla said, hearing the note of desperate hope in her own voice, and knowing
it was justified; she was, perhaps, just a few hours away from ceasing to be, and if there
was a better time to be desperately hopeful, she didn’t know what it was.
“You might consider diplomacy. It has often worked for me, when all else failed.”
Marla shook her head. “I don’t think Susan’s going to be willing to negotiate with me.
She wants my job, and she knows she’ll never get it as long as I’m alive.”
“Do you think she would still refuse to negotiate if I offered my services as a
mediator?” Cole said.
Marla turned her gaze from the window to look at Cole. “You’d do that?”
“Oh, yes. Though it will be a true negotiation—I’m not offering to settle this for you by
making threats or taking action against her. But, given time, I could cast a spell on her
that would make her plans to erase you seem a paltry thing.” His voice was grim, and
Marla appreciated it—she’d made a friend of him.
“What can I possibly offer Susan?” Marla said. “She wants my city. That’s one thing I
can never give her.”
“Oh, I appreciate that. But if Susan is as formidable, smart, and capable as you say, then
I believe there is something you can offer that she might accept.” Cole turned,
pointedly, and looked out the window, at the city glittering below and beyond on the
hills. Marla looked with him.
“Cole,” she said. “You’re a genius.”
“It’s been said before, yet I never grow tired of hearing it. I was not much help in the
fight, I know—battle has never been my forte—but I pride myself on finding elegant
solutions to difficult problems.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“The way you describe this Susan, I think she might be a tool suited to the task.”
“The only drawback is that I don’t get to kill her when it’s all over,” Marla said. This
could actually work. Susan was pigheaded and proud, so it might not work, but there
was a chance.
Marla reached out and touched Cole’s hand. “You’re the strangest sorcerer I’ve ever
met. I don’t know if it’s because of the time you come from, or if it’s just you,
but…you’re different. I’ve always thought being the best sorcerer meant being able to
utterly overwhelm your enemies, being the toughest thug, but that’s not the way you
approach things at all, is it?”
“There are many reasons to become a sorcerer,” Cole said. “Many, perhaps most, do it
for the thrill of power, or to strike back at a world that made them feel powerless. But
some become sorcerers because it’s the best way in the world to protect the things you