25

      China Sorrows entered the chamber and immediately the three men rose. Two of them almost knocked their chairs over in their eagerness to offer due respect. The third was decidedly calmer. China took her seat at the north corner of the triangular table and waved at them to sit. The chamber was dark and bare, at odds with the extravagance that defined much of the rest of the High Sanctuary. She had no throne here. No mirrors. This was where the decisions were taken. This was where business was handled.

      “The bank,” she said, directing the words to Grand Mage Aloysius Vespers of the English Sanctuary. “We’re behind schedule.”

      Vespers, an overfed man with long white hair, gave a combination of a nod and a shrug. “We are, but we’re picking up speed. Co-ordinating between the Central Banks of the world was never going to be a straightforward process, yet I am happy to report that we have overcome significant hurdles in the last week alone.”

      “And how close are we to a bank the citizens of Roarhaven can actually use?”

      Vespers smiled, like he was delivering good news. “Two years. Maybe eighteen months.”

      “You’ve had five years,” China said, and she watched Vespers’ smile falter. “We have the money – we have more than enough capital – but where has it languished since I first tasked you with this operation?”

      “In, uh, in the First Bank of Roarhaven—”

      “No,” said China. “The First Bank is a building. That’s all. It’s a building where we keep, relatively speaking, a very small amount of money. Cash for day-to-day requirements. No, Aloysius – I’m talking about the vast amounts of wealth that sorcerers have at their disposal, accrued over centuries. Where is that money?”

      Vespers reddened. “Mortal banks, Supreme Mage.”

      “Mortal banks,” China repeated. “Where our people risk constant exposure and the magical community at large in no way benefits from all of the investments they make. I asked you for a bank, based in Roarhaven, which all sorcerers around the world could use. A bank that is protected, private, but operates on a global scale. I asked you to slip it into existence beside all the other mortal banking institutions. Do you remember me asking you that?”

      “Yes, Supreme Mage.”

      “I didn’t want attention drawn to it. I didn’t want questions asked. I didn’t want opposition mounted. I asked of you impossible things, Aloysius, and what did you say?”

      He swallowed. “I … I said I could deliver.”

      “That’s right,” said China. “You did.”

      “I will redouble my efforts.”

      She pinned him with a look. “It troubles me that your efforts can be redoubled.”

      Vespers shifted in his seat. “I … I only meant that a lot of my time is taken up with leading my own Council. But I will, of course, prioritise the matter from this point on.”

      China kept her eyes on him until he started to wilt, then turned to the American. “Grand Mage Praetor, how are you faring with President Flanery?”

      Gavin Praetor, a trim man with a distinctly feline quality to his movements, inclined his head slightly. “He is a boorish man. Arrogant. Narcissistic. Greedy for money and power. A thug in an expensive suit is how he’s being described by certain political commentators. In short, easily controlled and perfect for our needs.”

      “So long as he gets his second term in the White House,” said China.

      Praetor nodded. “I don’t think we have much to worry about, not with the changes he’s made to the election process. The Democrats can’t even settle on a candidate to run against him. Every senator, governor or mayor to put their name in the hat takes it out a few weeks later, their reputation in tatters. The media is wondering how Flanery finds out all their secrets.”

      “So the rumours are true?”

      “It would appear so,” said Praetor. “We don’t know who, yet, but we believe that Flanery has had a sorcerer of some description working for him since before he ran for office. In the past, he’s been able to push bills through Congress that ordinarily wouldn’t stand a chance. His opponents fall before him. Minds are being read, influenced – if not outright controlled.”

      “We need to keep an eye on this,” China said. “So long as we have him on a leash, he’s useful. If he manages to slip that leash, he’s dangerous. I want this sorcerer named.”

      “Of course, Supreme Mage.”

      “Grand Mage Drang, you mentioned that something was troubling you?”

      “Coldheart Prison,” said the German Grand Mage, the light catching the single scar that ran from the corner of his eye to the hinge of his jaw. “They have failed to check in.”

      “So? They’ve missed reporting in before. It all depends where they are in the world and even what the weather is like.”

      “With respect, Supreme Mage, I do not think it is that simple in this instance. The last of the safeguards have been removed only last week. For the first time, the prison is vulnerable.”

      She sighed. “We’re all quite aware of your objections to the change in the prison’s status, Grand Mage. We’ve had this debate.”

      Sturmun Drang raised an eyebrow fractionally. “There was no debate, Supreme Mage. You decided to take sole control of an international prison. You decided to systematically remove the multiple safeguards that nine separate Sanctuaries contributed to make Coldheart absolutely impenetrable.”

      “It is still impenetrable.”

      “No, Supreme Mage. Without the international safeguards, the prison’s defences have been halved.”

      “Temporarily. New safeguards – better safeguards – are being implemented as we speak.”

      “And for those three days, until those safeguards are online, the prison is vulnerable. And it has gone missing.”

      China regarded him calmly. “I will have my people look into it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

      “I hope you are right,” said Drang. “Otherwise three hundred and twenty-six highly dangerous sorcerers may be on the loose, and we are not doing anything about it.”

      She looked at Vespers and Praetor. They smiled back, the way people do when they’re nervous and unsure and want to calm the waters after a disagreement. China felt no such urge to smile. That was the luxury that absolute power afforded her. “I believe you have someone waiting to meet me,” she said.

      Vespers stood. “Indeed we do, Supreme Mage. Our apologies for the delays you’ve endured.” Walking quickly, he left the room, the door closing slowly behind him.

      China noted the way Drang sighed. He had no time for religion, and even less for religious leaders.

      The door burst open.

      A large man strode in, dressed in frayed trousers and an old, stained shirt. He was muscled, his head shaven, and reminded China of her brother. This took