She looked down at Emily. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that Sarnia is too strict with her children. You’re probably thinking that I’m too strict with my children. And you might be right. It’s never easy to balance between protecting your children and preparing them for adulthood. Some mistakes have to be made to allow your children to learn from them. Others…others shouldn’t be made at all.
“There are worse parents out there,” she added. “Parents who ignore their children, parents who spoil their children, parents who abuse their children. Focus your ire on them.”
Emily felt herself flush. Her mother had been a drunkard, her father had vanished long ago and her stepfather…she shuddered. A protective spell would have been helpful, back when she’d been trapped in a dingy apartment. She might have felt safer. It might even have given her the courage to stand up to the older man.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“Ah, youth,” Sienna said. “The age when you know everything.”
She turned in a circle, casting a set of spells into the air. “And if you do know everything, tell me what did this?”
“I don’t know,” Emily said, irked.
She glanced up, readying a spell, as she heard the clatter of footsteps. A young man wearing a green tunic hurried up to them and fell on one knee.
“Lady Emily,” he gasped. A herald, Emily realized. King Randor’s wore finer clothes, but the principle was the same. “The guildmasters request the pleasure of your company at the guildhall.”
Emily glanced at Sienna, who shrugged.
“It will be my pleasure,” she said, formally. She frowned. How had the herald known where to find her? They certainly hadn’t told anyone where they were going after the Temple of Stone. “I’ll be on my way in a moment.”
“I will accompany you.” Sienna smiled, as if something was humorous. “We wouldn’t want you to get lost along the way.”
“Thank you,” Emily said. The herald turned and hurried off. “How…how did he know where to find us?”
“There’s a tracking spell on my papers,” Sienna said, with an odd little smile. “And they knew you were accompanying me.”
“Oh,” Emily said.
Chapter Eighteen
EMILY COULDN’T HELP THINKING, WHEN SHE first set eyes on the guildhall, that it looked rather like a smaller version of the Capitol building. It sat in the center of the city, overshadowed by the giant castle and surrounded by hundreds of statues, each one representing one of the guilds. The City Guard were out in force, patrolling the streets around the guildhall as if they expected trouble. Emily suspected they were right. Sienna led the way to the doors, spoke briefly to one of the guards, and walked into the building.
“They’ll be meeting in one of the smaller chambers,” Sienna said. Emily had no idea how she knew that. “This way.”
Emily followed her, looking around with interest. Someone had spent a great deal of money on the giant building, paving the floors with marble and lining the walls with paintings, each one showing a former guildmaster. She couldn’t help noticing that most of them were men, although a handful were definitely female. They all wore fancy robes, so fancy that Emily suspected they were copied from Zangaria’s aristocracy. And yet, anyone who became a guildmaster had to be competent. Family connections could only go so far.
There was another pair of guards outside a door, one of them clearly a sorcerer. Emily tensed as she sensed a pair of spells probing at her, but relaxed as the door opened. The smaller chamber didn’t look friendly. Grand Guildmaster Jalil sat in a chair that looked like a throne, flanked by eight other men wearing guildmaster robes. General Pollack stood in front of them, next to two men Emily didn’t recognize. She couldn’t help thinking that the room looked like a courtroom, with the guildmasters acting as judges. It made her feel almost as if she’d done something wrong.
The door closed, loudly.
“Lady Emily.” Jalil sounded friendly, but there was an edge to his voice that made Emily look up and pay attention. “We have…invited…you here to answer some questions.”
Emily resisted the urge to look at Sienna for support. She’d spent far too long answering questions after the war had ended, after Gaius had turned traitor and both Casper and the necromancer had been killed. This time, at least, she was fairly sure she didn’t have anything to hide. There were no secrets that could get her killed.
“I understand,” she said.
“I must also warn you that lying to the council, either directly or through omission, will be counted against you,” Jalil said. “If there are questions you do not wish to answer, you must say so.”
Emily nodded, slowly. “Ask your questions.”
Jalil paused, taking a moment to compose his first question. “We have been informed that you invested a considerable sum of money in Vesperian’s Track,” he said. “The figure mentioned was fifty thousand crowns. Is this true?”
“No,” Emily said.
One of the other guildmasters started to splutter. Jalil silenced him with a look and then turned back to Emily. “Did you invest any money in Vesperian’s Track?”
“No,” Emily said.
A guildmaster leaned forward. “We have been reliably informed that you did invest a substantial sum into the project. These reports…”
“I was unaware that rumor was considered a reliable source these days,” Sienna said, before Emily could formulate a response. “Grand Guildmaster, point of order. Is that a legitimate question?”
Jalil’s face darkened. “No,” he said. “Guildmaster Merriam, you will apologize.”
Merriam looked down at Emily. “I apologize for my tone,” he said, bluntly. “On behalf of the ironworkers, however, I require a straight answer. Did you invest in Vesperian’s Track?”
Emily forced herself to contain her irritation. “I have already answered that question,” she said coldly. “I did not invest any money in the project.”
She paused, weighing her options. “It is true that Vesperian wanted me to invest. The figure mentioned was ten thousand crowns, not fifty. His offer seemed good, but I declined.”
Another guildmaster met her eyes. “Can I ask why?”