Amused, he closed the door. “You don’t want to hear what our revered Council had to say?”

“No,” she said, glancing up. “Why? Was it other than we expected?”

“It was not.”

“Well, then.”

“You’re not interested in what I said?”

Now she smiled, brilliant. “You said what I would’ve said, had someone come to threaten you. Go away or be very sorry.”

He laughed. “Is that what I said?”

“Isn’t it?”

“More or less. Though you should know, I resigned.”

“From the Council?” She blinked. “For me?”

“And for me. I’ve had more than enough of their prosing interference.”

“Yes, but Morgan…” Troubled, Barl laced her fingers and stared at them. “I do wish you hadn’t done that. Not even partly for me. It’s an important thing, a prestigious thing, being on the Council of Mages. Your father would never have wanted you to resign.”

Morgan joined her on the floor. “Barl, there are many things I plan to do that my father would never have wanted. But I cannot live my life dancing to a tune played on a dead man’s violin.” He touched his fingers to her knee. “This was my choice, and I am content with it.”

She looked up. “Truly?”

“Truly.”

“All right,” she muttered, and blew out a sharp breath. Then she thrust the book she was reading at him. “See here. Ollet’s Compendium. It’s terribly quaint, isn’t it? All these old-fashioned incants nobody uses any more. But I’ve found this one. What do you think?”

He looked where her finger pointed. Being a rumination on a transmutation of intent. Recommended for the shifting of diametric oppositions. Well… that was unexpected. Had he even known the Compendium was here?

If I did, I’d forgotten. But trust Barl to find it… and to find the exact incant we must have to proceed.

Taking his silence to mean disagreement, she wriggled a little and tapped the page.

“You said it yourself, Morgan,” she added. “Every time we adjust the incant’s base harmonics we seem to throw it out of balance somewhere else. I know I argued with you, but I begin to suspect you’ve been right all along. There is something askew in the fundamentals of the aspect enhancement. That’s why we can’t progress any further.”

She intoxicated him when she got like this. Leaning sideways, he pressed his lips to the pulse at the base of her throat. “So I was right, was I?” he murmured. “I think that means I deserve some kind of forfeit.”

“Yes, yes, later,” she said, impatient, and shrugged him away. “Look, Morgan. Please. And tell me I’ve not stumbled across the perfect solution to our conundrum. I’ll wager you can’t, though. I’ll wager I’ve solved at least one of our problems!”