Nelia smiled, pulling out a newspaper page from the binder. “Director Chen told me it might have slipped your mind. You did leave almost immediately after the interview for Now.” She handed the paper to me, a full-page article of my interview with Gena Chanie. To my surprise, the reporter had painted me in a sympathetic rather than patronizing light, and had included two flattering photos—one from the batch her photographer had taken that day, and another someone had snapped of me in the street in my enforcer leathers. According to the write-up, I was adjusting to my new role well, bringing dignity and light to the Mages Guild while continuing to stay in touch with my “street roots”, as she called it.

“I will be keeping a scrapbook of these,” Nelia informed me as she tucked the article back into her binder. “So that we have a record of all printed media.”

“Thank you,” I said, with feeling. I had to admit, I hadn’t thought about how much administrative work would come with my new social status, and it was a relief to know that someone else with experience was going to take care of it. Director Chen had chosen my secretary well—maybe she wasn’t out to get me after all. I supposed I would have to thank her later.

Nelia then explained my schedule for the next four weeks. There were meetings and interviews Director Chen had already set up, though many of them had been rescheduled due to my unexpected departure. I imagined this would be a common occurrence, as I doubted this would be the last time Iannis and I would be off on a mission. Still, I would not be able to duck out of these entirely, so I guessed I was going to have to get used to it. The first interview had gone really well, so maybe I was ready for the press after all. But I would make sure to get some tips from Iannis before I did any more, on how to handle personal and inconvenient questions. I told Nelia not to schedule any more interviews for the time being.

“By the way, Chieftain Mafiela Baine called to respond to your invitation for lunch,” Nelia said to me. “I penciled her in for Wednesday the eleventh, in the Winter Garden.”

“Oh.” I let out a surprised breath—I’d forgotten about that too. The Winter Garden was a pretty salon on the second floor of the Palace, filled with mirrors and evergreen plants. It was sometimes used for small dinner parties by the Chief Mage, but would do just as well for a private lunch catered by the Palace cook. “Did she sound happy about it?”

Nelia paused, as if trying to recall. “She didn’t sound unhappy,” she decided.