“An overly dismissive way of phrasing the level of your skills and experience, Edinja. But however you see yourself, the time has come for us to work together. I am approaching you first. I have not spoken to Arodian. I will tell you something quite frankly. I neither like nor trust him. He is too ambitious and too arrogant for me to believe he will lift a finger on my behalf. You, I think, are more farsighted.”

“Or at least more pragmatic.” She gave him a shrug. “I don’t see the purpose in waging war with you, Drust. I haven’t the time or energy for it. My turn as Prime Minister will come soon enough. Oh, not that way. In the orderly course of events, the position will find its way to me. But for now, I would consider acting as your adviser and confidante, if that is what you are seeking from me?”

“It is exactly what I seek.”

She rose suddenly and walked across the room. “Something to drink? A little wine?”

“A little only.”

She made a point of letting him see her pour the wine into both glasses from the same decanter. Then she carried it across the room to him, tasting it herself from her own glass before handing him his, letting him know it was safe to drink.

“I don’t think you would poison me in your own chambers,” he said, taking a substantial drink. He glanced down at the wine and nodded. “Very nice.”

She laughed softly. “You would be surprised what I would dare to do. But poisoning you is not high on that list. Something else is, however. Before I agree to work with you, we need to reach an understanding about my use of magic. You are on record as opposing its use. You wish to see all practice of it abolished. That presents a problem for someone like myself.”

“I can see that it would. But I am firm about this. Magic is unpredictable and dangerous. It is a tool of the elite. Only a few have it, and the rest of us can only look in through the window and wonder at its attractive glitter. Worse, most of it is controlled by the Druids, and the Druids are the Federation’s enemy.”

She nodded, shrugged. “I care nothing for the Druids. I dislike them as much as you do. But I cannot give up using magic simply to satisfy your obsession with furthering the use of science. We need a better approach to solving this problem.”

He watched her drink a little more wine from her glass. “Do you have a suggestion?”