Rich Boy: Growing Pains - 14. Chapter 14

What would mages in the future tell their students about Worthington Michael Sinclair the Fifth? Would he be a hero who preserved the mage community from disaster, or a traitor that nearly destroyed it altogether? Then again, would they even remember him when this was all done?

"Mr. Smythe says all the legal documents are in order." Brandon's voice came from behind him, and Worthington paid it little attention at the moment. He was standing on the balcony of his fifth-floor rooms in the Clairville castle, looking out past the dwarven-built main gate. He had not been surprised that in the week since he had that fateful discussion with the government mage, Marcus de la Plane that they had completed the double-sized helicopter landing pad on the other side of the gate.

"Have you heard from Dechaun?" Worthington asked, referring to the young mundane camper that he had become fond of during his time at the summer camp. When they'd last seen him, on the last day of the camp, he'd been clutching a check worth several thousand dollars and promising he would be investing the money he had earned.

"Yes, he's cashed the check and actually contacted your financial people for help in investing most of the money." Brandon laughed. "He sent an e-mail to Colin yesterday too."

"That's good." Worthington sighed as the second black helicopter landed. From this angle he couldn't see the men getting out, but they'd be driven up here soon enough and it was time to make good on his part of the bargain with the government. "The others are already here, right?"

"Yes, Elizabeth and Stacy have been shown their rooms." Brandon said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "Jamie is with them now, showing them around the castle. Richie is here as well as the other Healer that has agreed to go along."

"Has there been any response from the other Adepts or Byron Jones?" Worthington asked, and he added as an afterthought. "Or the Light Adepts we had Stacy notify?"

"Al-Hasid has replied," Brandon said with a sigh that made Worthington brace for the bad news. The sun was warm this far into the afternoon, and he wished he was wearing shorts and a tank top instead of the dwarf-made, long-sleeved gray shirt and the leather pants.

"And?" Worthington asked when Brandon didn't continue.

"He says and I quote ‘What mages do with terrorists is no concern of mine, or yours.' end quote," Brandon answered.

"Figures." Worthington sighed. Why were all the Adepts in the world so hidebound that they could not see what was happening around them? The world was far more dangerous, could do more to them than they imagined, but every time he contacted them all they wanted to do was stick their head in the sand.

"Byron Jones also replied." Brandon sighed again but this time he didn't wait to continue or make Worthington ask. "He will come in two months. He'll be bringing several senior mages that he knows as well, including one Adept."

"That's some good news at least." Worthington let out a breath of relief as the vehicles entered the gate. He turned around and smiled at Brandon, who was wearing dark slacks and a green dress shirt.

"Yes." Brandon agreed. "Do you really think the government people will keep their word?"

"They've put it in writing." Worthington shrugged. "That's the best we can do at this point."

"I just hope we're doing the right thing," Brandon said sadly.

"So do I." Worthington agreed. "Everything is prepared, right?"

"Yes." Brandon agreed. "The Main Hall is all set up with a conference table and refreshments. Governor Lokar arrived, and Prince Kelvren is here with two of his elves. Stacy and Elizabeth are both here representing the Mage's Council, and they'll meet us there."

"We might as well head down there then." Worthington sighed again, heading towards the hallway. Rob was standing at his post near the top of the stairs and smiled when he saw Worthington approaching. The square-jawed blond had changed in the last few weeks, growing broader in the shoulders, and losing some of the body fat he'd accumulated over the winter and spring. Today he was wearing olive green cargo pants, and a silver-colored silk shirt that gleamed in the imitation candlelight. His hair was longer now, curling slightly at the back of his neck and his face was actually free of any acne that had once marred it.

"Hello Rob." Worthington smiled at the guy as he passed him, and Rob fell into his typical place behind Worthington and Brandon. He'd been upset when he learned that he'd missed out on some fighting by not attending the camp, but the two weeks had produced some amazing changes in him, changes Worthington attributed to the fact that Rob now had a lover, a half-elf that had moved into Clairville while Worthington had been at the camp. "How's Jhanal?"

"He's fine, as always." Rob said as they went down the stairs. Even though Rob was behind him, Worthington could almost see the smile on his face. He'd sooner have believed that he'd be kissing a demon's hand before Rob would have changed as much as he had in two weeks. It was like he was almost a lovesick puppy, and his half-elven lover was determined to smooth off all of Rob's rough edges. "He says his shop will be ready to open in a few weeks, and he's liking the house the dwarves built for him."

"That's good." Worthington smiled to himself as they continued down to the first floor and the Main Hall. The dwarves and elves had been as nervous as he was when the negotiations with the government mage had taken place over the last few days of the summer camp. De la Plane had stayed for three more days as they worked out tentative agreements, and while the man had been frantic to take care of his business in rebuilding his shattered organization, he had also been determined to reach a deal for Worthington's assistance.

When Worthington had spoken with Kelvren, and the dwarves had arrived under Governor Lokar himself, the government mage had found himself in three-way negotiations with two races of non-humans that were offering sorely needed help in fighting demons, but demanding recognition of their people as independent nations within the borders of the United States.

For his part, Worthington had found himself in the role of intermediary between the two sides. When Governor Lokar had pulled a laptop out of his backpack and connected to the Internet via a satellite link, the government man had nearly fainted from shock. The sight of Kelvren twisting one of his pointed ears while talking on a cell phone held against his other pointed ear had made the man ask for a break.

Worthington had felt sorry for the older man at that point and actually admitted to him that Worthington had felt similar shocks the first time he'd run across dwarves.

It didn't help that de la Plane's superiors back in Washington didn't quite believe what he was reporting to them. That was the reason for today's meeting. Well, one of the reasons for it. One of the senior mundanes from Homeland Security was coming today to see things for himself, or herself since it was a woman. Once she'd seen the dwarves and elves, and talked to them, she would sign the agreements for the government and they would be able to get down to business.

"Good, you're here." Sapha, the dwarf Mistress of the House said as they entered the Main Hall. The room looked almost festive with the bunting around the walls in green, blue, and gray, and the white tablecloth over the conference table in the middle of the room. Governor Lokar and Prince Kelvren, as well as Princess Olara were standing nearby, talking to each other in low voices. "They should be entering the house any minute now. You need to stand over here, so you can introduce everyone after Baga announces the guests."

"Yes, Housemistress." Worthington said with a smile for the dwarf woman. She gave him an exasperated look and bustled him over to where she wanted him to stand. Like all the ‘staff' at his house, she wore a gray and silver outfit that had a single gold flame over her left breast. How they had arrived at that sigil, he had no idea, but he was smart enough to not argue over what they considered to be his ‘family sigil'.

"My Lord Governor, Royal Highnesses of the Elven Court, I present to you Assistant Director Wilma F. Huntington of the United States Department of Homeland Security. With her is the Honorable Marcus de la Plane, Acting Director of the Department of Paranormal Investigation and Regulation and their escort."

"Welcome to Clairville, ma'am." Worthington said as a short, thin woman entered followed by Marcus de la Plane, four men in business suits, and sixteen unarmed soldiers in field uniforms. Wilma F. Huntington had black hair, cut short in a modern style that was just beginning to show streaks of silver. She was wearing a dark business suit with a skirt and dark hose. Her pale face was unwrinkled despite being closer to fifty than forty, and she looked every bit the well-prepared professional Worthington expected.

The file he'd read on her said she'd been a career prosecutor, rising to the ranks of US Attorney before going to work for the Department of Homeland Security. She had a reputation as a determined professional, approaching everything doggedly but fairly, and brooking little nonsense from her staff or those she dealt with on a regular basis. Over the years, unlike many others in similar situations, she had turned down lucrative offers of private employment to stay in government service.

"You are the young man for whom Mr. De la Plane has placed his reputation on the line in this matter," She said with a nod towards Worthington, but her eyes were slightly wide as she looked around, and as she examined the elves and dwarves that were watching her calmly.

"How is his reputation holding up so far?" Worthington asked her with a polite smile on his face.

"On the way here, I looked at satellite photos and aerial photos of this area." She said in a tone that held a hint of disbelief. "When the helicopter landed, I saw the same thing the photos showed. This was just another dirty, abandoned mine with contaminated soil all around, placed in the middle of a national forest. The photos even showed the helipads that weren't there a week ago. When we landed and drove inside though, everything changed. If everything I see here is half as impressive, Mr. De la Plane's reputation is perfectly safe, as are the agreements he negotiated."

"Then let me introduce you to the non-human representatives." Worthington said politely, and she walked with him towards the waiting dwarves and elves. "Mrs. Huntington, may I present to you His Excellency Governor Lokar, personal representative of King Odras?"

"Governor," She said with a polite nod of her head. The governor gave her a formal bow and smiled with bright teeth.

"My King sends his felicitations to the human government of this land," Lokar said in a bass voice that rumbled quite impressively. "It has been too long since the dwarves had official relations with humans. The last time was before you white people came west seeking gold and riches. Alas we were too few to help the redskins in their fight, and missed them sorely when they were marched from their homes and died in great numbers."

"You had dealings with the Native American tribes?" She asked with a surprised voice that trembled just a slight bit.

"Aye, but they were often quite tricksome." The dwarf rumbled.

"I hear the same could be said of your people, Governor." She retorted and the dwarf laughed.

"You've been listening to young Worthington here." Lokar told her. "He would have you believe that if you were not careful in the bargaining we would take your shirt."

"But you wouldn't?" She asked.

"No, not with a lovely lady such as yourself." The dwarf smiled. "Your jacket will do just fine."

"I see." She smiled and turned to look at Worthington with a nod.

"May I also introduce to you his Highness, Prince Kelvren, and Her Highness Princess Olara?" Worthington's voice was polite, and he left out the fact that they were of two different courts. That was at the request of the elves.

"It is an honor to meet you." She said with a slight smile. "I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a Lord of the Rings movie."

"Orlando Bloom would have made a fine elf." Kelvren had what could almost be described as a leer on his face.

"He was too pretty, if you ask me," Olara said in a laughing tone. "Still, I would say Tolkein is one of the few human writers to do us true justice, even if his mythology was quite inaccurate."

"Still, it was much better than some of the contemporary writers," Kelvren retorted.

"You will have to forgive them," Worthington said with a slight smile on his face. "If you let them, they will spend the next century talking about contemporary elven folklore and when they turn around and find your bones are already dust they'll be quite offended you had the discourtesy to grow old and die before they finished their train of thought."

"You be nice, you young whelp." Kelvren laughed gaily. "You are barely old enough to be out of diapers."

"Would that not make you a cradle robber?" Olara asked Kelvren and the two of them laughed while Worthington tried not to blush at the look Huntington gave him. Why did the elves take such joy in talking about his sex life at meetings like this?

"Pardon me?" Huntington asked with a very polite cough as she studiously ignored Worthington's blushing.

"Ah yes, he does blush quite prettily, as does his brother," Olara said with a little giggle.

"Elves have a different sense of decorum, and proper topics of discussion," Worthington said with a glare for the both of them. Neither of them looked particularly troubled by his expression.

"You humans take your lives far too seriously," Kelvren said with a sigh. "Life without fun and happy times would be quite boring."

"Not all of us have millennia to be bored," Worthington said a little more caustically than he intended.

"Millenia?" Huntington asked in a suddenly hoarse voice.

"He exaggerates." Kelvren said with a frown. "I am not that old, yet."

"You're barely out of diapers yourself, Kelvren." Olara teased her Dark counterpart.

"How long does an elf live?" Huntington asked. "Are you truly immortal?"

"All things die in their own time." Kelvren said stoically. "For our kind that time comes infrequently compared to you humans who are born, grow old and die in the blink of an eye. Once you lived longer, but that time was long ago, even by our standards. But then, you lost that because of the Curse."

"Curse?" The government representative asked, but neither elf answered.

"Legend says that humans were once graced with long lives," Worthington answered her with a frown. He hadn't known this actually until Sapha had told him the story. "I believe there are characters in the Christian and Jewish holy books that speak of humans living for nearly a thousand years."

"Methusaleh," Huntington said and gave Worthington a sharp look. "For most Americans, they are more than characters in a book."

"You humans always come up with such amazing stories to explain away your origins," Olara sniffed with disdain, and then gave Worthington a glare before the two elves walked a few feet away.

"What is wrong?" Huntington asked.

"The elves don't like to be reminded of this story," Governor Lokar said in a low voice.

"Why not?" She asked.

"You humans and your questions," Lokar snorted. "While we wait for your brother, Adept, you should tell the rest of the story and then you can apologize to the elves."

"I dislike diplomacy." Huntington admitted in a low voice as the dwarf walked away, leaving them alone. "I feel like I've just made a big mistake, offended the wrong people and not really understood what I've done."

"It happens." Worthington shrugged it off. "I made a similar mistake and my Housemistress had to tell me what I'd done wrong. Kelvren did not talk to me for two days afterwards. Luckily the elves do not hold grudges for too long, if you apologize, although I guess you could say they have held this grudge for nearly seven thousand years and it still pisses them off when they think about it, even though it was several of their generations ago and no elf now alive was alive then."

"Seven thousand years?" Huntington shook her head. "What happened?"

"According to the dwarves, humans lived a long life, ten times or more than what we live now." Worthington explained. "In those early days, the elves lived in a great valley that stretched for hundreds and hundreds of miles. The walls of the valley were steep, keeping the elves largely protected from the other races until human miners breached the southern wall.

"At first, trade flourished between the humans and the elves, until a human warlord rose in the far south and east. The human settlements closest to the Valleys of the Elves were overwhelmed by refugees and appealed to the elves for assistance. In their capital city of Adalanteen, they debated for nearly a century before admitting humans into the cities of Paradelanteen and Stalasalanteen."

"Okay." She said. "So what happened?"

"The human warlord was eventually stopped when he reached the series of villages and towns that had been trading with the elves." Worthington answered. "The humans that had been trading with the elves had benefited from better metals, forging, and other technologies the elves had given them. Together they were able to fight off the warlord's armies, even killing him in a key battle. After the warlord's defeat, humans and elves continued to live together. Eventually humans settled in nearly every part of the Valley of the Elves."

"Then why don't the elves like to talk about that time?" Huntington asked. "Why are there no historical records of this?"

"Eventually another human warlord rose up, and this time he was able to conquer the border villages near the domain of the elves." Worthington answered her question, which was very close to the one he had asked when hearing this story. "As he consolidated his new territories, he realized he had a hold over the humans living in elvish lands, since many of their relatives lived in those border towns, and also, he learned of other thing that he used against the humans living with the elves. In secret, he arranged meetings with humans who lived in the elven domain.

"The human elders of the villages met with representatives of the human warlord, who promised them great riches if they would help him against the elves," Worthington continued the story as he'd heard it from Sapha. "The dwarves say that while they weren't oppressed, the humans felt held back by the elves. They were answerable to elven law, and any trade they conducted had to be approved by the elven monarchs. Also, they were required to pay a higher tax than the elven merchants. For those reasons, as well as the unspoken threats to their families now under his rule, they assisted the human warlord, showing him secret ways into the elven domain.

"The warlord killed all of the elves in the cities he took, and he proved his treachery by putting the humans in those lands to the sword along with the elves. The last elven city to fall was Adalanteen, their greatest city. Adalanteen could have held against the warlord's army because humans had no magic at the time and the elves were masters of magic, but again the humans who took shelter in their valley betrayed them."

"Somehow that is not surprising." Huntington shook her head.

"No, it isn't." Worthington agreed. "The humans took the elven children, all the children of the city who had not reached the elven version of puberty and delivered them to the warlord. The warlord demanded the Elves surrender or he would kill the children. The Queen cursed humans at that point, and her curse cut short the lives of humans to what they are now."

"What happened to the city of Adalanteen?" Huntington asked as she looked at the two elves that were purposely not looking in their direction.

"The Queen Jhebralta and every elf in the city surrendered." Worthington said quietly. "For five days the human warlord and his men slaughtered all the elves of that city, save for the Queen and the children. They made the Queen and the children watch as they murdered all the other elves.

"The humans who had betrayed the elves watched with growing horror, and they knew in their hearts that nothing the elves had done deserved the treatment the elves were receiving. Some remembered the kindness of the elves, who had taught them the working of metals, or farming. Stealing arms from the drunken men of the warlord, they went to the Queen begging her forgiveness.

"She set them a task to earn her forgiveness. Her Curse she could not undo, but she promised them that if they freed the children, and protected them until they were grown, she would give the humans that freed them a boon. They sought to convince her to go with them, but she refused, saying that her death was necessary. The humans left her and overpowered the men guarding the elven children who were to be slaughtered the next day. Then they fled west with the children, running day and night until the Great Sea Wall that held the Western Sea out of the Valley. From there they ran through secret passages until they reached the surface, and reached the safety of lands held by the dwarves. There King Loran gave them shelter.

"When the warlord who had chased them arrived at the halls of the dwarves, he was thrown back. His army was driven back along the Sea Wall, where they found themselves trapped by a dwarven army to the South as well as the North. King Loran had sent a third of his forces to the south, through the secret passages of the Sea Wall and used them to trap the human warlord.

"Realizing he faced defeat, the warlord fell on Queen Jhebralta, ripping her heart out of her chest. For her part, the Queen did not resist, even though she could have used her magic to rip him apart. Instead she used her death as a sacrifice, to release her magic, and her knowledge, to those humans that guarded the children of the elves. As she died, her power tore through the Sea Wall, and the dwarves fell back, north and south, to safety but the warlord's army was destroyed by the collapse.

"The Western Sea, what we now call the Atlantic Ocean, rushed in through the collapsed sections of the wall, burying Adalanteen and all the other elvish cities under what we now call the Mediterranean Sea. The human warlord lived out the rest of his life on the single piece of rock that survived the collapse of the wall, and never posed a threat to another living being again. The humans that had helped the elvish children escape found themselves filled with magic from the Queen, and a basic understanding of how to use it, and teach it to the elvish children. She did this, because she feared what the knowledge would do to the immature minds of the chidren, and thus was created the first human mages."

"An interesting story," Huntington said after a long moment of silence. "I take it this is supposed to be where the legend of Atlantis came from, and Gibraltar is a derivative of the elf Queen's name? Do you think it is true?"

"I've never heard it until a dwarf told me the story," Worthington said. "Dwarves are crafty folk, always looking for an advantage, but I have yet to catch one in a lie. The story has the feel of fable, or legend maybe, and there is no human record of the event. Then again, there wouldn't be since the time of the Demon Wars."

"Why is that?" She asked him.

"Mages burned all the books on magic, or the history of magic after the Demon Wars, so that the art of summoning would not be rediscovered." Worthington shrugged. "As you know, it didn't work, but it has made it more difficult for the correct formula to summon demons to be discovered. I think we mages gave up too much other history though. It is said that demons were only part of what was destroyed in those books. Once many mages practiced things like necromancy, or summoning of spirits and elementals from the other planes, but those practices are largely proscribed now, and lost without the books that taught the magic. Any who try to learn such practices are hunted down and killed as soon as they are found."

"Why?" Huntington asked him seriously.

"Demons are not the only evil thing that can be summoned, ma'am," Worthington said with a shrug. "They're just one of the easiest, and most powerful."

"I see," She said and frowned at him. "I suppose we should go apologize to the elves and get this meeting moving forward. Were we not supposed to be joined by some others?"

"They should be here shortly," Worthington said, wondering where his brother and the others were. The government representative did follow him to the elves, though and it was she who spoke first, not Worthington.

"I am sorry for any offense my words may have caused," She told them. "It seems that in addition to not knowing much of magic, we have lost much of our own history over the long years."

"Offense given in ignorance is not truly offense," Olara said with a polite bow of her head. "Tell me, have you met Worthington's brother yet?"

"No, I have not…" Huntington said as the same dwarf as before interrupted them from the entry to the Main Hall.

"Lord and Ladies, honored guests, I have the honor to introduce Adept Jameson Bradwell, the Honorable Mage Elizabeth Bradwell-Simons, and the Honorable Mage Stacy Simons, representatives of the Mage's Council for the Valley of the Sun and in their company is Richard Simons, Mage and Healer."

"Finally," Worthington muttered as he turned to see his brother entering the hall, looking quite fine in a pair of light brown leather pants, black boots, and a light gray shirt that matched his own skin-tight dark gray. Elizabeth was wearing a cream-colored business suit with a long skirt, and Stacy was wearing slacks as well as a light blue blouse. Richie was actually dressed in a pin-stripe business suit, the most formal attire Worthington had ever seen him wear, even for Jeremy's funeral.

"Oh my, they do look a lot alike," Huntington said in an aside to Olara, but her eyes were watching Worthington, looking for a response. He nodded at her briefly before preparing to introduce her to his relatives.

"Now that we are all here, why don't we get started?" Worthington asked when the introductions were done, and he led the way to the table. On his right side sat Jamie, followed by Elizabeth and Stacy, then Richie, Brandon, and Rob. On his other side sat Governor Lokar and the two elves, followed by several of the senior dwarven advisors to Lokar.

Huntington sat across from them, with the mage Marcus de la Plane on her right, and the men in business suits arranged on her left. The soldiers that had come with them stood several feet behind their chairs, watching everyone with wary eyes. Worthington recognized several of them as being from the mercenaries outside the summer camp, including the one he had captures, Jeremiah Francis.

"On behalf of the United States government, I would like to thank all of you for agreeing to this meeting, and initial discussion," Huntington said in a cadenced tone once they were all seated and had stared at one another for a few minutes. "I will be honest with you, the very idea of what you call magic makes my skin crawl. When I first heard of the Department of Paranormal Investigation and Regulation, I thought it was a joke. Its Director, Benjamin, arranged to have a demonstration for me that kept me awake two days straight.

"For the past five years I have been directly responsible for oversight of Benjamin's Department and the work they perform. In those five years, it has nearly doubled in size, and the number of psionics, the term we are familiar with using for those who possess your abilities, that the teams have found has nearly tripled. When we first started hearing about a supposed community of ‘mages' we thought it was wild, fanciful stories, but we have learned that it is indeed true.

"The fact is that the government of the United States believed the existence of psionics to be a new thing. We intended to keep it quiet as we studied this new phenomenon and determined its capabilities as well as its limitations. Then we would be better able to chart a correct response to those with these new abilities."

"Now you know magic has existed for millennia, and that there are more than humans who walk this earth and are what you call sentient," Lokar rumbled.

"Yes," She agreed with a somber nod of her head. "Frankly we are still not sure what to make of these revelations."

"Which is why such information has been kept from general knowledge," Stacy said sharply. "And is why it should continue to be kept from general knowledge."

"On that you have not only my agreement, but that of everyone in government levels above me who know about you," Huntington actually shuddered as she spoke. "The fact is though, that you exist, and you have abilities far beyond those of most people. Those abilities can be dangerous."

"But we have ways of teaching our young people and are best equipped to deal with those dangers," Elizabeth said in a reasonable tone. "It will do you no harm to be made to forget all about this. We will absorb those you have working for you into our communities, teach them our traditions, and you will not have to worry about the general public ever finding out."

"If you are so capable, why are there dozens and dozens of so-called mages that you have never identified or found?" de la Plane asked calmly.

"You can't blame them, lad," Lokar rumbled.

"Why not, if they're supposed to know all this culture and history of the magic world?" de la Plane asked in a voice that held more bitterness than Worthington had expected to hear. "Why was I, and men like Benjamin and the others allowed to grow up without knowing about magic?"

"You humans are so short-lived that you forget history and the cycles of magic," Olara said in a sad voice. "After the time you call the Demon Wars, when we fled the Old World for this place, you forgot even more with your history books destroyed. Magic runs in cycles, and the centuries after the Demon Wars were a time of low tide in the magical forces of this world. Even the elves and dwarves, the most powerful of the magical races faded for a time. Now though, the tide is returning. The halls of the dwarves team with life, and we elves who bear maybe a single child, or at the most two in our periods of fertility now find ourselves bearing three or four each period. Even liaisons with humans are producing children when once it required great magic from both partners to create a child of mixed race."

"It is only natural that in this period that more humans are born with the gift than before," Lokar continued. "Mage lines where the gift grew so weak as to be nonexistent spring back up, and mages like young Master Sinclair sow their seed in mundane women. In ages past, such offspring might never bear the gift of magic, but now most will, or the descendents of such children will find the gift appearing in them."

"You, and many of the other mages you have in your program probably come from such lineage," Stacy said gently. "Until Worthington informed us of all this, the truth was we didn't know. We knew more children were being born in mage families, and that there was an increase in the power of the children of this generation, but we have lost touch with races like elves and dwarves over the years. Now though, we know and we can figure out ways to find every person born with the ability and find ways to train them."

"The people in your government program should be commended for their work in figuring out some of how magic works," Elizabeth continued. "But, they are no longer needed, and neither mundane nor mage are served by it continuing to exist. Mages will deal with mages as we have for generations. Government involvement is not necessary, or advisable. Look at your own reaction to knowledge of our existence. You seem to be a very reasonable person, willing to think things through and look at all sides of an issue. What happens though when those in charge of government are differently minded? What if all they see is the danger of the mage community and then decide we should either be tools for their use or not allowed to live?"

"This is the United States, not some third-world country," Huntington said sharply as she leaned forward ever so slightly. "The fact is that you have operated as laws unto yourselves, but those days are past. We are a nation of laws, where the law applies equally to everyone. I believe you are an attorney, are you not?"

"Yes." Elizabeth answered warily.

"Is not that principle a foundation of this country's laws?" Huntington pressed.

"Yes," Worthington's Aunt answered, already hanging her head. "I see your point, but how can you apply the law equally to all without revealing to all the existence of magic? To make performing certain types of magic on people illegal, you will have to have elected representatives vote on such laws, which mean the knowledge of mages and magic will become public."

"Existing laws can cover many crimes of magic," Huntington said. "For instance, whether you do it through magic or other means, interfering with a police officer is still obstruction of justice, is it not?"

"True," Elizabeth frowned.

"Forcing someone to have sex with you through the use of magic would be rape, would it not?" Huntington continued. "Is there any difference when the force is with a gun or magic?"

"But we treat certain crimes differently depending on the method used," Elizabeth countered. "Further, there are times when using magic to force a person against their will might be justified. Would the government agree that by and large, the existence of magic, magical races, and human mages should not become general knowledge?"

"The government would agree to that stipulation." Huntington agreed cautiously. Worthington sat back in his chair to watch the verbal sparring match that was taking shape now.

"Then a mage adjusting the memories of a mundane that had discovered magic would not necessarily be a crime," Elizabeth continued. "Yet the mage would be inflicting force upon the person, something most laws would consider a crime."

"There will need to be much discussion and thought about how to approach such situations, and where such application of magical abilities would be appropriate." Huntington admitted. "Now that we know there is a far larger world of magic out there than previously suspected, the government acknowledges that our current approach to the situation is not adequate. However, not attempting to find some way to protect our citizens from the misuse of magic is unacceptable. Mages are not above the law, and neither are dwarves or elves for that matter."

"How does the government expect to deal with us?" Kelvren asked calmly.

"That depends," She answered with a shrug. "Mages born here, in this country are citizens of this country with all the rights of other citizens, but that does not give them the right to walk all over their fellow citizens out of fear of what they might do. As for the other magical races, we have no firm decision at this time. However, we might be willing to consider an approach similar to that of the rights of Native Americans."

"You mean limited sovereignty with the guarantees of American citizenship?" Lokar asked sharply, leaning forward in his chair. "You are serious?"

"We are." Huntington assured him.

"What of mages?" Stacy asked.

"The government stands open to suggestion," Huntington replied. "Mr. Sinclair has made several suggestions already, and we stand ready to begin studying such a concept."

"The Mage's Council has also reviewed his proposal, and we have a few minor modifications we would like to be considered," Elizabeth said with a short nod of her head to the woman. Worthington let a smile show on his face. The posturing was over with, and now the real negotiations were begun.

Maybe, just maybe, the teachers of magical history might have some nice things to say about him after all.