The Nine Bishops

Mika finished her month-long contract for the library with ease. She was already eager to start another contract she had picked out, and this afternoon she was on the way to meet the issuer in northeast Monsoon. She’d spent the past month shelving books, all exactly as the contract had stated, with one exception: her shifts ran through the night.

She hadn’t slept much over those weeks. For eight hours each night, she scurried around the vast library, which contained almost a million books, along with seven other mages already working the job. It turned out the library needed as many mages for this task as it could find.

She never had time to learn her co-workers’ names. As soon as their shift was over and they were relieved, the others left the library. Mika chose to stay, spending countless hours looking for information that might help her with the mysterious rock. No one seemed to know anything about it. The librarians merely directed her to the geology wing, where she spent most of her time. But after poring through almost a hundred books, she was still no wiser. She stayed at the library until she was too exhausted to continue reading.

Additionally, Mika had begun her education on magic training since she finally had access to the books she always wished Doc brought her. She had thousands of texts to expand her knowledge on the vast capabilities of magic.

Though she got a measly four hours’ sleep most days, Mika continued to have lucid dreams in which she fought her father. Her skills had improved immensely, almost to the point that she could foresee his moves. Though their battle had turned into a kind of nightly dance, Mika would always end up making some fatal mistake and wake up just in time for her night shift.

Other than Zaya and Tink, no one had any idea that she was working a contract. She’d taken Tink into her confidence when he noted the change in her schedule, and he kept her secret, even packing meals for her so she’d have something to eat during work. Master Beng paid no mind to the strange hours at which he’d sometimes encounter her as she returned home. He would just greet her and go on with his own business.

She rarely saw any of the other guild members, either, but in her late-shift travels she saw many more Filth than before; she learned that many of them chose to move around at night, when there was less chance of accidentally bumping into mages on their way.

Visits with Zaya also became rarer, though her friend had been instrumental in helping her get the contract. Zaya sometimes randomly dropped in at the library when she was working, just to heckle her. Mika appreciated her efforts to stay in touch, though the wee hours of the night were an awful time to talk. As much as Mika enjoyed working at the library, she was glad her routine would soon look more normal. At least until she started her new contract.

As she walked toward her meeting with the second contract issuer, Mika felt a familiar anxiety in her stomach. It remained risky to be taking on a contract, especially a third-class one, and all the while passing off a forged signature as that of her guild master.

Still, Zaya’s crazy idea had worked for Mika the first time, and even before that, when she’d taken the risk of testing it on herself.

Zaya earned commissions by selling maps of areas she surveyed, but that was just a hobby and it didn’t always make her a lot of coin. Most of her earnings came from taking contracts like other guild mages, often for calligraphy and drawing blueprints. She sometimes left Monsoon for days at a time to assist builders.

Zaya had realized the only thing standing between Mika and a contract was Master Beng’s signature. As a master with a pen, Zaya needed only to see his signature to duplicate it perfectly. To see if that could work, she took on a local construction contract and copied her own master’s signature onto it.

When the SCA verified the authenticity of the signature, Zaya’s contract was approved. Satisfied her bold move had paid off, she offered to do the same thing for Mika, who was moved by her friend’s willingness to risk her own reputation and deeply grateful that she was willing to help her.

Fortunately, Mika still had the contract Master Beng had signed over to her. Zaya, who hadn’t known about the bizarre fifth-class contract, was surprised to see it. “So the rumors about crazy Master Beng are true,” she remarked with a smirk. Mika paid no mind. She already knew he was crazy, but she also knew there was more to him than met the eye.

Zaya had replicated his signature perfectly on the fourth-class library contract Mika had her eye on. When she took the signed contract to the SCA—a largely empty building that reminded her of the bank in Zanark—the council member working at the front desk took it from her without paying much attention to her fidgeting, looked briefly at what he took to be a familiar signature, and applied the incanted spray that was supposed to reveal any alterations. Somehow Mika’s contract had been verified, even after magic was involved.

At the library, the head librarian verified its authenticity and put Mika to work immediately. She was given her library membership for the year, as well, and had her hand stamped with an invisible ink that would allow her to handle books for the next year. The librarian explained that the stamp was a form of Incantation that prevented theft, and only the head librarian had access to the stamp.

Some mages decided to stay on for more than three months, after which they would get a salary and better hours. Some made the library their career, enjoying a steady income and access to many texts the average library user could not use, in a section called the Deep. Only guild masters and librarians had access.

Mika had a feeling the answers to her rock questions were in the Deep, and she had considered staying on long enough to become a librarian and go exploring the Deep for the answers.

But that would take too long. Her aspirations were higher, and she needed to solve the mystery of the rock more quickly to reach them.

She’d tried using magic on the rock, but of course every attempt made her head hurt and went nowhere. She needed to take her mind off the task for a while, so she asked Zaya to forge Master Beng’s signature on another contract that interested her.

The contract involved travel, decent pay, and a task that required no magic. These three things were all Mika wanted at the moment. She wanted to see more of Seemos. Although Monsoon still fascinated her, she had grown accustomed to the city after her two months living there. She remained curious about what other cities across the kingdom were like, but had no coin to explore what Seemos had to offer.

Most mages would have considered this an abysmal contract and looked elsewhere: two weeks’ work for only twenty-five silver. But Mika had no problem with the terms; food and travel were paid for, and at this point twenty-five silver seemed like a fortune to her.

The task was simple. The issuer, a mage, wanted another mage to oversee the authenticity of a trade. The issuer specifically stated there was no need for magical protection, since he was a capable mage. The SCA had deemed it a third-class contract just as insurance, since it was the issuer’s first time putting up a contract.

Mika thought it would look good on her record if she was able to complete a third-class contract, feeling that she was no better than a fourth-class mage at this point. The SCA officer who’d approved the contract—and its faked signature—had told her to meet the anonymous issuer at The Tapestry, a rug store in the northeast part of town, at 5 p.m.

It was already starting to get dark when she arrived. Mika, already nervous about meeting her issuer, was puzzled by a sign on the door that announced the store was closed. Mika noted the hours of the business painted on the door: It closed at five.

Odd that I was told to meet here just when it closed, she thought. She tried the door and it opened. There were still candles burning. Exotic rugs hung on all of the walls. After a moment, she noticed the owner was sweeping the floor. Without looking up, he said wearily, “We are closed, sorry.”

“I’m here for the contract.”

He looked up, quickly put away his broom, and said, “Follow me.”

Mika followed the man into a room in the back, which appeared to be his office. He closed the door.

“Let me see the contract please,” he said, anxiously.

Mika pulled it out. He scanned it quickly, then looked up.

“Tomorrow, right at dawn, you will meet me at this location.” He handed her a map of the harbor. “We will set sail south immediately to the town of Pils. The trip will take exactly seven days, where I will conduct my trade, and then we will sail back. Do you understand?”

Mika nodded. She was about to ask a question, but he cut her off.

“No need to do introductions. Just meet me there tomorrow.”

He showed Mika the door. She made no attempt to engage him further. His instructions were clear. If anything, she’d at least learned from Master Beng how to follow instructions to the letter, so she did.

Mika left without saying goodbye. She had officially started her next contract, and this one was turning out to be a lot more mysterious than she had expected.

Back at the guild, Mika told Tink that she would be leaving in the morning for two weeks. When he asked where she was going, she told him the truth. Tink wished her safe travels and promised he wouldn’t tell anyone unless she failed to return. Mika, grateful for his help, made a note to herself to give him and Zaya a portion of the reward when she returned, to thank them. She owed them at least that much.

She packed her few belongings, including the medallion and the rock, whose mystery she would have plenty of time to ponder on the journey south.

In the morning, after a restless night, Mika set off towards the harbor. If she had any idea how this contract would go, she might never have gone at all.