Page 101 of The Tribes of Magic
“We were hired to wear the suits, kidnap the Apprentices, and not ask any questions. That’s all. If you want to ID the guy, you should talk to the Polymage. Starling and I aren’t Templars, but she is.”
“Did you ever seeherface?”
“Sorry, peaches. The girl likes her privacy. She always wore a helmet or a face mask that covered everything but her eyes. She has nice eyes. Nice and brown.”
“Thanks. You’ve really narrowed it down. Let’s go search the Many Realms for a woman with brown eyes.”
Harlyn shrugged. “You have to start somewhere.”
“This isnowhere.”
“The Polymage sounded young. Somewhere between your age and your friend’s.” Harlyn indicated Conner. “That’ll narrow it down.”
“The only thing narrowing it down is the fact that she’s a Polymage. Which we already knew before we talked to you. If you can’t tell us anything new, I’m afraid the deal is off.”
“Wait!” Harlyn reached for Conner as he turned to walk away. “I know something. The Templars are the soldiers—the knights—for an organization called ‘The Order of Kings’.”
“And what do you know about The Order of Kings?”
“Not much.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Wait,” Harlyn added quickly. “The Order of Kings is a secret supernatural society. They have their fingers in a little bit of everything across the Many Realms. No, I don’t know what exactly, but I do know they’ve made a deal with your Government.”
“The Order of Kings made a deal with the Gaian Government?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the particulars of this deal?”
“Not the particulars of the deal, no, but I know the general gist of it. The Order of Kings wants Apprentices, and someone in your Government arranged for them to get them.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Someone in your Government told the Order of Kings where and when the Apprentices would be that day we burst through the wall into the conference center. And the Order of Kings hired us to go get you.”
“I thought you didn’t know who hired you,” I said.
“I don’t know which person was in charge of hiring us. I know the organization he works for.”
“You’re playing games with us.”
“No, I’m trying to survive. Information is power. I didn’t want to give up any more than I had to.”
“You’re despicable.”
Of course I’d already known that. Harlyn had kidnapped Apprentices. He’d attacked us. He was not a nice person. He was cold and opportunistic, and all he cared about was himself.
“So is that good enough for you? Do we still have a deal?” He directed the question to Conner.
“You claim someone in the Gaian Government is working with the Order of Kings, supplying them with Apprentices?” Conner asked him.
“With the information necessary to get those Apprentices, yes.”
“Apprentices have been going missing for years. Has this arrangement between the Government and the Order been going on for years?”
“From what I can gather, yes. It has.”
