Violet hadn’t been pleased to admit Natasha’s offspring to the Council—in her opinion, the fewer Noxes influencing the Sphere, the better. But it was hard to deny the girl’s importance. Nadia was a serious, studious witch, and she had dedicated herself wholly and unreservedly to understanding the science of magic. When Violet had approved the AME, Dr. Diop started working closely with Nadia while Dr. Miloy focused on other MRP efforts. Soon, Dr. Diop was lobbying to have Nadia added to the Council, at least for the time being, in light of her new position.
Her work was strong, reflecting the aptitude of a witch with three times her experience. But, in addition to her unusual ability for the science of magic, Dr. Diop, Dr. Miloy, and other top members of the WHO quietly hoped that Nadia’s Executioner power could someday be of use in the organization’s attempts to imbue typic babies with magic. It was a long shot, but imagine the Shatter went on for another decade? Two? It was not unrealistic to think that one day, reaching the end of the possibilities of science, they might begin to tamper with that fatal power, to see if it was as capable of generation as it was of destruction. They wanted to treat her like the precious resource she was. Violet had resisted for some time, before ultimately calling for a vote, and the Council voted unanimously to add Nadia as a junior member. But when the girl had misstepped, in full view of Dr. Diop, her greatest advocate, Violet had been relieved to have an excuse to sideline her.
Nadia was first to enter the Hollow for today’s Council meeting, holding the door open for her mother, Natasha.
“Violet,” Natasha said as she whisked into the room. She took her seat at the long table.
Nadia bent in a shallow bow. “Regent.” She sat in the adjunct chair they’d conjured, situated just behind the table, close to the door.
Violet gave them each an empty smile. “I appreciate your punctuality.”
Natasha nodded, and the room fell into silence. Violet eyed Natasha as the remaining Councilmembers filtered in, feeling herself grow more and more bothered by Natasha’s perfectly coiffed appearance, by the stately demeanor that came so easily to her. The proud posture, neatly ironed robes, and microlocs pulled into an intricate bun, would all look affected on another person, but on Natasha it was decidedly regal. Natasha was never anything but perfectly courteous to Violet, but Violet could always detect a note of hostility tinting each of their interactions. That was one of Natasha’s most notable talents, her ability to convey so much (disgust, condescension, blame, fury) with so little. Violet, understanding her place both in the Sphere and in their relationship, typically withstood Natasha’s jabs with a degree of poise. Still, after all these years, it wasn’t easy to know that Natasha was looking down at her over the broad, imperial bridge of her nose, privately judging Violet as unworthy of the throne. Privately casting judgment on Violet for her handling of the Shatter, of the political decisions she’d made at only twenty-two.
Soon after the Noxes had seated themselves, Stella Orchid Hampton, whose ancestor created the charm that helped measure the Baseline, entered and sat. Stella had deviated from the family’s scientific tradition, growing the Hampton family influence by patronizing charm and spell development. Now she spent her time indulging her truly strange affinity for the typic world, transporting to Morocco, Sweden, Dubai, at a shocking clip, in service of the cushy UN job she’d managed to secure for herself over there. It was one of Stella’s many oddities. Young witches dreamt of the typic world the way girls in suburban Georgia dreamt of Paris, but the vast majority of witches grew bored with the typic world by the time they hit twenty-five and returned to the Sphere. Stella had somehow missed the memo.
“Regent,” she said as she approached the table, giving Violet a low, exaggerated bow. Violet nodded and Stella fell into the seat on Natasha’s left. Violet had known both Stella and Natasha since they were young, but her unceremonious ascendance to the Regency had kept her away from most of the sleek social events that had occupied their time, and Stella and Natasha had stopped dealing with her outside of Council business entirely after the Shatter. As soon as Stella settled, she and Natasha fell into quiet chatter where they sat. For a moment, Violet wished she could listen in on whatever they were discussing, not only because the entire setup transported her to training school, but also because she was curious to hear what Natasha had to say about the baby, Nina. Had it cured her decades-old bitterness? Unlikely.
One by one, the remaining members of the Council took their seats, and when all sixteen members had greeted each other and sat, she nodded to her assistant, Amos, who stepped out into the hallway and closed the heavy Hollow door behind him.
Violet started the meeting abruptly, as she always did, and Nadia had to pinch the inside of her elbow to keep herself from nodding off while listening. The many trips to New York in her off time, which she’d spent unsuccessfully stalking the streets, had completely exhausted her, and being called into an impromptu Council meeting didn’t help.
“As you know,” Violet began, her many gemstones and jewels glinting as she spoke. “The primary focus of this Council meeting is the Gathering, and the Gathering committee members will be joining us to present their plans once we’ve finished the standing agenda. In a year as unique as this, the event will certainly require extra considerations, which is why I’ve called for an off-schedule meeting. We’ll also be having a Council meeting in April, in addition to the scheduled quarterly meeting falling in May. Are there any subjects outside of the standing agenda that anyone would like to present for discussion?” The room was quiet. “Wonderful,” Violet said dryly. “We’ll begin with the SVT summary. Iris?”
Iris nodded, opening a folder before her, and the room full of witches adjusted in their seats to face her. “Yes, well, as the Regent is already aware, the disturbances that have been taking place since—”
Nadia pulled nervously at the collar of her shirt, willing Iris not to say September.
“—September have continued.”
Nadia closed her eyes.
“At almost the same pace. We’ve distributed sanctions to the offending witches—”
“How many sanctions have actually reached the witches in question?” Violet asked.
Iris turned to Nadia, who looked to her report. “At least one witch has received four total sanctions. Thirty-two sanctions total have been sent.”
The members of the Council looked at each other, raising their eyebrows.
Iris continued. “It is, of course, unusual for a witch to continue sanctionable behavior after a single sanction, let alone two or three, but until the witch has received and ignored five sanctions, we have no real recourse other than to continue sending sanctions. This is in accordance with the privacy protections outlined in the AUBs.”
Violet sat back and tapped her nails on the tabletop. She needed to strike a balance. Any action could be seen as overreach—she didn’t want a repeat of the uproar she’d inspired when she recommended tracking the whereabouts of all witches in real-time. But she was perturbed by the insolence of these witches.
“Have we cross-checked typic world news and events to gauge the impact of the behaviors?”
Iris nodded, and looked to another SVT member, Janai, who stood and read from a report she’d prepared. SVT witches were embedded in positions of power and influence in the typic world and sent daily reports to the Sphere.
“There’s nothing unusual, Regent. Nothing that suggests these witches have impacted the course of the typic world in negative, or even significant way. The news is absolutely pedestrian. All rates of crime, death, birth, wealth accumulation, political transformation, average GDP growth, are in line with existing trends.”
Violet felt a sense of relief, but it was uneasy. “Then we’ll continue to send sanctions,” she concluded. She looked to Nadia, who was averting her gaze. “And let’s draw up a mute,” she added. “See if we can draw some of these witches back to the Sphere. Nothing extreme,” she emphasized. “Just the most concerning areas.”
Nadia could feel herself starting to sweat. She’d worried about this. A mute was a way of rendering an area devoid of magic, so that a witch would find herself powerless in that area. The logic was, assuming they’d targeted an area that the wanted witch frequented often, the witch would get frustrated and return to the Sphere, requesting an audience with Regent to understand the reason for the mute and ask for it to be lifted. Nadia had been toying with the idea of a mute, trying to figure out if she could somehow direct the witches to herself instead of Violet. But no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t make that puzzle work. Even if she could intercept the witches somehow, there was no way of knowing if that was safe. She had no idea how many of them there were—judging by the sizes of the disturbances, it could be tens, even hundreds of witches she was looking for. And maybe they weren’t benevolent; maybe their showstopping acts of magic were actually acts of evil.
“Yes, Regent,” Iris said. She looked to Janai, ready to offer her the assignment, but Nadia interrupted.
“I’ll do it.” Heads swiveled to her. “I’m familiar with the important areas,” she clarified.
“That’s absolutely fine,” Violet said tersely. Ideally, the Nox wouldn’t be involved, but she was a talented witch and would undoubtedly apply the mutes well. There was a moment of quiet as Nadia turned to the notebook in her lap, writing preliminary plans. “Now, would be preferable,” Violet clarified. She would have loved to have spoken more harshly to the girl, but Natasha sitting in her line of sight reminded her not to. “And I’d like a full, detailed report on the actions taken on my desk tonight.”
Gabbie
Delali
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Maya
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Maya
Gabbie