The fate of the kingdom is at hand."

The Council was in session, though at the wrong time of day and minus one member. Siles picked at a splinter in the table, searching for the right words. He knew his answer, but the way he presented it could determine how much trouble he encountered in the future.

"I don't kill without reason." That was a lie. He had killed many innocent people at the Queen's request. But he had been required to follow her commands; he held no such contract with the Councilmembers.

"But there is a reason!" Anna slammed her frail fists against the table. "I mean, he can control minds. If you put that kind of person in power, there is no democracy! He'll just force us to agree with everything."

Siles doubted August would do such a thing, given his desperate friendliness at the dinner. But he hoped he would. Siles had never seen mind control in action before.

"All of you know that August is bound by contract not to use his powers against other magicians except in self-defense."

"Nobody has even seen that contract. How do we know it exists?" Anna's voice squeaked with old age and incredulity.

"The fact that you have the freedom of thought to question its existence should be proof enough," Siles responded. It was a believable enough argument that, for the first time, he began to worry that August wouldn't become the next King.

"But how do we know that he isn't biding his time? Or worse, that he's already controlling our minds and leaves us with just enough sentience to think we're in control?"

"How do you know that he didn't make you ask me to assassinate him, allowing him to fake his death and control everyone from behind the scenes so that you're especially oblivious and susceptible to his powers?" Siles paused, then laughed at their horrified expressions. Their minds were tangled in the kind of panicked frenzy that made them especially easy to mess with. "I can tell you, from an unaltered perspective, that August has never modified any of your thoughts. If you don't want him to be King, don't vote for him. It's that simple."

Finally, another member of the Council spoke. Don was almost as young as August, young enough to notice things that the others didn't. "You want him to be king, don't you? The Queen bored you, so now you want someone fun to play with. Are our lives a game to you?"

It was ironic, since the Council spent their days playing games with the lives of the commoners. Don wasn't wrong, though. Siles genuinely found August more interesting than the rest of them. He leaned forward, watching Don through the tinted glass that covered the eyes of his mask. He let the silence sit. Sweat traced Don's face.

Siles finally spoke, "I don't play games. I do my job. And my job is to protect the throne. If August becomes king, I will protect him. If he doesn't, I won't. Until then, I'm on vacation. Is that understood?"

Don swallowed and nodded. His peers had suddenly become fascinated by their surroundings, their eyes looking at anything but Siles. He took his cue to leave, kicking the door shut behind him. He had to talk to August.

~

August said, after a long stretch of silence. He was more devastated by the news than Siles had expected.

Siles nodded. "But you can change his mind."

August shook his head. "It's not the same."

Siles leaned against August's wardrobe, trying not to show his discomfort at the odd intimacy of meeting in his rooms. "So... is the contract real?"

"What contract?"

"You know... the one that prevents you from controlling people."

August shook his head. "No. I was required to sign it as soon as my instructors realized what I could do, but I just made the contract witness think I signed it."

Siles breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

August looked up at him from his perch on the edge of the bed. "You're happy about that?"

"You can't become king without it."

August's forlorn expression crept into a smile. "So you actually want me to be king?"

Siles found himself reflecting fondly upon the night when August had been too drunk to be an ass. "You're more entertaining than the others."

"So I'm just a dancing monkey." Siles was prepared to retract his statement, but then he spotted August's smirk.

"More like a trained rat."

"How sweet." The smirk had spread into a grin. He said something else, afterwards, but Siles' attention had refocused elsewhere. The tap of several sets of feet against stone made its way through the door, which was normal enough with the coming and going servants. Except that these were quiet and slow; the footsteps of predator hunting prey.

August had stopped talking – he had probably asked something. Siles held a finger to his mask and withdrew a knife from his robes, moving closer to August. They waited in silence, as did the uninvited visitors just behind the door. The waiting was his least favorite part.

The lock clicked and the door swung open, revealing an empty hallway. Telekinesis. Siles was going to enjoy this fight. Three members of the Council sprung into the room, Anna first, of course, with Don and Jessa close behind. Their powers rushed through the room like a whirlwind, with Siles and August at the eye of the storm. But the eye of the storm was calm, especially where Siles stood. The chaos stuttered when they realized August wasn't alone, shocking them enough for Siles to easily apprehend them. They were facedown on the floor within seconds, their hands tied with metal wire.

Then Siles glanced back at August. The magician had done nothing to protect himself. He still sat on the bed, his eyes trailing along the Councilmembers' crumpled forms as if he couldn't believe they were there. "Why?" the word croaked out. Nobody responded, so he drew a breath. This time the snake-like hiss of mind control accompanied his words. "Why did you do this?"

Their responses spurted out, forced into the air from their unwilling throats:

"We don't want you to control our minds."

"I hate you."

"The kingdom would be better if I were queen."

When Anna spoke, her companions started in surprise. Her power mongering had been obvious to Siles, but the others had apparently lived in denial. Admittedly, Don and Jess had both joined the Council too recently to have seen Anna at her prime. He doubted they had even considered her a candidate for the throne. She scowled at their stares, turning her glare to Siles.

"You weren't supposed to be here. You said you were on vacation."

Siles reached for a response but found none. He felt like he had been caught cheating on a test. But he had no reason to be guilty. There was nothing wrong with discussing political matters with the future king.

August didn't notice his hesitation. "Friends watch each other's backs even when they're off duty." He smirked at their baffled expressions, then the hissing voice returned. "You will go to the prison cells, and tell the guards that you have committed treason against a fellow Councilmember. When they ask you to sign forms confirming your imprisonment, you will do it. You will not try to escape, or to indoctrinate others with your views of my legitimacy as a candidate for the throne."

Slowly, their limbs dragging like the undead creatures of lore, the treasonous trio left the room. They had watched their own movements with horror, at last granting Siles with a show of August's true power. It was fascinating, in an unsettling way.

"You think I'm creepy, don't you." August's forlorn expression had returned, his confidence having vanished as soon as the former Councilmembers had left the room.

Siles considered the statement. He found August's powers unnerving, that much was undeniable, but the person himself was another matter. "No. You're fine. But I think you should learn to react a little more quickly if you continue to be this unpopular. I don't work night shifts."

They both glanced at the window at that, the stars shining clearly through the pane. It had been night for a while now. Siles felt uncomfortable once again. He was off duty and on vacation. He wasn't supposed to be in the future king's bedroom.

He cleared his throat. "I'll see you tomorrow." If August survived the night. Siles was tempted to sleep on the couch in his room, just to guarantee that the slow-reacting magician didn't die at the hand of some other intruder, but he couldn't make himself do it. Every second he spent in the room made him feel more uncomfortable, more out of place.

"See you tomorrow," August said.