Felis was genuinely shocked this time. "Prout? What could he possibly do?"
"You realize you're talking about a Seventh-Circle Mage, right?" Russell asked with interest. "You never used to be so contemptuous of authority."
"Authority, my ass!" Felis declared emphatically. "He's an idiot!
"I can't see how he could possibly gain anything from this!
"Kament Tower has ten thousand reasons not to let him drag them into this, and then they could just kick him out to be... huh?
"Don't tell me you suspect their Tower Master had nothing to do with this?"
"What happened to you... even the biggest idiot in Black Mystery Tower wouldn't believe Rolando's wife wanted to hurt you." Russell shook his head. "The whole thing was too sloppy, and Prout's people showed up far too openly.
"Of course, at the time, I thought Kament Tower might have some other objective... after all, someone like Prout could be discarded without a second thought.
"Nicholson's side had already suffered considerable losses, and Tower Master Rute's side generally didn't reach down into the middle and lower ranks. A fellow like Prout wasn't worth cherishing in any faction.
"I don't know much about the affairs within Black Mystery Tower, but I do understand one thing... even if those two Tower Masters each had their own agendas, if Kament Tower's schemes were that easy to see through, the current factional struggle would never have developed.
"Having backing wouldn't change that.
"Even the strongest support can't save someone determined to get himself killed."
Felis asked in confusion, "So?"
"But while Prout is a bit of an idiot, he isn't stupid enough not to understand his own predicament." Russell tapped the huge block of ice in front of him again. "At a time like this, with that brain of his, his first