I was cleared of all charges, although it took three hours until they released me. I gave my statement, and, when the mages from the rapid response team tried to pressure me, trying to make me panic, Mr. Hurston's formulaic protests and the Major's stare stopped them.
I'd been on the receiving part of that stare, and it seemed to work even on experienced battle mages. Maybe because of his rank, he impressed them despite the fact he wasn't a gendarme and thus not in their chain of command. Dark mages' informal ranking frequently prevails over the more formal rank system. That's why only the strongest mages (or non-magicals) can get to the top of power structures. No dark mage will listen to somebody weaker than them, rank or no rank.
By the time they released us, though, cabs were inexist
