Irenya clamped her arms across her chest. ‘There’s no need to shout at me. Frankly, I can’t see any problem with having a female MageGate.’
Leachim stopped pacing the lawn. ‘I am not shouting,’ he said in a voice smoothed to politeness. ‘I am unconcerned about a female MageGate; it is the of ordinary mind that worries me. Can you not see how this turns all our beliefs upside down? It would allow bribery. Corruption. We have always believed that Meia protected us from these abominations by bestowing the MageGate Gift on a boy of innocent mind, one who cares nothing for money and power.’
Aeryl, who had been yanking dead blooms off a shrub, faced them. ‘What you are suggesting, Irenya, shreds the trust in our system.’
‘I’m not suggesting anything. I don’t make the decisions here.’ She star
