Rebel Magisters Read Online Free Page B

“Because you lead the Masked Bandits and have already been funding the cause, to some extent.” Before he could say anything, I hurried to add, “I told him that robbing trains wouldn’t raise that kind of money without you taking huge risks, and you’re lying low to avoid suspicion for now. He understood, but he wanted to see if you had other ideas.”
    He stirred the teapot, poured through a strainer into two cups, added sugar, and handed one to me before taking a sip from his own cup. “You’re right, even my biggest heist ever wouldn’t have been enough to raise that kind of money. What they need are investors, but that’s difficult when their activities are counter to the interests of most of those who have money.”
    Although he’d agreed with me, I felt deflated by his pessimism. “So there’s no hope?”
    “I didn’t say that.” He rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “There have to be some people with money who are committed to—or at least interested in—the idea of revolution. It’s not just my friends and me.”
    “Do you really think so?”
    “Given the rate of taxation in the colonies, a lot of property owners might think a break with the Empire would be good for them, whether or not they also want to overthrow the class system. And there are some wealthy and influential nonmagisters who are held back by their nonmagical status. But I don’t know if they’d be open to allying with the Rebel Mechanics.”
    “I think they’ll have to,” I said after mulling it over for a moment. “The only way a revolution could succeed is if there’s one revolution, not a magister revolution and a Mechanics revolution. Defeating the Empire is so big a task, it will take all of us working together.”
    He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and looked me square in the eyes. Without his glasses blurring them, they were an intriguing mix of shades of blue, and the sight brought me back to the moment we’d first met, when he’d robbed the train I was on. I’d later recognized him by his eyes. “We need to rally the people we know are interested and get them to recruit others. It may take time to gradually grow our organization, and in the meantime, we can ask for funds even before we ask people to make public declarations.” He shook his head, smiling slightly. “I wonder if there’s a way to sound people out without risking my neck. Who might have rebel leanings, and how could we tell?”
    I took a sip of my tea, letting the sweetness restore some of the energy I’d spent using magic. “The military may be a fertile ground for recruiting. Consider the general—what does he think about being considered a lesser race by people who put so much responsibility on him?”
    “I never thought of that.”
    “That’s because you were brought up as a magister. You don’t know what it’s like for the rest of us.”
    He smiled ruefully. “I suppose I’ve been too busy thinking about how limited my options were to consider that there were those who had even fewer choices in life, regardless of their abilities.”
    “That’s why we’re doing this, isn’t it? So everyone can make the most of themselves without artificial limits.”
    He looked at me in a way that made me feel quite naked, in spite of the many layers of clothing I wore. “And how must you feel, having to hide what you are when you have so much power? It’s not just us, is it? You can’t tell your Mechanic friends, either.”
    “They’re coming to accept you—or at least your help—so perhaps one day they’ll look beyond their view that power is inevitably a corrupting force. For now, though, I’m afraid you’re right. They wouldn’t look kindly upon me if they knew I was even a half-magister.”
    “Then if I need to remember why I’m doing this, why our cause is just and important, I’ll think of you, Verity.”
    The intensity of his gaze might have burned away at least one layer of clothing if it