“Not at all, no,” Randolph said. “It’s a power grab. Most of the country’s leading arcanists died in the War; those who remain are young, old, or cowards. Whitehall saw an extraordinary opportunity to seize control of an area that has hitherto eluded government grasp. That is beneficial to them, and appealing to people who are frightened of hard truths. The Shadow Ministry offers us all a structure on which to rely and an authority in whom to place one’s faith. Unfortunately, doing so rather depends on not acknowledging that these are the blundering fools who caused the current situation.”
