Which is informative as to the mage's Gift-potential and training, and thus how seriously they were taking him initially. They're probably going to send a stronger or more trained mage now.

(Leareth is quite curious what sort of conversation is happening right now back at the headquarters that received the onsite mage's communication-spell report. They - probably still believe his answers to earlier questions, he was visibly not doing any magic at the time and it's not like mages are immune to interrogation-compulsions - but even if they currently believe he's not a cultist, they've got to be suspicious about the coincidence of a newly-awakened mage in a household of cultists, and whether it's a godplot of some kind.) 

"Thank you," he says politely, because being polite is free, and - if the compulsions in fact let him - he will get some food. 

There are, if one is governor (civil and military) of Faun Kar province, a number of duties one must fulfill. Different governors vary in how seriously they take them; border defense, information gathering, provincial development, maintenance of law and order, taxation maximization, engaging in graft, cracking down on cults, playing politics by proxy, accumulating clients and actually enjoying your life all trade off against each other, and no governor has more than twenty hours in a day, at most, to divide between all of them.

(It is forbidden to govern the province where you were born, an ancient law that is ninety percent irrelevant today because everyone of any meaningful importance in the Empire is a student at the Hall of Learning, where Cendas molds them into being the Correct People to administer the Empire, wherever they happen to be from - barbarian chieftains' daughters, mage-gifted peasants, provincial nobles, all of them the people who are going to get the chance to rule, if they have the wit to seize it.)

Count Janos of Avannar, Imperial Kinsman of the third degree, has not done tremendously well in the eternal feud for power. You'd rather think he would, given his talents, but not only did he paint a target on his back long before he learned to ever not try to be the best at things, but he really spends astonishingly little time engaging in graft and playing politics by proxy. Instead he has treated his exile to the poor western province of Faun Kar as a chance to improve the Empire's western defenses, build up the provincial economy, and make His Imperial Majesty go "huh, I haven't heard of anything bad happening in Faun Kar province since Janos took over, maybe he should get whatever the current loudest province is." You can go very far, being the person who the Emperor thinks about whenever a province is too noisy and he would like it to be quiet.

A month ago he got the opportunity to earn a favor and build up his resources, when his agents inside the secret illegal cult reported that one of the provincial barons happened to be a cultist. Since this is Faun Kar, it wasn't a surprise that someone was doing it, but knowing who was useful - and Janos is good enough at the political game to know who in the Bureau of Cults is looking for a big case, high ranking enough for independent activity, low ranking enough that a baron is a big case, and repays favors. His spies sent more reports about the doings of the priests, his schoolmate came through the canal-gate with an "elite team of investigators," Janos presented his files, and they spent their time scouting out the situation, got all their pieces into position, and struck.

A simple investigation. A simple execution. Nothing wrong with it. 

"So why is every hair on the back of my neck telling me something's horribly wrong and we're all about to be murdered in our beds?"

"Because you're still alive?"

"Things go well with no problems perfectly often."

"Mmm."

Mmm.

"Do you know what I think it is?"

"I do not."

"You weren't in the room. You didn't have to quash it almost failing sixteen times. Someone else was the person handling it, and you have a chronic disability to believe that anyone else is ever competent."

"Almost anyone else."

"So do you thus conclude that Gerain should be on the short list?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then what do you conclude, o master of strategy?"

"That something is immediately about to go critically wrong, or just has, Gerain is trying to conceal it from me so he doesn't owe me an even bigger faovr, and the entire top of one of my spare forts is about to be blown sky-high."

"I'll have a word with him, shall I?"

"Do."

He spun up the comms-spell.

"This is provincial proconsul Seiran Sertross. Is the Director available?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Excuse me, the governor was wondering - "

"He says everything is under control? A kid turned out to have mage-gift nobody knew about, but they put the standard compulsions on him and he hasn't Final Struck yet."

"I see."

This is not a problem that requires Janos to shoulder them aside and take direct command himself.

"The standard compulsions for Mage-gifts?"

Janos is a Mindspeaker and, though three people alive know it, Farseer.

"You think -"